After breaking ground in October 2010, the Southwest Louisiana Entrepreneurial and Economic Development Center will open at 2 p.m. today with a ceremony followed by tours for the public.

Gov. Bobby Jindal and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., are expected to attend.

“After many years of planning and construction the SEED Center is complete,” said George Swift, president and CEO of the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance. “We are excited about the grand opening.”

The alliance will officially move into the SEED Center from its former Lakeshore Drive location next week. The first incubator business will move in Sept. 1.

“People who are interested in entrepreneurship and economic development should come out,” Swift said. “We look forward to showing off the facility and all of the organizations that will be apart of it.”

The $13 million SEED Center is a partnership between McNeese, the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury and the city of Lake Charles.

The center will serve as a hub for economic development for Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and Jeff Davis parishes. It has been dubbed as a one-stop shop for the creation, retention and recruiting of businesses and high-quality, diversified jobs.

(Michael Cooper / American Press)