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A Message from the LGA President

  • By: LGA
  • On: 01/25/2018 11:51:47
  • In: LGA
  • Comments: 0
2018-2019 Goals
As I sit in my easy chair at home on an incredibly cold south Louisiana evening with snow and ice falling from a 25 degree January sky, my thoughts are on the product and services the natural gas industry provides. We supply our communities, businesses, friends, and associates each and every day with a reliable energy source that warms our homes, cooks our food, dries our clothes, provides hot water, generates electricity, fuels vehicles, dehumidifies indoor environments and provides outdoor lighting.
 
The Louisiana Gas Association board of directors, members, and associate members contribute greatly to the economy of Louisiana by promoting the transmission and delivery of a natural product of the earth that is abundant, affordable, environmentally-friendly and versatile for many industrial, commercial and residential uses.
 
As I begin two years of service as your LGA president, I consistently think of the phrase that Atmos Energy's Louisiana Division President, Tom Hawkins shares with our leadership group often. Tom says, “There's never been a better time to be in the natural gas business than now.” With relatively low worldwide prices, a plentiful supply (thanks primarily to the United States producers) and a great safety record of transporting many Bcfs of natural gas without incident, we are truly in a great industry that supplies more than 25% of our nation's daily energy needs. My 36 years of natural gas operations experience has instilled in me the sense that our product is essential to the nation and therefore, it is important that we tell our story often to our neighbors and friends who do not recognize the value and benefit they receive from this wonder fuel.
 
The LGA delivers great educational offerings to our members throughout the year and hosts the premier pipeline safety conference in the Gulf Coast region. We support college scholarships each year through our LGA Golf Tournament and Crawfish Boil, Silent Auction and raffle tickets sales by board members. We offer superior networking opportunities throughout the year to our members at our annual Operations Conference and various trade show participation.
I would like to challenge our association members to increase membership by 10% in 2018 to be able to continue offering the valuable programs we currently enjoy. This year we are on schedule to complete our long-term project “Gas Leak City” a training cooperative project with the Louisiana State Police. At Gas Leak City our members can take an active role in training emergency responders in handling releases of our product safely, train their own employees in realistic scenarios that mirror operations in a typical natural gas system and build relationships with other natural gas stakeholders in the process.
 
Please reach out to new employees in your companies to become involved in the LGA through conferences, committee participation, and sponsorship of our many offerings to the industry. We need your experience and input to make the LGA even more valuable to all members. Come and help us deliver superior value for our association,
 
Yours in service,
 
David Raymond
LGA President

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