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St. Mary Parish
How SMED Can Help Grow Your Business in St. Mary
Our team of economic development experts knows all the ins and outs of St. Mary Parish: the thriving industry hubs, the up-and-coming neighborhoods, the tight-knit communities, and more. If you’re considering starting, expanding, or relocating your business to St. Mary Parish, count on us to serve as your guides. We offer business development services to help you build the foundation for your business’s success at no charge.
Explore Our No-Cost Business Development Services
Site Selection Services
Regulatory Navigation
Workforce Development
Access to Business Leadership
Incentives & Tax Credits
Customized Market Research
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The Ingredients For Success Are Found In St. Mary Parish
Welcome to St. Mary Parish! Located in the heart of South Louisiana, we offer a unique environment that is the ideal place to live, work, and play. Our business-friendly environment offers some of the lowest costs to do business, regardless of if you’re looking to start, expand, or relocate your business. In St. Mary Parish you will find low taxes, low utility rates, competitive wages, and robust incentives that are supported by a regional educational infrastructure that ensures as your workforce needs evolve so do the quality of your employees. In terms of accessibility, St. Mary Parish is the differentiator in the Gulf Coast region, providing easy access to interstate, rail, ports, and airports—both within and outside of our boundaries.
See Why St. Mary Parish Is Growing
St. Mary Parish is full of opportunities to grow. We work hard everyday to make sure that we offer the very best in order to provide the right ingredients for you. Here are a couple of reaons why St. Mary is the place for you.
Key Industries in St. Mary Parish
Companies come to St. Mary Parish and stay due in part to an exceptional network of key inputs and suppliers. Metalworking, maritime, agriculture, transportation and logistics and the application of technology to industrial settings are all major contributors to industrial fabric of St. Mary.
Metal Work
When it comes to the process of metalworking, few regions compare to St. Mary Parish. Feed stocks of plate, formed and rolled metals are within minutes of multiple fabrication and machining operation...
Agriculture
Farming is central to the economic base of St. Mary. With more than a million acres under production, St. Mary offers the infrastructure and support necessary for successful operations.
Technology
The application of technology to industry is part of the progressive pulse of St. Mary Parish. Computer aided design, the ultra precision of laser and plasma cutting processes.
Maritime
Access in and out of St. Mary Parish by water is one of the leading industrial attributes of the parish. The Intracoastal Waterway connects St. Mary directly with destinations east to west, north to south including rapid and direct access to the Gulf of Mexico and markets in Central and South America.
Logistics
The movement of goods and services into and out of St. Mary Parish is central to the success of the region. With such a high level of activity comes deep expertise in the processes of moving and managing goods and services.
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Quality of Life
St. Mary Parish has experienced a gradual increase in housing (23,657 units) according to estimates from July of 2018, in comparison to the 2010 census (23,028 units). 61% of the homes in St. Mary Parish, are owner occupied with the median value estimated at $106,200. Monthly owner costs with mortgage average about $1,073 while the average rent is around $775. 48.6% of homeowners spend less than 20% of their income on living expenses, followed by 13% whom are paying up to 24.9%, suggesting that the majority of St. Mary’s homeowners are living quite comfortably within their means.
Our Resources Are Available For You
Initiatives
A stronger community creates a stronger St. Mary, a stronger Louisiana, and a stronger nation. The way we live, work, and play is not determined by the boundaries of your town—neither should our approach to addressing our challenges. The foundation of St. Mary Economic Development’s mission in being a top tier community in Louisiana lies at our focus of supporting fact-based initiatives to improve our economic and community competitiveness.
St. Mary’s Higher Education Partners Build Skills for Today and Tomorrow
St. Mary Economic Development has developed deep ties between our local buinsess community as well as our local and regional institutions of higher education, ensuring that the workforce pipeline is consistenly recieving the highest quality education and training that is capable to support sectors with high-growth potential, a diversified economy, and the evolving needs of our existing businesses.
