Top 10 Stories of 2024: LC chosen for LNG Center of Excellence
Published 6:51 pm Wednesday, January 1, 2025
- The LNG Center of Excellence at McNeese State University began construction in May. The 23,000 square-foot facility was designed by Kudla Architecture, and the contractor for the project is Keiland Construction. Anticipated completion is the third quarter of 2025. (Crystal Stevenson / American Press)
In 2021, McNeese State University Foundation received a $2.8 million CARES Act recovery assistance grant to construct a Center of Excellence to serve as a hub of resiliency for the liquified natural gas industry.
A groundbreaking for the Center was held May 6, 2024.
Jason French, executive director for the center, said the purpose of the center is to create opportunities for McNeese students to work in a globally significant industry in their backyard.
In 2022, McNeese began offering an Undergraduate Certificate in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Business, the first program of its kind in the nation and the first educational program that will be offered at the center.
The Center for Excellence will include classrooms and industrial-grade training facilities where both McNeese students and LNG employees can learn, while operating process equipment in a safe, controlled environment. Additionally, it will feature facilities to host industry-related conferences, seminars and media events.
“The LNG Center for Excellence could have been anywhere in the country,” Mayor Nic Hunter said. “And it’s right here, part of the McNeese campus. That is an amazing thing.”
