Louisiana Rises To No. 6 In National Business Climate Ranking
Louisiana earns its highest-ever ranking in Site Selection magazine’s evaluation of top states for attracting business investment, jobs
BATON ROUGE, La. — Today, Gov. Bobby Jindal hailed Louisiana’s rise to No. 6 in the Site Selection 2013 Top U.S. Business Climates, the state’s highest-ever placement in the magazine’s annual ranking. Louisiana moved up from No. 7 in Site Selection’s 2012 business climate ranking, and 2013 marks the state’s fourth consecutive year in the Top 10. Just four years ago, Louisiana ranked No. 25. The latest Top 10 business climate ranking provides further evidence of Louisiana’s attractiveness as a compelling location for business investment and job creation.
Gov. Jindal said, “For decades, Louisiana was losing jobs and our people because we did not have a good business environment. Companies were fleeing our state because of high taxes, and other companies didn’t give us a second look because our state was too corrupt. We set out to reverse that trend more than five years ago by eliminating taxes that stifled growth, reining in government spending, overhauling governmental ethics laws, revamping workforce training programs, and providing more educational opportunities for families. Because of these reforms, we have more jobs in Louisiana than at any point in our state’s history. Indeed, this latest ranking confirms that we are on the right path to create more opportunities for our people.”
Since 2008, Louisiana has secured economic development wins that are resulting in more than 83,000 new jobs, more than $54 billion in new investment and hundreds of millions of dollars in new sales for the state’s small businesses. In every major business climate ranking, Louisiana stands higher today than it ever did before 2008, including rankings by Area Development, Beacon Hill Institute, Business Facilities, Chief Executive, CNBC, Forbes, Pollina Corporate Real Estate and Site Selection. In July, Business Facilities ranked Louisiana No. 4 among the best U.S. business climates in its 2013 Rankings Report; and in October, Area Development placed Louisiana No. 6 in its Top States for Doing Business report.
Of the attributes considered most important by corporate site selectors in making business investment decisions, existing workforce skills ranked No. 1 in the Site Selection survey. Louisiana, for the past four years in a row, earned a No. 1 ranking in state workforce training programs from Business Facilities, based on the strength of its LED FastStart®program. A key differentiator for Louisiana, LED FastStart rapidly ramps up a skilled workforce for expanding companies by providing customized recruitment, screening and training solutions.
About Site Selection
Site Selection magazine, published by Conway Data Inc., delivers expansion-planning information to 49,000 executives of fast-growing firms. The senior publication in the development field, Site Selection is also available via Site Selection Online (www.siteselection.com).