fDi Magazine Ranks New Orleans And Lafayette Among Top American Cities Of The Future

BATON ROUGE, La. — New Orleans and Lafayette rank among America’s top cities of the future, according to a new study published by Foreign Direct Investment (fDi) magazine. The 2013-14 American Cities of the Future report ranks the two Louisiana cities among the best of their size for attracting overseas investment.

New Orleans ranked No. 6 overall in the Top 10 Mid-Sized American Cities of the Future list and No. 4 in economic potential for Top 10 Mid-Sized American Cities. Only Virginia Beach, Va., ranked higher among U.S. cities at No. 5, with Canadian cities claiming the top four spots.

Lafayette ranked No. 7 overall among Top 10 Small American Cities of the Future and No. 1 among small American cities in the category of fDi Strategy, a ranking based on a city’s current strategy for foreign direct investment promotion. The magazine’s editors lauded Lafayette’s “Innovation with an accent” branding as a key part of that strategy.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said, “These new rankings are proof that our work to make Louisiana the best place in the world to do business is paying off. Our aggressive efforts to support our outstanding local workforce, improve infrastructure and develop a strong and friendly business climate are benefiting our economy today while ensuring that our sons and daughters will have opportunities to succeed in the future.”

In compiling its rankings, the magazine compared the economic, business and financial strengths of cities across both North and South America. Also, fDi highlighted cities of varying sizes with the best forecasts for inward investment, economic development and business expansion.

The results were determined from data collected for 422 cities. The cities were evaluated on 100 criteria, including economic factors, cost, infrastructure and incentives. Based on these criteria, cities were selected for five categories: Economic Potential, Human Resources, Cost-Effectiveness, Infrastructure, Business Friendliness and fDi Strategy. Cities in the mid-sized category had a population of more than 200,000 people, plus a metropolitan area population of more than 350,000 people. Cities in the small category had an immediate population of between 100,000 and 350,000 people.

About fDi magazine
fDi magazine is a specialist publication that reports on crossborder investment and is read by senior-level executives at multinational corporations and others in the readership who are involved in corporate greenfield site-selection decisions. A bimonthly publication, fDi magazine is part of the fDi Intelligence division of the Financial Times. For more information about the publication, visit www.fdiintelligence.com.

About fDi Intelligence
fDi Intelligence, from the Financial Times, is the largest FDI center of excellence globally. Specializing in all areas relating to foreign direct investment and investment promotion, the full suite of services includes: location advertising to generate brand awareness; industry-leading intelligence tools to develop FDI strategies and identify potential investors; and tailored FDI events and investor roundtables to meet target companies and generate business leads. Products include fDi Markets, fDi Benchmark, fDi Atlas and fDi magazine.

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