A growth spurt

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A movement is underway in the City of Ville Platte that will affect the residents in the short term with the availability of new jobs and in the long term, as well, with more tax revenues coming into the city’s coffers that will benefit services such as streets and drainage.
This movement is a rash of new construction projects that are going on at the same time around the city.
In his nearly 30 year career as a contractor, Joey West said, “This is the most construction I have ever seen going on at one time in the City of Ville Platte. This might even be the most I have ever seen in my whole life.”
West, who is currently constructing a new building for Ville Platte Iron Works, attributes the mass amount of construction projects underway in the city to the fact that Donald Trump became president of the United States back in 2017. “This would not be happening if Donald Trump was not in office,” said West. “A republican has deregulated the construction industry, and it is going to benefit us all.”
Besides the work being done at Ville Platte Iron Works inside the parish’s Industrial Park, additional work is being done on the north side of town. Further down Tate Cove Road from the Industrial Park is the new Hebert’s Boudin and Cracklins. While the new business is located in a preexisting building, construction took place inside the building that was recently Country Cove. “We’re so happy to welcome Hebert’s,” said Executive Director of the Evangeline Chamber of Commerce Renee Brown. “They’re saying the inside of the store is completely renovated.”
Still further down Tate Cove Road are McDonald’s, where a renovation project has also recently been completed, and the old Luke’s Meat Market, where Domino’s is going to be located. Brown said, “Domino’s is supposed to be here before the end of the year.”
The construction projects continue on the east side of town as a new El Charro’s Mexican Restaurant is being erected next to the current location. “It’s going to look so good,” Brown commented, “and it’s going to be a big, beautiful building. We’re so excited about El Charro’s and about its new building.”
Across the railroad tracks on the city’s west side, there is a flurry of additional construction projects. One of these is the new office of Dr. Jade Heinen, which is across LaSalle Street from Investar Bank. The other project on that side of town is the new location of Teet’s Food Store.
Being from Ville Platte, Teet’s owner and Evangeline Chamber of Commerce President Luke Deville said he moved back home from Baton Rouge because of the “pride” he has in Ville Platte and his desire to see it continue to get better.
“I wasn’t expecting to move back home, but one thing led to another and I ended up moving back,” said Deville. “One of the reasons I got involved in the chamber was because I wanted to see Ville Platte do better.”
Deville continued, “All of the construction going on shows that things are looking up. We’ve got a lot of things going on in Ville Platte and I think that momentum is going to carry into other municipalities as well.”
Other new projects going on around Ville Platte include Spa La Vie inside the old Pelican Homestead on Main Street, a new pediatrician’s office on Main Street that will house the practice of Ellis and Christina Landreneau, and a Chicken King restaurant.
Brown said about the spurt in activity, “I’m just in love with whatever is changing whether it is the economy or if it is just more awareness of all the good things we are trying to do in our area. I don’t know why we have so many good things happening, but we at the Chamber are on board with it.”
Also on board with the shift in the business landscape is the city’s mayor Jennifer Vidrine. “It’s wonderful to see all the new construction that’s going on in town,” she stated. “It speaks volumes for our people, our business community, and for our economy. Right now, we at City Hall are focusing on economic development because the more businesses we can bring to our city means the more prosperous we can be.”
The growth in construction projects is going to mean primarily more jobs for the city’s residents. This is paralleled with the increased number of job openings at existing businesses. According to Brown, there has been hiring at Cameron-Schlumberger, at Cabot, at Ville Platte Iron Works, and Union Tank.
Mayor Vidrine commented about the additional opportunities, “It adds more jobs for our local people, and that’s always a good thing when our local people can have jobs right here in the same city where they live. They won’t have to travel out of town to get a job, so I love it.”
An added benefit, according to Brown, is that more dollars will be kept here in the community. As she said, “It will keep property values strong and going. Every time people put money back into our community, they’re keeping where they live and where they have money invested in a business or in a home or in their children’s education strong. That’s what we’re hoping the affect is.”
“The money that is going to be generated in tax dollars (from these projects) is awesome,” she continued. “That means our fire department is going to be stronger and going to be able to have the force, staff, and equipment that it needs to take care of all of us. We’re going to be able to have a better workforce when it comes to our police department. We may even have more patrol cars and more policemen to take care of us. And, then, our schools are only going to keep getting better and stronger.”
Mayor Vidrine concluded, “I just want to ask the people to support the new businesses once they are constructed because, when they win, we win. With local businesses and local people, we all know each other, and it’s always great to do business with people we know.”