Chemical company moves base to La.
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DENHAM SPRINGS — Gov. Bobby Jindal welcomed the corporate headquarters of Bercen Inc. to Livingston Parish on Friday, saying the move would create 20 high-paying professional positions.
The $5 million expansion required adding 13,000 square feet of office and laboratory space to the facility on Eden Church Road in Denham Springs, the governor said.
The expansion creates 92 indirect jobs and is expected to generate about $4.4 million additional state tax revenue during the next 15 years, Jindal said.
The company’s corporate headquarters, laboratories and its research and development program all moved from Cranston, R.I., to Denham Springs.
Bercen, which is a subsidiary of Cranston Print Works, develops and manufactures specialty chemicals for the paper and paperboard industries.
It now employs about 50 people at the Denham Springs site.
Cranston CEO George W. Shuster told the crowd gathered at the opening that Bercen is a truly international company, exporting about half of the material it makes in Denham Springs.
Louisiana “has become ever more business friendly,” Shuster said.
Bercen decided on the move because of Livingston Parish’s proximity to the petrochemical industry, raw materials, the Port of New Orleans and universities from which it can recruit chemists and engineers, Jindal said.
Low taxes provided another incentive, the governor said.
No longer is Louisiana watching other states take away national headquarters from Louisiana, Jindal said, or “take our commodities and turn them into value-added products.”
A $500,000 grant from Louisiana’s Rapid Response fund also helped Bercen make the decision to move its headquarters and associated facilities to Louisiana, the governor said.
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