Louisiana’s agreement with Huntington Ingalls helps to secure the future of Avondale

On Tuesday, October 18, 2011, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ President and CEO Mike Petters announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to preserve operations at the Huntingtion Ingalls site in Avondale.

According to  Louisiana Economic Development (LED), the MOU details a commitment of performance-based state incentives totaling approximately $214 million over 10 years. The incentive commitment is based on an assumption of approximately 3,850 full-time joint venture employees and includes:

• job-creation credits;
• funding towards retooling and modernization of Avondale; and
• a comprehensive, customized workforce training solution to be delivered by the Louisiana FastStart program.

“This commitment between the state and Huntington Ingalls is outstanding news for Jefferson Parish, potentially saving over 3,800 jobs,” said Lucien Gunter, Executive Director, JEDCO. “We compliment Governor Jindal and Mike Petters for their tireless efforts in developing an agreement that helps to secure the future of the Avondale site and helps perserve jobs in Louisiana.”

LED and Huntington Ingalls Industries have been actively engaged in preliminary discussions with several potential partners in search of a viable and sustainable alternative for the Avondale workforce. Their focus is on major growth markets, such as oil and gas, offshore wind, commercial nuclear energy and/or commercial shipbuilding.