BP invests $4 million in offshore training facility in Terrebonne Parish

In Schriever Friday, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Chris John of LMOGA and other dignitaries celebrated the grand opening of the BP Integrated Production Technologies, or IPT, Building, a 4,000 square foot lab with state-of-the-art equipment.

State officials say one of the biggest obstacles when recruiting big business is concern about the skills of the work force. Now, a new offshore training facility is opening to help address those concerns.

In Schriever Friday, Gov. Bobby Jindal and other dignitaries celebrated the grand opening of the BP Integrated Production Technologies, or IPT, Building. The new home of Fletcher Technical Community College's Integrated Production Technologies program - which the Louisiana Board of Regents recently designated a Deepwater Center for Workforce Excellence - features a 4,000-square-foot lab with $500,000 in state-of-the-art equipment. "Today our challenge is how do we provide the skilled worker," Jindal said. "Seventy percent of the companies that want to move here or expand here tell us one of their two top concerns is finding a skilled worker, and that's why this system and these buildings are so important."

"Sixty K is only two years away," said Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet, referring to the school's slogan of providing a two-year education that can result in a job with a $60,000 starting salary. "We are booming down here. We need more people to work." BP invested $4 million in the project and the state of Louisiana provided a $4 million match.

The building has lecture rooms, classes with individual computer stations and a high-tech computer system that allows professors to create fluid dynamic simulations.

The IPT program will offer a two-year associate degree that prepares graduates for work both offshore and in land based-refineries and production plants.