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S. HRG. 114–553 

HOW SMALL BUSINESSES ARE SUPPORTING 

AMERICA’S ENERGY RENAISSANCE 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS 

AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

MARCH 23, 2015 

Printed for the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov 

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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP 

ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS 

DAVID VITTER, Louisiana, Chairman 

BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland, Ranking Member 

JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho 

MARCO RUBIO, Florida 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

TIM SCOTT, South Carolina 

DEB FISCHER, Nebraska 

CORY GARDNER, Colorado 

JONI ERNST, Iowa 

KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

MARIA CANTWELL, Washington 

JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire 

HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota 

EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts 

CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey 

CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware 

MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii 

GARY C. PETERS, Michigan 

ZAK BAIG, Republican Staff Director 

ANN JACOBS, Democratic Staff Director 

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(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

OPENING STATEMENTS

Page 

Vitter, Hon. David, Chairman, and a U.S. Senator from Louisiana ................... 1 

Boustany, Charles W., a U.S. Representative from Louisiana ............................ 2 

WITNESSES

Harder, Dr. Natalie J., Chancellor, South Louisiana Community College ......... 12 

Pellerin, Joshua A., President & CEO, Pellerin Energy Group LLC .................. 17 

Fenstermaker, Bill, Chairman & CEO, Fenstermaker and Associates ............... 22 

ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

Boustany, Charles W. 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 2 

Fenstermaker, Bill 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 22 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 24 

Harder, Dr. Natalie J. 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 12 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15 

Pellerin, Joshua A. 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 17 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 19 

Vitter, Hon. David 

Opening statement ........................................................................................... 1 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 32 

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HOW SMALL BUSINESSES ARE SUPPORTING 

AMERICA’S ENERGY RENAISSANCE 

MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2015 

UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS

AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, Lafayette, LA. 

The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 8:31 a.m., in Lafayette City Hall, 705 W. University Avenue, Hon. David Vitter, 

Chairman of the Committee, presiding. 

Present: Senator Vitter. 

Also Present: Representative Boustany. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DAVID VITTER, CHAIRMAN, 

AND A U.S. SENATOR FROM LOUISIANA 

Chairman VITTER. Welcome to everybody, and thanks for being 

here. 

Why don’t we all get started in the right frame of mind and the 

right frame of heart by standing for a prayer, and please remain 

standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag right after the 

prayer. 

But first we’ll be led in prayer by Pastor Steve Stone with First 

Baptist Church. 

Pastor. 

Pastor STONE. Let us pray. Father, we begin this Monday morning, the beginning of the new week, with renewed hope and faith 

and trust. It’s not always easy to come by, so we rely on Your 

strength for that. We are reminded of the words of the psalmist, 

‘‘From whist cometh our help,’’ and the echoing reply, ‘‘Our help 

comes from the Lord.’’ Be ever mindful of that today. 

We would be prayerful today for many things, but today we petition You for freedom. We pray for the release of those who have 

been unfairly and unjustly imprisoned because of their faith in Almighty God. We pray that justice would flow in these matters. 

For the purposes that bring us here today, we pray that You 

would give us wisdom and insight into the matters that are talked 

about today. 

We are always mindful of our folks in the military, men and 

women who have left their spouses and children and parents and 

serve us, and we’ve been recently reminded that they’re not always 

in danger in a foreign land but in training here in these United 

States. Watch over them. 

Ultimately we pray, oh God, for Your will to be done on Earth 

even as it is in heaven. Amen. 

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Chairman VITTER. Amen. 

Thank you, and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance to 

the flag. We will be led in the Pledge by our Police Chief here in 

Lafayette, Jim Craft. 

Chief. 

[Pledge of Allegiance.] 

Thank you, Chief. 

Please be seated. 

I also want to recognize Dee Stanley, the Chief Administrative 

Officer of the City of Parish, and Chad Sonnier with the Lafayette 

Fire Department. 

[Applause.] 

Welcome again. This is sort of a combination town hall meeting 

and field hearing of the Senate Committee on Small Business and 

Entrepreneurship, and our main topic today is how small businesses are supporting America’s energy renaissance. 

I am really so happy to be joined by our congressman here, Congressman Charles Boustany, for this important town hall and field 

hearing. 

Let me go over exactly how this is going to work, and then I’ll 

throw it over to Charles for some opening comments. 

So after our initial opening comments—and I’ll have some after 

Charles about the topic that our witnesses are going to speak on, 

small businesses’ role in the energy industry and growing the energy economy—after those opening statements, we’ll go to your 

comments and questions. And if you haven’t already, we’re passing 

out a form. 

Where is my staff? 

We’re passing out a form. If you haven’t already, jot down your 

comment or question, your topic, and hand it over to us, and we’ll 

try to get through as many comments and questions as possible. 

Hopefully, most of them are on topic. We want to mostly talk about 

the energy economy, growing energy jobs as a part of our economic 

growth in general in Louisiana, but we’ll certainly take other topics 

as well. 

Then, after about 30 to 40 minutes of that, we’ll introduce our 

key panelists today. We have three great witnesses who know a lot 

about the energy economy and the tie-in with small business. They 

will each present testimony of about 5 minutes, and then following 

their testimony Charles and I will question them and have a discussion with them on the topic. So that’s how this morning will 

proceed. 

Charles, do you have any opening thoughts? 

STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE CHARLES W. BOUSTANY, 

JR., A U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM LOUISIANA 

Representative BOUSTANY. Well, thank you, David. Thanks for 

your leadership of the Small Business Committee in the Senate, 

the committee that deals with small business and entrepreneurship, something we know a lot about in Louisiana given that our 

state has led, especially in the energy sector. I think this is just 

a very valuable forum for the two of us to hear from all of you directly, but also to hear from some very important witnesses, the 

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panelists here who know what’s going on from a Louisiana perspective. 

So I’m just truly honored to be here with you, to share the stage 

with you, and to try to answer questions. 

Chairman VITTER. Right. Thanks, Charles. 

Let me make a few opening comments about our topic. 

Chairman VITTER. I became chair of the Senate Committee on 

Small Business and Entrepreneurship in January. So the first 

thing I wanted to do was really bring the committee and our committee activities to the real world, including Louisiana. So that’s 

why we’re having a committee event here in Louisiana. It’s certainly not going to be our only one, as well. 

Again, today’s discussion is focusing on the changes going on particularly in this part of the state and to the west of here as a result 

of capital investments in the region, particularly in our energy 

economy, and how we can take up that opportunity to grow jobs 

through small business. 

The first slide up here shows that throughout the abysmal economic recovery nationally—and that’s been held back by a lot of 

Federal policies—our domestic energy industry has actually continued to create jobs and new revenues, the majority of which can actually be attributed to small firms and contractors. So small business is at the heart of this economic renaissance. 

This next slide shows that it’s estimated that nearly 1 million 

Americans work directly in the oil and gas industry, with about 10 

million jobs associated more broadly with that industry. 

Now, in order to better coordinate the efforts that allow small 

businesses to support our energy industry, I think it’s imperative 

that there is an open line of communication between these regional 

business leaders and folks at the Federal level. 

Slide 3 shows that Louisiana will receive roughly $80 billion in 

new and expanding development over the next few years. These are 

some of the Louisiana projects on tap just in this part of the state 

and to the west of here. Just in this part of the state and to the 

west, it totals $63 billion. Statewide, it totals over $80 billion. 

But the economic growth in this region is not without its own set 

of challenges. At the current rate, Louisiana can’t meet our workforce development needs, our needs to train up skilled workers. So 

that’s a real problem, and the next slide goes to that point. 

So right now, unfortunately, our jobs are outpacing training. 

That’s sort of a good problem to have, but it’s still a challenge, it’s 

still a problem. So we need to meet those workforce development 

needs. 

Beyond those challenges are regulatory challenges, and that’s 

usually being put on the state by the Federal Government by overregulation at the Federal level, and this is a direct result of President Obama’s leadership and over-regulation through Federal 

agencies like the EPA. 

What businesses need to thrive is a strong but restrained regulatory system that doesn’t impede their growth. A 2010 Small Business Administration study found that Federal regulations cost 

American businesses $1.75 trillion annually, and that clearly adversely affects small businesses, and the smaller they are, the more 

that regulatory burden is. So we need to ensure that our regulatory 

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environment doesn’t interfere with this important part of our economy. 

So those are some of the things that we’re going to be talking 

about today. 

With that, let’s get to your comments and questions, as I promised, and we’ll have sort of the town hall meeting portion of this 

morning’s portion of our discussion, and then in a little bit I’ll introduce our witnesses. 

Let’s start with your comments and questions. If you haven’t already, if you need a form to fill out, just raise your hand. We’ll get 

those to you, and just pass them up to me. 

When I come to you, if you could stand up so we can have a good 

discussion. 

Leland Jans—where is Leland?—asking about Common Core. 

Why don’t you elaborate, sir? 

Mr. JANS. Well, I really don’t know much about Common Core, 

and I don’t understand what all the fuss is. The governor was 

going to start supporting it. Now he doesn’t support it. What all are 

the questions about Common Core? 

Chairman VITTER. Yes. Well, that’s a big topic. I’m running for 

governor now, so I’ll take that since it’s a state-based issue. 

You know, I think there are several different concerns with Common Core. One of my top concerns is that it really cedes state control and authority to national elites and, to some extent, to the 

Federal Government, and I’m completely opposed to that. 

I strongly support rigor, standards, and accountability. We absolutely need all of that in public education. But I think we need that 

in a Louisiana-based system. 

So in running for governor, what I’ve said is that I would lead 

us out of Common Core but in a strong, rigorous, demanding, Louisiana-based system that doesn’t cede that control and authority to 

either national elites or the Federal Government. 

Mr. JANS. I don’t know about the control part, but doesn’t that 

put everybody on the same educational basis? 

Chairman VITTER. You’re talking about what? Doesn’t what put 

us—— 

Mr. JANS. Doesn’t Common Core put us on the same track here? 

Chairman VITTER. Well, that’s certainly one of the arguments in 

favor of it, okay? This way you can compare your students with 

those around the country. That is useful to do, and we can still do 

that with choosing the right testing. 

First of all, Common Core is not universal to 50 states, and the 

Common Core standardized tests are not universal to 50 states. In 

fact, there will be far more students nationally who aren’t under 

those particular standardized tests than who are. So I still think 

we can get an objective benchmark about how we’re doing compared to other students around the country by choosing a standardized test, but it doesn’t have to be within the Common Core framework. But undoubtedly, the testing we’ll choose is going to be used 

in at least a handful of other states. 

Mr. JANS. I believe that the people that opt out [inaudible] of 

Common Core, right? 

Chairman VITTER. Correct. 

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Mr. JANS. And if people are able to opt out, I don’t understand 

why [inaudible]. 

Chairman VITTER. Right. Well, I mean, that’s a controversy going 

on now. I mean, they basically opt out by just not going to school 

that day, and the big question is whether that’s going to be counted 

as a zero in the grading school systems or not. 

Thank you. 

Mike Thibodeaux? Where is Mike? 

Mr. THIBODEAUX. I’m Mike Thibodeaux. 

Chairman VITTER. Yes, sir. You’re talking about draft reports 

and studies paid for with public monies and right to know. Why 

don’t you elaborate? I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking about. 

Mr. THIBODEAUX. Public studies are done that the public pays 

for, the information [inaudible]. 

Chairman VITTER. Absolutely. 

Mr. THIBODEAUX. We have a right to know. 

Chairman VITTER. Absolutely. 

Mr. THIBODEAUX. We have a right to see what did this person do. 

My particular complaint is that the study in particular [inaudible] 

that say that the Federal tax credit that you get for all energy producers [inaudible], but it’s not. It’s a reduction. So if you’re going 

to skew that 30 percent Federal tax credit so it’s an expense, then 

your whole study is wrong. 

So what I want to know is can you have it? When you ask for 

it, they say it’s proprietary. How can you have proprietary information if [inaudible]? 

Chairman VITTER. Yes, I thought that study was public, but I’ll 

be happy to look into that. Certainly, if public funds are used, the 

result of the use of those public funds should be public. 

Charles, do you have anything? 

Representative BOUSTANY. I agree with that, and I also agree 

that if public funds are used, all conflicts of interest need to be put 

on the table in a very transparent way so people know affiliations 

of those who are doing these studies. 

So, yes, absolutely. My understanding is that most of the time 

when there are Federal funds going for something like this, there 

are requirements for it to be very, very open and transparent. I 

don’t know the particulars in this case with that particular institute, but I’d be happy to look into it as well. 

Chairman VITTER. Mike, before you leave, if you could give me 

and my staff your contact information and the name of the report 

you’re focused on, we’ll specifically look into that and try to get a 

copy. But certainly, I agree with your premise. 

Mr. THIBODEAUX. I have a copy, and I read it. 

Chairman VITTER. Okay. 

Mr. THIBODEAUX. And when I read it, that’s where I saw that the 

30 percent Federal tax credit and the reduction is used as a [inaudible]. It’s not a [inaudible]. It’s a reduction of cost. 

Chairman VITTER. Right. Well—— 

Mr. THIBODEAUX. So the whole report basis is skewed. 

Chairman VITTER. Yes. I didn’t read the report. I’m not sure exactly what you’re referring to. What they’re probably calling it is 

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ting it in that category of foregoing revenue. But I’ll be happy to 

look at that and maybe be better able to respond. 

Mr. THIBODEAUX. Thank you. 

Chairman VITTER. Okay. 

Tony Depa? Where is Tony? 

Mr. DEPA. Yes, sir. 

Chairman VITTER. Asking about our thoughts on the Affordable 

Care Act? 

Mr. DEPA. Yes, sir. 

Chairman VITTER. Okay. 

Mr. DEPA. Nice to see you, Congressman Boustany. 

Tony Depa from Lafayette. Again, just full disclosure, the Congressman [inaudible.] 

I worked for the President’s reelection campaign in 2012, so I 

went to battle in four battleground states for about six or seven 

months for this Administration’s platform, most importantly or one 

of my big ones is the Affordable Care Act. 

Obviously, we know that there’s something that we hear in Louisiana called the Gender Gap. So I guess the question to both of 

you, if you wouldn’t mind commenting, is just what do you think? 

I mean, it’s been the law for five years. It’s very well documented 

how Republicans in Congress have tried to shut it down. So you 

can comment on that or where you see it going in the future. 

Chairman VITTER. Yes. Well, full disclosure. For me, I worked 

against the President’s re-election very hard in 2012. 

[Applause.] 

And I strongly opposed ObamaCare, and I still strongly oppose 

it because I think it’s creating more problems than it’s solving. I 

think it’s made cost increases, which were a big, big problem with 

the American health care system. I think it’s making those worse, 

actually, versus better. 

Mr. DEPA. There are probably people in this room that don’t 

know the difference between ObamaCare and the Affordable Care 

Act. 

Chairman VITTER. Well, there is no difference. I’m referring to 

the same thing. 

Mr. DEPA. A lot of people don’t know that. 

Chairman VITTER. Yes. Well, I mean, the Affordable Care Act is 

the—— 

Mr. DEPA. I’m here to educate as well. 

Chairman VITTER. The Affordable Care Act is the Washington 

term. I don’t use it because I think it’s an Alice in Wonderland 

term, and it’s not affordable, it’s pushing costs up. So I prefer to 

call it ObamaCare. 

I think we need an alternative to that, and I’ve supported specific alternatives, targeted reforms that would go after not re-making 20 percent of our economy from start to finish but go after specific reforms to make health care more affordable, and I’d be happy 

to talk about—— 

Mr. DEPA. Does that include repealing it or not? 

Chairman VITTER. Yes. I voted several times to repeal it, and I’m 

still working to repeal it. 

Mr. DEPA. It works. 

Chairman VITTER. Charles. 

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Representative BOUSTANY. I spent 30 years with health care, and 

so when this debate was raging back in 2009 and 2010, I was in 

the middle of it. I warned our colleagues on the other side of the 

aisle, the Democratic side of the aisle, that what they were proposing was going to run up costs, restrict options within the insurance arena by forcing consolidation, and it was going to wreak 

havoc on the provider side, and we’re seeing a lot of that now. 

The trend lines are not good. We’re driving individual physicians 

out of private practice because their cost structure is 

unsustainable. We’re forcing hospital consolidation and potential 

closures in rural hospitals. We have a situation now where you’ve 

seen consolidation and fewer choices among insurance companies, 

a more monopolistic type of behavior, and this is problematic. 

Costs are going up. I’ve traveled around our district and I’ve run 

into small business owners who saw a 40 percent hike, 40 percent 

hike in their premiums over and above last year. This is problematic. 

We can do better, and I fought alongside David against this because I saw the trends that were going to come out of it. 

So we’ll see what happens going forward. I think that the Supreme Court case may, in fact—it’s called King v. Burwell. Remember that. You’ll hear a lot about it as it comes up. That may be the 

undoing of some of these faulty foundations that we’ve seen with 

ObamaCare. 

Chairman VITTER. Just two more comments. I want to underscore what Charles said. There is a major Supreme Court case that 

should be decided in June. That will have a lot to do with how we 

move forward as a country. 

Secondly, I’m sure Charles and I agree with every Republican 

that we work with, that we do need reforms. The old health care 

system wasn’t perfect. It had a lot of problems and issues. We believe in targeted reforms, things that go after the real issues, like 

there is certainly an issue of folks with preexisting conditions. We 

need to fix that. There is certainly a cost issue. So how do we make 

it more affordable? 

So we’re in favor of several targeted reforms that would go after 

those very specific issues rather than sort of a very, very broad, 

2,800-page bill. 

Mr. DEPA. I appreciate that. 

One more thing, and then I’ll stop talking. 

You were talking about costs, how much it costs. Not once have 

either of you talked about, well, do single mothers deserve health 

care. Do the poor people in Lafayette and in the State, do they deserve health care. So you guys are sitting there telling me how 

much everything is going to cost, but you all don’t seem to give two 

rats about the poor people in our State. That’s what I’m hearing. 

I know that the people who are here aren’t hearing that, but that’s 

what I’m hearing, that it costs this, it costs this, the President 

sucks, and you guys—again, I know I disagree fundamentally with 

pretty much everyone in this room, but still I’m trying. The Congressman told me I need to try to reach across the aisle. That’s 

what I’m trying to do. I’m here this morning. 

Representative BOUSTANY. If you look back at many of the 

speeches and comments I’ve made publicly, I’ve always talked 

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about how important it is to preserve the doctor-patient relationship, make a doctor-patient relationship for every single American 

that’s affordable and meets a high quality of care, including single 

mothers and those who cannot afford insurance today. 

The Republican side of the aisle coming out of the Ways and 

Means Committee, where I serve, we were only given 15 minutes 

total to debate an alternative back in 2009–2010, that timeframe, 

when we went to the House floor. I was given 45 seconds to describe our plan. That’s why you didn’t hear about it, but I’ll tell you 

what it did. 

It actually, according to the Congressional Budget Office, lowered 

premium costs so that everybody could afford it, and it created 

pathways for single mothers and those who currently cannot afford 

insurance or have preexisting conditions. We set all of that up, and 

the Congressional Budget Office said that, in contrast to the Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare, ours would actually bring down 

costs. 

Now, you didn’t hear about it because we had 15 minutes of debate and, of course, we had to fight the bully pulpit. We have ideas. 

We have solutions to address exactly your concerns. 

Chairman VITTER. And just a final thought. The reason I do 

focus a lot on cost is I think that’s the biggest reason for lack of 

access. And if costs continue to skyrocket, guess what? More and 

more Americans will not have adequate access. 

So I think it’s indicative, quite frankly, of where you’re coming 

from, where the President is coming from, to throw cost out the 

window like it’s some irrelevant factor. That’s at the heart of our 

access problem, and if we don’t make health care more affordable, 

it’s not going to be more available. If the cost curve keeps going up 

like that, it means there is going to be a big access problem for 

those with that problem now and for an increasing number of folks 

who previously could afford something and now can’t. So it’s directly related to access is what I would say. 

Mr. DEPA. It’s kind of relying on saying you believe that we 

should take care of everyone in our country or you believe that I 

take care of my family and friends and everyone else is kind of on 

their own. I mean, I feel like that’s—— 

Chairman VITTER. I don’t know anybody who feels the latter 

way, but I do tell you how I feel with regard to health care reform. 

I think the first rule of health care reform is if you think health 

care is expensive now, just wait until it’s free, and that’s sort of the 

experiment we’re operating under, and costs and expense are going 

through the roof as a result, and access is not significantly improving. 

Let’s go to Dorothy Knight. Where is Dorothy? Asking about developing a world-class workforce through job training and the community college system. Why don’t you elaborate, Dorothy? 

Ms. KNIGHT. Sure. I was just reading your little flyer here, and 

you’ve pointed out that you want to—‘‘It’s vital we develop a worldclass workforce to fill those good-paying jobs in Louisiana [inaudible].’’ 

I happen to be involved with the local community college [inaudible], and currently we’re moving away from the blue-collar type of 

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9 

audible], and they’re moving into what I would consider—nursing 

is good, but secretarial or business or that sort of thing. It’s not 

going to fill the needs that our State is going to have [inaudible], 

and I just wondered what you were doing about it. That’s one 

issue. 

The other issue is that we want Louisiana citizens [inaudible]. 

How are you going to address immigration issues? I don’t expect 

you to address all the issues [inaudible], but certainly Louisiana 

expects you to do something to protect its citizens and giving them 

the opportunity. 

Chairman VITTER. Absolutely. Well, in terms of the tech system, 

I think that has to be absolutely at the center of preparing our 

young people for good-paying jobs that are coming our way. So the 

first thing we need to do is make sure they are offering courses and 

training based on the jobs that are here and that need to be filled. 

There shouldn’t be a gap. But those course decisions shouldn’t be 

made in some ivory tower. They should be made by constantly consulting industry and business and seeing what’s here and what 

folks need people trained up in. 

In this part of the State and to the west of here, that’s in a lot 

of skills related to petrochemical and oil and gas. So that needs to 

be front and center in terms of our vo-tech system, particularly in 

this part of the State. 

A second big component I would focus on is reintroducing some 

element of that sort of skills training in K–12, particularly high 

school, to make sure high school students understand the opportunities, the great opportunities available to them if they have the 

right skill sets that don’t necessarily require a four-year degree. 

So at least they need to be made aware of that track, because 

in America college should be available to everybody regardless of 

background or income or race, but college isn’t for everybody. A lot 

of folks may want to go into that sort of skills training track, particularly when if they have the right skill sets they can come out 

as a 21-year-old and be earning $55,000 a year; in four years, develop in their job, be earning $95,000 a year. That’s a good life and 

a good living in Louisiana. 

Representative BOUSTANY. Wanted to show you on that slide one 

of the things Louisiana is facing as a State, the need and demand 

for the [inaudible] skill sets. I’m so glad to hear what you just said, 

because I think David [inaudible]. He said we have to start job skill 

training [inaudible]. Pick a skill when you’re in middle school, start 

learning the basics, carry it on into high school, and when you 

graduate, if you don’t go to college, you’ve got a leg up. You’re 

ready to go. If you do go to college, you’ve got a way to help pay 

for it because you’ve [inaudible]. 

If you don’t need all that help and you’re fortunate enough to 

have parents who can pay for all that, then you don’t end up like 

me where you don’t have a skill around the house. My wife constantly complains that I can’t fix anything around the house. I wish 

I had a skill like that, do a little [inaudible]. 

So I think starting early—and this is something, this is [inaudible], these students [inaudible] high school and be ready to go to 

community college, refine those skills and make a lot of money [inaudible]. 

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Ms. KNIGHT. Can I just bring two things to your attention? 

Chairman VITTER. Sure. 

Ms. KNIGHT. One is, one of the reasons why the colleges and 

even high schools would shift away from this technical training 

that needs to happen into kind of a soft educational area is because 

even though 30 or 40 students are sitting in one classroom with 

desks and chairs, that’s the full extent of your investment into the 

infrastructure necessary to educate them on something like this. 

But in order to do so [inaudible] testing or for any of the other 

hard skills, a higher level of investment [inaudible] towards the 

community college [inaudible] in leadership positions will take that 

into consideration in higher education to encourage that investment into infrastructure in the schools, including I love the idea of 

high schools and junior high schools teaching those skills because 

I’ve got lifetime work even though [inaudible] my business degree 

and [inaudible] I still [inaudible] a lot of different things. 

Our world today allows people to learn history or art or music 

or any of those other things on their own time [inaudible]. But 

those skills have to be learned early [inaudible]. 

Chairman VITTER. Well, you make a great point, and that is a 

factor. But for that to dominate and to decide what community colleges focus on is the cart before the horse. Again, we really need 

to tie everything into what the job market is looking for and how 

we’re going to best prepare these young people for these jobs. 

Okay, Curtis Hollinger. Where is Curtis? 

Mr. HOLLINGER. Yes, sir. What is your vision for tort reform in 

Louisiana, particularly related to the American energy renaissance? 

Chairman VITTER. Well, Curtis, I am very focused on that. I 

think in general, the business climate in Louisiana, including in 

the energy sector, is the best it’s been in my lifetime. I’m 53. I 

think it’s the best it’s been in my lifetime. But the one big exception to that rule, in my opinion, is the litigation climate, which by 

every measure is really negative and keeps good jobs and good 

businesses out of Louisiana, including in the energy sector. I’ll give 

you one example. 

I had a meeting in Houston five months ago with Jeff 

Hildebrand. He’s head of a big energy company called Hilcorp, 

which is actually the biggest payer of oil- and gas-related taxes to 

the State of Louisiana, because it’s the biggest producer on State 

land and State water. And he said, David, we have operations all 

over, all over the country, many parts of the world, and we take 

our responsibilities very seriously for safety, for a clean environment, but we still have 75 lawsuits filed against us, and 70 are in 

Louisiana. 

It’s a horrible litigation environment. It’s a horrible threat to us, 

and we’re not expanding anything in Louisiana specifically because 

of that. And so that is a big issue that holds us back, I think, including in the energy sector. 

Mr. HOLLINGER. Can you describe [inaudible]? 

Chairman VITTER. Yes. Well, I’ll give you one concrete example 

in the energy sector, since we’re talking about that today, called 

legacy lawsuits. That is when land owners find any contamination 

on their land from prior oil and gas development. Nobody is arguDeShaun on LAP51NQ082 with DISTILLER

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ing that whoever is responsible for that should fully clean it up. 

But what happens instead, because of the nature of our State laws 

and our court system, is that everybody who ever had anything to 

do with development on that property for 60 years or more, everybody is sued, number one, no matter what their involvement or 

non-involvement was. 

Number two, there is no cap on damages. So damages can be as 

high as the plaintiff lawyer expert says they should be. There’s no 

cap related to anything, including the fair market value of the 

land. 

And then number three, there’s no rule that those damages have 

to be used to clean up the land. So that’s crazy. It leads to a cottage industry of lawsuits rather than a system that actually gets 

any legitimate problems cleaned up. So that would be an example 

of what I’m talking about. 

Representative BOUSTANY. David just described the standard appropriately. We all know Louisianans care about our environment, 

and I think good energy policy, good environmental policy, good 

economic policy go hand in hand [inaudible]. 

But I had a similar experience. I was in Houston just a few 

weeks ago. A gentleman by the name of Gary Luquette, who is 

from the [inaudible] area, just took over as CEO of Frank’s International [inaudible]. Well, their headquarters now for global work 

is in Houston. Gary told me point blank—we were talking about all 

the things going on in the energy sector, going on around the 

world. He said, let me tell you what the biggest threat to Louisiana 

is. [Inaudible] investments in there, you got mobile trends, price 

down [inaudible], layoffs. He said the biggest threat is these legacy 

lawsuits. You’re going to drive the industry that helped create Louisiana out of Louisiana. 

David described beautifully all the problems with the system as 

it’s set up. That’s why we’ve got to change the [inaudible]. 

Chairman VITTER. Let’s take one more question. Then we’re 

going to go to our expert witnesses. 

Anita Johnson? Where is Anita? Yes, ma’am. 

Ms. JOHNSON. Is there any legislation coming up regarding adverse regulations like the EPA? 

Chairman VITTER. Why don’t you elaborate, Anita? 

Ms. JOHNSON. Well, I just hear and read so much about how the 

Congress [inaudible] and every regulation that they make up increases the cost of [inaudible] and they wind up having to lay off 

people [inaudible]. And a lot of the regulations they make are not 

necessary. 

Chairman VITTER. Right, right. Well, first of all, let me agree 

with your statement. I agree with that. I happen to be on the Senate committee that deals with everything related to EPA, so I’m 

constantly working to push back on those sorts of regulations. 

In fact, there are three brand-new sets of regulations that they’re 

working on that they’re pushing forward that I think fall into the 

category you’re describing where costs and burden goes through the 

roof. So costs to small business goes through the roof, and any positive impact in terms of health and safety is minimal, at best. So 

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tion, and that’s a set of regulations that would dramatically expand 

the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act. 

So in each of these cases, Charles and I both are working on 

ways to push back and try to block that sort of over-regulation. 

Charles. 

Representative BOUSTANY. Yes, I agree with David there. We 

have worked on those specific issues. This is one of the [inaudible] 

we have right now at the Federal level where you have Federal 

agencies that are really not very accountable to each and every one 

of us. They make rules, and Congress ought to be doing that, put 

sunshine there on what’s going on, full transparency and disclosure. 

We’ve been blind sided by those rules out there, and they make 

no sense, very little consultation about what the impact will be, 

and the House keeps trying to pass legislation—we have passed 

legislation in the House a few times that would basically say that 

any new rule put out there that would have a significant impact 

on the economy has to go back to the House and Senate for a vote 

and approved before it can be enacted, and we’re still working on 

that project. I’m hopeful now with a more favorable Senate that 

we’ll be able to move this through and put it on the President’s 

desk. I’m not optimistic he would sign something like that, but this 

is the fight we’re having with the Executive Branch. 

It’s not just this Administration. This problem goes all the way 

back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt when he did this kind of thing. 

But we’ve got to get back to a balance, a constitutional balance, [inaudible] laws [inaudible] in the way Congress intended. That’s the 

way our Constitution is supposed to work. 

Chairman VITTER. And I certainly agree with that legislation. 

I’m a leading co-author of it in the Senate. That would help right 

the balance. Instead of Congress having to affirmatively block all 

of these huge costly regulations, if they’re above a certain amount 

in terms of economic impact, Congress should have to affirmatively 

pass off on them. I think that would immediately right the ship if 

we can get that into law. 

Okay, thank you all very much. We’re now going to move on to 

the next part of the morning, which is hearing from our expert witnesses on our main topic today, how small businesses are supporting America’s energy renaissance. 

I’ll introduce each of them in turn, and then they’ll each present 

testimony for about 5 minutes, following which we’ll have a discussion with them on the topic. 

First we have Dr. Natalie Harder, Ph.D. Dr. Harder is Chancellor of South Louisiana Community College, and she took over 

those responsibilities in 2011. Previously, she also served as Interim Director of the Acadiana Technical College. So she has a long 

history and set of experiences in the community and technical college system. 

Dr. Harder, welcome, and please kick us off. 

STATEMENT OF NATALIE J. HARDER, PH.D., CHANCELLOR, 

SOUTH LOUISIANA COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

Dr. HARDER. Great. Thank you, and I so appreciate the opportunity to testify this morning. 

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Small businesses and their entrepreneurs are needed in our globally competitive environment now more than ever. Small businesses are the companies which are able to be nimble in an everchanging environment, but which also work hard to keep their 

workers employed through turbulent times. The understanding of 

their employees as more than just inputs is what makes energy’s 

small businesses the anchors of regional economies like Acadiana. 

Small businesses often provide niche services that large industries cannot manage well, particularly small companies located in 

areas like Acadiana where specialization in the energy industry is 

paramount. As our region is ‘‘all energy all day,’’ advances in technology, resources and training from our small companies make 

them and their clients better situated for competing on a global 

stage. 

The importance of these small companies to the local community 

cannot be overstated and is often overlooked. Just last week I was 

with the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition to announce its endowment of a faculty position for our oil and gas programs. In 

thanking LAGCOE’s treasurer, Greg Stutes, for the support of his 

company, Completion Specialists, Mr. Stutes talked about how his 

company gives back 10 percent of its profits to local charities each 

year. Ten percent, every year, year after year. So not only is that 

company employing local individuals, they are supporting organizations important to our regional infrastructure. 

Acadiana thrives on small businesses contributing to the local 

economy and energy renaissance as they bring growth and innovation to the region in which the businesses are established. Many 

of these companies rely on graduates from community colleges like 

South Louisiana Community College to be competitive and to grow. 

One example of this growth and innovation is Map Oil Tools in 

New Iberia. Map Oil Tools is a small business of entrepreneurs 

which actively supports the energy sector in Acadiana. 

Map Oil Tools is helping to stimulate economic growth with new 

products and solutions, and in providing employment opportunities. 

South Louisiana Community College is working with Map Oil Tools 

to provide down hole technicians with our new down hole technician program. This partnership will support and grow a company 

based right here in Acadiana but which serves an international audience with local employees. 

South Louisiana Community College works with other small 

businesses to provide an educated workforce so that these companies can continue to play an important role in the local economy. 

These companies include, but aren’t limited to, Aerion, which provides completion services and equipment rentals for the oil and gas 

industry; Weatherford, that specializes in innovative evaluation 

techniques; and also Knight Oil Tools, which has been a leading innovator for the energy industry from its headquarters in Acadiana. 

All of these companies employ graduates from Louisiana colleges, 

including South Louisiana Community College. 

For all Acadiana oil and gas companies, a strong local workforce 

is the key to their success, and in turn, those employees fuel our 

regional economy. Critical to developing this workforce is the return of year-round Pell Grants, restoration of full ability to benefit 

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grams. With funding Pell in these ways, we allow more graduates 

and community college programs like welding, machine tool technology, oil and gas production, down hole tool technology, process 

technology, diesel technology, and heavy equipment operations. 

Remember that Pell primarily funds low-income and often firstgeneration college students. With only 600,000 of the 2.3 million 

adults eligible to work in Louisiana holding a college degree or credential—let me say that again, 2.3 million adults eligible to work 

in this State, and less than 30 percent of them have any college 

degree or credential—Pell is important. 

Louisiana is in greater need than other states for Pell funding 

to move 70 percent of its working population to maximize their own 

capabilities as they help meet our workforce needs in oil and gas. 

By funding Pell Grants appropriately, the companies I mentioned 

are just a few of the many small energy-based companies which 

can continue to competitively employ thousands of individuals 

trained in our region, but which can also grow with a well-trained 

workforce. 

We need to continue to support these companies to maintain a 

strong economic fabric in the Acadiana region. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Dr. Harder follows:] 

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Chairman VITTER. Thank you very much, Dr. Harder. 

Next we’ll hear from Joshua A. Pellerin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pellerin Energy Group LLC. That group is made 

up of Pellerin Water Solutions, Energy Rentals and Chemicals, so 

obviously all related to the energy industry here in South Louisiana, and those companies are located in Broussard, Louisiana. 

Joshua, thank you for being with us. 

STATEMENT OF JOSHUA A. PELLERIN, PRESIDENT & CEO, 

PELLERIN ENERGY GROUP LLC 

Mr. PELLERIN. Chairman Vitter, thank you for the introduction, 

and thank you for having me here today to testify and participate 

in this very important hearing discussing ways to help in the coordination of Federal efforts that would allow small businesses to 

better support the U.S. energy industry. 

My name is Joshua Pellerin. I am the President and CEO of 

Pellerin Energy Group based in Lafayette, Louisiana. Pellerin Energy Group through its various subsidiaries provides integrated 

services and optimal solutions to the oil and gas industry. 

We must not forget the important role oil and gas producers have 

in supporting the small business supply chain and impacting our 

energy security. Large and small companies work together to meet 

America’s energy demand. According to the recent Census data, 

there are over 46,000 small businesses supporting the production 

of oil and natural gas in the United States that directly employ 

over 300,000 workers. Every day, they provide a vital aspect to the 

generation of America’s energy. 

Energy-related jobs pay the kind of wages and salaries, in my 

view, and I know it’s shared by many here, that allow families to 

invest in homes, in their education, and in their futures. If Congress can take the steps to increase domestic energy production, we 

not only increase America’s energy independence, but we also create the kinds of jobs that will grow the middle class and have a 

major impact on reducing income inequality in our country, which 

is a goal I believe we all share. 

The major oil and gas companies find investments in the United 

States to be attractive for several reasons. The U.S. is a stable 

country. It is a country with fair and well-established laws and tax 

regulations that make drilling, development, and production for oil 

and gas in the U.S. economically attractive. The U.S. has been 

blessed that oil and gas has been found here in abundance and collects revenues averaging $85 million a day in taxes, rents, royalties, and bonuses. 

While our tax laws are and have been used to incentivize direct 

investments of capital throughout the history of our country, I 

would argue that they are not giveaways, and changing existing 

tax laws and regulations for the oil and gas industry at this time 

would have a very detrimental effect. The economic ripple would 

adversely impact the job growth revenues of many small businesses 

in our domestic supply chain and those that depend on a secure energy supply. 

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aissance and have a devastating effect on jobs, the economy, and 

revenue to the government. 

Our economic engine is fueled by entrepreneurial drive, individual ambition, creativity, and broad economic participation. Principally this means promoting accessibility in every sense of the 

word in every field of endeavor, geographically, affinity, and focus. 

There is a strong global demand for small U.S. companies to export their products outside the U.S. We must enable export growth 

by reducing barriers to small business exports, simplifying trade, 

and facilitating small business engagement with global markets. 

Exporting will support economic growth and job creation by expanding our access to the fastest growing and most dynamic regions on the planet. Small businesses that export to foreign markets grow faster, create more jobs, and pay higher wages. 

There are 28 million U.S. small businesses, and approximately 

300,000 U.S. small businesses export. Of the businesses that export, only about 40 percent export to more than one country. Ninety-eight percent of U.S. businesses that export are small businesses, and small businesses have accounted for nearly two-thirds 

of net new private-sector jobs in recent decades. 

We must provide our minorities, women, and small business 

owners with the entrepreneurial support and opportunities they 

rightfully deserve. All Americans deserve to be given an equal opportunity to pursue the American Dream. 

According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the 

number of people in the United States who are classified as ethnic 

and racial minorities has exceeded 100 million. Today, one in every 

three U.S. residents is classified as a minority. Additionally, there 

are now over 4 million minority-owned businesses across the country, accounting for over $591 billion in annual revenues. 

For the past two decades, women-owned businesses have been 

the fastest growing segment in the U.S. economy, growing at twice 

the rate of all other businesses, with 10.1 million women-owned 

businesses employing 13 million Americans and generating $1.9 

trillion in annual revenues in 2008 alone. Women entrepreneurs 

drive our nation’s economy by starting 1,600 new businesses in 

America every single day. We need to make sure that our daughters have the same chance to pursue their dreams as our sons and 

urge businesses and the government to do more to hire women and 

achieve gender equality. 

We must encourage small businesses to explore their technological potential and provide the incentive to profit from its commercialization. By including qualified small businesses in the nation’s research and development arena, high-tech innovation is 

stimulated and the United States gains entrepreneurial spirit. 

The men and women who serve our nation in the military deserve more than just our respect; they deserve our assistance. With 

more than 3.3 million veteran-owned small businesses in America, 

veterans play a critical role in strengthening and expanding our 

economy. It is imperative that the Committee continues to find innovative ways to further help our nation’s heroes. 

Once again, thank you for this opportunity to testify, and God 

bless the United States of America. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Pellerin follows:] 

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Chairman VITTER. Thank you very much, Josh. 

And last but certainly not least is Bill Fenstermaker. Bill is 

Chairman and CEO of C.H. Fenstermaker and Associates, a leading firm that provides surveying and other services to a host of 

Louisiana businesses, including in the energy sector. Bill is a member of the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce. He is Chairman of the IberiaBank Corporation and Vice President of ULL’s 

Board of Trustees for Membership. 

Bill, thanks for joining us. 

STATEMENT OF BILL FENSTERMAKER, CHAIRMAN & CEO, 

FENSTERMAKER AND ASSOCIATES 

Mr. FENSTERMAKER. Thank you, Senator Vitter. My comments 

today would be related to energy and the effects of low energy 

prices on South Louisiana. 

Louisiana oil and gas and Lafayette are synonymous. The people 

who live here are hard-working and are called upon to support oil 

and gas activities not only in this region but throughout the world. 

This is why Lafayette is the center of the service industry that supports the central Gulf of Mexico. In Lafayette, in our MSA, 26 percent of all earnings and approximately 11 percent of all employment comes through the energy business. Lafayette alone has over 

17,000 people who work in the energy sector. 

Due to low oil and natural gas prices, times are pretty tough 

now. Most of our service industries have recently announced layoffs. Energy producers in Lafayette and Houston have announced 

that they are cutting operating budgets, sometimes as much as half 

and even more. Most have learned from the 1980’s and are positioning themselves to withstand the storm caused by low commodity prices. Obviously, banks are much more circumspect when 

it comes to lending to anyone that has oil and gas exposure. 

From a banking perspective, serving as Chairman of IberiaBank 

Corporation—we bank a number of energy companies—a recent 

earning conference call was dominated by questions about energy 

exposures, which triggered a follow-up presentation in New York 

City where over 100 analysts attended and listened to our energy 

exposures today. Questions about these exposures are not only relegated to the analysts but also to banking regulators who stresstest all of our risk, with a big focus on energy. 

One bright spot has been the large number of LNG and natural 

gas to liquids projects being located in South Louisiana. But slumping oil prices have clouded their future, not only here but globally. 

These cost-intensive projects are now being threatened by the volatile market, making the prospect of U.S. energy independence in 

doubt. 

Certainly not helping are long application turnaround times by 

the Department of Energy and FERC, which negatively affect the 

economy of South Louisiana and the U.S. economy. These delays 

make it extremely difficult to meet current global demands for 

LNG and lets other nations to regain advantages in supplying the 

energy needs that many countries demand. 

I offer three things that could possibly help America. One is to 

end the 40-year-old executive order that prevents exporting oil 

overseas. This would significantly reduce the massive layoffs which 

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are coming and continue our march in the United States for energy 

independence. 

Second, we do need to speed up the permits for all oil and gas 

activities, but specifically export of LNG. 

And third, we need to allow the export of LNG to all countries, 

not just some, and that would help our economy dramatically. 

Hopefully we don’t squander these opportunities, and I thank 

you for allowing me to say those things today. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Fenstermaker follows:] 

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Chairman VITTER. Thank you all very much for your testimony. 

You’re really the heart of this program in terms of the Small Business Committee field hearing. We appreciate your being here. 

As we move on to questions and conversations, I’m going to turn 

to Charles for those first. But I do want to recognize two folks who 

have joined us in the audience. 

State Senator Elbert Guillory. Senator, thank you for being here 

and for your leadership. 

[Applause.] 

And also former mayor of Lafayette, Dudley Lastrapes. Mayor, 

thank you for being here. 

[Applause.] 

Charles, why don’t you kick off questions and discussion? 

Representative BOUSTANY. Well, thank you, Chairman Vitter. 

Thank you for convening this very, very important hearing. 

I think the three of you really encapsulated the opportunities 

and the challenges that we’re facing here, and it’s sort of a snapshot of what I think the rest of the country is seeing. 

Coming out of the recession, Louisiana sort of took a lead. Our 

economy bounced back quicker, and part of it—the two drivers nationally, and I think also in Louisiana, where the shale gas revolution and all the things that happened as a result that we benefited 

from, and exports, which also proved to be an early driver. 

Josh, you pointed out the opportunities that small firms could 

have as part of the global supply chain in the energy sector, and 

I believe our suppliers and service companies could benefit from 

having new market access, for instance, with the Trans-Pacific 

Partnership that we’re negotiating, and the new European agreement. 

There’s intense interest around the world in what’s happened 

with the shale revolution here in Louisiana and the United States 

and what our companies offer. So could you elaborate a little bit 

more on this opportunity out there, even though we’re facing some 

challenges and head winds today with low oil prices, new market 

conditions, OPEC’s decision? How would new market access help 

small service companies like yourself? 

Mr. PELLERIN. Well, I’ll give you an example, Congressman Boustany. Just last week I was in Mexico City with the development 

of the Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreement between the U.S. 

and Mexico, and it involves Canada as well. As you know, Mexico 

has had a hydrocarbon reform. Due to the low oil prices, that market isn’t as attractive as it was maybe a year ago, but just by being 

able to go into that area and have relationships established with 

the focal points and key stakeholders within the various government entities, as well as the oil and gas companies, allows us to 

build, engineer, and manufacture equipment here in the United 

States and export that equipment to Mexico without having to actually have a presence, a location in the area. 

So by having that in place and by having the reform, that helps 

us, because if the Gulf of Mexico is not as busy, then certainly we 

can go into other areas such as Mexico, Saudi Arabia, any other 

part of the world that we had a trade agreement with. 

Representative BOUSTANY. Thank you. 

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And, Bill, you brought up some very, very interesting points 

about the opportunities and challenges and the fact that even with 

low oil prices, which is creating great difficulty, some serious head 

winds for a lot of our companies here, the low price of gas has 

opened up export opportunities around the world to countries like 

Japan that are energy starved. So it’s sort of been a mixed picture. 

From your position in banking—you get to see the big picture, 

and also the Lafayette-focused picture as well—you mentioned 

three things. Permits, which I fully agree with. We’ve got to 

streamline the permitting process. You mentioned the issue of allowing exports to all countries, and I think that’s important, and 

I’m glad to hear you say that crude exports are something we need 

to consider in addition to expediting LNG exports. 

Could you elaborate a little further on some of that and what opportunities those approaches would offer our small businesses here 

in this area and our entrepreneurs? 

Mr. FENSTERMAKER. Well, I think all of us have been looking at 

the supply chain. When you look at that, it’s not really a pretty picture, but it’s a great picture for America because we have been producing oil in record amounts, and we have been producing natural 

gas in most of the shale formations throughout the country. 

Right now we still have the situation of maybe pipeline infrastructure that needs to be built to be able to move the product from 

here to there, which right now gives us a little breathing time to 

be able to implement some of that, but maybe not the capital to 

do that because of the regulations and because of some of the stress 

testing that the people that would put forth those dollars are faced 

with. 

So right now, for instance, if you look at the Marcellus, a very 

rich natural gas play, they will be exporting or sending a lot of natural gas down to South Louisiana, because pipelines can go both 

ways. We also have the Haynesville which, as we all know, has 

been very good for our North Louisiana friends and also for the 

country. And then you have West Texas, where it’s mostly oil. 

All of those things are very good and bode well for America. But 

with low energy prices, it’s stopping. All of that is going to come 

to a complete halt. So we have to figure ways right now to be able 

to stimulate the industry and keep it moving forward, and the 

things that I mentioned about exporting make a lot of sense because the laws that regulate that were written back when we 

thought we had a tremendous energy shortage, and now we have 

a tremendous energy surplus. So that would help balance trade. It 

would also help a lot the jobs in America that have been missing 

for so many years. 

Representative BOUSTANY. I appreciate that. 

And finally, Natalie, you’re right in the thick of things when it 

comes to the workforce demands that we need to meet. Senator Vitter laid out some pretty stark numbers out there about the mismatch between projected demand and supply. 

I know you and I have talked personally about the Pell Grant 

flexibilities that would help this situation. Talk a little bit more 

about the outreach to the business community in trying to match 

up skill sets with what you’re doing to meet those demands, and 

then how are you measuring. Are you following these students 

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after they get out into the workforce and getting some feedback as 

to whether you matched up and what improvements need to be 

made? 

Dr. HARDER. Yes. Thank you for the question. We certainly work 

with business and industry on a day-to-day basis to assess whether 

or not our programs are meeting their workforce needs. A clear example of that is we took about seven programs a year ago and condensed them into one-year programs, three-semester programs in 

welding, machine tool, industrial electronics and such, to specifically try to address the skills gap. 

The challenge of that becomes students are not eligible for Pell 

in the summer. So even though business is working and wants to 

hire individuals, these students then become financially stressed 

because they have no more dollars to attend college in the summer. 

Those programs are intensive. They’re in class every day. So it’s 

often hard for them to work enough hours in the spring and fall 

to save up for the summer. 

I will tell you, Congressman, in those technical programs, it’s 100 

percent placement. We have a very close working relationship with 

industry, and it’s 100 percent placement and how can you graduate 

more is what we hear. 

Representative BOUSTANY. Thank you. 

Thank you, David. 

Chairman VITTER. Great. 

As we go on, I also want to recognize a small business of the 

week. On our Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, we recognize a leading small business every week, and 

one recent business that was recognized was The Learning Train, 

and we do have Keri and Matt Hebert with us from the Learning 

Train. 

Thank you all for being an important part of the economy. Thank 

you all for being here. 

[Applause.] 

Let me ask Bill and Josh. I ask this of everyone in the industry, 

and nobody has a crystal ball, but obviously price is a big factor 

in this part of the economy right now. If you had to pick a price 

of a barrel of oil, guess at what that would be one year from today, 

give us your guess. 

Mr. FENSTERMAKER. Josh knows that answer. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. PELLERIN. I’ll take a methodical approach, right? So, based 

on everything that I’ve read, we’re looking at about, I guess, 24 

months of the downturn before we see a recovery in the price of 

oil. I think 12 months from now we should be somewhere within 

$75 to $80 a barrel, is what we hope. That’s a bit aggressive. I 

think full recovery, 24 months from what all the analysis and everything I’ve read. I think that that would be in the range. 

Chairman VITTER. Okay. And Bill. 

Mr. FENSTERMAKER. The experts tell me that $65 might be the 

price at the end of this year, and they say ‘‘might’’ because they 

don’t know. I’m asked from time to time, too much, because I’m not 

an expert on pricing, so I have to go with them and hope it’s much 

higher than that. But I’m factoring in all the different seminars 

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and different things I’ve heard. Probably $60 to $65 a barrel at the 

end of this year, and a year later would be $75, maybe. 

Chairman VITTER. Right. And, Bill, you mentioned lifting the export ban on crude oil. If that were done tomorrow, do you think 

that would have a positive impact on price and this sector of our 

economy? 

Mr. FENSTERMAKER. Tremendous impact. Right now, if you just 

look at the supply curves and you look at the amount of oil that’s 

coming on the market, and you look at the shortages throughout 

the world of oil and the growth maybe of all the economies 

throughout the world, Louisiana would benefit handsomely, and 

small businesses would benefit handsomely if we could export oil 

and natural gas to everywhere. 

Chairman VITTER. Josh, let me ask you. You’re a great example 

of a Louisiana small business in this sector. In your very real-world 

experience, what are some of the biggest obstacles that any layer 

of government, any government agency or entity, puts in your way 

that is a particular problem for your business? 

Mr. PELLERIN. Well, one of the businesses that we’re involved in 

is the environmental component, which has produced water treatment. We are constantly looking at ways to bring to the market 

best available technology that would not necessarily create more 

regulation but would just better a process that’s already been established and put in place. 

We’re not in drilling, so we’re not on the permit side of it, but 

we’re directly affected by the red tape of getting permits, right? So 

the more wells that are drilled, the more platforms that are installed, the more equipment we get to sell. So we are affected, I 

guess, in an indirect way. 

But I think, as Mr. Fenstermaker stated, if we could have a permitting process that was streamlined and was very efficient and allowed the oil and gas companies to be able to get these permits and 

move forward with the drilling, then that would be something that 

would make it more attractive for them and less bureaucracy involved. 

Chairman VITTER. Okay. 

And, Dr. Harder, in our town hall meeting discussion, you heard 

some comments about maybe there being some bias in the community college system based on the cost of doing one type of program 

versus another, because clearly more equipment-intensive training 

programs like welding are just much more expensive to put on. 

Do you think there is any element of that sort of bias in the system? And if there is to any extent, great or small, how do we counteract it? 

Dr. HARDER. Well, I would like to address the fact that one day 

we would like to make a profit. I don’t know that we’ve ever ascribed ourselves to that. 

[Laughter.] 

But it is true that clearly a technical program is much more costintensive than what one would consider a Humanities or general 

education section. But the way that we have addressed that is by 

partnering with business and industry, whether it’s through the donation, for example, of welding rods to our welding programs, or 

computers to our Information Technology programs. We have really 

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been aggressive over the last two, two-and-a-half years to bring our 

partners into the mix. 

An additional challenge, though, that we see is the ability to find 

faculty, quite frankly, not necessarily anything that the Federal 

Government or Congress could help us with, but it’s just purely the 

ability to attract individuals from the private sector to the State 

salary schedule. 

Chairman VITTER. Right, right. Absolutely. 

And then another related issue we’ve been talking about is how 

you reach out to the private sector to determine exactly what skill 

set training programs are needed, and you touched on this a bit. 

Exactly how do you do that on a regular basis to get that feedback 

to help drive your curriculum? 

Dr. HARDER. Well, certainly we meet with advisory committees 

which are made up of private-sector members at least twice a year. 

But a great example and a recent example is that we will start an 

oil and gas production program this fall. The advisory committee 

includes many small businesses, as well as folks like Halliburton 

and Baker Hughes that have literally crafted the curriculum with 

us to make sure that those individuals have exactly the skills and 

the training they need to be hired as soon as their program is finished. 

Chairman VITTER. Right. And then a final thought about workforce training. We also talked about the sort of high school tie-in. 

Now, there is more focus there than just a few years ago. There 

is a state program, Jump Start, that’s trying to bring more skills 

training to the high school level as a prelude to some of those kids 

going for community college or skills training opportunities. 

How do you see that working in your geographic footprint in 

terms of your partnership with high schools, and what more do we 

need to be doing? 

Dr. HARDER. Well, we do plenty of that through our dual enrollment efforts, where students are high schools students, but then 

they take college-level courses that both meet the high school requirement but also help lead them to an IBC, an industry-based 

certification. Obviously, welding is a good example of that, machine 

tool, some CNA programs and things like that. 

But we do dual enrollment all day, every day, and the beauty of 

it is it allows the high school to determine whether or not they 

want to have the sunk cost of those programs specifically on their 

high school campus, or they merely want to shuttle their students 

over to us and take advantage of the infrastructure that we already 

have. So we do that in many different ways. 

We’re also in the process of creating a high school that will allow 

a student to graduate with a technical Associate’s degree in something like welding or machine tool. We have an Early College Academy now where students graduate with an Associate’s degree, and 

the day they graduate from high school, which means whether they 

choose to work after that Associate’s degree or go on to their fouryear degree, they’re in the workforce at least two years earlier, and 

we’re looking to replicate that but with a technical model. 

Chairman VITTER. Okay. Great. 

Charles, do you have any final wrap-up questions? 

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Representative BOUSTANY. Yes, just a final wrap-up, and we 

were talking about the oil pricing. I know we have a split between 

WTI and Brent, and it’s about $9.00 as of today, Brent being higher. If we were to export, many have said that we would start to 

see equilibration. That spread would shrink, which means pricing 

for U.S.-produced oil would probably go up, helping our small businesses. 

But one of the other things that I think, Bill, you referenced was 

the infrastructure limitation, because even if we were to export oil 

today—the pressure would be to narrow that spread in pricing and 

help get better price stability—we still have a logjam at Cushing. 

We still have pipelines that need to be constructed. Being in the 

engineering sector, could you comment briefly on that? 

Mr. FENSTERMAKER. Well, of course, all that takes time and capital, and right now, to be able to put capital on a massive spending 

program such as pipelines, which are not cheap to build, and to 

deal with the permitting time it takes to get through the malaise 

of different regulations required for permitting a pipeline, the question becomes is the capital there to allow people to do it. 

Now, right now it is catch-up time, and we do have a lot of plans 

right now and a lot of different companies to be able to build a certain pipeline infrastructure. But it’s imperative that we do that, because if these export bans are lifted, you’re talking about an equalization of price, an equalization of access of oil throughout the country is there. We do need to somehow stimulate that ability and add 

certainty to the process. Certainty is a big thing in the energy business, and that’s something we don’t have right now. 

Representative BOUSTANY. And I appreciate that. 

Senator Vitter, Chairman Vitter, thank you. This has been a 

really informative hearing. I appreciate it. 

I’m going to have to leave. I have to catch a flight, but I appreciate you including me in this. Thank you. 

Chairman VITTER. Absolutely, Charles. Thank you. 

Representative BOUSTANY. I thank our panelists. 

Chairman VITTER. We’re going to wrap up in general, so let’s all 

thank our panelists for being with us today, part of the program. 

[Applause.] 

Charles, thanks for your participation, and thanks to all of you 

for coming out. 

I certainly want to remain in touch on an ongoing basis. We have 

some handouts that include all my contact information. So please 

keep that handy so you can be in touch on an ongoing basis. 

But thanks to everybody very, very much. Appreciate it. 

[Whereupon, at 9:43 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

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