Governor kicking off ‘La. Working Tour’

• By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jul 9, 2009 - Page: 1A

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

Gov. Bobby Jindal kicked off a 64-parish tour Wednesday that he said will focus on job creation.

“Jobs, jobs and jobs. That must be our No. 1 priority,” Jindal told the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge during a luncheon at Boudreaux’s near downtown.

The governor said one of business leaders’ biggest concerns is finding a skilled work force in Louisiana. The concern is an obstacle to recruiting businesses to the state, he said.

A skilled work force is necessary, he said, to outperform the national and Southern economies.
In today’s global economy, a skilled work force will separate the winners from the losers, Jindal said.

The governor was critical of Washington, D.C., and other officials’ ideas for dealing with the economic downturn.

He said his solution is to create more jobs rather than spend more money or increase taxes.
Jindal said he wants to hear residents’ concerns and priorities.

The governor is launching what he is calling a “Louisiana Working Tour” to talk about economic development and job creation.

He plans to visit Monroe and Winnsboro today. The tour is expected to last several months.
Jindal told the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge that more than 32,000 jobs have been created since he took office last year.

He pointed to the V-Vehicle Co., Shaw Modular Solutions and other economic development projects.
One of the projects he highlighted was a north Louisiana chicken processing plant that was slated for closure.

Lawmakers agreed in May to spend $50 million from a state economic development fund to help Foster Farms buy the Union Parish plant.

Louisiana can boast having more jobs than when Jindal took office. But there are fewer jobs than a year ago.

In January 2009, a year after Jindal took office, there were 17,800 more jobs than when he assumed office.

However by May 2009 — the latest month for which employment numbers are available — Louisiana had 1.934 million jobs, or 15,700 fewer than a year earlier.