4/16/2010

Louisiana Adds Another Fortune 500 Company

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Today, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret commended CenturyLink for earning a spot on the 2010 Fortune 500 list, joining Entergy and The Shaw Group on the list of America's largest 500 publicly traded companies, as measured by revenue. The 2010 Fortune 1000 has not been released, but three Louisiana-based companies made the list in 2009 including Albemarle Corp., Pool Corp. and Superior Energy Services.

"CenturyLink joining Entergy and Shaw on the Fortune 500 list is another example of how well Louisiana's economy has performed during the recession," said Gov. Jindal. "This is a positive sign for our business climate and will help us maintain the economic momentum we have built up since 2008. As excited as we are about CenturyLink's new status as a Fortune 500 company, we're even more excited that CenturyLink recently committed to adding 350 new professional jobs in our state."

In October 2008, Louisiana-based CenturyTel and Kansas-based EMBARQ approved an agreement to merge the two companies to create a single industry leading communications provider. Immediately after the merger was announced, LED engaged company execu>tives to develop a plan to retain and grow CenturyLink employment in Louisiana. LED's efforts resulted in a November 2009 agreement in which CenturyLink committed to maintain its headquarters in Louisiana for at least the next 10 years, as well as to create 350 new direct jobs, which LED estimates will generate an additional 520 new indirect jobs.

"CenturyLink's commitment to expand in Louisiana adds to the growing list of companies that have chosen to expand their corporate headquarters in Louisiana or relocate their headquarters to Louisiana," said Moret. "We're delighted that CenturyLink has joined the Fortune 500 list, as expected, and we look forward to attracting Louisiana's next Fortune 500 headquarters."

About CenturyLink

Headquartered in Monroe, La., CenturyLink is a leading provider of high-quality voice, broadband and video services over its advanced communications networks to consumers and businesses in 33 states. For more information on CenturyLink, visit www.centurylink.com.