By ROBIN SHANNON
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — The national economic downturn has done little to stunt the level of growth within all three River Parishes, said parish presidents at a business luncheon Thursday.

St. John President Bill Hubbard, St. James President Dale Hymel and St. Charles President V.J. St. Pierre each spent about 15 minutes touting present and future projects that have their respective parishes moving forward. All three seemed to stress the fact that in the River Parishes individual success will, in turn, benefit the whole.

“Economic development is regional,” said Hymel. “As long as the region is doing well, St. James is doing well and the same can be said for St. Charles and St. John.”

Thursday’s speeches were part of a tri-parish forum organized by the River Region Chamber of Commerce in an effort to keep members informed about regional happenings. The luncheon brought together business leaders, council members and school board representatives.

“Everyone is always interested in what is going on next door,” said Chamber Executive Director Chassity McComack. “We are doing what we can to keep the lines of communication open. It’s good to be a unified front.”

Hubbard opened the meeting with a brief discussion on the $29.5 million bond issue, which is on the St. John ballot for voter consideration today. He said the money would go toward improving quality of life issues such as drainage, recreation, flood protection, street improvements and upgrades to government facilities on both sides of the river.

“It takes money to make things happen,” Hubbard said. “I hope our voters realize that and approve these initiatives.”

Hubbard also touched on a partnership with the Port of Southeast Louisiana to bring improvements to the St. John Airport to make the facility more “corporate-friendly.” He said the parish is going after grants for facility upgrades and a runway extension, which could go a long way in wooing more corporate airport traffic to the area.

Hubbard did express some disappointment in a recent decision to move a $150 million sugar refinery project from St. John to St. James but said he was glad the project is staying within the region. Both Hubbard and Hymel shared a bit of a laugh when the refinery was mentioned at the luncheon.

In addition to the sugar project, Hymel said several development projects in St. James are set to get underway in the coming month, including construction of the first oil refinery in the U.S. since the 1970s.

Hymel said INCA Refining LLC has plans to construct a facility in St. James that will have the capacity to refine about 85,000 barrels of crude oil a day. He said the $100 million project would create about 500 new construction jobs and 55 permanent jobs.

Hymel also gave an update on the proposed steel mill to be built in Convent by Nucor Corp. Hymel said the parish is in constant conversation with the North Carolina steelmakers and said that despite rumors of cancellation, the project is still a go.

“We are still waiting on approval of air permits from the Department of Environmental Quality,” said Hymel. “The permits are held up in a legal battle that could stretch out into December.”

Hymel concluded his speech by stressing the importance of the upcoming census, which will occur in 2010. He said a good accurate count of all residents in the area could change the way areas of the parish are reapportioned in the future, which would affect representation in Washington.

In St. Charles, St. Pierre talked of plans for a $120 million industrial park to be built on the west bank of the parish near the St. John Parish line. The 500-acre park would be home to Southern Recycling, which recently moved its operations to the St. Charles area.

St. Pierre said St. Charles is “bucking the national trend” and enjoying widespread growth. He said just about all of the industrial plants in the area are making substantial gains.