Gov. John Bel Edwards and Bagwell Energy Services CEO Rodger Bagwell announced the company will create 150 new jobs in the next five years and make a $2.5 million capital investment at its Port of Delcambre fabrication center in Iberia Parish.
Bagwell Energy Services is situated on the Iberia Parish side of the Twin Parish Port District of Iberia and Vermilion parishes, also known as the Port of Delcambre. There, Bagwell Energy is expanding its services to the chemical manufacturing and liquefied natural gas processing industries, as well as serving its offshore and onshore oil and gas customers.
Through the expansion project, Bagwell Energy’s $2.5 million capital investment will add precision fabrication equipment for process industry piping and vessels, install new bridge cranes, and build a 15,000-square-foot addition to its fabrication center and a 4,000-square-foot addition to its painting-and-blasting facility. The project will retain 46 existing jobs while creating 150 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $74,000, plus benefits. In addition, Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 240 new indirect jobs, for a total of 390 new jobs in Acadiana and surrounding regions.
“As we see positive signs of recovery for Louisiana’s offshore exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico, and reinvigoration of Haynesville Shale activity in North Louisiana, this expansion by Bagwell Energy Services emphasizes the great leadership, ingenuity and talent possessed by our native oilfield and industrial services companies,” Gov. Edwards said. “We’re excited for Delcambre and for Iberia and Vermilion parishes that this expansion will bring more high-quality jobs to our coastal oil and gas industry and more support for our growing onshore industrial projects.”
Roots of the company trace back nearly 40 years, when Bagwell Energy Services built its fabrication business at a Louisiana Highway 14 location, then expanded in the mid-1990s as a Port of Delcambre tenant with new manufacturing space and a slip terminal on the Delcambre Canal that leads to Vermilion Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, where much of Bagwell Energy’s work supported offshore oil and gas production. After selling its assets to the Shaw Group 20 years ago, original owners Coleman and Rodger Bagwell led a buyout of the Port of Delcambre operations from Shaw Group successor McDermott in 2018. Bagwell Energy Services now is targeting chemical industry and LNG projects in a diversification strategy, as it also provides project support offshore and onshore in Texas, Louisiana and upper Midwest states.
“We are excited to be back at home in the Twin Parish Port,” said Rodger Bagwell, who earlier served as president and CEO of Rotocraft Leasing Company and helped build that Broussard, Louisiana-based transport company from a fleet of 15 helicopters to 150. “With this area’s experienced energy-related workforce, our waterfront facility and the investment into technical equipment, we have the competitive edge to succeed. Through a diversified customer base and years of experience in this industry, we look forward to many years of growth in the Twin Parish Port.”
LED began working with Bagwell Energy on a potential expansion project in August 2018. To secure the project, the State of Louisiana offered the company a competitive incentive package, including a performance-based Economic Development Award Program incentive of $250,000 to offset infrastructure improvements at the site. Bagwell Energy also will receive the comprehensive workforce solutions of LED FastStart® – the nation’s No. 1 state workforce training program – and the company is expected to utilize the state’s Quality Jobs Program.
“Bagwell Energy Services is exactly what we need right now at the Port of Delcambre – a respected growing company,” said Parish President M. Larry Richard of Iberia Parish. “I couldn’t be happier to see Bagwell back in Delcambre. We are certain that great businesses like this continuing to locate here will go a long way to grow and diversify economic opportunities for our citizens, and I appreciate the Bagwell family’s decision to invest in Iberia Parish.”
At its Iberia Parish manufacturing site, Bagwell Energy completes piping and vessel fabrication orders; builds production equipment, skids and modular enclosures for remote exploration and production sites; and performs blasting, painting and hydrostatic testing services. Bagwell Energy also dispatches trained crews to install, maintain and repair equipment at customer production sites.
“Bagwell Energy has been an important business partner in the energy sector for many years and is a known for its quality and innovation, creating many career opportunities for our community,” said President and CEO Mike Tarantino of the Iberia Industrial Development Foundation. “With this expansion, Bagwell is continuing to grow its business and workforce investment here and is showing, once again, that Iberia Parish is the place to be for growing businesses.”
Bagwell Energy owns 28 acres, including its fabrication and office facilities, in the Twin Parish Port District, while the company leases additional space for its hydrostatic, blasting and painting operations, as well as the marine terminal slip it developed in conjunction with the port.
“Coleman Bagwell and Rodger Bagwell continue to see the benefits of the site and have brought back life to this coastal community and are restoring jobs that had been lost,” said Port Director Wendell Verret of the Twin Parish Port District. “We at Twin Parish Port are working with the Bagwells to not only restore the original capacity, but to increase it and bring it to its full potential. We thank Iberia Parish Government, Iberia Industrial Development Foundation, Louisiana Economic Development and the Governor for making economic development a reality in an otherwise depressed economy.”
“For almost 40 years, Bagwell Energy Services has continued to innovate in the energy and manufacturing sectors, both of which are key industries in Acadiana,” said President and CEO Troy Wayman of One Acadiana. “This expansion exemplifies the ability of Acadiana manufacturers and the region’s outstanding workforce to embrace technological innovation and modernization to secure future business in today’s competitive oil and gas environment. It marks an exciting new chapter for the company, as well as the communities of Iberia, Vermilion, and the rest of Acadiana.”
About Bagwell Energy Services
A privately held, locally owned company, Bagwell Energy Services is located in Delcambre, Louisiana, and is managed by an innovative, experienced, hands-on leadership team. Bagwell Energy Services understands the critical needs of the oil and gas industry, and has reinvented itself with the sole purpose of becoming one of the premier onshore and offshore construction and fabrication companies serving energy, chemical manufacturing, processing and LNG industries. For more information, visit BagwellEnergy.com.