Speaking at the Amite Kiwanis Club's weekly meeting at Mike's Catfish Inn in Amite on Thursday, July 22, Ponchatoula attorney Parker Layrisson and special guest Patrick Dufresne brought development plans and information about Port Manchac. The Kiwanis president-elect Kevin Raiford brought the meeting to order and, after a few announcements for the club, introduced his friend and speaker for the day Parker Layrisson.

Taking the stand, Layrisson briefly introduced himself and described certain things pertaining to his work interests before leading into his main discussion on Port Manchac. Layrisson highlighted some of the proposals and ventures in the works for the port, setting the stage for Port Manchac's Executive Director Patrick Dufresne. After a quick presentation of the director's experience by Layrisson, Dufresne stepped forward to speak about the port that he would perpetually refer to as the "diamond in the rough". Dufresne gave a condensed history of the port, bringing us up to speed and up to date. Then, pulling from the Kiwanis theme of community service, Dufresne articulated the future goals of Port Manchac to stimulate employment in the outlying areas.

The port has plans to bolster their infrastructure so that the port can collaborate better with the barging companies as well as the railroad industries. Among these developments are anything from railroad maintenance to better drainage to implementation of functional restroom facilities. These improvements to the port facilities interested businesses such as the Abellon CleanEnergy company, who are considering the prospect of using the port with their project involving pulp wood pellets, a product with growing popularity in Europe that burns cleaner than coal.

Dufresne made it very apparent that he had been working hard and researching many different aspects required in this upgrade to the port, including, but not limited to, his mention of anticipation for increased maritime traffic from the widening of the Panama canal over the next few years. Dufresne even brought up intents to expand the property area from the current 40 acres to a possible 140 acres using dredging processes.

As he wound his explanation back down, Dufresne came full circle by promoting the economic impact and employment opportunity all of these ambitions for Port Manchac would bring.