Halliburton plans new manufacturing facility to meet growing demand
With headquarters locations in Houston and Dubai, Halliburton is one of the world’s largest providers of products and services to the energy industry. With more than 75,000 employees in approximately 80 countries, the company serves the upstream oil and gas industry throughout the lifecycle of the reservoir – from locating hydrocarbons and managing geological data, to drilling and formation evaluation, well construction and completion, and optimizing production through the life of the field.
In 2010, Halliburton officials recognized the need to construct an additional manufacturing facility to expand its capacity for the North and South American shale markets and support the fast-growing Western Hemisphere needs of the oil and gas industry. The company’s initial search for a location for its new manufacturing facility began in several states.
During the search, Lafayette joined the list of possible locations. Lafayette has long been known as a prime location for energy production and services and was already home to a Halliburton facility. Strategically located near two major interstates and ideally positioned near Halliburton customers on the Gulf Coast, Lafayette’s infrastructure was well-suited to handle Halliburton’s new facility.
In addition to the existing Lafayette site, Halliburton operated facilities across Louisiana in Berwick, Bossier City, Broussard, Cameron, Covington, Dulac, Fourchon, Houma, Larose, Morgan City and New Iberia. Despite employing more than 2,800 workers in Louisiana, Halliburton executives could not ignore the talent pools offered by larger metropolitan areas out of state. Louisiana had to demonstrate it could provide the necessary talent, experienced in oilfield services and production, in order for Lafayette to be a viable option.
LED attracts Halliburton to Lafayette with workforce support
When LED officials met with Halliburton leadership in October 2010, they knew Lafayette was ideal for Halliburton’s new manufacturing facility. A site was identified in north Lafayette, strategically located near I-49 in an area of industrial growth.
Halliburton officials planned for the new facility to feature state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, including numeric-controlled turning and milling equipment and additional value-added services. These included heat treatment, coating and other specialty operations. The plans also called for the facility to provide assembling operations and product testing operations prior to the distribution of components to oil and gas producers.
With the state-of-the-art equipment and processes planned for the facility, Halliburton officials sought a workforce well-equipped to support manufacturing for the oil and gas industry. They also wanted the ability to quickly train this workforce in the new technologies. If Halliburton selected the Lafayette site, the project would require infrastructure upgrades.
To secure Halliburton’s new development in Lafayette, LED offered Halliburton performance-based financial assistance of $2 million to offset the acquisition of the site and infrastructure costs.
To address Halliburton’s workforce needs, the state offered the services of LED FastStart® – the nation’s No. 1-rated state workforce training program. LED also offered the use of Louisiana’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.
Halliburton selects Lafayette for new manufacturing facility
In April 2011, Halliburton executives ended their location search for their new plant. Company executives joined with state and local leaders to announce that Halliburton would invest nearly $65 million in Lafayette to construct the company’s Lafayette Completion Tools Manufacturing Facility. Executives announced the project would create 150 new direct jobs for the location by 2012.
Soon after the announcement was made, the company quickly made use of the performance-based assistance for infrastructure upgrades. Though the site was ideally located in Lafayette near a major interstate, a drainage canal ran diagonally through the property. The state support allowed for the canal to be redirected, and construction on the facility began soon after.
To facilitate the company’s recruitment process, LED FastStart provided resources for Halliburton’s Virtual Job Fair, including recruiting videos and interview guides. LED FastStart also provided new employee orientation materials, including safety training and production skills training, and several leadership training classes in team building, conflict management, working styles for leaders and performance coaching.
Company executives joined with state leaders again to dedicate the new 200,000-square-foot facility in August 2012.
“With Lafayette’s strong workforce and economy, access to major transportation zones, and the LED FastStart program that helped to hire and train our employees, this is a good place to grow our business.”
Marc Edwards
Senior Vice President (2010-2013)