Center supports Benteler’s complex, other manufacturers
Gov. Bobby Jindal, Chancellor Jim Henderson of Bossier Parish Community College and Benteler Steel/Tube Project Director Patrick Guillaume dedicated the Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology at the BPCC campus.
The $22 million, 65,000-squarefoot training center emerged from a partnership between the state of Louisiana, Benteler and regional and local partners when Benteler announced it would create a $975 million seamless steel-tube manufacturing project two years ago at The Port of Caddo-Bossier.
The BPCC Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Technology initially will train workers for Benteler’s project and then will support training efforts for other manufacturers in the Northwest Region of Louisiana.
The Benteler project, which includes a seamless steel tube facility in its first phase and a steel mill with an electric arc furnace in its second phase, will create 675 new direct jobs with an average salary of $50,000 per year, plus benefits.
A Louisiana State University economic impact analysis estimates an additional 1,540 new indirect jobs will be created, for a total of more than 2,200 new permanent jobs. In addition, the Benteler project is creating an estimated 1,000 construction jobs.
At BPCC, Benteler can accommodate more than 220 employees at one time in the technical training space. The facility also features 10 classrooms for lectures and presentations. In addition to providing a training hub for Benteler and other regional manufacturers, the facility will serve as key instructional and training space for the college’s students. BPCC is one of the fastestgrowing community colleges in the nation, with current enrollment of more than 8,600 students, making this year the sixth consecutive year of record enrollment for the college. BPCC’s enrollment has grown by more than 86 percent since 2009.
“This cutting-edge new center represents just one example of the many projects we are attracting here in Louisiana that continue to move our economy forward. Benteler will serve the oil and gas industry and continue growing our economy for decades to come with this new 1.35-million-squarefoot manufacturing complex. The most important aspect of this center will be the highly skilled Louisiana men and women who are going to be trained here at Bossier Parish Community College for quality jobs,” Jindal said.
“The state committed $21 million to make this center a reality because we know how important it is to ensure we have a skilled workforce that is ready to fill the thousands of jobs being created by Louisiana’s rapidly expanding employers.
“Not only will we be supporting the establishment of Benteler in the Shreveport-Bossier area, we will be helping other manufacturers throughout the Northwest Region train more workers. This facility shows that Louisiana is open for business and ready to help more people get the skills they need to have great careers right here at home.”
For BPCC, the new training facility will serve students in the college’s Division of Technology, Engineering and Mathematics while supporting certification programs targeting manufacturing. Examples include the college’s new Advanced Manufacturing and Mechatronics program and C4M, or Certification for Manufacturing, both developed in collaboration with LED FastStart, the nation’s top-ranked state workforce development program. The $21 million state investment in the new center is in addition to more than $700 million committed by the Jindal administration for higher education projects at campuses across the state since 2008.
