Over the past decade, Acadiana’s tech industry, Silicon Bayou, has caught the eye of many interested parties nationwide as “Acadiana’s Silicon Valley” has became only more prevalent and successful with time. As detailed by an Advocate article, the educational technology company, SchoolMint Inc, will move its headquarters and other U.S. operations from California to Acadiana.

SchoolMint Inc, which has previously acquired a Lafayette-based company in 2019, will asl o consolidate their offices in New York and Miami, as CEO Bryan MacDonald and Governor John Bel Edwards announced in Lafayette. The firm develops enrollment, application and behavioral management software for schools. The firm develops enrollment, application and behavioral management software for schools.

This monumental deal already has roots in Acadiana, as the history of this Lafayette success story traces back to a sophomore at Carencro High School in 2004, Casey Bienvenu. Bienvenu’s company was eventually purchased and ended up being known as Smart Choice Technologies when it was bought by School Mint in 2019.

Total, the moving of offices and the company will involve a $515,000 investment in new office spaces, and it will create 178 new direct jobs in Lafayette, with an average salary of more than $74,000 plus benefits, according to the governor’s office.

The success of the move to Silicon Bayou was rightly applauded by the governor in the announcement. “From Lafayette to Baton Rouge and New Orleans and across north Louisiana’s I-20 Cyber Corridor, Louisiana is leading the way with cutting-edge tech firms creating quality jobs for our digital future,” he declared.

Taxpayers will help out with $1 million for the company’s relocation assistance, and a healthy tax credit for development of software products, among other benefits. These are seen as valuable, especially for smaller companies, but MacDonald put an emphasis on other avenues the state and community can take to contribute to growth in the technology-based economy.

Once such avenue is to keep the “pipeline of talent” full of students from universities who can provide the educated workforce that such a tech company requires. What is seen by some to be underrated in the previous announcements is the state’s award-winning program, Fast Start, which is used to recruit qualified people to work in relocated businesses, be they blue-collar jobs in a factory or white-collar positions in a software firm.

While leaders across Louisiana applaud SchoolMint as a new, well quasi-new, star in the local Acadiana technology scene, Louisiana as a whole cannot guarantee success in any national, much less international market for digital products or services. Though, SchoolMint is seen as a massive contributor of new talents as well as old to Louisiana’s tech scene, and talent is what our state will need to be more competitive in the 21st century.

“Acadiana’s Silicon Valley” has only grown in prosperity and size over the past decades, and with the addition of SchoolMint, it’s hoped that these successes will inspire lawmakers to invest more in community colleges and universities that make Louisiana more talent-competitive.

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