HTHA denies woman’s discrimination charge
March 7, 2011Thurs., March 10
March 10, 2011Site Selection magazine has included the Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux metropolitan area on its Tier II and Morgan City on a Tier III list of the Top 10 Metros in the nation for corporate facility locations in 2010.
Louisiana ranked third overall for the Governor’s Cup award after Texas and Ohio were named the top two states respectively. States that secured positions 4-10 are Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Virginia.
“We track new projects all year long and put them in our database,” Site Selection Editor-in-Chief Mark Arend said. “Then we run the numbers, basically, and see which areas emerge as having the most in the various population tiers or states.”
“The minimum requirements for a project to be included, basically, we are looking for private facilities, or non-public commercial facilities that meet one or more of these criteria: either a capital investment of at least $1 million, it will create at least 50 new jobs, or it would involve at least 20,000 square feet of new space,” he said.
Louisiana saw the placement of 347 new location projects during 2010. For metropolitan areas with populations more than 1 million, the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner area was ranked No. 10 on the List of Top 10 Metros.
The top nine large metropolitan winners were in order by their central city area, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Cincinnati, New York, Atlanta, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis.
On the Tier II level, Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux was ranked as No. 5 nationally. First on the list was Baton Rouge, followed in order, Dayton, Ohio; Spartanburg, S.C.; Shreveport-Boiser City; Harrisburgh-Carlisle, Penn.; Allentown-Bethlehem, Easton, Penn./N.J.; Greensboro-High Point, N.C.; Augusta-Richmond County, Ga./S.C.; and Charleston-north Charleston, N.C.
Among the top 10 micropolitan areas, Morgan City was No. 7. Remaining communities in order were listed as Tomasville-Lexington, N.C.; Statesville-Mooresville, N.C.; Seneca, S.C.; Wooster, Ohio; Lancaster, S.C.; Daphne-Faithhope-Foley, Ala.; Wapakoneta, Ohio; Douglas, Ga.; Marion, Ind.; Hammond-New Iberia, La.; and Batavia, N.Y.
The Top 10 Tier III metropolitan areas in order were Lake Charles; Altoona, Pa.; Bowling Green, Ky.; Monroe, Springfield, Ohio; Alexandria; Saginaw-Saginaw Township north, Mich.; Anderson, Ind.; Jackson, Mich.; Blacksburg-Christianburg-Redford, Va.; and Winchester, Va., W. Va.
“This comes as no surprise to who has watched the positive business climate and progressive attitude in our [metropolitan statistical area],” said Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet. “[With] the issuance of our first deepwater drilling permit [in months] and restoration efforts after the [BP] spill we expect great things for our MSA in the future.”
“Our placement on this list exemplifies the bayou region’s efforts toward an excellent business climate, which proves our region to be a viable location for our local businesses and new facilities to flourish,” Terrebonne Economic Development Authority interim manager and South Central Industrial Association Executive Director Jane Arnette said.
“This is further reason why we need to stay in the same [congressional] district with Lafourche Parish. Houma and Thibodaux have worked in unison for more than 150 years … and share like-kind industry and cultures. We are partners and have been for lifetimes.”
According to Matt Braud with the state’s Economic Development office, Louisiana’s overall business development improved because of a wide variety of business decisions. Since January 2008, the state has created 39,500 new direct and indirect jobs and more than $8.5 billion in new capital investment.
“This ranking is yet another example of our state’s strong economic momentum, and shows why it is critical to keep taxes low and invest in workforce development programs,” Gov. Bobby Jindal said in a printed statement.
Site Selection magazine makes use of a plant database for its top 10 lists. It focuses on new corporate location projects. Site Selection does not track retail, government, schools or hospitals.
Template
