Manufacturers directly or indirectly impacted urged to attend
In September 2017, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana (MEP of Louisiana) was awarded a $1 million, two-year grant through the United States Department of Commerce. The Louisiana Hurricane Harvey Manufacturing Disaster Assessment Program was awarded to help the MEP of Louisiana identify and provide recovery support to small and medium-sized manufacturers who are suffering from physical damage to their facilities, labor shortages, and other disruptions caused by the storm and flooding. The funds will be used for manufacturing clients in the following 12 disaster-declared parishes: Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Iberia, Jefferson Davis, Natchitoches, Rapides, Sabine, Vermilion and Vernon.
A Community Forum is scheduled for Natchitoches Parish manufacturers Wednesday, Jan. 10 from 7:30-9 a.m. at the Central Louisiana Technical Community College (CLTCC) Natchitoches Campus. It is located at 6587 Hwy 1 Bypass. The event is free.
The MEP of Louisiana will help identify obstacles keeping affected manufacturers from returning to normal operations and help them develop plans to recover.
Through various assessment tools, the MEP of Louisiana will select and focus on manufacturers located in these 12 parishes that have experienced some damage and are rebuilding, manufacturers who have had disruptions to their supply chain and distribution channels, and manufacturers unaffected initially by hurricanes, but who expect impact within one year due to short term and long term employee, customer or supply chain adverse impacts. For impacted manufacturers that are interested and selected, the MEP of Louisiana will provide business assessment and evaluation services to assist manufacturers that can include a review and recommendations related to all aspects of the manufacturing operation, including business practices, customer retention and expansion, quality certifications, cybersecurity, product line enhancements, manufacturing workflow optimization, and process automation.
Register for this event by emailing connee.byrd@mepol.org or calling (337) 482-6767 with your name and company information.
