Culture of Care

At Barriere Construction, we celebrate our legacy of safety, quality, and lasting relationships. Inspired by 70 years of service, we continue to dedicate ourselves to the community through civic investments, charitable giving, and as vehicles for the sustained growth of Southeastern Louisiana and the Gulf South region.

The barriere way

Our value proposition differentiates us as a contractor, employer, and corporate citizen, demonstrating that we are stronger together and focused on our goal of being the best contractor to better serve communities and customers. These initiatives speak to our commitment to our communities throughout Louisiana and the Gulf South.

We are committed to our employees and the communities where we live and work.

Whether it is by helping underprivileged families celebrate a brighter Christmas, contributing to the United Way, coordinating the voluntary construction of a Habitat for Humanity house or by helping to quickly restore critical infrastructure after a hurricane, we are committed to serving those in need.

Our Culture of Care legacy has evolved into an effective ethos and edifying means of mutual support. We invest in people who embody our shared values – Partnership, Professionalism, Operational Excellence – that are at the heart of everything we do, empowering us all to best serve our customers and neighbors. Our community involvement and engagement are manifested both in financial
support and active participation from the entire company.

Lifting Up Those in Need

Since 2014, Barriere employees have donated thousands of pounds of food and contributed tens of thousands of dollars where we live and work through annual company food drives and organized food
distributions as part of our partnership with Second Harvest Food Bank.

Our Construction Group lends its management expertise to help coordinate and implement food distributions, helping to curb community hunger while on the clock. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this community partnership put Barriere in a position to directly address increased hunger in St. John the Baptist Parish where Second Harvest, the largest charitable anti-hunger network in Louisiana, had been operating at only 20% capacity.

In May 2020, our food distribution safely provided nutritious shelf-stable meals to 450 families pre- registered through the parish – twice the number of families served at previous distributions. Barriere
invited Entergy to join the partnership to support two more similar-sized food distributions during the
summer of 2020. Barriere alone contributed 200+ volunteer hours and $40,000 to purchase the equivalent of 24,000 meals for families in need that summer.

In May 2023, we presented Second Harvest Food Bank with 480 pounds of shelf stable food collected and donated by Barriere employees. In June 2023, our intern class volunteered at the Mississippi Food Network where they packaged over 11,000 pounds of non-perishable food into boxes for distribution. We believe it’s never too early to become part of Barriere’s Culture of Care!

Following the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021, Barriere leveraged its partnerships and deployed resources to make sure the communities where we live and work were able to start the rebuilding process. We partnered with long-time customer Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) to quickly reconnect coastal communities to infrastructure critical for their recovery from Hurricane Ida.

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Within two days of Ida, Barriere contacted DOTD to see how we could support recovery efforts on LA-1, a crucial corridor for Louisiana’s economy and the only access road for Grand Isle. Barriere helped DOTD assess damage and determine the scope to rebuild two six-mile stretches of LA-1 between Golden Meadow and Grand Isle.

Barriere removed debris, installed clay dirt, and hauled temporary asphalt to areas that were washed out up to 10 feet deep, and placed traffic control devices to warn of hazards in areas beyond quick repair. The area was made accessible to full-time residents and emergency services seven days after the hurricane and to temporary residents and business owners five days after that. In all, Barriere team members worked more than 3,000 hours to replace approximately 1,600 tons of asphalt, 5,000 tons of riprap rocks and 2,000 tons of eroded limestone.

Charitable giving throughout
our organization

We are consistently in the top 60 United Way givers in the entire state of Louisiana.
and encourage our employees to participate by donating through payroll deductions.
Every summer our internship program participates in two volunteer days with Habitat
for Humanity to facilitate team building while giving back to the community in which
we live and work.
For the past 5 years, Barriere has participated in the YMCA Corporate Cup Second Line
for Literacy, encouraging employee involvement in the need to improve adult literacy
within our community, and in the health and wellness that the 5k promotes.

scholarship offerings

We offer scholarships to anyone interested in joining the Barriere team.

Scholarship Offerings

At Barriere, we believe in investing in our future workforce. To this end, we offer scholarships to anyone interested in joining our team.

The George H. Wilson Scholarship Fund — named for and established in honor of former Barriere president and CEO George Wilson —is open to LSU students enrolled in Intro to Asphalt Mixture and Design.

The Acott/Wilson Scholarship, which was initiated through NAPA by former Barriere Advisory Board member Bob Thompson and his wife, Ellen, honors past NAPA President Michael Acott and the Wilson family, who owned and operated Barriere for 70+ years.

internships

Barriere’s Internship Program is designed for college sophomores, juniors, and seniors pursuing the following degrees, who are looking to gain valuable construction industry experience:

Engineering
Construction Management

Industrial Technology
Occupational Safety and Health
Marketing
Other Related Majors