Cassidy Meets Employees at CF Industries and Essential Federal Credit Union

BATON ROUGE - Yesterday, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) visited CF Industries' ammonia production facility in Donaldsonville, and later the Essential Federal Credit Union in Baton Rouge. During both visits, he learned how Louisianans are supporting small businesses and both the local and global economies.

At CF's Donaldsonville Complex, Cassidy learned about its capability of producing nearly 8 million tons of nitrogen products for agricultural and industrial use. CF uses the facility's access to the Mississippi River and other modes of transportation to ship its products to major crop-producing states in the interior of America. They also utilize ocean-going vessels to Europe, South America, and Asia.

CF is also working to produce green ammonia and sequester carbon that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere as it produces its products. Thanks to their efforts, they will capture and sequester up to 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from its Donaldsonville Complex by 2025. This is in line with Cassidy's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which provided $5.1 billion to invest in carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology.

"CF Industries and its employees have done more than anyone else in the world to make clean products," said Dr. Cassidy. "Efforts like this help put the United States at a competitive advantage. We need to do more of this to create more jobs and make a competitive economy."

CF's Donaldsonville Complex supports 566 permanent employees and 640 contractors, generates $16.8 million in annual state and parish sales taxes, and provided $430 million to local suppliers last year. Cassidy was welcomed there by Mr. Morris Johnson, General Manager for the facility.

"At CF Industries, our mission is to provide clean energy to feed and fuel the world sustainably," said Mr. Johnson. "To achieve this mission, we are investing in the decarbonization of our network with significant projects underway right here in Ascension Parish at our Donaldsonville Complex, located in the heart of this community we've called home for nearly 60 years. We thank Senator Cassidy for his visit to our site and his work on behalf of Donaldsonville and Louisiana through forward-leading competitiveness, energy and trade policies."

Later, Cassidy visited the Essential Federal Credit Union, which was chartered in 1972 by a group of Dow Chemical employees and now has more than 46,000 members and $378 million in assets. Cassidy met with Essential's employees, and also with executives from other local credit unions who discussed how they're serving their members. He discussed his efforts to preserve the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, make flood insurance rates affordable, and invest in high-speed broadband and water and sewer projects for Louisiana's rural communities.

"Our credit unions always know how their communities are doing, since people go to them to finance a house or a small business," said Dr. Cassidy. "By making flood insurance affordable and investing in rural broadband, we can help more families buy a home or grow their business, which makes our credit unions stronger."

Cassidy participated in a roundtable with credit union directors from across Louisiana. He was welcomed by Mr. Anthony Ware, II, Director of Legislative Advocacy for the Louisiana Credit Union Association, of which the Essential Federal Credit Union is a member.

"Thank you, Senator Cassidy, for taking the time to meet with the Louisiana Credit Union Association powered by Luminate, and visiting Essential Federal Credit Union today," said Mr. Ware. "We truly appreciate you taking the time to hear from credit unions on the issues that are important to us and vital to helping Louisiana residents. We value your continued support of credit unions as we serve our members and strengthen our communities."

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