At its heart, the work of economic development in our communities is about creating jobs and advancing career development opportunities.

I am happy to join our partners at St. John the Baptist Parish, the International Economic Development Council and our allies throughout Louisiana to recognize 2018 Economic Development Week, May 7-12.

Our economic development allies and partners are vital to our success. My team at Louisiana Economic Development and I work with regional and local partners such as St. John Parish President Natalie Robottom and parish Economic Development Director Jerry Jones to bring new industries to the parish and our state, and to help our existing employers succeed, thrive and, in many cases, expand.

Our goal is to identify opportunities and work together so that the best jobs of tomorrow can be secured for our families today.

From Marathon Petroleum, Louisiana CAT, Bayou Steel and other major industries up and down the Mississippi River to the small businesses of LaPlace’s commercial district, every contributor to the St. John Parish economy plays an important role in the well-being of this community.

And let’s not forget, local economic activity can have a big reach across parish lines.

Major industries such as Monsanto and Shell in neighboring St. Charles Parish provide jobs for residents of many area parishes and also generate opportunities for suppliers and support services that ripple throughout the regional economy.

That impact will be further enhanced with the arrival of Formosa Petrochemical’s new FG LA chemical manufacturing complex just upriver in St. James Parish.

That $9.4 billion project, which we announced last month, is expected to create 1,200 new direct jobs and result in 8,000 new indirect jobs for the River Parishes.

As 2017 ended, Louisiana experienced results we’re extremely proud of: more than 13,000 new direct and indirect jobs, and over $2.5 billion in capital investment tied to new large projects.

Our Small Business Services team also helped serve over 9,000 small businesses and entrepreneurs last year, while reaching certification of 1,794 firms in our small business programs statewide and attracting $55 million in new small business investment and over 1,900 new small business jobs.

Our continued work with allies throughout Louisiana will bring these numbers to life. As we reflect this week on the work that we do, we look forward to continued success and even better opportunities ahead.

Don Pierson is secretary of Louisiana Economic Development.