La. leaps 14 spots in Forbes

Louisiana vaulted 14 positions in the latest Forbes ranking of “Best States For Business,” capping a year in which the state climbed to its highest-ever business climate ranking by every leading publication that measures the economic progress of states.

Until the past three years, Louisiana had been ranked 49th or 50th in every year of the Forbes ranking. In 2008, Louisiana stood 49th in the U.S. Since then, the state’s Forbes ranking has improved to 44th in 2009 and 2010, and 30th for 2011. Louisiana’s improvement of 14 spots ties the largest gain made by any state in the U.S. in that period of time.

“I like to think that our region has contributed a lot to the state’s standings,” South Louisiana Economic Council CEO Vic Lafont said. “The oil and gas industry continues to thrive even with those permits that have been withheld. We’ve got the lowest unemployment down this way and not so much in other parts of the state. We’ve been a major contributor to those changes.”

Lafont said that although areas such as Monroe and Shreveport have seen growth this year, the region that comprises Lafourche, Terrebonne, Assumption and St. Mary parishes have gained more core companies on a steadily increasing basis.

“When I took office in 2008, I promised to make economic development our top priority, and we’ve done that by making Louisiana one of the best states in the country for businesses to invest in and create jobs,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said in light of the Forbes report. “Before we entered office, Louisiana was losing companies and jobs because of our ethics laws, outdated workforce development system and burdensome taxes, but we turned our business climate around by fostering an economic environment where businesses want to expand or invest. We have made incredible progress in moving up in business climate rankings from leading industry magazines, but we will not stop until Louisiana is the number one place in the world for businesses to invest in and create opportunity for our people.”

The Forbes ranking evaluates the 50 states on six different categories: business costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. In just the past year, according to Forbes, Louisiana moved up nine spots for business costs, from 25th to 16th, and the state gained 15 spots in regulatory environment, up from 27th to 12th. Forbes said Louisiana’s economic climate also improved 15 spots from 41st to 26th, and the state’s growth prospects climbed four spots, from 18th to 14th.

Louisiana’s dramatic improvement from last year’s ranking was based on a variety of factors, including, for example, an improvement in Louisiana’s relative economic performance and growth outlook; and an increase in the number of Fortune 1000 headquarters based in Louisiana.

A new assessment of state tax competitiveness from the Tax Foundation that reflects recent business tax cuts in Louisiana; reduced energy costs; and a jump in Louisiana’s economic development competitiveness ranking from No. 10 to No. 2 by Pollina Corporate Real Estate.

During the past three years, Louisiana has moved up significantly in every national ranking of state business climates, including those published by Area Development magazine, Beacon Hill Institute, Business Facilities magazine, Chief Executive magazine, CNBC, Forbes, Pollina Corporate Real Estate, and Site Selection magazine.

“What is important is the steady, but rapid growth,” Lafont said. “The other thing too is that the state Department of Economic Development is housing consultants. They know what it takes for all of these publications to mark us [and get higher] scores.”

Louisiana stands at its highest-ever position on every national ranking of state business climates. Area development, business facilities and site selection now rank Louisiana among the Top 10 states in the U.S. for business.

Since 2008, Louisiana Economic Development has secured economic development projects that are creating more than 46,000 new jobs, more than $10.5 billion in capital investment and hundreds of millions of dollars in new sales for small businesses across the state.