Tech Takeover: How Louisiana Has Become a Substantial Hub for Digital Development

Fortune 250 firm’s Digital Transformation Center represents Louisiana’s largest technology project to date; Louisiana campuses to provide talent pipeline through historic higher education initiative.

Louisiana Economic Development (LED) logo.
In November 2017, DXC Technology announced the company’s selection of New Orleans for its new 2,000-job Digital Transformation Center, the first of its kind in the U.S. and the single largest the company has ever built. New Orleans edged out 30 American cities to win the project.

1615 Poydras New Orleans-9.

“We’re thrilled to become a member of the New Orleans community,” said Mike Lawrie, DXC Technology’s chairman, president and CEO. “Our Digital Transformation Center will be a world-class facility in every way. It will be integral to DXC’s strategic growth objectives, deliver transformative next-generation digital IT services and solutions to our clients, and create new opportunities for current and future employees.”

The announcement confirmed Louisiana’s success in building a fast-growing software and IT sector. The State of Louisiana secured the project with a strategic process and an incentive package that included performance-based grants and higher education support that will help expand the number of technology graduates in the state.

LED FastStart ®, the country’s No. 1 state workforce development leader, built confidence in Louisiana with its ideas for creating custom-fit recruitment and training solutions.

“From the very beginning, FastStart was extremely service-oriented and attentive. They treated us like a valued client,” said Stephen Hilton, executive vice president, Global Delivery Organization. “It wasn’t about creating a boilerplate solution. It was about understanding that we needed to attract a specific type of employee.”

Louisiana offered DXC another key workforce component. The higher education community was brought to the table to demonstrate how it could help grow the graduation rate of computer science and other technology majors.

“It was apparent throughout the discussions with DXC that Louisiana higher education officials were sincere in their commitment to partner and share resources to help make the project happen,” said Monty Sullivan, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System.

Another factor that helped Louisiana win the project was its ability to ensure DXC that it could meet a critical corporate objective: hiring veterans. The LED team worked closely with Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs to identify steps to leverage the state’s deep talent base of military service members exiting active duty.

In 2018, DXC will hire 300 IT and business professionals at its Digital Transformation Center in New Orleans, ramping up to 2,000 jobs over the next five years.

Business Facilities magazine honored DXC’s Digital Transformation Center as the nation’s No. 2 project in its 2017 Economic Development Deal of the Year competition.

“Louisiana is a prime destination for companies investing in growing fields like software development, cybersecurity and IT services,” Governor John Bel Edwards said. “The recognition of our progress by Business Facilities is a testament to DXC’s impact in our state and to Louisiana’s ability to attract game-changing projects.”

Economic Development, Louisiana, Site Selection Factors, USA - Southeast, Workforce Development

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