New Louisiana International Terminal makes a big impact

The new Louisiana International Terminal is the only new deepwater port under development in America, and it is a strategic imperative for the New Orleans region:

• New Orleans was founded as a port city over 300 years ago, which means a world-class container terminal isn't a new idea; it's the original one
• Increasingly, modern cargo ships cannot fit under the Crescent City Connection since the bridge clearance is fixed, and ships have gotten larger (16,000 TEU versus 9,000 TEU)
• Working ports and strong communities go hand in hand, and St. Bernard has the same opportunity - Now, we have the numbers that show it

Greater New Orleans, Inc. formally released an economic analysis of the project, which shows what the Louisiana International Terminal (LIT) will mean for St. Bernard, the host parish of the new port:

• LIT will generate $33 million in new annual tax revenue at full buildout, a 58% increase over St. Bernard's entire current tax base of $57 million
• LIT will add over 4,300 jobs to a current parish workforce of 11,868, representing a 37% increase in jobs for the community
• The revenue will flow directly to the services St. Bernard residents depend on most: the school district gets $5 million per year, law enforcement gets $5.1 million, the fire district gets $2.5 million, and drainage and levees get nearly $1 million each year

The projections are conservative and independently verified. Three separate methodologies - LSU/Lewis Terrell & Associates, RAL Forensics, and GNO, Inc.'s IMPLAN modeling - were used to develop the forecast, along with benchmarking of existing port facilities.

Furthermore, Louisiana International Terminal continues to make progress. Recently, the private partners behind LIT announced they had formally incorporated as Louisiana International Terminal Holdings LLC, marking a major milestone in the project's development:

• Ports America is one of the partners. They are the largest terminal operator in the United States
• Terminal Investment Limited (TiL) is the second partner. Til is part of the global MSC Group, the largest shipper in the world
• Port NOLA retains responsibility for designing and constructing the facility, while the new LLC will manage operations