03/11/2010
Louisiana Leads South In New Ranking Of Top Corporate Investments In The U.S. In 2009
SNF, V-Vehicle Co., ConAgra Foods Lamb
Weston, and Foster Farms projects win Corporate Investment and
Community Impact Awards from Trade & Industry Development
magazine
BATON ROUGE, La. - Today, Trade &
Industry Development magazine released its fifth annual
"CiCi Awards" (Corporate Investment /Community Impact) in which
four of Louisiana's business development projects from 2009
received awards, more than any other Southern state.
SNF Holding Co. in Plaquemine, La., (510 new direct jobs),
V-Vehicle Co. in Monroe, La., (1,400 new direct jobs) and ConAgra
Foods Lamb Weston near Delhi, La., (500 to 600 new direct jobs) all
were selected among the top 15 new Corporate Investment projects
announced in the U.S. for 2009. Only four other Southern states had
any projects in the top 15, and each of them had only one project
versus three for Louisiana.
The Foster Farms project in Farmerville, La., was recognized as
one of the top 15 in the country for Community Impact.
"No plan to move our state forward is realistic during these
tough economic without targeting business growth and greater job
creation for our people," said Gov. Bobby Jindal. "We don't want
our kids to have to leave our state to pursue their dreams; we want
them to be able to find a great paying job right here at home
because Louisiana is the best place in the world for businesses to
expand and succeed. This new ranking is further proof that our
efforts to grow our economy are working."
"Last year we were named State of the Year by Southern Business & Development magazine
for having more significant business development wins per capita
than any other Southern state, yet that ranking was based on our
business development wins in 2008. In 2009, our business
development results were even better than in 2008, and the latest
business development rankings are a reflection of that," said
Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret. "This
latest recognition by Trade & Industry
Development, combined with the other positive recognition
Louisiana has received recently, is another indicator that our
economy is performing better than the South and U.S. during a
difficult national recession, and that we are successfully
positioning our state for future growth."
Louisiana ranked second best in the U.S. with four total awards
and second best nationally in the Corporate Investment category
with three total awards. Louisiana's four total awards, as well as
its Corporate Investment awards, ranked best in the South.
According to Trade & Industry
Development, more than 1,000 submissions were considered for
project announcements that were made in the previous year. The
Corporate Investment projects ranking is based on projects that
have the largest number of new jobs, largest number of retained
jobs and highest total amount of capital investment. The Community
Impact projects ranking is determined by the number of new jobs
created, number of current jobs retained, unemployment figures,
income level of the region, plant closings and other relevant
factors.
