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03/18/2010
Louisiana Is Off To A Good Start In National Rankings In 2010

Since 2008, Louisiana has been bucking historical trends

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Following a trend that began in 2008, Louisiana has continued to garner positive national recognition in early 2010 as a variety of national organizations are recognizing the state's economic progress.

"There is no longer a placeholder for Louisiana at the bottom of the major economic and business climate rankings," said Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret. "The positive national recognition Louisiana has received since 2008 is a strong indicator that our economy has performed better than the South and U.S. during the recession. This consistent recognition also demonstrates that we are taking the right steps to grow our economy, create better job opportunities and position our state for long-term economic growth."

Since January 2010, Louisiana has received positive recognition in the following rankings:

  • In Gallup's Job Creation Index for 2009, Louisiana tied for third among all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
  • Trade & Industry Development's Corporate Investment and Community Impact, or CiCi, Awards ranked Louisiana second best nationwide for top 2009 corporate investments in the U.S., above all Southern states.
  • Louisiana's absolute national projects ranking increased 12 spots in Site Selection's "Governor's Cup" rankings, up from 27th in 2008 to 15th in 2009; and, the state's per-capita ranking increased from 33rd in 2008 to ninth in 2009.
  • The Daily Beast's "25 Boom States" ranking listed Louisiana third best for job growth prospects among all 50 states.

Several of Louisiana's major cities, regions and recent business development wins also have received positive recognition since January 2010. For example:

  • According to the Adversity Index measured by Moody's Economy.com and MSNBC, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Lake Charles already have emerged from the recession.
  • Trade & Industry Development's CiCi Awards selected SNF Holding Co. in Plaquemine, V-Vehicle Co. in Monroe and ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston near Delhi among the top 15 new Corporate Investment projects announced in the U.S. for 2009.
  • The Foster Farms project in Farmerville was recognized by Trade & Industry Development's CiCi Awards as one of the top 15 in the country for Community Impact in 2009.
  • The Northeast Region tied for 10th place with eight significant economic development projects among tier three metropolitan areas in Site Selection's "Governor's Cup" rankings.
  • The V-Vehicle project tied for honorable mention in Business Facilities' "2009 Economic Development Deal of the Year" awards.
  • In the Brookings Institution's MetroMonitor report, Baton Rouge ranked among the top 20 strongest-performing metropolitan areas from October 2009 to December 2009.
  • MovieMaker magazine ranked Shreveport third best on its list of "10 Best Cities To Live, Work and Make Movies in 2010."
  • Monroe ranked seventh on the Housing Predictor's list of the 10 best markets in the U.S. for real estate investors because of an increase in new jobs.
  • In the Local Market Monitor's first-quarter Home Price Forecast, Baton Rouge is predicted to be one of the nation's best performing housing markets with populations over 600,000, and Lake Charles is predicted to be one of the 10 best-performing small housing markets.
  • In a national survey conducted by Portfolio.com, Baton Rouge was ranked as the nation's 10th-best city for young adults.