VIDALIA &8212; A port for the Vidalia Industrial Park is just what the area needs to make itself more attractive to industry, U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal told members of the community Tuesday.

&8220;Economic development is about building on our unique strengths, and the river is a unique strength we have,&8221; he said.

The city has some $1.7 million secured to build a port and commitments from local companies and interested potential newcomers to expand or bring in operations if the industrial park had better access to the Mississippi River.

Leaders said a port for the town would service only the industrial park and would not siphon business from the Natchez port.

Jindal, R-Kenner, in town to talk with parish political and business leaders about economic development projects, spoke afterward at an after-hours gathering hosted by the Vidalia Chamber of Commerce.

Though his congressional district, the first, does not include Concordia Parish,

Jindal has been touring the area talking about the state delegation&8217;s efforts in the Capitol.

He spoke of the impression made by last month&8217;s delegation when it went to Washington, D.C.

on behalf of parish &8212; not individual town&8217;s &8212; interests.

&8220;It&8217;s important to have the entire region speaking with one voice, &8216;We want you (Congress) to help us to help ourselves,&8217;&8221; he said.

Afterward, he spoke of Vidalia&8217;s effort to expand the Gateway Convention and Visitor Center to include facilities and space to serve as a Red Cross mega-shelter &8212; an effort to help the parish help others in the event of another disaster.

City leaders hope to get money to fund the estimated $2.2 million project through the federal appropriations process.

Jindal said he was onboard and that getting more groups behind it would help tap into more potential funding streams and increase the chances of getting funding.

&8220;If you make it accessible more than just once a year (as a shelter), and give it more year-round usages, it increases the chance,&8221; he said.

With an estimated $12 billion available to the state for the Community Block Grant Program, having the center serve on a more everyday basis would beef up the city&8217;s case for an infrastructure grant, he said.

In his address to the gathering, Jindal listed immigration, bitter partisan politics in Washington and energy prices as some of the most serious issues facing the country.

When he turned his talk to Louisiana, the congressman told of his experiences after Hurricane Katrina and how even at their most ravaged people maintained their sense of humor.

&8220;I was on the plane down to New Orleans with a woman from St. Bernard Parish,&8221; he said.

The woman was returning from a trip to New York, where she had won a new oven on a television show.

&8220;As we were landing, she yelled across the plane, &8216;Bobby, you want to buy a stove?&8217;&8221; he said.

Jindal asked why he needed a stove.

&8220;She laughed as she said, &8216;Well, what am I going to do with a stove? I don&8217;t have a house.&8221;

&8220;In the face of adversity, people from Louisiana laugh instead of cry. That gives me hope.&8221;

Hope is good these days in Louisiana, he said, because there are lots of problems to fix, with schools, health care and housing chief among them.

But the most important thing, Jindal said, was jobs.

&8220;The best thing we can do to help people is to help them to work,&8221; he said.