First Person with Dr. Dan Groft: Associate Professor of Economics and Director of the Drew CBEA

Dan Groft, PhD was born in Lafayette, Louisiana. His father, in sales, moved the family around a bit, but Groft primarily grew up near Cincinnati, Ohio. But it was those family ties that prompted him to return to Louisiana and get his doctorate degree at LSU. He was hired by McNeese State University in 2011 as an assistant professor, where he worked for two years. He left that role to serve as the economist at Louisiana Economic Development, where for four years he provided economic research services and produced statistical data, frequent economic reports and analyses for use by regional partners, marketing staff, clients, the legislature, and other governmental bodies. In 2017, he moved to the Louisiana Department of Revenue. “These roles gave me a lot of background in terms of economic development, taxation, rules, and laws,” says Groft. When he learned that the H.C. Drew Center for Business and Economic Analysis (Drew CBEA) at McNeese was being revamped and they needed someone to run it, Groft felt he’d be a good fit. He applied and was hired in 2019. He says the Drew CBEA has been around for decades as a means to track the local economy, though it was a bit under the radar for several years. When Dr. Daryl Burckel was named president of McNeese in 2017, he approached the Chamber Alliance to breathe new life into the Center. The Drew CBEA is now a joint partnership between the Alliance and McNeese, and over the past five years under Groft’s leadership, has become a well-respected source for economic data.

Thrive recently sat down with Groft where he explained some of the nuances that affect SWLA economics, where our local and state economy is presently, and where it might be going.

What attracted you to the field of economics?

The first class I ever attended in college was microeconomics. The teacher was great. He really related it to our lives. I appreciated the way the science of economics relates to life, to business, to politics, statistics, the data analysis . . . it touched on everything.

What changes did you make to the Drew CBEA and how does the Center benefit our community?

We created and maintain a website where all the data is updated and available for download, with interactive graphs. We generate quarterly reports with data on the main economic variables for every parish in our region. We write timely essays on a variety of economic topics. We recently started the SWLA Economic Intel Podcast, where I talk to a variety of people in our region about our economy. It’s on Apple and Spotify. We talk to the media and keep them up to date on what’s happening in our local economy. From an economic standpoint, we live in an interesting area. Our region was the first in the continental United States to export LNG. Plus, the hurricanes and our recovery. It’s been a big thing, economically.

As an economic insider, where do you see the current state of our economy?

I see the state and local economy as having a slightly improved outlook. There’s a lot of action along I-10 and south of it across the state, but much less north of 1-10. Most forecasters are no longer predicting a national recession to pull us down with the rest of the nation but there may be a slowdown which could affect us. Southwest Louisiana will hopefully see continued growth throughout the next year as our area continues to recover from the pandemic and the storms. We are still not at pre-pandemic levels. We have been growing steadily since mid-2022, and hopefully SWLA will continue to grow through this year. Statewide, there’s a whole lot of uncertainty at the moment. There’s a new state administration, new federal regulations affecting parts of our energy industries, and a federal election coming up in November.

What factors are currently driving and impacting our economy?

State employment has been steadily increasing since the start of the pandemic, and we are almost at the pre-pandemic level. Unemployment is very low by historical standards. Our area’s employment has been on a slight upward trajectory since the middle of 2022. Right now, recovery efforts/comeback are still a big part of economic growth in the area. Since the storms, every industry, except construction, has exceeded its previous employment levels. The largest comeback has been in leisure and hospitality, which is great news showing that we are attracting visitors and people are going out more to restaurants, etc. Professional and business services have also made a great comeback since the storms. Manufacturing has experienced the second fastest growth since the storms. Our industrial base will always be a main driver of this economy, even as we look to diversification efforts. We can diversify within our industrial base. It would be nice to have construction growing more than it has over the past two years because that signals more residential homes and industrial activities. We still need population growth and a larger labor force to help us in the longer term.

And where are we headed? What is your economic forecast for our region?

Most economic forecasts are always changing. New data comes out, the forecast changes. Currently, most forecasts have us adding jobs (about 1,000) over the next year before reaching a flattening trend in the next five years. However, that could drastically change as new projects come online and the federal permit pause on new LNG export facilities gets straightened out. With new LNG facilities waiting to reach Final Investment Decision, these could result in a lot of construction jobs in the area and then permanent jobs to run them. We can also play a great role in the energy transition. You hear a lot about solar farms and carbon capture coming to our region. That will lead to more jobs and help sustain our existing industries. The LC Methanol II project is also huge. Finally, the new I-10 bridge is a great long-term project that will not only provide jobs but improve our infrastructure for long-term growth. Hopefully, when people pass that bridge, they will see a nicer view with more lakefront development (Port Wonder, Crying Eagle, etc.) and improved city and parish upgrades (LC Rebound, Just Imagine) as all these long-term recovery plans are implemented. So, our trajectory can really turn based on a few events which is why it’s so hard to predict the future.

How do you spend your free time?
I love music. I’m an International Blues Scholar from Delta State University. I love athletic events, especially attending McNeese State University games. My wife, April Broussard, and I enjoy traveling. And I’m just glad to be back in Southwest Louisiana. I really love the area.