Dollars for development said more needed than library funding

When it comes to economic development, it’s “boom” over books.
A proposed library tax for St. Landry Parish– which would finance establishing a parish- wide library system – is gaining no ground with one local economic development official.
Don Reber, volunteer chairman of the Eunice Economic Development Committee, said he is not in favor of proposal.
“We’ve got a library,” said Reber. “And anybody in the parish can use it. So, I don’t know why we need to develop another.”
Reber said that the Eunice-Opelousas library is already in place and seems to be working without additional taxation needed.
Reber is more interested in his own ox.
He said that tax dollars would be better spent on economic development planning for the city of Eunice. Reber commented on the matter prior to a presentation at Eunice City Hall, which hosted representatives from the Southwest Economic Development Alliance. The subject of the presentation was the impending “petroleum energy boom” destined for the Lake Charles area.
“There is some definite capital outlay planning needed for Eunice,” said Reber. “Up until now, we haven’t really dedicated any money to economic development. But, we need to. The entire Eunice Economic Development Committee is just all volunteer. We don’t spend any money, we don’t have any authority and we just give suggestions to the city. And the city has to give us the authority to do things. If we can get them to dedicate some money in the budget, we can get a professional person or getting to work in conjunction with other municipalities around here to develop a plan.”
Reber said that the impact of the Southwest Louisiana development will bring change to the Eunice area. He said that the change is something that he hopes that locals will be in charge of developing in time.
David Conner, vice president of economic development and international services for the Alliance, said that the coming boom in Southwest Louisiana will affect the Eunice area, with many of the proposed projects slated for Calcasieu Parish and Cameron Parish.
“Eunice is in the labor pool,” said Conner last week after the meeting at city hall. “The folks of Eunice and St. Landry Parish need to know that the impact of these projects is so big and can have such a wave effect that a lot of the jobs filled in Calcasieu and Cameron will be filled on the local level before these companies branch out, statewide, looking to fill positions. So, before they even go nationwide and worldwide looking for people, these companies are looking for people who are closer in proximity to these jobs and know the area.”
Housing will be one of the main focuses in the area, according to Conner.
He said that a lack of housing in Calcasieu and Cameron parishes could force companies and new hires to look at real estate availability in the Tri-Parish Area.
Conner said that the Southwest Economic Development Alliance – which represents business interests in the five parishes of Calcasieu, Cameron, Allen, Beauregard and Jefferson Davis – could act as a blueprint for good and useful information to help benefit the parishes of Evangeline, St. Landry and Acadia.