(The Center Square) — Two companies promising jobs and learning opportunities for Caddo Parish students were approved to participate in the Industrial Tax Exemption Program on Wednesday.
The ITEP provides property tax exemptions up to 80% for 10 years to manufacturers in exchange for jobs, industry and economic growth.
During the Caddo Parish School Board meeting on Tuesday, Prolec GE LLC, an electrical energy transmission and distribution company, and Steel Forgings, Inc., manufacturers of butt weld fittings for the oil and gas industry, both requested ITEP tax exemptions for the next five years with a possible renewal of another five years.
Prolec already committed to this program last year as a test. Representatives said their work with school systems has gotten off to a great start. The jobs that their program trains are some of the highest paying in the area, averaging $27 as a starting hourly rate and an average starting salary of $90,000.
They also said with the initial work from the last year they went from 282 to 545 in new jobs trained and provided to students out of high school.
“What we are doing is we’re building the base of the future for our communities,” said Kevin Quinlan, the human resources director for Prolec.
They also said the program has grown so much that they no longer have to advertise it to students and are producing new workers at a very high rate.
“We’ve had no problems recruiting the necessary candidates from this district. The school board is doing something right because the candidates out of high school are fantastic,” Quinlan said.
Steel Forgings promised the board similar opportunities, including sending trainers to schools and hiring Caddo Parish students out of school.
The board voted to pass both ITEP tax exemptions.
Another long discussed motion was the transfer of $40 million from the general fund reserve to be placed in a special fund to be utilized for new construction of facilities. The actual application of the funds is to be decided by the board at a later date.
Some board members had concerns over the wording of new construction when there are problems in the schools that require funding but do not fit under that label, like updates on cafeterias, classrooms and other improvements.
Despite the concerns, the motion passed with a 7-1 vote and other board members promised this fund could still be used for those purposes if voted by the board despite possible confusing language.
