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News Release > Entergy and SWLA Economic Development Alliance helping Southwest Louisiana recover and grow
Entergy and SWLA Economic Development Alliance helping Southwest Louisiana recover and grow
11/30/2022
LAKE CHARLES — Entergy Louisiana is continuing to partner with regional organizations to help areas of the state like Southwest Louisiana not only recover, but also grow and prosper through economic development. One of the organizations helping us create a more vibrant economy is the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance.
The company recently provided approximately $122,000 to the SWLA Economic Development Alliance to help fund initiatives around retaining businesses and jobs and attracting new companies and industries to the area, meeting future needs of the state and energy sector and accelerating post pandemic and storm recovery efforts in the parishes of Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jefferson Davis.
“A major part of our success is our strong partnership with Entergy. In addition to providing financial support for our recruiting efforts, the expertise of the Entergy team is equally important,” said George Swift, SWLA Economic Development Alliance president and CEO. “We can always rely on Entergy to help us grow Southwest Louisiana.”
Through its business and economic development team, Entergy works with state and local government agencies like Louisiana Economic Development, organizations like SWLA Economic Development Alliance and community partners to support businesses from site selection to groundbreaking, including those operating at the national and global level.
The company has partnered with SWLA Economic Development Alliance to help show what Louisiana has to offer prospective businesses. One area of focus has been around recruitment efforts, including obtaining a third-party vendor to identify companies with expansion plans and participating in conferences like the Americas LNG & Gas Summit & Exhibition. These efforts are helping diversify the Southwest Louisiana economy while supporting existing businesses, many of which are involved in the petrochemical industry.
To help businesses determine where to locate or expand, Entergy developed and maintains a buildings and sites website called the Site Selection Center. The site includes details about development-ready land, including available utilities and transportation access. The company also helps market and promote sites through informative videos and interactive pages that describe everything from major projects and certified sites to quality of life and entertainment options.
To support site development, Entergy provides in-depth research and analyses regarding workforce availability, construction and transportation, to name a few. To learn more about the services provided by the company’s business and economic development team, visit goentegy.com.
Beyond the business and economic development team’s efforts and the company’s partnership with organizations like the SWLA Economic Development Alliance, Entergy is also driving economic development by:
- Building a more reliable and resilient power grid, which is important to supporting a swift recovery following major weather events.
- Working with customers directly to help them meet sustainability goals like electrifying industrial processes and lowering emissions.
Some examples of these efforts include:
- An agreement between Entergy and Sempra Infrastructure to explore the deployment of renewables to power Sempra’s facilities in Louisiana.
- The shore power project at the Port of Lake Charles.
- A commitment between Entergy and Diamond Offshore Wind to explore wind power in the Gulf of Mexico.
- The start of several new transmission and distribution projects such as the Mud Lake to Big Lake transmission project and the new Goos Ferry substation and distribution lines.
“Southwest Louisiana is vital to our state’s economy and why we’re so excited to continue our longstanding partnership with the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance,” said Perry Pertuit, Entergy Louisiana new business development manager. “Between the existing industries, a talented workforce and robust transportation, Lake Charles and the surrounding communities have a lot to offer. Entergy and the SWLA Economic Development Alliance are committed to helping the area recover and grow by creating jobs and developing resilient communities of the future.”
Over this last decade, Entergy has actively participated in more than 130 announced economic development projects in Louisiana, totaling more than $106 billion in capital investments and creating approximately 17,380 new direct jobs. For 15 years running, Site Selection magazine has named Entergy Corporation as one of the nation's top utilities in economic development.
In addition, Area Development magazine recognized Louisiana with a silver shovel award for local economic development efforts and Business Facilities magazine placed Louisiana first for customized training and second for manufacturing output in their 17th annual rankings.
To learn more about how Entergy partners with LED and regional organizations to help the state grow through economic development, visit the Entergy Newsroom.
About Entergy Louisiana
Entergy Louisiana, LLC provides electric service to more than 1 million customers in 58 parishes and natural gas service to more than 94,000 customers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Entergy Louisiana is a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation, an integrated energy company engaged in electric power production, transmission and retail distribution operations. Entergy delivers electricity to 3 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy owns and operates one of the cleanest large-scale U.S. power generating fleets with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, including 7,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, Entergy has annual revenues of $10 billion and approximately 12,000 employees.
