Louisiana Ranks No. 6 In Site Selection Governor’s Cup

BATON ROUGE, La. — Today, Site Selection magazine’s annual Governor’s Cup rankings placed Louisiana No. 6 in the U.S. for states that announced the most new and expanded corporate facilities on a per capita basis in 2015. Louisiana was No. 2 among all Southern states, trailing only Kentucky, the overall leader in the per capita rankings. 

The Governor’s Cup measures the quantity of significant business development projects for the calendar year. In absolute terms, Louisiana’s project count for 2015 ranked No. 13 in the nation, down from No. 9 in 2014. Louisiana ranked No. 4 in the South Central region in total projects; it was No. 3 in the region in 2014. On a per capita basis in the South Central region, Louisiana ranked No. 2 in 2015; it was No. 2 in 2014 and No. 1 in 2013. In 2011, Louisiana ranked No. 1 in the nation per capita and No. 3 overall in the Governor’s Cup for 2010 projects, and the state has continued to post rankings since then that are far above its previous historical performance.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said, “We applaud this recognition by Site Selection magazine because all across our state, we are working hard to promote Louisiana as the premier place to do business. Going forward, our mission will be to stabilize Louisiana’s budget and make critical investments in our economy. Quality education and job training continue to lay the groundwork for our success, and that in turn helps to sustain our strong business climate.”

In recent years, LED has secured economic development projects that are resulting in more than 91,000 new direct and indirect jobs and more than $62 billion in new capital investment, along with hundreds of millions of dollars in new sales for Louisiana’s small businesses. Louisiana’s No. 6 per capita ranking included dozens of major business development projects the state successfully recruited in 2015, including expansion announcements by existing companies in Louisiana and the attraction of new companies to the state.

For example, Viking Cruises announced its first North American river cruises with selection of New Orleans as its homeport, Formosa Petrochemical Corp. announced a 1,200-job petrochemical complex in St. James Parish that represents a potential $9.4 billion investment and IBM unveiled plans to anchor a new 88-acre technology park in Monroe and create 400 new jobs at the CenturyLink-affiliated complex. Other 2015 project announcements included Monster Moto relocating both its corporate headquarters (from Dallas) and its youth vehicle manufacturing operations (from China) to Ruston; EPIC Piping’s 560-job advanced pipe fabrication facility and headquarters in Livingston Parish; Dongsung FineTec’s 250-job cryogenic insulation manufacturing plant in Lake Charles; and Investimus Foris converting a biofuels refinery in Grant Parish to an ammonia plant, a $265 million project.

In the 2015 Governor’s Cup awards, Site Selection also recognized high-performing metro areas across the U.S. Baton Rouge ranked No. 5 among metropolitan areas with populations of 200,000 to 1 million, marking the Capital Region’s third consecutive Top 5 finish. Baton Rouge was ranked No. 2 in 2014 and No. 4 in 2013.

Site Selection’s Governor’s Cup rankings are based on the quantity of new and expanded facilities as 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, schools or hospitals. New facilities and expansions included in the rankings must meet at least one of three criteria: (1) capital investment of at least $1 million; (2) creation of at least 20 new jobs; or (3) addition of at least 20,000 square feet of new construction.

About Site Selection
Site Selection magazine, published by Conway, delivers expansion-planning information to 48,500 executives of fast-growing firms. Read more about Site Selection’s Governor’s Cup Awards at SiteSelection.com.