Louisiana Earns Ninth Consecutive Top 10 Spot Among Best Business Climates

 

12/01/2018

Site Selection magazine ranks Louisiana No.10 in national business climate analysis

Site Selection announced Louisiana ranks among the Top 10 states in the U.S. for best business climate for the ninth year in a row. The magazine ranked Louisiana No. 10 in its 2018 analysis of the top locations for business investment and job creation. Based upon points earned in eight major categories, Louisiana tied with Kentucky at the No. 10 spot. Georgia, North Carolina and Texas held the top three spots in the magazine’s ranking of Top Business Climates.

Site Selection bases its business climate ranking on both survey and performance measurements. Half the score results from a survey of corporate site selectors who are asked to rank the states based on their recent experience of locating facilities in them. The other 50 percent is based upon an index that includes total new projects year-to-date, both overall and per capita; state tax burdens on new and established companies; and performance in Site Selection’s annual Prosperity Cup ranking.

“Through the combination of our highly skilled workforce, our strong infrastructure, our collaborative business community and our cooperative state government, Louisiana offers a welcoming location for business investment and job creation,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “Today’s ranking by Site Selection affirms our strength as a high-performing business climate. Our state is experiencing strong forward momentum as we create more career opportunities and quality jobs for our people. We’re proud to rank among the best business climates in the U.S., and we remain steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that businesses thrive in Louisiana.”

Since January 2016, Louisiana has attracted over 100 major economic development projects representing more than $26 billion in new capital investment for the state, along with more than 25,000 new direct and indirect jobs. The project wins also have retained over 16,000 existing jobs at expanding employers in the state.

Earlier this year, Site Selection ranked Louisiana No. 8 in its annual Governor’s Cup ranking of states with the most new and expanding facilities on a per capita basis. Site Selection magazine also ranked Louisiana No. 2 among U.S. states for infrastructure investment that supports economic growth. Additionally, Southern Business & Development ranked Louisiana No. 2 in the South for the strongest economic development results, and Area Development magazine placed Louisiana No. 7 in its Top States for Doing Business ranking, the eighth consecutive Top 10 ranking for Louisiana in that annual report.

In July, Business Facilities ranked LED FastStart® as the nation’s No. 1 state workforce program for the ninth year in a row.

Business Facilities also placed Louisiana in the Top 10 for multiple categories in its 2018 Rankings Report, including economic growth potential, foreign trade zone activity, and chemicals manufacturing.

“Once again, securing a Top 10 listing for best business climate reflects the momentum we have established in our state,” LED Secretary Don Pierson said. “Clearly the public-private partnerships we have established throughout Louisiana are making a significant contribution to our continued success. We don’t win major projects alone, but with committed support from our elected officials and our professional economic developers, as well as our civic and business leaders throughout Louisiana. We all share in this accomplishment, and we continue to be encouraged by the diversity of outstanding new projects that are choosing Louisiana for their investments.”

Recent economic development projects selecting Louisiana include the 2,000-job New Orleans Digital Transformation Center by DXC Technology; the aircraft maintenance facility by Western Global Airlines that will result in over 300 new direct and indirect jobs in Shreveport; the jet modification and maintenance center by Citadel Completions that will yield 600 new direct and indirect jobs in Lake Charles; the $1.49 billion Shintech ethylene expansion in Plaquemine that will result in over 700 new direct and indirect jobs; Formosa’s $9.4 billion chemical complex planned for St. James Parish, with 1,200 new direct jobs and 8,000 new indirect jobs; and a $274 million expansion by Graphic Packaging International in Monroe and West Monroe that will retain over 800 jobs and result in more than 160 new direct and indirect jobs at a new 1.27 million-square-foot folding carton plant and logistics center in Monroe.

About Site Selection
Site Selection magazine, published by Conway Inc., delivers expansion-planning information to 45,000 executives of fast-growing firms. For more information about Site Selection, visit SiteSelection.com.

SOURCE: https://www.opportunitylouisiana.com/led-news/news-releases/news/2018/11/05/louisiana-earns-ninth-consecutive-top-10-spot-among-best-business-climates



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