La. advanced in U.S. business ranking

Even with the worst oil spill in U.S. history and a moratorium on deepwater drilling, Louisiana was able to boost its position among overall U.S. commerce levels for 2010, and has been listed as the most improved state for conducting business in the nation.

According to Chief Executive Magazine, Louisiana was ranked No. 27 on a Best and Worst States for Business list. The new position is a 14-point jump from the previous year’s position at 41 on the publication’s 2010 report.

Responding to the report, Gov. Bobby Jindal credited his coming to office and making economic rebuilding a priority following the hardships suffered from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008, as elements in the improved position.

“I promised to make economic development our top priority, and we’ve done that by implementing aggressive policy reforms to make Louisiana more attractive for new business investment, as well as by supporting the growth of Louisiana’s existing business and industry,” Jindal said in a printed statement.

Terrebonne Economic Development Authority Board of Commissioners Chairman and Business First Bank Regional President Don Hingle credited more locally traditional elements for the position shift.

“There was a lot of work generated because of the oil spill,” Hingle said. “Local companies provided labor and equipment [in cleanup and recovery efforts]. Also, 2009 was a really tough year for the oil patch. There was a big sink in gasoline prices, but 2010 was much better regardless of the spill.”

The position two points under the mid-point of all states, is the highest position Louisiana has ever held in the Chief Executive rankings.

“Wisconsin and Louisiana posted the two biggest gains since 2010, with the latter, along with Oklahoma, also showing the biggest gains over the last five years. By proactively reshaping its posture toward business taxation and regulation, Louisiana has been quietly stealing pages from the Texas playbook,” the magazine’s report read.

Texas held the No. 1 position, which it has listed since 2005. California ranked No. 50 on the Best and Worst report.

“This is terrific news from Chief Executive magazine and is yet another confirmation that Louisiana is the most improved state or business in the U.S.,” said Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret. “Our dramatically improved ranking is in large part the result of recent economic competitiveness improvements in Louisiana, such as business tax cuts, governmental ethics reform, the creation of Louisiana FastStart and our focus on business retention and expansion, as well as our recently enhanced support for small business development programs.”

Moret noted that Louisiana has seen improved positioning among a number of business surveys and studies during the past three years. Last week Site Selection magazine had listed Louisiana as the top performing state for economic development in the nation.

The Chief Executive ranking is based on a nationwide grading survey that involved more than 500 CEOs across the U.S. Overall business climates were compared to specific factors such as taxation, regulation, workforce and environment.

Responding to Louisiana’s performance during the past year Hingle said, “Compared to the rest of the country that’s pretty good.”