INVESTING IN FUTURE TECH - LSU in Shreveport announced Tuesday that it will receive a $3 million dollar investment to be used towards advancing education for high technology careers. A press conference was held yesterday in the campus collaboratory featuring several state and local officials. The investment is a cooperative endeavor agreement of $1.2 million dollars from the department of Louisiana Economic Development and $2 million from LSUS. Don Pierson, Secretary for LED explained the incentive behind the investment.
"As we compete across the nation, across the globe, workforce is the coin of the realm," Pierson said. "If
you don't have talented people to do the more technologically advanced jobs of tomorrow, industry is going to find another place to be."
LSUS Chancellor Larry Clark offered a break-down of how the investment would be applied.
"For our students, for K-12 students, for teachers of K-12 students, and engage with industry," Clark said. "So we're really excited about today and the ability to have further seed money to help us to grow where we seek to go."
". . . we will be a magnet drawing in talent from out of state to come to northwest Louisiana." Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards was on hand for the press conference. He took questions from reporters and explained how this investment in LSUS can grow a highly trained workforce to attract new businesses to Louisiana.
"So if we have the talent, we know the investment is going to come, the opportunity is going to come," Edwards explained. "In fact we will be a magnet drawing in talent from out of state to come to northwest Louisiana."
The Cooperative Endeavor Agreement covers four years through the 2023-24 academic year. LSUS has recently announced that it has becoming the fastest growing higher education institutions in the state as it has broken past enrollment records with a fall enrollment of almost 10,000 students in spite of the coronavirus pandemic.