Corridor tops site selection lists

Site Selection magazine has released its prestigious annual listings of top economic development communities for 2010, and it’s nothing but net for the corridor. Baton Rouge ranked No. 1 among metropolitan areas with populations between 200,000 and 1 million, and Lake Charles ranked No. 1 among those with populations between 50,000 and 200,000. New Orleans placed No. 10 among metropolitan areas with a population of more than 1 million. Among micropolitan regions with populations between 10,000 and 50,000, Morgan City ranked No. 7, and Hammond and New Iberia tied for No. 9. Louisiana as a whole came in at No. 3 in the Governor’s Cup rankings – its highest ranking ever – just behind Texas and Ohio. Its per-capita economic development projects jumped to No. 1 in the nation, up from No. 9 in 2009. “By any reasonable measure, Louisiana’s economy has outperformed the South and the U.S. since the beginning of the national recession,” Gov. Bobby Jindal says. “And we’re just getting started.” The magazine bases its rankings on new corporate location projects of at least $1 million that create a minimum of 50 new jobs or add at least 20,000 square feet of new floor area.