decreased. And businesses across a spectrum
of industries, including advanced manufactur-
ing, water management, robotics, and software,
are locating or expanding there.
“We have a lot of momentum today,” says
Gov. Edwards. “We’re in a much better place
than we were a few years ago. We’ve been able
to withstand our oil and gas economy not hitting
on all cylinders, and uncertainty around trade
and tariffs and their impact on our ports—and
diversify and really push forward.”
When Edwards took office in January 2016,
he appointed economic development veteran
Don Pierson to head the Louisiana Economic De-
velopment agency (LED). Secretary Pierson set
to work implementing Edwards’ agenda of ex-
panding education and training as a key element
of attracting and retaining more businesses.
Already in place was LED’s FastStart® program,
which designs workforce training unique to a
company’s needs; it has won Business Facilities’
top national ranking among state workforce pro-
grams for nine years in a row. Over the past two
years, the further pursuit of partnerships with
four-year and community colleges has turbo-
charged impressive business growth.
In 2017, for example, Fortune 500 companyDXC Technology announced it would open its
2,000-job Digital Transformation Center in New
Orleans. The state secured the project with a
strategic process and an incentive package that
included a $25 million higher-education initiative
to expand the number of technology graduates
in Louisiana. Business Facilities named the proj-
ect the nation’s No. 2 Economic Development
Deal of the Year.
Louisiana has won other plaudits that point
to additional areas of strength: Last year Area
Development ranked Louisiana among the top
10 states for doing business for the eighth
consecutive year, praising not only its workforce
development but also its favorable general
regulatory environment, its business incentive
programs, and its cooperative and responsive
state government. The state also won the mag-
azine’s 2018 Silver Shovel Award for economic
development wins.
Additionally, Site Selection placed Louisi-
ana among the top 10 states for best business
climates for the ninth year in a row last year and
ranked it No. 2 for infrastructure investment
supporting economic development. Thumbtack
ranked it No. 4 for supportive small-business
environments. And LED calculates that from
2008 to 2018, the state received
more per-capita foreign direct
investment than any other.
(Last year LED itself achieved
the distinction of becoming the
only state agency in the U.S. to
successfully complete a rigorous
documentation and site-review
process to earn accreditation
by the International Economic
Development Council.)
“The state is in the midst
of an industrial boom like none
in its history,” concluded the
2019–20 economic outlook pub-
lished by the E.J. Ourso College
of Business at Louisiana State
University (LSU). “If you look atS4
OUISIANAOUISIANALOU
“We have
a lot of
momentum
today...”
JOHN BEL EDWARDS
GOVERNOR