Making St. Mary resilient

Submitted Photo
After evaluating the Morgan City and Berwick area for strategies to diversify its economy, the Urban Land Institute panel in fall 2018 recommended making resiliency a regional export. The panel recognized that just as the river rises and falls with snow melts and storm surges, so too has the economic impact of the river on residents responding to the water challenges. As part of what economic diversification may look like in moving the community forward, a breakout group of St. Mary Excel met with potential partners in resiliency exploration. The focus of the meeting was to highlight the unique ecology of the Morgan City legacy oil and gas community. The group also discussed workforce development as a tool to equip workers with responding to living in a coastal community. The group will continue to meet to chart a course of action to advance the resiliency initiative recommendation of the ULI panel report. Shown, back row from left: Alice Pecoraro and Monica Mancuso, St. Mary Excel; Frank “Boo” Grizzaffi, Morgan City mayor; Cindy Cutrera, manager of economic development, Port of Morgan City; and Catherine Holcomb, St. Mary Excel. Front row: Charles Sutcliffe, chief resilience officer, Office of the Governor; Allison Clune, Nicholls State University advocate; Jay Clune, president, Nicholls State University; and Scott Hemmerling, director of human dimensions, The Water Institute of the Gulf.