As part of Jefferson County’s strategy, the abatements awarded to the Motiva expansion set minimums the refinery must meet in using local workforce and diverse businesses in the construction process.

“This is a great, great thing for Port Arthur and we want to maximize the opportunity for the community,” he said. “We will use minority and women’s owned businesses first to make sure they get a piece.”

Motiva awarded a contract to Bechtel/Jacobs Joint Venture to manage the expansion project as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. Many contractors will come with their own workers, but to assist in the labor pool, Motiva is working with local agencies and schools to recruit and train future workforce and take full advantage of the job opportunities.

Many local sub-contractors have already been hired for the project.

“We will use anyone and everyone who is qualified and will supplement from outside areas,” Monette said. “But we’re not the only show in town and have to work to ensure the craftsmanship. That will continue to be a challenge but we have plans to manage that.”

And the planning process has proved to be the most important aspect of the expansion. Motiva budgeted and planned ahead for the increasing price of materials and secured critical items up front.

“Now we’re just waiting for fabrication and delivery,” he said.

Also in the planning process, Motiva worked closely with the City of Port Arthur, which he said played a role in the Thursday board meeting when the expansion was approved.

“We want to do what’s right for the area,” he said. “The commitment from the city leaders made quite a difference with the board. The power of the region was at the table.”

Although the board meeting was Thursday in Houston, the announcement of the expansion approval was held until around 1:30 a.m. Friday to coincide with the market opening in Europe.

Monette said while other refineries have talked of major expansions like Motiva’s, seeing how much work it takes could actually deter them from following through with their plans. But he hopes that does not happen.

“It’s good for the industry and we support it,” he said. “This is capitalism at its best.”