2nd quarter 2015 Chamber SWLA Newsletter

Chamber SWLA - 2nd Quarter Members Executive Member Obvious Advertising Premium Members Cypress Bend Resort Sabine State Bank Entrepreneur Level Members

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Ambitech Engineering Corp Blake D. Hines Inc. Diamond Paint & Supply iConvergence Inc Ironclad Title, LLC LA Workforce LLC Mangrum Air Conditioning and Heating PVG Global Speedway Motors

Preferred Level Members  3480 Group LLC  A Model K-9  Able Plumbing  All Season Landscape  Bayou Beds  Bottomline Equipment  CAD's Construction  CGI Energy Solutions, Inc  Cotton Logistics  Cutters Outdoor Power Equipment  Earle Banks Electrical  Electrical Contracting Services  Exposure Magazine  Family Care Center of SWLA  Hearing Solutions of LA  HITCO  Hornsby Landscaping  Hydrochem Services  Kadacy Kouture Beauty Bar  Keith Chiasson Electric  LA Pipeline Rentals & Industrial Supply, LLC  Lake Area Equipment Maintenance Inc  Lake Area Marine  Lake Charles Sling, Inc.  LaVoglia  Liprie Engineering LLC  Lodge of Tee Mamou / Bon Temps ATV Park  Luxury Limousine Service  McM Enterprise Contractors  Morcore Roofing LLC  Mr. G's Maintenance & Repair  Oceans Behavioral Hospital  Precision Pump & Valve, Inc

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Prudential - Lori Broussard Restaurant Calla S T I Group Shannon Smith Construction Signarma Southern Title & License The Hearing Center The HT Group The Kee Law Firm The Pediatric Center - Sulphur The Reynolds Company Tri Parish Services, LLC Twisted Stems Flower Shop Walk Ons Walter Sanchez Winners Tax Service Business Level Members Acadian Coffee Roasters Action Industries, Inc. Advanced Medical Equipment & Supplies LLC Agave Tamales Airtool Equipment Rental Allegiance, LLC Amicus Global Vision Anchor 36 Logistics Artisian Tiling LLC ASAP Glass ASAP Landscaping Ashley Foret Dees, LLCImmigration Law Associated Lumber Enterprises

Atomic Towing B & J Inc. Bayard Financial Bayou Forest Products, Inc. BBR Creative Belts Plus Bench Works Bluebird Websites, LLC Bobcat of Lake Charles Bolt Tech Mannings Bradley Moreau Harvay & Stagg APLC Braud Glass & Mirror, Inc. Browne Stewart Company Bryan K Williams Dry Wall & Painting Bubba's Bulk Distributing Calcasieu Rentals Calcasieu Youth Organization Cathy Kurth Dance Academy Catina Coutre CCD Consultant LLC Christian World Ministries Clean Harbors Industrial Colonial Glass

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Compass Engineering & Consultants, Conner Engineering LLC Crawford Addiction Treatment Creole Steel of Southwest CSK Properties Cycle Construction David Orsot Plumbing & Heating Inc. Dermalogix Dollar Electric, Inc. Dr. Ashley Greenman Dr. Keith DeSonier MD - ENT Associates Dr. Shelly Guillory, O.D. Ducote Air, Heat & Electric Dupont Sewer & Consulting Edward Jones - Ben Cook Elite Medical Wellness Elite Service Recovery & Towing Ellender Architects & Associate

Envy Tan, LLC Events By Chelsi Fabricari, LLC Falcon Holdings, LLC Fastsigns Geaux Electrical & Technical Services Gloria Bumpus Real Estate Gulf Coast Carpet and Wallpaper Outlet Gulf Coast Industrial News Guy Brame, Calcasieu Parish Police Juror Dis. 8 H. Curtis Vincent - Steven D. Shows Architects, APC Heather Patnaude /Advocare Hixon's Pest Control & Lawn Maintenance, LLC. Hole Shot Services Homsi's House of Interior LLC Industrial Logistics International Club of Southwest Louisiana Investigative Services Unlimited Ironhorse Construction Jackpot Junction Casino L P Gaming Jacque Bourgeois Electrical James M. Anderson M.D. Jay Barkley Masonry Ken Conner Tire Pro/Sulphur L & R Security Services, Inc La Familia Resource Lake Charles Tackle Lake Charles Title Company Lake Charles Truck Equipment

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LB Computers, LLC Magnolia Property Management and Investments, LLC Management Data Systems MAOLG LLC Maplewood Animal Hospital Mary Shaddock Jones, LLC Master Clean Auto & Truck Wash McCain & Swann LLC McHale Law Firm Medearis Costume & Tux Rental

Multimedia Ministries, Inc. Nikki P`s Realty No Bad Days Original Cajun Ben's LLC Paradise Florist Pederson Title Co. Porch'e Premier Paint Posh Interior Design Postlethwaite & Netterville Pousson`s Power Cleaning Equipment Prime Cuttery PS Safety & Risk Management Ricky Bellon LLC Riverside Resort/Lady Of The Lake Runte Lake Cleaners S and S Services Unlimited Shearman Media, LLC Sight & Sound Sign World Sims Air Conditioning LLC Siti Construction Smooth Transitions Solar Supply Sonic Drive In of Sulphur Southwest Louisiana Industries

Stem Shield Inc Sunbelt Business Brokers Superior Window & Door Teci's Ladies Apparel Ted Bercier DDS The Cormorant Group The National Golf Course The Simmons Group Total Excellence Marketing Tri-Star Wholesale Tri-State Road Boring Universal Home Inspection US Family Health Plan Ward 3 City Marshal's Office Ward Chiropractic Waste Water Specialties, Inc. Water Purification Whittington Appraisals, Inc. Xcel Machining, Inc.

www.allianceswla.org 337-433-3632

SWLA Business Report June 2015 Chamber Mission Statement The Chamber SWLA is the voice of the Southwest Louisiana business community and promotes ongoing regional development to cultivate a higher quality of life for all citizens of Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jefferson Davis Parishes.

Alliance Mission Statement The SWLA Economic Development Alliance is the regional leader for business and workforce development resulting in improved quality of life for all residents in the five parishes of Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jefferson Davis Parishes.

The Chamber SWLA hosted U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy at a One-on-One Luncheon.

Cassidy’s trip included a tour of the SEED Center and our major economic drivers.

Housing Report Highlights Needs If not resolved, Southwest Louisiana’s lack of temporary housing for the incoming construction workers could cause more harm than good in the near future. Our regional population is expected to grow dramatically along with the growth of industry within the next 2-5 years. While Southwest Louisiana has been preparing and is equipped to welcome the growth of the industry, it is time to welcome the skilled construction workers that will soon migrate to the area. Part of welcoming the new workers is providing temporary housing that is safe, clean, and affordable.

Currently, the total number of hotel/motel rooms and campground spaces adds up to be 7,412 of that it is estimated that around 2000 units will be available for temporary workers. The projected number of temporary construction workers that travel to the region in the next 2-3 years is upwards of 20,000. The solution to the inevitable housing shortage is Worker Villages. A Worker Village is a cluster of temporary housing designed to leave no long-term impact.

Worker Villages will help combat some of the downsides to a increasing population: traffic congestion, housing code violations due to overcrowding, and Section 8 housing violations. The villages are designed to be safe, clean, and affordable for the temporary work-force. continued on page 3…

Rendering of Pelican Lodge

4310 Ryan Street

Lake Charles, LA 70605

P.O. Box 3110 Lake Charles, LA 70602 337-433-3632 www.allianceswla.org

Chamber SWLA Officers Celia Case Chair

John Pohorelsky Chair-Elect

Bill Monk Legal Counsel

Jim Giffin Treasurer

Tobie Hodgkins Vice Chair Governmental Affairs

Dick Myers Vice Chair Workforce Dev.

Greg Guilbeaux Vice Chair Economic Dev.

Matt Young Vice Chair Quality of Life

Glen Bertrand Immediate Past Chair

George Swift President/CEO

SWLA Partnership Officers Hal McMillin Chair CPPJ Michael Holmes Secretary Town of Kinder

Mayor Ron Roberts Vice-Chair City of DeRidder Treasurer

Chamber SWLA Staff George Swift, President/CEO, gswift@allianceswla.org Marie Centanni, VP, Public Policy, mcentanni@allianceswla.org David Conner, VP, Economic Development, dconner@allianceswla.org Eric Cormier, Special Projects Manager, ecormier@allianceswla.org Liz Deville, VP, Finance & Administration, ldeville@allianceswla.org Brittany Duplechian, Project Manager, britthebert@allianceswla.org Betty Hebert, Customer Service, bhebert@allianceswla.org Avon Knowlton, Executive Vice President, aknowlton@allianceswla.org Portia Metoyer, Events Coordinator, pmetoyer@allianceswla.org Mike Mitchell, Membership Sales, mmitchell@allianceswla.org Paula Ramsey, VP, Chamber Operations, pramsey@allianceswla.org Daphne Richard, Research Director, drichard@allianceswla.org Linda Robertson, Bookkeeping Assistant, lrobertson@allianceswla.org Faith Scott, Member & Investor Services, fscott@allianceswla.org R.B. Smith, VP, Workforce Development, rsmith@allianceswla.org Danielle Trahan, SEED Ctr Incubator Admin., dtrahan@allianceswla.org Morgan Turpin, Economic Development, mmurray@allianceswla.org Amanda White, VP, Communications, awhite@allianceswla.org Adrian Wallace, Exec. Dir., Business Incubator, awallace@allianceswla.org Paul Arnold, SCORE, parnold@allianceswla.org Roy Paul, PTAC, paul@allianceswla.org

A Stronger, Unified Region Benefits Us All

...Temporary Housing Study Continued

George Swift, President/CEO

“The bottom line is that there are not enough skilled workers locally to fill the demands that the new industry growth will bring to SWLA. Additional workers are coming, and now is the time to determine how Southwest Louisiana chooses to accommodate them. Utilizing worker villages, this task could be made manageable.

Worker villages are designed to take the burden of housing thousands of temporary workers off of the surrounding local community and placing it within manageable parameters. Temporary housing developments are the solution to a problem looming in the near future, and our community needs to support their development in order to grow our economy.”

The Chamber SWLA is celebrating a huge milestone.

After a recent membership campaign, the Chamber Southwest now has over 1,500 business members. A majority of those are small businesses which are the backbone of America.

In this time of unprecedented opportunity, it is more important than ever that our business community work together with our elected officials to get the maximum benefit for all citizens. We are stronger together than divided. We are hopeful that many of our small, minority, women and veteran-owned businesses can get in on the growth, yet many need assistance in getting certification to demonstrate they have the capacity to provide services.

The large industries and corporations, along with our public bodies, can provide assistance with policies which are geared to not to guarantee any company get a piece of the business, but to guarantee that they have an opportunity to compete for the business. For long-term growth and to create a region of choice, a more diverse business community is needed.

The world is looking at our region to see how we handle these issues that will determine our future.

This year, our legislators are having a tough session with all of the financial problems facing the state. We recently visited to urge no further cuts to higher education and healthcare at this crucial time in our region. With our upcoming growth, we cannot afford to dry up our educational institutions and workforce training or leave our most needy citizens without healthcare. Our infrastructure such as roads, sewers and major projects such as a new I-10 bridge need quick action. Investing in education and infrastructure pays for itself with big dividends.

Through out Vice President of Public Policy, we takes positions on dozens of business issues, and keep our region and its needs in front of the entire state legislature. Our policies are developed by a large number of members on our Governmental Affairs and Infrastructure Committee then sent for final approval to the entire board made up of businesses and community leaders from all five parishes. While we don’t all agree on every issue, the majority rules. What is unanimous is our regional partners agreeing that working together regionally is key and that a strong regional chamber is important to the area. Speaking with one voice for our businesses is critical.

We thank our newest 200 members for pushing us to an all-time high membership. Those of you in business who are not Chamber members are urged to join. With more members we have a stronger voice across the state and in Washington. With more members we have resources to grow our regional economy thus providing opportunities for everyone whether it’s a job or business growth. Our desired end result is to raise the standard of living for all residents and to provide opportunities for today’s and future generations here in Southwest Louisiana.

“Worker villages are designed to ease the community into a transition to accommodate a rapid temporary growth in the population. The worker village is the preferred alternative to meet short- term, but temporary, demand for housing. The complexes are able to be constructed quickly while leaving little long-term impact on the environment and community in which they are built. If the workforce housing is not provided in this manner, the workers will be forced to search for their own housing within the community. The consequences of not providing housing are:  Rapid increasing rents  Increased traffic congestion  Code violations from too many people living in a single family dwelling  Conversion of ancillary spaces (garages, sheds) into rental housing  Overbuilding of long-term housing such as apartments, hotels, motels  Landlords opting out of housing subsidy programs such as Section 8  Increased homelessness  Overcrowding in consumer product and service centers: food, medical, retail, groceries, fuel, ect.  Stress on public services: police, fire, school, waste, recreation, community services, emergency services, and disaster preparedness Excerpt from the CSRS Temporary housing Report, Available at allianceswla.org

“This list of consequences is not a multiple choice. We should expect all of these consequences to take place simultaneously. There are surely other consequences that we will suffer and all of this will happen in magnitudes that may never have been experienced in the US” David Conner , VP, Economic Development and International Commerce.

As of March 2015, there are currently four nontraditional temporary housing developments that have been permitted: Pelican Lodge, Moss Lake Village, Rosie’s Place, Highway 108 Village, and J Clophus Road. Pelican Lodge is to be developed on property owned by the Port of Lake Charles near Chennault International Airport. This unit will be built in phases with the end capacity reaching 4,000 residents. Moss Lake Village is to be built on the Southland Field Airport property.

This facility will also be built in phases with the end capacity reaching approximately 2,500 residents. Rosie’s Place will be developed just east of Lake Charles in an unincorporated part of Calcasieu Parish along Opelousas Street, with the capability of housing 500 residents. J. Clophus Road will be built in Mossville, built in phases like the other developments with the ultimate final capacity of 625 residents. Highway 108 Village will be located on highway 108 south of Sulphur with a final capacity of 1,500 residents.