A day after the groundbreaking on a $350 million SNF Flopam plant south of Plaquemine, Parish President J. Mitchell Ourso Jr. said he would call on the company to hold a job fair for local residents interested in filling the expected 500 permanent, well-paying jobs.
“I expect to get with them on that, since we were a big driving force in getting them located here,” Ourso said. He wants the Iberville Parish Council to co-sponsor the event at the Carl F. Grant Civic Center.
During a five-year construction period, SNF Flopam expects to hire 250 construction workers, and to buy construction materials from local and state vendors. The first unit is expected to go on line by the third quarter of next year.
At full operations by 2015, operating as Flopam Inc., the company expects to have a workforce of some 500 direct employees and 100 permanent contractors. Direct employees can expect average salaries of more than $57,000, plus benefits.
Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Gov. Mike Foster, SNF Holding Company President Peter Nichols and other local and state officials who were instrumental in negotiations to locate the plant in Iberville Parish joined Ourso at the groundbreaking.
“This facility is the largest, single greenfield investment in the history of our company,” Nichols said. “We've reached this significant point in our project with tremendous support from the State of Louisiana and so many individuals in Iberville Parish.”
Flopam will manufacture a water-soluble polymer commonly used to help remove impurities from water and wastewater.
According to the company, the product, polyacrylamide, also has been used in oil and natural gas drilling, and has had successful use in enhanced oil recovery.
To serve customers in the oil and gas industry, SNF plans to locate an oil and gas engineering group in Plaquemine. Initially, the group will include some 20 engineers, project managers and support staff.
“We look forward to executing our construction plans over the next few years and having a lasting impact on the parish and state,” Nichols said.
An LSU economic impact analysis suggests the facility will inject more than $3.7 million into the state's economy, and that the project will generate $107 million in state tax revenue and $29.9 million in local tax revenue over the next 15 years.
“Since day one, we have aggressively pursued new business development prospects so that we can create good paying jobs for our people. Flopam's decision to invest in the Capital Region is a major economic development win for Louisiana,” Jindal said.
