BusinessReport.com

Posted on May 25 at 3:17 p.m.

Explaining Louisiana’s disadvantage in economic development so even the simplest among us can understand it:

Imagine a farmer’s field. That’s Louisiana. In the field are big rocks (bad business climate, unfriendly tax code to business), huge weeds (bad politicians who take but never return a crop), and unplowed furrows (bad roads, bad schools, and infrastructure).

Now, imagine the field next door. That’s South Carolina. Or Utah. Or Tennessee, take your pick. This field is pristine, no rocks, no weeds, every furrow neatly plowed, it’s just waiting for seed. The earth is turned, fertilized and ready to go.

Now, imagine a large company looking to “plant” a business (like ThyssenKrupp). They see the South Carolina Field and think “all I’ll have to do is plant, and it looks awfully fertile, I’m sure I’ll get a huge crop”

Next door, they see the Louisiana Field. There’s a table out front manned by shills in Mardi Gras costumes. There’s shanky-shank music playing. The table is full of beer, crawfish, and beads, Everybody out front is dancing and screaming “AiiiYee!!!” The shills are waving stacks of bills at the prospective farmer. But he can see past the table. He can see the rocks, weeds, and unplowed land. He knows if he chooses this field, he has a TON of work ahead of him.

So, which field will he pick? Which one would YOU pick?

The moral of the story is, you can’t expect a crop, if you won’t do the work up front.

On Brains of steel