Photo Caption: Port of South Louisiana Executive Director Paul Aucoin during SLC’s briefing
Reserve, LA — The Port of South Louisiana held a briefing for the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC), a collective of legislators from 15 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. It is one of four regional groups operating under The Council of State Governments (CSG), an organization that encourages intergovernmental cooperation among its member states. Interested in gathering information about port policies, today’s visiting delegation was comprised of Senators Jeff Mullis and Steve Gooch from Georgia, Senator Paul Wieland from Missouri, Senator Dave Marsden from Virginia, and Sujit CanagaRetna, SLC’s Fiscal Policy Manager. The purpose of their visit was to learn more about operations at the Port of South Louisiana, particularly the expansion of cargo facilities, the enhancement of intermodal capacities, preparations related to the expansion of the Panama Canal, working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and funding of port expansion.
During the meeting held at the Port’s Guesthouse, Executive Director Paul G. Aucoin gave a presentation on the Port of South Louisiana, and provided a tour of Globalplex Intermodal Terminal, the Port’s public cargo facility, and a boat tour of part of the port district. In attendance were members of Louisiana’s legislature, like Senator Gary Smith and Louisiana State Representatives Gregory Miller, Randal Gaines, and Edward Price. Also present were Port of South Louisiana Commission President D. Paul Robichaux as well as Commissioners Judy Songy and Patrick Sellars.
This visit was made possible by the efforts of Senator Gary Smith, who met with Mr. CanagaRetna last May. “I am extremely happy to have a delegation of southern legislators from SLC visiting our great state and port district,” said Senator Gary Smith. “The SLC represents many great ports so I consider it an honor and proof of the dedication and level of service we offer at the Port of South Louisiana for them to choose to visit our port.”
Along with the aforementioned topics of discussion, the delegation inquired about the Port’s industrial revenue bonds, the effects of Louisiana tax exemptions, particularly property tax exemptions, offered to incoming industry, and the process by which commissioners are selected to serve on the Port’s board.
“What we heard and saw today reinforces the importance of ports not only to the local and regional economy, but nationally as well,” said Sujit CanagaRetna of the visit. “It reiterates to our legislators how critical infrastructure upgrades are in this 21st century economy.”
“It was a pleasure to join Senator Gary Smith in welcoming the SLC legislators to the Port of South Louisiana,” said Executive Director Paul Aucoin. “It was a wonderful opportunity to showcase our port to legislators from our neighboring states.”
Photo Caption: Louisiana Senator Gary Smith during SLC’s briefing
Photo Caption: Pictured L-R: Port of South Louisiana (PSL) Deputy Director Roy Quezaire, Louisiana Representative Edward Price, Louisiana Representative Randal Gaines, Louisiana Senator Gary Smith, PSL Director of Business Development Linda Prudhomme, PSL Commission President D. Paul Robichaux, PSL Commissioner Patrick Sellars, Missouri Senator Paul Wieland, PSL Commissioner Judy Songy, Louisiana Representative Gregory Miller, Georgia Senator Jeff Mullis, Georgia Senator Steve Gooch, SLC Fiscal Policy Manager Sujit CanagaRetna, Virginia Senator Dave Marsden, and PSL Executive Director Paul Aucoin
Photo Caption: Pictured L-R: SLC Fiscal Policy Manager Sujit CanagaRetna, Georgia Senator Jeff Mullis, Georgia Senator Steve Gooch, Louisiana State Representative Gregory Miller, Virginia Senator Dave Marsden, Missouri Senator Paul Wieland, PSL Executive Director Paul Aucoin, Louisiana Senator Gary Smith, and PSL Director of Business Development Linda Prudhomme
About Southern Legislative Conference (SLC)
Founded in 1947, the Southern Legislative Conference is a member-driven organization and the largest of four regional legislative groups operating under The Council of State Governments (CSG) and comprises the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. The mission of The Council of State Governments’ Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) is to foster and encourage intergovernmental cooperation among its member states. In large measure, this is achieved through the ongoing work of the Conference’s six standing committees and supporting groups. Through member outreach in state capitols, policy research, international member delegations, staff exchange programs, meetings and fly-ins, staff support state policymakers in their work to build a stronger region.
About the Port of South Louisiana
The Port of South Louisiana is a 54-mile port district on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, encompassing the parishes of St. Charles, St. John and St. James. The facilities located within the port’s district consistently handle over a quarter billion short tons of cargo annually, ranking it the largest tonnage port district in the Western Hemisphere, the nation’s greatest grain exporter, and the number one energy transfer port in the United States. Along the 108 miles of deep-water frontage on both banks of the river there are seven grain transfer facilities, four major oil processing plants, 11 petrochemical manufacturing facilities and several other facilities for a total of more than 50 docks owned and operated by an impressive group of resident tenants such as ADM, ArcelorMittal, Dow, Cargill, DuPont, Motiva Enterprises, Marathon, Shell, Nucor Steel., Occidental, Valero, and Occidental Chemical. To learn more, visit us at www.portsl.com, like us on Facebook, and follow us on LinkedIn.
For more information about this particular topic or about the Port of South Louisiana, contact Alexandra “Alex” Hernández, Public Information Officer, at 985-652-9278 or ahernandez@portsl.com.
