Mayor excited to see possible tire center in Franklin

When the planned tire distribution logistics center comes on line in Franklin in a couple of years, Franklin Mayor Eugene Foulcard expects the facility to provide at least 100 jobs, locally.
“But from what I also understand, that number will grow as the business and the logistics center gets to full throttle, they may possibly have 300 people working there,” he said.
Access to three carbon black facilities was one of the main reasons that Kumho Tire signed a contract with The Melis Gruup to construct the massive distribution logistics center in Franklin, Foulcard said this past week.
The deal and plans for the 350,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility were announced recently.
“We’re very excited about that,” Foulcard said. “I think one of the main things that really helped this entire development out was that they would have access to the carbon plants. We have three major carbon black plants — Columbian, Cabot and Degussa — which played a huge part in that decision to come into this area, and the Port of New Orleans. It’s about a hundred mile truck run from New Orleans to Franklin, and that was a win-win to get the tires offloaded at the Port of New Orleans and shipped to this logistics and distribution center. When they bring the tires in, from my understanding, they’re also going to pick up carbon black, take it back to the Port of New Orleans, and eventually they’ll be shipping that back to Korea to make the tires.”
Carbon black is a byproduct of the combustion of various petroleum products, and when added as a filler in rubber, it increases abrasion resistance and tensile strength significantly – which helps lead to a long-wearing tire, according to Goodyear.
“This is a big, big win for our city, but not only the city, but the entire parish — Baldwin, Patterson, Berwick — the entire parish wins when we have something like that, that comes to fruition,” Foulcard said.
The mayor said there was a lot of teamwork that went into getting the facility to Franklin including the parish, with President Charles Hanagriff and Parish Economic Development Director Evan Boudreaux.
“We all worked well together along with Rep. Vinney St. Blanc, Sen. (Bret) Allain — our legislative delegation worked very hard,” Foulcard said. “I know Rep. St. Blanc really put the iron to the fire to ensure that we could get this here in St. Mary Parish.”
Post-pandemic, the city has had more than 40 small businesses open, Foulcard said, as part of the Franklin Revitalization Movement.
“Those are small, mom and pop operations that have come into Franklin and have opened up, and that’s the lifeblood of the economy, that’s the lifeblood of Main Street, USA,” Foulcard said. “I’ve been very clear that as Main Street goes, so goes the rest of our community. We have a vibrant Main Street. We have a vibrant community, because as the tax base goes, so goes the rest of the community.
“Infrastructure, getting roads repaired, doing additional work at our parks and recreation, all of that helps our general fund out. When our tax base goes up, we can do the things necessary to make a lot of things happen throughout the community.”
Foulcard said he is very excited and eternally grateful that the community found favor to have the facility in Franklin, but it was a result of the hard work of the people he mentioned, and the fact that the carbon black facilities are in the area.
“They didn’t just pick Franklin out of the air,” he said. “I think geographically we provided a natural hub to the waterways, the rail lines, and also the Port of New Orleans. With I-49 and U.S. 90 being resurfaced and some great upgrades, that’s going to ensure a smooth ride from New Orleans to Franklin.”
Foulcard said the revitalization movement and the addition of the tire distribution logistics center are both part of an effort to address the city’s aging infrastructure. The city is using the hashtag “#underthelampposts” with all its positive news, helping draw tourists from Lafayette and buses from New Orleans to visit, shop and eat.
“It’s a big, big plus,” he said. “We’re just trying to do a little bit at a time. The only way we can eat this elephant is one bite at a time. We have an aging infrastructure system, and the only way we can address it is to do what we can, and do it within budget, and just chip away at what we can. So we’re working on it.”