CONVENT— Louisiana Pipe and Steel Fabricators, LLC has chosen St. James Parish as the location for its new piping fabrication manufacturing facility.

Over the next year, the company is planning to invest $80 million and create approximately 470 new permanent jobs when the project is completed.

The company acquired 79 acres in Convent where a 40,000 square-foot building now exists, and will be acquiring additional land and building two new 90,000 square-foot buildings for a total of 230,000 square-feet under roof.

&#8220We welcome Louisiana Pipe and Steel Fabricators to our business community and are looking forward to the economic growth their investment and new jobs will bring,” said Dale Hymel, St. James Parish president. &#8220This is the first announcement of the many projects we are working, and we feel confident that our efforts and the momentum of activity in St. James will bring more new businesses and jobs in the near future.”

According to Paul Loupe, CEO of Louisiana Pipe and Steel Fabricators, St. James Parish was the natural choice for their location due to river, rail and highway access, as well as the readily available quality workforce in the area.

With existing contracts to fulfill, the company has hired 40 employees and is projecting the main hiring phase to begin January 2007.