July 2010 Communiqué - South Central Industrial Association

July 2010, ISSUE 7. VOLUME 13
SCIA Receives State Award
afayette, LA. — South Central
Industrial Association was honored
yesterday as the 2010 Louisiana
Outstanding Business Champion for
Small Businesses by the BESE Board,
LA Dept of Education, and the LA
Community Technical College System.
Initiated in 2008, the prestigious Career
and Technical Education Distinguished
Service Award was developed to honor
small and large businesses that have
made significant contributions to the field
of technical education.
SCIA was nominated by Fletcher for
its development of Work It! Louisiana,
an awareness program presented in
six parishes to grades 6 through 12
advocating technical education career
paths. The program was implemented in
6 parishes in the bayou and river regions
through classroom posters, career
events, speakers bureau, and classroom
DVD’s with more than 400 careers paths.
Work It! Louisiana is a creative
Jimmy Sawtelle, VP LA Community & Technical College System, Kathy Doiron, SCIA, Cal
marketing
and
recruitment
plan McKey SCIA Workforce Development Chair, Jane Arnette with award, SCIA Executive Director,
addressing current employment needs in Nicole Blanchard and Chancellor Travis Lavigne, Fletcher Technical Community College.
the bayou region. The long term goal is to
continually provide information to the student population
an annual weeklong series of industry certification,
on job opportunities, education and training requirements,
professional development and continuing education
and salary expectations. It includes redefining educational
sessions sponsored by the three state agencies for more
directions by making the student population aware of the
than 1000 education instructors. In accepting the award Ms
current needs and opportunities in the workforce. The
Arnette explained “the importance of bringing nobility and
program included an extensive billboard, television and
dignity back to our workforce through technical education.
radio campaign educating the students through the “I
More than anything else, the children of Louisiana should
CAN” campaign on technical careers.
be prepared for local workforce possibilities as a base for
More than 50 volunteers assisted SCIA with the
our economic growth.”
implementation of the Work It! Louisiana program that
Joining Arnette for the awards ceremony were Kathy
was made possible through state grants administered by
Doiron - SCIA, Cal McKey - SCIA Workforce Chair, Nicol
TEDA and SCIA.
Blanchard and Chancellor Travis Lavigne with Fletcher
The award was presented to Jane Arnette, SCIA
Technical Community College.
Receiving the large
Executive Director at the Lafayette Cajundome at the
business was Northrop Grumman.
opening ceremony of the 2010 Super Summer Institute,
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A MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT...
On July 20th, we held our monthly
luncheon, and our Guest Speaker was
Reggie Dupre. I thought it was very
informative, and we had a full house - more
than 200 people attended. Thank you to
everyone who attended and made this a
great event.
At our August 17th meeting our guest
speaker will be the Executive Vice President
of Apache, Jon Jeppesen. On September 21st the President
of the International Association of Drilling Contractors, Lee
Hunt, will be visiting us as our guest speaker. Please be sure
to mark these dates on your calendar. He has some very
important information to share with us regarding future drilling
issues.
TFAE Donation
SCIA Officers, Board of Directors and Staff
President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tony Alford
Executive Vice President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kirk Meche
Vice President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ted Falgout
Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Becnel
Treasurer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Theriot
Directors: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tony Boudreaux
Don Hingle
Patrick Seely
Lori Davis
Lynn Falgout
Executive Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jane Arnette
Assistant Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kathy Doiron
SCIA Communiqué is a monthly publication of the
South Central Industrial Association
P.O. Box 2143 • Houma, LA 70361-2143
(985) 851-2201 • Fax (985) 851-2202
www.sciaonline.net
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Congratulations to the SCIA membership, our Board, the
Workforce Development Committee, TEDA and most of all to
Jane and the entire SCIA staff for winning the prestigious “2010
Louisiana Career and Technical Education Distinguished
Service Award”. The honor was bestowed upon SCIA by
the BESE Board, LA Department of Education and the LA
Technical Community College system. Great teamwork and an
amazing accomplishment! We ought to all be very proud.
We have plenty of work to do as the moratorium continues.
Please remember to stay informed and let’s keep working
together to assist our Legislators and “Our” organization - the
SCIA. Please call Jane or Kathy, 985.851.2201, if you would
like to get more involved.
Thank You!
Anthony (Tony) Alford
YOUR SCIA PRESIDENT
ROR Donation
Committee Chairs
Annual Banquet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lori Davis
ICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Willard Robison
Workforce Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrick Seely
Infrastructure & Governmental Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . Simone Maloz
Henri Boulet
Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paula Schouest
Crawfish Boil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danny Lott
Golf Tournament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Keli Bonvillain
Philip Knoblock
Communiqué Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jane Arnette
Published by Houma Reprographics & Map, Inc.
550 South Van Avenue
Houma, LA 70363
(985) 879-2443
www.hrmcreative.com
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SCIA GM Meeting is Host to More than 200 Members
Spill Penalties Could Help Coastal Projects
By: Kathrine Schmidt, The Courier
errebonne’s levee director expressed hope Tuesday
at the SCIA General Membership meeting that oil-spill
fines could become a significant stream of money to pay
for coastal projects.
Reggie Dupre, director of
the Terrebonne Levee and
Conservation District, suggested
barrier-island restoration projects
and a lock on the Houma
Navigation Canal could eventually
benefit from some of the money
BP and other companies might
have to pay as a result of the
nation’s worst-ever oil spill.
While there hasn’t been much
formal discussion, Dupre said
the early signs from Sen. Mary
Landrieu, D-La., and members of
the state’s Coastal Protection and
Restoration Authority indicate
coastal leaders will work to apply
a portion of the penalties to the
state’s master plan, the government’s prioritized list of
projects to help save the coast. “The master plan will be the
main guide to go by,” said Dupre, speaking to more than
200 members at a meeting of the South Central Industrial
Association, a regional business group, at the Quality Hotel
in Houma.
James Tripp, senior counsel with Environmental Defense
Fund in Washington, said the Oil Pollution of Act of 1990 and
the federal Clean Water Act both outline the civil penalties
that a responsible party can be charged in the wake of a
major oil spill.
After the disaster, federal and state agencies, acting as
trustees of the money, will conduct an assessment of the
environmental and economic damage and determine the
cost of cleaning it up. The money would ordinarily go to the
federal treasury. Getting money to Louisiana would take an
act of Congress or a voluntary agreement with BP.
While it’s hard to gauge how high the fines will ultimately
be, preliminary estimates stretch into the billions of dollars.
Clean Water Act penalties can range from $1,000 per barrel
when no negligence is involved to as much as $4,300 per
barrel if evidence of negligence is found. Before the well
was largely capped last week, as much as 60,000 barrels
a day were estimated to be flowing from the well, which
spewed oil into the Gulf for nearly three months.
“There may be damage claims that exceed what the trustee
agencies can reasonably spend on repairing damaged
resources,” Tripp said. “There is the legal potential for the
trustees to find that replacement or compensatory actions …
could include some coastal wetland-restoration projects.”
State Rep. Gordon Dove, R-Houma, chair of the House’s
Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said state
officials plan to “aggressively go after” the penalties to help
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pay for coastal projects. They also will lobby to get new
revenues from offshore leases directed back to the state, he
said.“The fines for Louisiana should be spent in Louisiana,”
Dove said. “I think it’ll be quite a bit of money. … We have
a lot of our wetlands impacted.”
Another priority will be speeding up the process to the
extent possible. “We don’t have 10 years,” to wait when it
comes to saving the coast, Dupre said. “What we’re hoping
is to expand on the flexibility to meet Louisiana’s needs,”
said Ted Falgout, longtime coastal advocate and former
director of Port Fourchon. “We need to figure out a way to
bring some of it back.”
Tripp said, however, that the state would have to make the
legal case that each of the projects showed a connection
to the BP oil spill. For example, marshes weakened by oil
could be strengthened by large-scale diversion projects.
Building hurricane protection with that money, however
badly needed, he said, could be a stretch.
“It would be legally much more problematic under the
Oil Pollution Act to have significant resources dedicated
to building levees,” he said. “While Katrina made clear
linkages between levees and wetlands, it’s hard to see
how this oil spill will have materially affected community
protection.”
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SCIA Banquet “Finishes Strong”
By: Jane Arnette
robably more than anything else, the 2010 SCIA annual
installation and awards banquet was a perfect example
of “finishing strong.” Dan Green, our featured speaker and
author of Finish Strong, the book distributed to the Saints
players by Drew Brees before winning the Super Bowl,
echoed the “finish strong” sentiment. There was a distinct
mood – a vibe – a sense of teamwork that propelled all
night long.
Lingering in the minds of most were the two biggest issues
facing the state of Louisiana and our beloved bayou region
– the oil spill and the moratorium. There were unspoken
words shadowing the event that made our industrial-based
members and supporting team of associate members band
together with an attitude of “we shall overcome.”
Our President’s Award winner, Dickie Barker of
Terrebonne Motor Company, provided more motivation as
he eloquently explained his path to success through good
and bad times. He was the perfect recipient during this
time of great concern. It continues to be with much pride
that we honor these distinguished leaders with our most
prestigious award. They are the cornerstone of who we are
and what we represent as a regional assembly.
Following in her father’s path of productivity, Simone
Theriot Maloz with Restore or Retreat was presented with
the Tillman Esteve Outstanding Member Award. Her
dedication to SCIA is very strong as she efficiently chairs
our Infrastructure and Governmental Affairs committee.
It is a welcomed opportunity to support the works of our
young future leaders of the organization.
To further personify the strength of the evening and the
organization, our new board was sworn in for the year. In
his usual entertaining manner, Bobby Barthel with Gulf
Island Marine Fabricators swore in our new team. Barthel
is a founding SCIA member, past president and Tillman
Esteve recipient who also serves as chairman of the SCIA
Presidents Council.
Our formidable 2010 group includes: President Tony
Alford, Alford Staples Lapeyre Robichaux and Falck
P
Alford; Executive Vice President Kirk Meche, Gulf Island
Fabrication; Vice President Ted Falgout, Ted Falgout &
Associates; Secretary Steve Becnel, J. Ray Mc Dermott;
Treasurer Charles Theriot, Charles Theriot, CPA, Past
President Tony Boudreaux, Allied Shipyard; Advisor Don
Hingle, Business First Bank; Director Pat Seely, Weatherford;
Director Lori Davis, Rig-Chem; and Director Lynn Falgout,
Bollinger Shipyards. Rotating off the board after serving for
eight years, including president, is Kenny Smith, T. Baker
Smith, Inc. Also leaving the board after a four year term is
Dionne Chouest Austin, Edison Chouest Offshore.
All board members and committee chair were honored
with an autographed copy of Dan Green’s book, Finish
Strong. The entire facility (Cypress Columns) embodied
strength, good will and pride. What an honor to be part of
an organization that is totally productive and action-withresults oriented. It is fun! It is real! It makes me proud!
Yes, SCIA is the regional voice for industry as it proves
that we are strength in numbers, joining forces to solve
issues through regional efforts. Look for more about SCIA
in the coming weeks. We are on the move and making a
difference.
“Providing Safe Access
Solutions is our Focus,
Delivering Cost Effective
Execution is our Strength”
148 Clendenning Road
Houma, Louisiana 70363
(985) 876-8796 24 Hours
Edward R. Bouterie
Director
Thibodaux
985.447.5243
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Houma
985.868.0139
Daniel J. Toepfer
Director
www.gulfsouthscaffolding.com
New Orleans
504.831.4949
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SCIA Golf Tournament Filling Up Fast!
n its usual “get r done” fashion, the SCIA golf tournament
committee is moving rapidly to produce a “once again”
great tournament. “This year’s theme is Super Saints on
the Bayou,” says Keli Bonvillain, Shamrock Management,
Golf Tournament Chair. “I am getting tripped about the
tournament, she continued, we already have our major
sponsors in place!”
“The team shirts and hats are hot!,” says Anne Le Jeune,
J. Ray Mc Dermott, apparel chair. “The music is going to be
great!,” says Philip “Doc’ Knoblock, Express Supply & Steel,
tournament co chair. “The prizes are awesome, as usual,”
says “Steve G”, Carboline, tournament coordinator. “The
food is the best ever!, says Robbie Naquin, Capital One, food
vendor chair. Other members of the golf committee who are
diligently working to make this the best SCIA tournament ever
include: Lance Trotti, Paul’s Agency; Kerry Chauvin, Gulf Island
Fabrication; David Dantin, Odyssea Marine; CJ Domangue,
DL Wealth Management; Liz Talbot, Byron Talbot Contractors,
and Tony Boudreaux, Allied Shipyard, board liaison. “I want to
extend a special thank you to SLEC for helping us get some
VERY SPECIAL team prize,” says Jane Arnette.
Last year’s teams have first right of refusal and have until
August 30, 2010 to turn in applications with money. There
is already a waiting list for the afternoon. As team slots
occasionally open in the afternoon, we move those from
the waiting list to the P.M., usually opening slots in the A.M.
The tournament will be open to the general membership on
September 1, 2010.
Meanwhile, we are accepting club house sponsors, golf
course green sponsors, and T-boxes. Kathy and Jane are
handling the sponsorship, so look for a call, email, fax or a
message written in the sky from one of them.
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YOUR BUSINESS
IS MY BUSINESS.
Get your business insurance from the same agent you
get your auto, home and life insurance.
CONTACT ME TODAY!
Stephanie Hebert
(985) 872-0201
854 Grand Caillou Rd., Houma
Allstate Insurance Company. Allstate Life Insurance Company. Home Office Northbrook, Illinois
© 2000 Allstate Insurance Company.
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Entergy Employees and Customer Advocates Seek Assistance
for Low-Income Customers and Oil Spill Victims
By: Kathrine Schmidt, The Courier
ustomer advocates and employees of Entergy’s
Louisiana companies visited Capitol Hill and Congress
July 28 to fight for increased funding for the Low-Income
Home Energy Assistance Program and for that assistance
to extend to victims of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The group, joined by individuals who have received
LIHEAP assistance during challenging financial crises,
took part in the National Fuel Funds Network’s Washington
Action Day for LIHEAP. The event aimed to raise awareness
of the program’s importance and need for strong funding.
LIHEAP is a primary tool that helps working-poor families,
especially those with preschoolers, and elderly or disabled
individuals who are struggling to pay for their heating and
cooling costs. Voluntary customer assistance programs
run by Entergy, other utilities and charities don’t have the
C
resources to meet the growing need.
“We have pressing economic problems in our coastal
communities. The oil spill has already affected thousands
of Louisiana families today, and the economic impact is
growing,” said Bill Mohl, president and chief executive
officer of Entergy Louisiana, LLC and Entergy Gulf States
Louisiana, L.L.C. “At current funding levels, LIHEAP helps
less than 20 percent of the Louisiana families who qualify
for assistance. We are urging additional funding and the
release of LIHEAP emergency funds to provide important
and timely assistance for families who need help now.”
Entergy is urging Congress to budget at least $5.1 billion
for LIHEAP during federal fiscal year 2011 and reauthorize
the program through 2014.
Southern
Recycling
838 Highway 182
Houma, LA 70364
Phone: 985-879-1700
Fax: 985-879-1400
222 South Railroad Street
Morgan City, LA 70380
Phone: 985-384-1960
Fax: 985-385-4844
7910 Main Street • Houma, LA 70360 • (985) 868-1660
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About F.L.A.G.
Future Leaders of America’s Gulf
SCIA News Bits!
By: Vinny Cannata
Kimray Donates to Fletcher’s New IPT Program
group of very impressive young people have formed
FLAG. We are an organization started by high school
students, directed by high school students, for high school
students called Future Leaders of America’s Gulf (F.L.A.G.).
Started right here on America’s Gulf Coast in Terrebonne
and Lafourche Parishes, our mission is to educate and
influence by delivering the Gulf Coast’s message in a nonpolitical, factual, and youthful manner.
For most of us, it all started back in Grand Isle during one
of the first weekends of summer vacation. After arriving on
the island and experiencing the miles of closed beaches,
we looked outside to see a massive motorcade passing by,
led by none other than the President of the United States.
It was then that many of us realized how significant the
implications of this oil spill would be, not just on our area,
but on the entire United States as well.
We are looking for new ways to help to spread our
message, Louisiana’s message, and the message of the
entire Gulf Coast. Part of our mission, as youth ourselves,
is to educate other youth in our region, some of whom
may not fully understand the lasting effects of the spill and
the federal response, an impact that while felt now, may
grow worse (without our participation). The reality is that,
very soon, we will be voting and entering what could be a
significantly deteriorated job market.
A
il and gas manufacturing company, Kimray, Inc.
recently donated one of its 2” SGT Back Pressure
Regulator Valves to Fletcher Technical Community
College’s new Integrated Production Technologies
(IPT) Program. The valve will be used to train students
in instrumentation, specifically the importance of
maintaining constant gas or air pressure on a system.
We at Kimray gratefully appreciated the opportunity
to be a part of the new IPT program. This is a much
needed educational tool for the oil and gas production
industry. It will help all from the entry level personnel to
the seasoned supervisors.
“Understanding the components and functionality
of the equipment used in the industry is critical to
educating our students,” commented Fletcher’s
Chancellor Travis Lavigne. “We appreciate Kimray’s
generosity in supporting our new program and assisting
us in providing quality education opportunities to our
students.”
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SCIA Makes Donations
CIA made contributions for $1,500 each to Restore
and Retreat and Terrebonne Foundation for Academic
Excellence. Accepting the checks from SCIA President
were Simone Maloz and Yolanda Trahan, respectively.
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(985) 693-5707
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'OLDEN-EADOW„(OUMA„,AROSE„,OCKPORT
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EXECUTIVE HEALTH PROGRAM
All in one day, TGMC’s Executive Health Program
provides a complete one-stop-shop with a
medical assessment and a preventive strategy that
will get you on track for a healthier lifestyle.
The program is designed for:
• Those who need a preventative medicine program to
revisit their state of overall health but have little time.
• Convenience: Appointments are coordinated and
scheduled in one day so patients can leave with a plan
to make their life healthier.
Your visit will be structured to meet your individual health
needs, based on your personal preference.
To make an appointment or for more information call:
985-873-3124
P.O. Box 2143
Houma, LA 70361-2143
PRESORTED
STANDARD
US POSTAGE PAID
HOUMA, LA
PERMIT NO 405