By Kari Williams
From the January/February 2024 Issue
For the seventh-straight year, Louisiana has seen “year-over-year capital investment growth,” according to Louisiana Economic Development (LED).
Companies committed more than $25 billion to economic development projects statewide, making 2023 the third year in a row that projects totaled an excess of $20 billion.
“An economic future that seemed quite uncertain in 2016 is filled with progress and potential prosperity in 2024 and beyond,” then-Governor John Bel Edwards said. “The record levels of investment that we attracted have helped to create jobs that put more citizens to work than at any other time in our history. We have brought stability and consistency to the business of economic development in Louisiana, made investments to improve our economic condition for the long haul through sector diversity, and set Louisiana on a sound financial footing going forward.”
“The record levels of investment that we attracted have helped to create jobs that put more citizens to work than at any other time in our history.”
— Former Governor John Bel Edwards
The Bayou State continued to rank high in Business Facilities’ 2023 Annual Rankings Report. Gramercy, LA, ranks No. 3 for FTZ Activity (Exports) and No. 4 for FTZ Activity (Imports) in the Metro Rankings. Meanwhile, New Orleans was No. 2 for Logistics Leaders, and Lake Charles ranked No. 5 for Manufacturing Hubs (Small). In the State Rankings, Louisiana topped the list for Tech Talent Pipeline and was at No. 2 for Customized Workforce Training, Manufacturing Output (% of GDP), and Film/Television Industry incentives and economic impact.
Energy and emissions reductions projects have been the bulk of investments, according to the state’s 2023 annual report, with more than $14 billion in capital expenditures and the potential for 11,500 new jobs.
Venture Global and Plaquemines Phase 2 Final Investment Decision came in at the top with a capital expenditure of $7.8 billion, followed by St. Charles Clean Fuels at $4.6 billion and DG Fuels at $3.1 billion, the report stated.
Between 2019 and 2023, more than $3.5 billion projects have been started in the downtown New Orleans area, including the River District ($1.5 billion), Caesars Superdome ($500 million), and Charity Hospital ($500 million), according to Greater New Orleans, Inc.
Then-LED Secretary Don Pierson said “legacy sectors” like energy, agribusiness, and manufacturing are changing in response to a worldwide focus on sustainability.
“They are now complemented by increasingly robust technology, aerospace and aviation, life sciences, and water-management sectors,” Pierson said. “Even as we intensified our efforts to attract major projects—bringing hundreds of millions, and in some cases billions of dollars of capital investment to our state—we strengthened our commitment to small businesses, including special programs for women, minority, and veteran business owners.”
Five Vernon Parish (western Louisiana) schools now have STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics)-focused learning centers thanks to a $7.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense and a 10% LED match. The centers, according to LED, will serve families either stationed at, or employed by, nearby Fort Johnson.
“Military installations contribute $9.64 billion in annual economic output and more than 77,000 jobs across all regions of our state,” Pierson said. “We have a genuine stake in these military assets, not just for their defense of America—which is paramount — but for their importance to Louisiana’s economy.”
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Louisiana also houses one of the 31 regions the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration chose as a Tech Hub last fall—Gulf Louisiana Offshore Wind Propeller (GLOW), focused on offshore wind and renewable energy development.
As part of the state’s focus on diversity in small businesses, LED recently selected 15 minority- and female-owned companies for its third Diversity in Entrepreneurship Initiative cohort. Audio Appliance Experts, Germ Slayers Cleaning and Maintenance Solutions, and Leroy’s LipSmack’n Lemonade are among the participants.
The state also received $450,000 in grant funding through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s State Trade Expansion Program.
