Louisiana Ranks No. 3 In 2014 Site Selection Governor’s Cup
BATON ROUGE, La. — Today, Site Selection magazine’s annual Governor’s Cup rankings placed Louisiana No. 3 in the U.S. for states that gained the most new and expanded corporate facilities on a per capita basis in 2014. Louisiana trailed only Ohio and Kentucky, which topped the Governor’s Cup per capita ranking, and ranked No. 2 among all Southern states.
The Governor’s Cup measures the quantity of significant business development projects for the calendar year. In absolute terms, Louisiana’s project count for 2014 ranked No. 9 in the nation, up from No. 11 in 2013. Louisiana also ranked No. 3 on a per capita basis 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 historical performance prior to 2008.
Gov. Bobby Jindal said, “Since taking office in 2008, we have advanced Louisiana’s standing in the business world by transforming the way we do business in our state. By overhauling our governmental ethics laws, by revamping our workforce development programs, and by creating an attractive business climate, we have positioned Louisiana as the new frontier for business opportunity. Today in Louisiana, more people have a job than ever before in our state’s history. Our continued strong performance in Site Selection’s Governor’s Cup confirms that we are on the right path and that we are continuing to build economic momentum for our state. We will not rest until Louisiana is recognized as the best place in the world to live, work and raise a family.”
Since January 2008, 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. 3 per capita ranking included dozens of major business development projects the state successfully recruited in 2014, including expansion announcements by existing companies in Louisiana and the attraction of new companies to the state.
For example, CSC in February 2014 announced the establishment of an 800-job integrated technology center and broke ground on the project in September in Bossier City; CGI announced a 400-job technology center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in April 2014 and recently broke ground on that project; and Yuhuang Chemical announced a $1.85 billion methanol project in St. James Parish. Other 2014 projects included the Chiquita Brands container-shipping project and the International Shipholding corporate headquarters project, both relocating from out of state to New Orleans; the Crest Industries 90-job corporate headquarters expansion in Pineville; and Westlake Chemical’s October 2014 announcement of a $330 million ethylene expansion in Lake Charles just after it announced completion of a $425 million chlor-alkali plant expansion in Geismar in February.
In the 2014 Governor’s Cup awards, Site Selection also recognized high-performing metro areas across the U.S. Baton Rouge ranked No. 2 (tied with Dayton, Ohio) among metropolitan areas with populations of 200,000 to 1 million, matching the Capital Region’s performance in the 2013 ranking.
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 www.siteselection.com.
Media Inquiries
Members of the news media can contact the LED Communications team for information and interview requests about LED projects and programs.