Louisiana Announces Over $58M In Investment In One Day
Today, Louisiana Economic Development (LED) announced three corporate expansion projects that will create a total of more than $58 million in investment, and create or retain approximately manufacturing 600 jobs.
In Northwest Louisiana, BENTELER Steel/Tube Manufacturing Corporation will invest $21 million to expand its presence at the Port of Caddo-Bossier. The global specialist in metal processing will build a new threading facility for hot rolled seamless steel tubes, which will allow BENTELER to streamline supply chains for customers in the oil and gas, energy and engineering sectors. The company expects to create 49 direct new jobs and retain 347 current positions at its Louisiana operations.
BENTELER plans to partner with leading connection specialists GB Connections and Hunting to provide customers in the oil and gas industry with domestically designed, melted, made and finished seamless products.
“I’m excited that we are extending our vertical integration for Oil Country Tubular Good products in Shreveport with this threading facility,” said Kai Christian Zimmermann, Executive Vice President North America BENTELER Steel/Tube. “This will enable us to be even closer to our end-customers and our distributors. It is a reflection of our ongoing commitment to the industry and the region. Together with our partners, we will provide finished casing from the mill directly to the drilling locations. We will be able to reach both the Mid-Continent region and Rockies more competitively.”
BENTELER opened its first U.S. steel tube plant in Shreveport in 2015. It currently manufactures a wide range of products with a focus on Oil Country Tubular Goods. Main products produced at the Shreveport site are drill pipe, tubing, line pipe, structural pipe, couplingstock and casing.
“Economic development projects like this don’t only benefit the state’s economy through investment and job creation, but also by providing support to key industries in our state,” said LED Secretary Susan B. Bourgeois. “I thank BENTELER for seeing and utilizing Louisiana’s unique business advantages, like our port system and skilled manufacturing workforce, and reaffirming its commitment to our state and our people.”
Construction, scheduled to begin by the end of April, will be executed in two phases. The first phase will include installing the initial threading line focused on threaded and coupled connections, extending the finished goods yard, enhancing rail loading capabilities and improving infrastructure. The second will expand the facility to allow for installation of a second thread line. The second line is estimated to be online by the end of 2026.
LED offered BENTELER an incentives package including the FastStart workforce development program. The company is also expected to participate in the state’s Quality Jobs program.
“BENTELER’s continued growth and expansion at the Port of Caddo-Bossier is a sign of a healthy business ecosystem in northwest Louisiana,” said North Louisiana Economic Partnership President and CEO Justyn Dixon. “We’re extremely excited about this announcement and what the future holds for BENTELER and The Port of Caddo-Bossier.”
Estes Energetics Invests $7.2M In New Manufacturing Facility At Camp Minden
Also in Northwest Louisiana, Estes Energetics will invest $7.2 million to develop a new facility that will specialize in the production of chemicals critical to the defense industry. The project will expand the company’s presence at the Louisiana National Guard’s Camp Minden Training Site and support its mission to strengthen the U.S. industrial base with flexible, modern manufacturing processes. Estes Energetics expects to create 12 direct new jobs with an average annual salary of more than $70,000, while retaining 22 current positions at its Louisiana operations, Goex Industries.
“Estes Energetics is excited to continue growing its role in the U.S. critical chemicals industrial base in partnership with the Department of Defense and state of Louisiana,” said Karl Kulling, CEO of Estes Energetics. “We are expanding our Camp Minden operations, where we recently restarted the only U.S. black powder plant which is well-suited to this type of work.”
The new production facility will be located on the Bossier Parish side of Camp Minden in a 30,000-square-foot building owned by the Louisiana National Guard and subleased to the company through the Louisiana National Guard Foundation. The building has been vacant for over a decade, and will be repurposed to manufacture potassium nitrate, barium nitrate, strontium nitrate, strontium oxalate, strontium peroxide, potassium chlorate, potassium perchlorate and potassium sulfate. All are used in a wide range of industrial processes for the defense and other industries.
Goex Industries, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Estes Energetics, is the only producer of black powder in North America and has been operating in northwest Louisiana since 1997. In September 2023, the company was awarded a contract to become a supplier for the Department of Defense.
Construction for the project is underway and is expected to be completed mid-2025 with pilot operations beginning the following year.
“Today’s announcement is a great example of the positive impact that Louisiana’s support for our nation’s military and national defense can have on our state’s economy,” said LED’s Bourgeois. “Estes Energetics’ second Camp Minden facility will create good-paying jobs for our skilled manufacturing workforce, and provide the U.S. Department of Defense with critical materials they need to keep our country safe.”
LED offered Estes Energetics a competitive incentives package including the FastStart workforce development program and a $550,000 Performance-Based Grant for building and infrastructure improvements to state-owned assets. The company is also expected to participate in the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.
RoyOMartin To Invest $30M To Modernize SW Louisiana Timber Manufacturing Facility
In Southwest Louisiana, Martco, LLC, parent company for timber sourcing and manufacturing company RoyOMartin, will invest more than $30 million to install technologically advanced production equipment at its Allen Parish plant that produces oriented strand board (OSB) for the housing industry.
The RoyOMartin OSB plant is one of the parish’s largest employers. As a result of this expansion, the company will retain 232 full-time employees who earn an annual average salary of $75,000.
“Our Oakdale OSB facility has been a cornerstone of RoyOMartin since it produced the first panel in January 2007,” said Terry Secrest, executive vice president of manufacturing and product sales. “Throughout the years, the facility has consistently been the safest and highest-producing OSB manufacturer in North America. With the high production rates, the press needed replacement to meet the growing market demands. Given the strong workforce, timber availability, proximity to the fastest-growing housing markets, and Louisiana’s improved economic development climate, this $30 million investment secures the Oakdale mill’s status as a world-class manufacturing facility in Allen Parish for many years to come.”
RoyOMartin is based in Alexandria and has additional plants in Chopin, LA, and Corrigan, TX. LED offered the company an incentive package that includes a performance-based Retention and Modernization Tax Credit valued at $455,400.
“RoyOMartin’s modernization project is proof that our region’s wood basket is resilient and strong,” said Jonathan Dean, vice president of economic development for the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance. “This investment in the company’s Oakdale facility is a testament to the world-class workforce that we have in Allen Parish and in southwest Louisiana.”
