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Jindal hammers on economic development in Rotary speech
Job creation must remain the No. 1 priority throughout Louisiana as the state looks to secure more positive economic development opportunities.
That was the message Gov. Bobby Jindal delivered Thursday to hundreds of local residents at a Monroe Rotary Club meeting.
Jindal is currently traveling around the state to stress Louisiana's top priority of job creation.
"We have made incredible progress in growing our economy over the past year, but we have more work to do, and we will not stop until Louisiana is one of the top spots in the world for businesses to invest, expand and create more jobs, even in these economically challenging times," Jindal said.
Jindal told the story of Rex Rugg who was employed at Shaw plant in West Monroe when he learned the company would close its facility.
Rugg was afraid he would have to move his family from their hometown to find employment. His wife has taught school here for 21 years, and they are currently raising their 12-year-old son, Conner, in a new home, which they recently bought.
Instead of being forced to move to find work, Rugg landed a job with Gardner Denver Thomas when the company decided to consolidate by moving its Sheboygan, Wis., operations to the company's Monroe facility, bringing another 300 new jobs to the area by 2011.
Jindal also highlighted several of the economic development wins for northeast Louisiana just over the past several months.
Some of them included V-Vehicle Company locating in the former Guide facility, which will create 3,200 new jobs; Gardner Denver Thomas' consolidation with almost 300 new direct jobs; Foster Farms acquisition of Pilgrim's Pride, which retained more than 1,000 direct jobs; and the expansion of Monroe's Computer Programs & Systems, which will create 100 new direct jobs and 51 indirect jobs.
According to Jindal, economic development projects have created 32,000 jobs and $4.3 billion in capital investment since he took office in January 2008. He said the economic development opportunities were made possible because of the strict ethics laws approved last year by the Legislature and in light of the state's focus on workforce training such as Louisiana FastStart worker training program.
"This is the product of a strategy to make Louisiana the best in the world for businesses to locate, expand and create jobs," Jindal said. "Creating jobs is what it's all about. So our people can pursue their dreams right here, and not leave for Houston, Dallas or Atlanta."
He said Louisiana more people moved into the state than migrated elsewhere over the past two years.
On another front, Jindal praised the Legislature for not raising taxes to offset budget cuts in the recently completed regular session.
"I commend the Legislature because they knew that raising taxes on our businesses and our people would be one of the worst things we could do in these economic times," Jindal said.
"Unlike Washington, we cannot simply print more money or borrow from China," Jindal continued. "We passed a budget aimed at protecting education and healthcare from dramatic cuts, without raising taxes, while still keeping our Rainy Day Fund available to us for future years. We did this by making government live within its means just like businesses and families have to do."
He said Louisiana will spend $700 million less than last year.
"We know there are challenges ahead of us," Jindal explained. "We have multiple years of budget challenges ahead of us. We know the national economy is not going to improve overnight. We will have to continue to tighten our belt and create more jobs.
"The only way Louisiana will rank No. 1 on all of those good lists is if we create opportunities for our kids to pursue their dreams right here at home." |
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