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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

MECO Invests $11 Million In Mandeville, Louisiana, Manufacturing Facility, Creating 127 Jobs

06/14/2012
A purification technology firm, MECO Inc., will build an $11 million fabrication and office facility in the Gulf Coast City of Mandeville, Louisiana, creating 127 new direct jobs, while retaining 81 existing jobs.

MECO, with existing facilities near Covington, Louisiana, will developing its new facility in the Alamosa Business Park. According to Louisiana Economic Development the new direct jobs will pay an average annual salary of $47,000, plus benefits. The new Mandeville location will allow the company to better meet the demands of its water treatment customers around the world.

Founded in New Orleans more than 70 years ago, MECO builds sophisticated water treatment equipment for customers in the pharmaceutical, marine oil and gas, and defense industries. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed its Industrial Canal location in New Orleans, the company established new locations in Sugar Land, Texas, and Covington.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said, "MECO's Louisiana operations may have been disrupted by the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, but the company remained true to its roots by maintaining a presence in the state. The company could have easily expanded in Texas instead of Louisiana, but because of their ties to Louisiana, our strong business climate, and world class workforce, MECO decided to invest and expand right here at home."

MECO will complete work on the 80,000-square-foot facility near the intersection of La. 59 and Interstate 12 by the end of 2013. The company will increase employment while the facility is under construction and continue adding jobs until all of the 127 new positions are filled by 2018, LED officials said.

"This new facility is an opportunity to substantially increase our production capacity and further improve efficiencies," Meco President George Gsell said. "LED and St. Tammany Parish officials have been instrumental in not only moving this project forward, but in positioning Louisiana at the forefront of one of our most pressing environmental issues, maintaining a supply of fresh water."

As an incentive the state's Business Expansion and Retention Group, in conjunction with the St. Tammany Parish Economic Development Foundation, began discussions in 2010 with MECO about a potential expansion. To secure the project, LED offered MECO a performance-based, forgivable five-year loan of $500,000 through the state's Economic Development Loan Program. MECO will be eligible for a performance-based relocation grant of up to $450,000. In addition, MECO will receive assistance from LED FastStart, and the company is expected to utilize Louisiana's Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption incentives.

"This is a great day for St. Tammany Parish," said Parish President Pat Brister. "MECO has chosen not only to stay in St. Tammany, keeping 81 people employed, but is going to add new employees and new jobs. The residents of St. Tammany Parish are ready, willing and able to work with MECO and appreciate the confidence the company has shown in our parish."

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