2024 is shaping up to be another great year for new projects in the industry.
In Louisiana alone, over $100 billion in projects are planned to build clean energy solutions for electric cars, solar panels and more. The products made in our backyard are fueling the energy transition. Our latest labor forecast shows that demand is higher than ever for welders, scaffold builders, millwrights, pipefitters, electricians, engineers and technology professionals of all types. About 100,000 skilled people will be needed in the Gulf Coast through 2026.
GBRIA’s collaborative success
GBRIA coordinates amazing partnerships with education, government and our community. One such partnership is Industry Makes. This is the industry’s local grassroots advocacy network.
The initiative was founded in 2019, and Industry Makes became a 501(c)(4) organization in 2022. Industry Makes is a co-branding toolkit and a grassroots advocacy network. Industry Makes touts the notion that we don’t just make great products, we make communities stronger, healthcare accessible, higher wages possible and much more.
Bloomberg’s influence
The billionaire, Michael Bloomberg, has our jobs in the crosshairs of his political rifle. Check out the Beyond Petrochemicals "philanthropy" website and see how it is spending $85 million to shut down 125 planned projects. In September 2023, it celebrated one year with the shutdown of five projects described in a press publication. The speaker in the video on the organization’s home page states that there are enough petrochemicals, and we don’t need to make any more. This lack of understanding about the growing population on the planet and global markets is stunning. We do need more modern products from clean drinking water and diapers to high-performing cars and windmills. Industry is working with partners in trade associations, government and education to build bridges to a sustainable future, and we still need to use petrochemicals to keep up with demand, while minimizing environmental impacts.
If the Bloomberg organization wants to help solve the challenges associated with a sustainable future, it should partner with the petrochemical industry, fund research and work on improvements that can lead to step-change innovations. By coming out as an adversary, it does not seem like it has altruistic motives.
Industry advocacy
We can make a difference when new plant construction is proposed, and capacity expansion hearings are held. This is about supporting our communities. Bloomberg’s people come from out of state to shut down jobs for plant workers, suppliers and contractors, as well as other support jobs like doctors, police officers and teachers.
We, the people who work in industry, need to be at meetings that support our city, county/parish councils, school boards, tax hearings, land-use, zoning and environmental permit hearings. It speaks volumes when we show up in clothes bearing our company logos without even saying a word. The Bloomberg team successfully gets thousands and thousands of opposition letters, so we need people employed in industry to voice their opinions as well. We should write or voice our opinions to officials about what our jobs mean to our families and communities. We can tell them how our companies have positively impacted the community by building hospitals, cleaning up after hurricanes and much more. Our stories speak volumes louder than the activists from out of town. Local decision-makers want to hear from us because otherwise, the only voices they hear are from the opposition.
The solution lies in the grassroots advocacy network that Industry Makes has built. We’re starting in Louisiana but are working to come to your state and your town soon. Sign up today at industrymakes.org.
For more information, visit gbria.org.
