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Go with what you’ve got is Joe Accardo’s philosophy.

And what we’ve got are ports—inland, coastal and deep-draft—that Accardo, president of the Ports Association of Louisiana, argues are held back by underfunding and thus prevented from contributing to the state’s economy to an even greater degree.

A $700,000 study PAL commissioned is charged with coming up with a strategic development plan for the ports and a road map for marketing them, all geared toward increasing the amount of cargo moving through Louisiana. It’s likely the report—being done by The Shaw Group—will recommend better funding, Accardo says. Preliminary results are expected in June and the final report in August. No study of this scope has ever been done of Louisiana ports.

“I think the study is probably going to show that we have not invested enough capital in port facilities—that if were going to have any shot at enticing cargo to Louisiana ports we’re going to have to have modern and efficient facilities through which we can move cargo, either export or import,” he says.

Jay Hardman, executive director of the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, says the study is meant to provide strategic direction for the next five years or even the next decade.

“It’s important for us to determine which national and international markets are most likely to result in the greatest success for Louisiana in the future,” he says.

Hardman says the final product will serve as a guide for capital investment in ports, not just by port authorities but private business and government as well. All of Louisiana’s ports are taking part in the study, he adds, which is expected to provide not only growth strategies but ways to strengthen cooperation between ports.

In terms of state funding, the Port Construction and Priority Program has traditionally relied on $20 million a year from the state’s highway trust fund, though last year the program received $25 million. Under program rules, no single port can get more than $9 million. That makes it difficult to fund improvements, considering the least expensive deepwater dock costs between $25 million and $30 million to build, Accardo says.

Transportation-related construction has gotten more expensive over the last couple of decades, though state funding for ports has remained largely stagnant.

“It means fewer projects can be started,” Accardo says. “Ports have not gotten the recognition that they should receive as an economic tool for the state.”

Some relief came last year, however, in the form of an additional $42 million in surplus money to complete a backlog of projects that had been approved but would have taken three or four years to build with the normal budget of $20 million a year.

A 2001 study by University of New Orleans Chancellor Tim Ryan found in 1999 the total economic impact of the state’s ports was nearly $30 billion, consisting of $10.3 billion in direct spending and $19.4 billion in secondary spending. Ports and related activities generated $5.1 billion in total income for residents, and supported to one degree or another 243,621 Louisiana jobs, according to Ryan’s report.

It also credits ports’ economic impact with providing 22.5% of Louisiana’s total gross state product—the total dollar value of the state’s goods and services. The economic activities of port-related companies support approximately one out of eight state jobs, says the study. You get the idea.

Any entity with such a profound economic impact shouldn’t be neglected, Accardo says, though that’s what has happened in Louisiana.

The Louisiana Statewide Transportation Plan of 2003 recommended by 2008 ports construction and priority program should be getting $40 million a year from the highway trust fund. The recommended number will probably be closer to $50 million once the plan is updated, Accardo says.

While states like Alabama and South Carolina have invested heavily in their ports, introducing financial incentives to attract cargo and other maritime operators, distribution centers and the like in order to feed ports’ capacity for economic development, Louisiana ports have largely been passed over.

“We often wonder why, for instance, a manufacturer can get a tax exemption on property taxes but a port facility can’t,” Accardo says.

Alabama gives a 5% corporate income tax credit to companies that make capital improvements at its state ports. PAL recommended something similar to the Governor’s Maritime Advisory Task Force in 2005. The task force adopted the idea, but it was never translated into legislation.

In South Carolina, manufacturers receives tax credits for importing or exporting cargo through the state’s ports.

“I think there’s going to be a move this year to try to do the same thing here,” Accardo says. “There was an effort here about three years ago. Unfortunately, the administration opposed it on grounds that the cost was going to be too high.”

The administration’s argument that too much cargo being shipped would result in the state giving away the store in the form of excess tax credits was faulty, since South Carolina has limits in place on its tax credit program to prevent that kind of thing from happening. Accardo says he thinks the new governor will take a different view.

“I think he recognizes that the port and maritime industry makes up a significant amount of the state’s economy, and that there is an opportunity to grow that quickly if we build the right facilities and market ourselves properly,” Accardo says.

PAL, meanwhile, has sympathizers in the Legislature and might have some willing sponsors for the relevant legislation. Accardo is eager to see the results of the Shaw study and its recommendations for grabbing a larger share of the international cargo market—especially container cargo and break bulk, which means cargo stacked on pallets and moved with gantry cranes.

Most of the 500 million cargo tons Louisiana ports handle annually is in the form of dry bulk, such as grain, and liquid bulk, such as chemicals or vegetable oil. Such cargos are profitable, but they’re not as desirable as break bulk and containers, Accardo says. Tax incentives to attract those kinds of cargo could lead to distribution centers, which are big job producers.

But for any of that to happen, the state has to get onboard, Accardo says.

“We’re hopeful that this administration will recognize that there needs to be a considerable amount of regular and consistent long-term funding.”