Baton Rouge and Louisiana have both been honored for strong economic development project performances in 2019, according to the most recent Governor’s Cup rankings published annually by Site Selection magazine.
The Governor’s Cup measures the quantity of significant business development projects for the calendar year. The rankings are determined on a per capita basis and are based on an economic project meeting one of three criteria: a capital investment of $1 million or more, 20 or more new jobs created, and 20,000 square feet or more of new building space.
Despite not making the list in 2018, Baton Rouge ranked second in 2019 among mid-sized metros of 200,000 to 1 million people, topped only by Dayton, Ohio.
Additionally, both Baton Rouge (No. 4) and New Orleans (No. 5) ranked among the Top Mississippi River Metros, while Baton Rouge (No. 6) and Vidalia, Louisiana-Natchez, Mississippi (No. 7) ranked in the Top 10 for Mississippi River cities on a per capita basis.
Overall, Louisiana ranked No. 10 in the Governor’s Cup list of the most new and expanded facilities during the past year, recording 110 economic development project wins that met the Site Selection criteria. This marks the 10th time in the past 11 years the state has ranked in the Governor’s Cup top 10, rising seven spots since last year’s 17th-in-the-country rank.
Ohio ranked No. 1 on this year’s list of top states by projects per capita, touting 448 projects per capita.
During 2019, some of the major project wins tallied in Louisiana include a $500 million polyolefins expansion at ExxonMobil Baton Rouge, a $1.3 billion expansion at Methanex in Ascension Parish, and a $375 million expansion at SNF in Iberville Parish.
In a prepared statement, Gov. John Bel Edwards says the state’s 2019 project wins will create 12,300 new jobs in Louisiana.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Site Selection magazine delivers expansion planning information to 48,700 executives of fast-growing firms. Read the full rankings.
