More company headquarters and shared services operations are
coming to Louisiana and committing to grow here. In 2008, Louisiana
gained another Fortune 1000 company, Albemarle Corp., when it moved
its corporate headquarters from Virginia to Louisiana. Albemarle
credited the positive direction of Louisiana, as well as the
state's business incentives, for the business relocation decision.
And in 2009, Louisiana-based CenturyTel merged with Kansas-based
EMBARQ Corp. to form CenturyLink, the fourth-largest local exchange
telephone company in the U.S. and Louisiana's third Fortune 500
company. The state's healthy business environment and strategic
location allow a variety of industries to compete and succeed.
Headquarters
Companies headquartered in Louisiana have many advantages,
including a world-class logistics and transportation
infrastructure, a portfolio of competitive incentives and a
pro-business climate.
It's a new day in Louisiana, with an emphasis on fairness and
transparency. When the Better Government Association released its
second edition of the BGA-Alper Integrity Index in October 2008,
Louisiana's overall ranking improved from 46th in the nation to
fifth. In addition, Gov. Jindal and the Legislature eliminated
unorthodox business taxes including the sales tax on manufacturing
machinery and equipment, the franchise tax on corporate debt and
the sales tax on natural gas and business utilities. The state also
implemented the largest personal income tax cut in state
history.
Another reason to believe in Louisiana's momentum and business
investment potential is the state's aggressive commitment to build
customized solutions to meet business needs. The state has a wealth
of business opportunities and incentives available, including
Louisiana FastStart™, the state's customized workforce solutions
program. Based on a company's immediate and long-term workforce
needs, the Louisiana FastStart team crafts unique programs that
ensure workers are prepared on day one -- all at no cost.
The state's logistics and transportation infrastructure is
world-class, moving goods to global markets efficiently and
effectively. Its vast port system is the nation's largest, and the
state contains one of only two sites in the country where all six
of North America's Class One railroads converge. Also, Louisiana
has six interstate highways, seven commercial service/primary
airports and a wealth of warehouse space in close proximity to
commercial outlets.
In 2009, CenturyLink joined Entergy Corp. and The Shaw Group on
the list of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Louisiana.
Fortune 1000 company, Albemarle Corp., is headquartered in Baton
Rouge, La. Other companies that recently decided to relocate or
maintain their headquarters in Louisiana include:
- In 2008, The Shaw Group committed to staying in Louisiana for
an additional 15 years.
- Bercen Inc., a specialty chemicals company, moved its
headquarters, as well as its research and development and technical
service laboratories, from Cranston, R.I. to Denham Springs,
La.
- Horizon Entertainment, a television and film production
company, moved its headquarters from Atlanta to New Orleans.
- Era Helicopters Inc. moved to Acadiana Regional Airport in New
Iberia, La., from Long Beach, Miss.
- Schlumberger Ltd. committed to expanding and consolidating its
regional business operations into a single oil field services
headquarters in Shreveport, La.
- Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport was selected as the home
for the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command, the new controlling
entity of the U.S. Air Force's nuclear bombers and missiles.
Shared Services
With competitive business incentives and a well-trained
workforce, the state is also a great location for shared services
facilities. Louisiana's shared services facilities provide critical
support to state and federal agencies, as well as other private and
public entities.
Headquartered in Hammond, La., Barrister Global Services Network
Inc. is the oldest and largest woman-owned computer service company
in the U.S. To support the company's recent expansion, Louisiana
FastStart provided customized training and assistance to
Barrister's 100 new employees.
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Atlantic's New Orleans
office, a key branch of the Navy engineering organization
supporting national defense, provides IT services and support to
the Department of Navy, Department of Defense and U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs. The New Orleans office has the largest Quality
of Life CSC in the Navy that supports active and reserve Navy,
Marine Corps and Air National Guard members, and a state-of-the-art
network Data Operations Center.
In July 2007, Staples, Inc., the world's largest office products
company, selected Baton Rouge as the location for a new customer
service center for its North American Delivery business. The center
will provide a training center for new representatives as well as
office space for management and support staff. The same year,
Denver-based StarTek USA opened a technical support center in
Alexandria, La., and ACCENT Marketing Services opened a 320-seat
Boost Mobile contact center in Monroe, La. Since 2001, Home Depot
also has had a significant presence in Louisiana, employing
approximately 250 employees at the company's main call center and
distribution center.
