Stewart Enterprises to Add 115 Jobs in Jefferson Parish Company

12 Sep, 2020

Gov. John Bel Edwards and Eric Tanzberger of Service Corporation International announced SCI, through its Stewart Enterprises Inc. subsidiary, will create 115 new direct jobs based at the Stewart offices in the Elmwood area of Jefferson Parish. The new jobs will be filled by Louisiana residents and will provide an average annual salary of $47,000, plus benefits.

“GNO Inc. is excited to onshore these professional jobs to our region,” said President and CEO Michael Hecht of Greater New Orleans Inc. “Our team has worked in partnership with Louisiana Economic Development and JEDCO to help SCI understand the particular combination of cost savings and talented workforce that they will have access to here in greater New Orleans. SCI in Jefferson validates our strategy of bringing great jobs back to the New Orleans region.”

Founded in New Orleans in 1910, Stewart has had a presence in Jefferson Parish for over 100 years. After acquiring Stewart seven years ago, Houston-based SCI retained over 130 corporate jobs in Jefferson Parish. As part of this project, the company is retaining an existing workforce across Louisiana that has averaged 600 employees during the past year.

“Service Corporation International is the industry leader for funeral products and services, with deep roots in Jefferson Parish and New Orleans,” Gov. Edwards said. “We honor the heritage and success of the Stewart family with this expansion project, while also celebrating SCI’s recognition that Louisiana is a smart choice for growing its corporate office, accounting and customer service operations for the future.”

For information about applying for jobs, go to louisianajobconnection.com/companies/sci.

Louisiana Economic Development estimates the expansion will result in 37 new indirect jobs, for a total of 152 new jobs in Jefferson Parish and Southeast Louisiana. The 115 new professionals directly employed by Stewart in Jefferson Parish will perform finance and accounting functions. The company also plans to make a capital investment of approximately $600,000 to convert existing office space for the new personnel.

“Our New Orleans team has demonstrated strong performance in providing essential finance and accounting support for our company and our team of 24,000 associates,” said Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Eric Tanzberger of SCI. “We are pleased to expand our operations in Jefferson Parish and Southeast Louisiana and look forward to welcoming new associates to the SCI family.”

LED, the Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission and Greater New Orleans Inc. jointly participated in discussions with SCI about the project. To secure the expansion, the State of Louisiana offered the company a competitive incentive package that includes the comprehensive workforce solutions of LED FastStart^® – the nation’s No. 1 state workforce program – and a $200,000 performance-based grant to offset the costs of building improvements. In addition, SCI plans to utilize Quality Jobs Program incentives.

“We are proud that SCI has chosen to make this sizable and impactful investment in Jefferson Parish,” said Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng. “The decision to expand here furthers the SCI commitment to a strong presence in Jefferson Parish while also complementing the teams already located in our community. It speaks to their trust in Jefferson Parish as a destination for business growth and innovation. We look forward to a long-term partnership with SCI and Stewart.”

Some of the new corporate office functions coming to Jefferson Parish represent a recapturing of jobs from overseas.

“Through this project, SCI will bring more than a hundred domestic and overseas jobs into Jefferson Parish,” said JEDCO President and CEO Jerry Bologna. “We are ideally situated to support this and other reshoring opportunities, due to our strong infrastructure and dedicated workforce that allow us to support back-office operations of this sort. We are grateful to SCI for recognizing Jefferson Parish’s potential and continuing to invest in our community.”

In addition to the state incentive package, the Jefferson Parish Council is providing a local performance-based incentive of up to $300,000, paid in installments over four years, to further offset the costs of building out and equipping the space for the new jobs. The company will receive the full incentive amount to the extent it is able to meet annual job creation and job retention targets, as well as a Jefferson Parish residency requirement for a percentage of new positions filled.

Beginning with employment of 81 new people in 2020 and 2021, the company plans to ramp up to the full project employment of 115 new jobs by 2023.

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About Service Corporation International
Service Corporation International (NYSE: SCI), headquartered in Houston, Texas, is North America’s leading provider of deathcare products and services. At June 30, 2020, SCI owned and operated 1,472 funeral homes and 483 cemeteries (of which 296 are combination locations) in 44 states, eight Canadian provinces, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Through its businesses, SCI markets the Dignity Memorial^® brand, which offers assurance of quality, value, caring service, and exceptional customer satisfaction. For more information about Service Corporation International, visit SCI-Corp.com. For more about Dignity Memorial^®, visit DignityMemorial.com.

About Greater New Orleans, Inc.
GNO, Inc. is the regional economic development organization for Southeast Louisiana. GNO, Inc.’s mission is to create a Greater New Orleans with a thriving economy and an excellent quality of life, for everyone.

More information can be found at www.gnoinc.org.

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