VIDALIA — The early bird gets the worm and Concordia Parish is hoping to get a mouthful of possible manufacturing jobs coming from overseas.

During a regional meeting last week, Louisiana Economic Development predicted a possible increase in manufacturing coming back to the United States from China.

LED said it will work toward preparing central and north Louisiana for the increase in non-processing manufacturing and that those are prime locations because of availability of land and low labor costs.

Concordia Parish Economic and Industrial Development District Executive Director Heather Malone said that LED will work with these regions to identify large sites and work with those communities to certify those cites.

For Concordia Parish, that means working toward finishing the certification process of the Vidalia Industrial Park and beginning the process for the Ferriday Industrial Park.

The certification process determines things like environmental aspects, infrastructure and proximity to major highways or interstates.

Malone said the Vidalia park has already completed several of those processes and that her office will seek to complete the certification process by the end of the year.

“We need to position ourselves to promote our industrial locations for that anticipated growth,” Malone said. “Any job creation in our area is helpful.”

As the certification process continues for the Vidalia park, Malone said her office hopes to have the certification for the Ferriday park complete by 2013.

With unemployment figures in the double digits, Malone said the potential jobs are a win-win for the area and its residents.

“These are quality manufacturing jobs with quality salaries,” Malone said. “Positioning ourselves to be able to accept these jobs is key.”