The Alliance/Chamber SWLA is encouraging the Biden administration to “utilize resources in support of LNG facility projects by streamlining permitting processes and other means in order for the industry to grow and meet energy and national security demands.”

     Our federal government has announced an agreement to supply the European Union with 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas by the end of 2022 in order to offset the natural gas supply from Russia as a result of that country’s aggressive actions against Ukraine.

     Southwest Louisiana sits in an economic strategic position due to current LNG expansion.

The Louisiana Department of Justice is encouraging small business owners to consider ways to protect themselves from malware, viruses, ransomware and phishing.

          According to the state, 88 percent of small business owners feel their operations are vulnerable to cyber-attack.

      Here are a few tips the agency recommends:

• Create strong passwords that contain both lower and uppercase letters, symbols, and numbers for all networks and accounts that contain sensitive information.
• Install and regularly update anti-virus, network firewalls, and information encryption tools to scan for and counteract viruses and harmful programs.
• Establish basic security practices and policies for employees. Ensure they are implemented in ever part of your business.

Current headlines in the business and geo-political realm should convince residents in Southwest Louisiana that this region’s expanding LNG  infrastructure is more important than we may think.

Before COVID and natural disasters impacted the five parish area, our economy was booming as a result was  of a number of multi-million and billion dollar construction projects directly related to the LNG industry.