03/08/2010
Louisiana Rockets Upward In Site Selection Magazine's "Governor's Cup" Economic Development Ranking
Capital Region, Northeast Louisiana also rank
highly
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Last week, Site Selection magazine released
its annual "Governor's Cup" rankings, in which Louisiana's national
economic development projects ranking improved 12 spots from 27th
in 2008 to 15th in 2009. On a per-capita basis, Louisiana's ranking
rocketed from 33rd in 2008 to ninth in 2009 -- an improvement of 24
spots.
Louisiana's per-capita project results for 2009 were
considerably better than most other Southern states, including
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina,
Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.
"Since day one we have made economic development and job
creation the top priority of our administration," said Louisiana
Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret. "Thanks to this
focus, including our efforts to create a more competitive business
climate, aggressively support small business development and
provide turnkey workforce solutions for expanding companies, we
continue to receive positive national recognition for our economic
results. By any reasonable measure, Louisiana's economy has
outperformed the South and the U.S. since the beginning of the
national recession, and we're just getting started."
Since January 2008, LED has secured projects that will create
more than 35,000 new direct and indirect jobs and more than $4.6
billion in new capital investment, as well as billions in new sales
for small businesses.
Site Selection also recognized the
Capital Region and the Northeast Region in its 2009 rankings. The
Capital Region tied for third place with 30 economic development
projects among tier two metropolitan areas, and the Northeast
Region tied for 10th place with eight economic development projects
among tier three metropolitan areas.
Site Selection's rankings are based on
new and expanded facilities tracked by Conway Data Inc.'s New Plant
Database, which focuses on new corporate location projects with
significant impact. It does not track retail and government
projects, or schools and hospitals. New facilities and expansions
included in the analyses must meet at least one of three criteria:
(a) capital investment of at least $1 million, (b) creation of at
least 50 new jobs or (c) addition of at least 20,000 square feet of
new floor area.
