LED FastStart
Economic development creates opportunities to grow state, local and metro areas, which are essential for economic growth, improved quality of life and community development. LED FastStart articles below.
COVID-19: The Road To Recovery
Economic development organizations and government officials have joined forces with local businesses to keep creating inspiring and innovative ways to meet the most urgent needs of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are their stories.
LED, LSUS Form $3M Technology Cooperative Endeavor Agreement
A $1.2 million Louisiana Economic Development grant will match $2 million from LSU Shreveport to grow technology careers.
Louisiana, Haas Create First-In-Nation Manufacturing Partnership
The Pelican State will be first to equip every community and technical college with Haas 5-axis machining centers.
Louisiana: Building A More Resilient State
Louisiana has created a Resilient Louisiana Commission (with 15 associated task forces) to chart a path toward safely reopening the economy and making the Pelican State more resilient for the long-term.
Texas Tops In Business Climate, Virginia Wears Cyber Crown
Texas has the Best Business Climate, Virginia is tops in Cybersecurity Leaders, Louisiana leads in Workforce Development/Talent Attraction in Business Facilities' 16th Annual Rankings Report.
Workforce Training: Coping With Crisis Requires A New Skillset
Companies are building digital training programs and creating ecosystems of “learning partners” to produce and deliver digital content to a broad base of employees.
Click Here Digital Relocating To New Louisiana HQ
The digital consultancy will retain 63 jobs, and create 100 new direct jobs at its new corporate headquarters in in Baton Rouge, LA.
Louisiana: Advanced Aero Services Brings MRO To Shreveport
Aero’s maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at Shreveport Regional Airport will serve commercial airline customers. Plans include a narrow-body hanger.
Iriapak Investing $7M In New Louisiana Packaging Film Plant
The Italian company’s first North American manufacturing facility will create 25 new jobs in New Orleans, LA.
E.I. Williams Creating 100 Manufacturing Jobs In Louisiana
The Canadian industrial sound-control equipment manufacturer will invest $700,000 in the Webster Parish project.
Medline Industries Creating 464 New Jobs In Louisiana
The $53 million distribution center will create a total of more than 1,000 new direct, indirect jobs in St. Tammany Parish, LA.
Testronic Digital Media Project Creating 150 Jobs In Louisiana
U.K.-based Testronic will launch a new 150-job testing facility for digital games at Louisiana's New Orleans Exchange Centre.
Viemed Healthcare Creating 220 Jobs In Louisiana
The respiratory care company will expand into a new headquarters facility in Lafayette, LA.
Cybersecurity: Catching Up With The Bad Guys
Millions of skilled cybersecurity professionals are needed on the front lines of the global battle with cybercriminals who are causing trillions of dollars worth of damage annually.
Lacassine Operating Co. Building $12.5M Plant In Louisiana
The industrial chemical company’s new catalyst blending plant will serve refinery clients around the world from an industrial park in Lacassine, Jefferson Davis Parish.
Workforce Training & Talent Acquisition
Today’s workforce training and talent acquisition is a multi-faceted effort that brings targeted skills to students, and new workers to locations they’ll be happy to live in.
ExxonMobil Investing $469M In Louisiana
The addition of a polypropylene manufacturing unit to the company's greater Baton Rouge petrochemical complex will create 65 new jobs.
SuperATV Investing $4.35M In Louisiana
The all-terrain vehicle parts manufacturer will create 75 news jobs at its new Shreveport, LA manufacturing and distribution center.
Bagwell Energy Services Adding 150 Jobs In Louisiana
The energy fabrication company will invest $2.5 million to expand its oil and gas processing industry services in Iberia Parish, LA.
South Louisiana Methanol To Invest $2.2B In Louisiana Project
The joint venture with SABIC will create a new methanol complex on a site along the Mississippi River and result in 75 new direct jobs in St. James Parish, LA.
VEGA Americas To Create 120 Manufacturing Jobs In Louisiana
The Germany-based company will invest $22.4 million in an advanced manufacturing center in Geismar, LA.
Catamaran Solutions Creating 120 Jobs In Louisiana
The advanced manufacturing jobs will be created at a 20-acre site in Minden, LA over the next three years.
Louisiana Lands $1.25B Wanhua Chemical Complex
The China-based company's new chemical manufacturing complex will create 170 new jobs in St. James Parish, LA.
Snapshots: 60 Seconds With Paul Helton, LED FastStart
Paul Helton, Executive Director, LED FastStart, discusses the recruitment, training and support services at the heart of one of the nation's top workforce development programs.
Western Global Airlines Creating 170 Jobs In Louisiana
The cargo freight carrier will make a $3 million investment to establish its own aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at Shreveport Regional Airport.
Formosa Investing $9.4B In Louisiana Manufacturing Complex
In two phases, the petrochemical company will build ethane crackers and downstream plants in St. James Parish that will create up to 1,200 new direct jobs.
Fuji Vegetable Oil Investing $70M In Louisiana Production Facility
The new specialty oils processing facility will result in 39 new direct jobs in Jefferson Parish, with the help of the LED FastStart workforce training program.
Champion Home Builders Growing In Louisiana
The manufactured homes company’s expansion will result in a $1.3 million capital investment and 200 new jobs in Leesville, LA.
Foster Farms Investing $30M In Louisiana Poultry Plant Expansion
The new Foster Farms project will retain 1,092 existing jobs and create 50 new direct jobs in Farmerville, Union Parish.
Texas Has Best Business Climate; Colorado Tops In Growth Potential
Texas is Business Facilities' top-ranked state for Best Business Climate and Colorado was named no. 1 in Economic Growth Potential in the magazine's 13th Annual Rankings Report.
Noranda Bauxite & Alumina Investing $35M In Louisiana
The company will expand and upgrade its St. James Parish alumina refinery, and also move its headquarters to the Gramercy facility, creating 65 new jobs.
Plastipak Packaging Investing $15M In Central Louisiana
The rigid plastic container manufacturer will add up to seven new plastics production lines at its manufacturing facility in Pineville, LA.
Mauser To Invest $10M In Louisiana Industrial Packaging Project
Mauser will establish a new packaging facility in the Talon Industrial Park in Geismar, LA, creating 75 new jobs.
Graphic Packaging, DHL Team Up For $274M Project In Northeast Louisiana
More than 800 jobs will be retained, 93 new ones created at the 1.27 million-square-foot converting/logistics center in Monroe, LA.
Provision Healthcare Developing $100M Advanced Cancer Treatment Center In New Orleans
The Louisiana Proton Therapy Center will be housed on University Medical Center campus in city’s biomedical corridor.
Lotte Chemical USA Moving HQ To Southwest Louisiana
The Korea-based manufacturer will relocate its corporate offices from Houston to a location near its multi-billion dollar investment in Lake Charles, LA.
CSRA Creating Customer Engagement Center In Louisiana
The new operation will create 300 jobs within two years, adding to CSRA's 800-job Integrated Technology Center that will open in Bossier City in late 2016.
Workforce Training: Engineering A Skilled Workforce
States, regions, businesses and higher ed resources are joining forces in an aggressive and innovative effort to fill the skilled labor shortage in the United States.
Technology Center Opens At UL Lafayette Research Park
CGI Federal recently celebrated the dedication of its $13.1 million, 50,000-square-foot information technology center that serves as an anchor for the 143-acre University of Louisiana at Lafayette Research Park.
Monsanto To Invest $975M In Louisiana Expansion
The investment in its St. Charles Parish operations will support the launch of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready® Xtend Crop System.