Lake Charles continues to be fastest growing area of the state

LAKE CHARLES, LA (KPLC) - 2015 is expected to be a big year for the Lake Charles area. Job growth is expected to not only approach but break through the 100,000 non-farm jobs benchmark.

"We think you're going to be the fastest growing area of the state for the next two years," said Dr. Loren Scott, Economist.

Dr. Scott spoke to a full house at the SEED Center Wednesday night. He predicts Lake Charles to gain more than 12,000 jobs in the next two years. That's up by 12%.

"That's because there are some huge projects. You have more projects announced than any other part of the state. It's something... I've been watching the state for 40 years and I've never seen anything like this," said Dr. Scott.

Of the 79-billion dollars of proposed projects in Southwest Louisiana, 30.2-billion are already underway. Scott said when you add in the Golden Nugget Casino and its 1500 to 2500 new jobs, it translates into big dollars for local businesses.

"I think if you're in the retail business, if you are in the service business, in the car business, if you are in the restaurant business - this is going to be a really good time period for you. This is a whole lot of new jobs. And as it turns out the only way to get people to come here is to start paying people higher wage rates. That's going to be good for all the businesses I just mentioned," said Dr. Scott.

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