Southwest Louisiana Business and Industry
Southwest Louisiana is an economically diverse and wonderful place to live and work.
Historically, the economy of Louisiana has been tied to its natural resources, including oil, natural gas, sugar cane fields, forests and marshes. The industry sectors, which have historically formed the economic backbone of the region, have – for the most part – remained a constant in the Southwest Louisiana economy. The anchor industries within Southwest Louisiana are:
1) Petrochemical
2) Education
3) Manufacturing
4) Healthcare
5) Hospitality
With its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, Southwest Louisiana serves as the home base for our vigorous petrochemical industry and several active ports including the Port of Lake Charles, which is the closest deep-water port in Louisiana and 12th largest in the nation, the West-Calcasieu Port, East Cameron Port and Vinton Port. With three liquefied natural gas pipelines in the works for completion over the next three years, what happens around the coast communities of Southwest Louisiana keeps the lights on nationwide.
Lake Charles, LA is also home to the two main workforce development institutions of the region: McNeese State University and Southwest Louisiana Technical Community College. Ranked #1 in productivity measured by value of shipments per production worker by the 2002 Census, Louisiana’s manufacturing workers rely on the latest training to keep them on top of their jobs in an ever changing market. Southwest Louisiana Technical Community College (called SOWELA by locals) offers customized worker-training programs in our base industries as well as emerging trends. Over 6,000 students have trained in aviation for Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Aeroframe Services, and even more prepare for their futures in the petrochemical industry through SOWELA’s Process Technology Department going on to jobs at CITGO Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, PPG and Sasol to name a few.
A burgeoning industry in Southwest Louisiana is our aerospace industry, thanks in large part to the Lake Charles Regional Airport, servicing the air travel needs of our 285,000 residents, and the Chennault International Airport Authority. Chennault International Airpark Authority, servicing such industry players such as Northrop Grumman, Aeroframe Services and Louisiana Millwork plays a major role within the economy of Southwest Louisiana with its 10,000 feet of runways, capability of handling most commercial aircraft, and 800 acres of available sites with access to rail, road and water to best access the rest of the nation and global market. Both our regional and international airports have foreign trade and enterprise zone designations.
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