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RESERVE — Operations at the six deep draft ports along the Mississippi River – the Port of South Louisiana being one of them – impact the global economy, remain pertinent to our national security, and have been the economic lifeblood for thousands (if not millions) of local families for generations.

Recognizing the multi-layered importance of maritime commerce in Louisiana, in 1989 the state legislature created the Port Priority Program to supply public funds for landside infrastructure development or renovation projects that would provide local jobs and create diverse and cost-effective methods to move cargo, thus making taxpayer-funded highways and roads less congested and safer.

Since the program’s inception the Port of South Louisiana has participated and benefited from this state-level initiative. In fact, these strategically targeted funds have been applied to a multitude of projects that have supported various industries and employers within the 54-mile-long Port District.

“The importance of this program was reaffirmed when one of the first things Gov. Edwards did after he was elected was double the funding of the program from $20 million to $40 million, even at a time in 2016 when the state was facing budget challenges,” said Micah Cormier of the Port of South Louisiana. “For every dollar that the state invests in ports, eight dollars is returned through taxes or fees back to the state. So the value in investing imports and the economic impact of ports in Louisiana is undeniable.”

In 2022, the Port of South Louisiana secured $10 million in funds from the state’s $40 million Port Priority Program that will be used to finance an expansion of the NATCO cold storage facility and renovations and repairs to the floor and conveyor system at Building 71 at Globalplex.

Upgrading Building 71 to open up warehouse space at Globalplex has been a multi-year and multi-phase effort – the first phase simply being to repair and reinforce the structure’s walls and roof so that it could be of functional use. This latest chapter of construction will strengthen the current heavy load capacity floor to handle 1,000 pounds of material per square foot.

The $5.5 million NATCO expansion will be funded almost entirely through the state’s Port Priority Program, with the Port matching 10 percent (roughly $600,000) to cover the remaining estimated construction cost. Currently, the cold storage facility expansion is in the engineering stage with construction set to begin in the fall of 2023.

Once completed, the facility will grow to 98,470 sq. feet from 84,000 sq. feet, an expansion that will lead to more production, more earnings, and more employment opportunities at the southeast Louisiana meat, dairy and dry foods distributor. Pinpointing and highlighting that direct and obvious financial effect that state funds from the Port Priority Program would provide is perhaps the most vital factor determining whether a project gets approved or not by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

Because of that, Port officials are pretty proactive when it comes to identifying the best projects to pitch for state funding.

“For us as a port, we try to determine projects and then apply for funding for projects that we think would grow the port and specifically create jobs,” Cormier said. “And sometimes we do work with our tenants to identify those projects that would do just that. For instance, NATCO, which leases from us on our Globalplex property, expressed a need to expand their cold storage facility  because it would retain and create local jobs, so that’s why we deemed that as a worthy project to seek state funding through the Port Priority Program. We’re looking for projects that will have an economic impact for the state of Louisiana.”

Read more in the latest Port Log, accessible at bizneworleans.com/issue/port-log/spring-2023/