[StBernard] Landrieu Works to Stop Alexandria Postal Center from Closing

[Westley Annis]

Landrieu Works to Stop Alexandria Postal Center from Closing Secures
$645,000 in business development funding for Louisiana.

 

WASHINGTON - The Senate Appropriations Committee today passed the Financial
Services and General Government Appropriations bill with language by United
States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., to halt the closing of the
Alexandria, La., mail processing facility and to provide a $645,000 boost
for small businesses across the state.

"The Alexandria post office is centrally located between highways the
east-west highways I-10 and I-12, which ensures quick mail service between
north and south Louisiana," Sen. Landrieu said. "It serves 140 communities
in the area and bolsters the economic growth of the entire region. Today, I
successfully worked to thwart closure of this important community fixture.
We will hopefully soon say that neither snow nor rain nor bureaucratic
decision-making shall keep this facility from its work in our community."

The bill also provides $350,000 to create a Northeast Louisiana Business and
Community Development Center -- a joint venture of the University of
Louisiana at Monroe College of Business and the Louisiana Small Business
Development Center. The center will offer community development services to
advance entrepreneurship and support economic development through community
outreach, and training of community leaders.

"Northeast Louisiana's economy is growing in leaps and bounds, due in large
part to research at our universities and their partnerships with local small
businesses," Senator Landrieu said.  "This center will help these vital
small businesses access necessary financing and technical assistance to
propel this growth even further."

The bill includes $250,000 for Grambling State University to expand its
Minority Entrepreneurship Program to create business minority business
opportunities. Such a program existed for the Tallulah, La., area from 1997
to 1999, and the money included in this year's bill will expand this
successful program to other parishes in the Louisiana Delta region.

"This seed money will ensure that minority-owned businesses across the
Louisiana Delta are given a great new opportunity to succeed," Sen. Landrieu
said.  

The legislation includes $45,000 for the New Orleans Women's Business
Center, which has provided vital services to Hurricane Katrina-impacted
businesses in the New Orleans region. 

"The New Orleans region was devastated by Hurricane Katrina 23 months ago,"
Sen. Landrieu said. "In Louisiana alone, more than 81,000 small businesses
were damaged or economically impacted, with 18,000 businesses
catastrophically destroyed by the storms. Without the money secured in the
bill today, the New Orleans Women's Business Center would have to cut
services back just when we most need to give our women-owned businesses a
boost. This money will ensure the center can keep its doors open and
continue providing necessary services."

The legislation includes a provision by Sen. Landrieu requiring the Small
Business Administration (SBA) to report to Congress on how it can improve
the SBA Disaster Loan approval and disbursal process. In the report, the SBA
will also be required to outline ways to expedite loans to businesses vital
to a recovery effort, including manufactured housing and debris removal
businesses, and major sources of employment in the disaster area. Following
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, loan approvals in Louisiana took between six to
eight months to process while closings took an additional two months.

"This language will help ensure that the next time a disaster strikes the
United States, our businesses can swiftly and efficiently receive the loans
they need to get to the business of recovering," Sen. Landrieu said.

The bill also includes language inserted by Sen. Landrieu to place a
full-time international finance specialist in the New Orleans Export
Assistance center. 

"This specialist will greatly help our exporters because we will now have a
dedicated staffer on the Gulf Coast to help our businesses compete
internationally and expand operations overseas," Sen. Landrieu said. 

The bill will now move to the Senate floor.

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