But $2 billion plant may bring 5,000 new jobs
Unemployment continues to rise in St. Charles, St. James and St. John Parishes, but some relief may soon be on the way after Nucor Steel decided to build a $2 billion plant in St. James.
The company applied for its permit in May to begin construction for an iron making facility that could employ several thousand residents in the River Parishes.
Sharon Simpkins, the Work Force Investment director for all three parishes, says the steel company will need at least 5,000 workers starting out, possibly even more.
“I’m very concerned about the amount of people we’re seeing unemployed in the River Parish area, but the plant coming into St. James Parish will be an excellent opportunity for residents to get employment,” Simpkins said. “Last year at this point, St. Charles Parish had an unemployment rate of 3.6 percent and now that rate is 4.2 percent and still rising.”
Simpkins said she’s been keeping in contact with St. James Parish President Dale Hymel about the plant and the amount of workers that will be needed.
“We are in constant communication and he informed me that he will have the Department of Environmental Quality permit secured next month for the plant,” she said. “The plan to start construction could come as early as December.”
In St. James, the unemployment rate increased by 2 percent going from 6.2 to 8.2 and in St. John parish there was a 3 percent increase in unemployment.
“St. James is the parish with the highest unemployment rate,” she said. “Their jobless rate is consistently higher than the other parishes because there aren’t as many small to medium sized businesses in the area to help them in terms of growth.”
Although industry is plentiful in St. Charles Parish, Simpkins said that small businesses that make up most of the area can’t afford to hire workers and are struggling to stay afloat.
“Employers are having a hard time because of the minimum wage increase and high gas prices,” she said. “Small to medium sized businesses are feeling the impacts.”
Hurricane Gustav didn’t help matters either.
“We processed more than 2,000 unemployment claims for residents due to loss of work on the days people were forced to evacuate and weren’t able to return to work immediately following the storm,” Simpkins said. “But we were much better off than we were for Hurricane Katrina.”
Simpkins says unemployment checks are available to everyone, but only if the employer will agree to pay.
“Everyone can apply for unemployment if they quit a job or they get fired,” she said. “But the owner of that business will have to agree to pay the benefits.”
However, if a company shuts down, that’s not the employee’s fault.
“In that case a company will be forced to pay,” she said. “If someone gets laid off, or a business closes because of financial failure or other reasons, then the owner will have to pay unemployment benefits to the employees.”
Simpkins said a judge acts as a mediator when an employer feels he doesn’t have to pay benefits to an employee that was fired or just quit the company.
“We are trying to turn the unemployment rate around in the River Parishes,” she said. “We just got funding from the federal government that is geared towards providing some relief to our small businesses.”
Simpkins said she received $196,000 in funding to be used in various programs. For example, a small business that hires a worker and pays a salary of $10 per hour could be reimbursed half of the money for the employee’s salary for six months. In order to be eligible for the program, that person would have to have filed an unemployment claim and be registered at the Work Force Investment Office in St. Charles Parish.
“We currently have available $196,000 and part of that is used for the program and other job-generating parish programs,” she said. “We were able to hire temporary workers to assist with debris cleanup in the parish and we hired a case manager to oversee those employees.”
Simpkins doesn’t want her office to be known as the unemployment office.
“We don’t like that title,” she said. “We’re the employment office for the River Parishes and our goal is to get people working again and help to keep them employed.”
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