Louisiana Business Development Projects Earn Top Community Impact Awards For 2013

BATON ROUGE, La. — Trade & Industry Development magazine released its Ninth Annual Corporate Investment and Community Impact, or CiCi, Awards, in which two of Louisiana’s business development projects from 2013 received awards.

Trade & Industry Development selected 15 Corporate Investment and 15 Community Impact recipients nationwide, for a total of 30 project winners in the 2014 CiCi Awards. Louisiana’s winning projects include the $55 million IBM project in downtown Baton Rouge, La., (1,342 new direct and indirect jobs) and the $130 million Gulf Coast Spinning project in Bunkie, La., (1,029 new direct and indirect jobs), which were selected among the Top 15 new Community Impact projects.

Gov. Jindal said, “The Corporate Investment and Community Impact Awards are a testament to our commitment to making Louisiana the best place in the world to invest and own a business. Our economic development wins are generating tremendous momentum for our state’s economy and creating more opportunities for future generations. In fact, Louisiana has been among the Top 10 states for private sector job growth since 2008. Louisiana’s economy continues to outperform the South and the nation, and we are seeing more companies choosing to invest in our state as a result of our strong business climate, world-class infrastructure and highly skilled workforce.”

According to Trade & Industry Development, more than 400 submissions were considered for the CiCi Awards this year. The Corporate Investment awards are based on projects that create the most new jobs, retain the most jobs and invest the most capital. The publication determines Community Impact winners by the number of jobs created, jobs retained, unemployment figures, regional income levels, plant closings and other relevant factors.

“It is with great pleasure that Trade & Industry Development bestows two out of fifteen Ninth Annual CiCi Awards in the Community Impact category to outstanding companies that in 2013 announced their choice of the state of Louisiana for development projects that promise to be transformational to the well-being of the communities they chose,” said Scott Swoger, publisher of Trade & Industry Development magazine. “We feel it is important to recognize them not only for the volume of jobs they will create but for the industry sectors they will impact—IBM working to build a smarter planet and Gulf Coast Spinning in the agricultural industry. Louisiana Economic Development is to be commended for its role in partnering with these businesses to enable these impactful investments.”

For more information on the CiCi Awards, visit www.tradeandindustrydev.com.