The Winn Parish Industrial Development Board (the board) swore in three new members as well as new officers at their meeting last Wednesday.

Long time board president Dicky Heard resigned from the board after many years of service. Robin Cummings, Owner of Six C Fabrication, Joe Evans, Financial Advisor at Edward Jones, and Jason Tarver, Senior Vice President and Regional Business Development Manager at Sabine State Bank, were sworn in as new members of the board by Winn Parish Clerk of Court Chesney Chandler.

Newly elected officers of the board are President Larry Bates, Owner of RYCA Energy, LLC, Vice President Robin Cummings, and Secretary/Treasurer Jason Tarver.

The board was created in 2006 to promote industry and develop trade by inducing manufacturing, industrial, commercial and other enterprises to locate in Winn Parish. It currently has over $600,000 at its disposal to invest in bringing industry to Winn Parish thanks to the payment in lieu of tax (PILOT) agreement signed in 2008 between the board and Jeld-Wen, INC, where in place of ad valorem taxes Jeld-Wen, Inc pays $50,000 per year to the board. This agreement is currently in the twelfth year of a twenty-year term.

The terms in which the board may use the funds to invest in or develop industry in Winn Parish are vague. The one requirement is that they have approval from the Winn Parish Police Jury.

Ideas explored during the meeting included identifying existing businesses in the parish that want to expand and thereby create more jobs and contacting some of the large mills and plants in the parish regarding companies they do business with that may be interested in locating to Winn Parish. They also discussed asking a representative from the Louisiana Economic Development and Central Louisiana Economic Development Alliance to attend a meeting to discuss ideas.

The board agreed to meet at least quarterly moving forward, their next meeting is on August 5th.