Of the 65 economic development wins for which the Baton Rouge Area Chamber takes credit over the past five years, President/CEO Adam Knapp says, one of the most momentous was the recruitment of SNF Holding Co. to Iberville Parish.
Knapp didn’t single out that project simply because the polymers manufacturing facility is forecast to create about 500 new jobs and $362 million in capital investment by the time it begins operations later this year. And he didn’t choose it because Trade and Industry Development magazine ranked the deal among the top 15 corporate investment projects in the nation in 2009.
No, SNF Holding Co. was a pivotal achievement for BRAC because the France-based company is the kind of foreign direct investment that analysts predict will define the most successful economic development agencies in America’s new global economy.
“A lot of the major economic development activity that’s occurring now is FDI back into the U.S.,” says Jay Garner, president of Garner Economics, an Atlanta-based economic development consulting firm. “The communities that are aggressively pursuing that sector are going to be the winners. That’s something I haven’t yet seen from the Baton Rouge chamber.”
Maybe not yet, Knapp says, but it’s something Garner and others can count on seeing more of from BRAC.
The chamber’s aggressive pursuit of foreign direct investment is the goal of a new, five-year, $18 million economic development initiative dubbed “The Creative Capital Agenda.” The plan includes a focus on facilitating entrepreneurial innovation expansion, especially the retention and recruitment of talent.
“We’ve had some success in FDI, but it hasn’t been because we’ve had a strong strategy behind it,” Knapp says. “This will be our most extensive and complicated program to engage yet, but we have taken quite a lot of time to look at it and we know it’s possible.”
The challenge of bringing in multinational corporations is great. Competition is fierce, and BRAC is starting from scratch. Some of its mid-market economic development competitors operate on annual budgets that are $1 million to $3 million higher than that of the chamber.
Just as it did in 2006 to jump-start its focus on domestic economic development, BRAC will hire a firm to develop a target industry strategy for its international push. The plan will identify the multinational corporations that are best suited for expansion in the Capital Region, as well as the countries from which they likely will come.
BRAC’s global campaign will include the development of an international team and marketing plan, Knapp says, as well as partnering with state agencies and existing global representatives, and making trips abroad to court foreign companies when necessary.
With its location on the Mississippi River, the presence of the petrochemical industry, two universities, a nationally recognized research facility and a relatively robust economy, the Capital Region could be very attractive to a variety of foreign companies, says Jeff Finkle, president/CEO of the International Economic Development Council.
More broadly, Louisiana is appealing because of its generous tax incentives and its status as a right-to-work state. The key for Baton Rouge will be making countries familiar with all it has to offer while distinguishing itself from New Orleans.
“The cities that have the most success with FDI are those that have a strong outward vision and real international identity,” Finkle says. “Louisiana is certainly a foreign trade state, and it’s a cultural mecca. But does Baton Rouge need to have its own identity beyond New Orleans? I don’t think there’s any question about it.”
BRAC has come up with a brand it thinks will unify and identify the nine-parish Capital Region it represents: “The Creative Capital of the South.” The slogan reflects the area’s innovation, entrepreneurship, arts, culture, and research and development. The new brand and logo will be phased in over the next few months.
“The idea is to do something that few, if any, regions have done, which is align all of the aspects of marketing under one brand,” Knapp says.
Until now, BRAC has been playing catch-up with competitors such as Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh and Richmond, all of which for decades have had corporate sponsorships to support major economic development campaigns domestically and internationally.
BRAC entered the competition in 2006 with its “Campaign for a Greater Baton Rouge.” The business community answered the call for support, with 120 donors and $15 million in contributions, more than twice the initial fund-raising goal. The campaign, as well as state and city-parish contributions, increased the chamber’s annual budget from about $500,000 before 2005 to about $4 million.
Seven core strategies were outlined by BRAC in the previous campaign: retaining and expanding existing businesses, attracting new businesses, developing a national marketing plan, stepping up communications and publications, creating a special opportunity fund, pushing for public policy changes fostering business growth, and supporting education initiatives.
At the end of 2010, BRAC reported assisting 65 businesses with a relocation or expansion, resulting in 6,757 new jobs with an average salary near $40,000 and $2.4 billion in capital investment. To report even better metrics at the end of “The Creative Capital Agenda,” Knapp says BRAC has to do more than focus on its original core strategies and establish a global footprint; the chamber must incubate and accelerate entrepreneurial innovation.
A new regional innovation strategy will seek to coordinate access to the region’s research and development resources to support emerging and existing entrepreneurial firms. A director to lead the effort will be introduced in February, Knapp says, and a strategic plan will be developed soon after.
A third new focus for BRAC will be on retaining existing talent and attracting new talent. Business owners increasingly are telling the chamber that they’re having trouble attracting mid- and upper-level talent, Knapp says, one of the main factors cited in the transfer of Raising Cane’s administrative operations to suburban Dallas in 2008, and in Innovative Emergency Management’s decision in late 2009 to take its headquarters to North Carolina.
Knapp says a strategic plan and new initiatives, including job banks, increased internship opportunities and mentor programs, will be implemented by the second or third quarter.
“We also want to help employers make a more robust case for Baton Rouge and all it has to offer. We don’t fully sell the area as well as we can to outside talent,” he says. “We haven’t seen a region build an aggressive solution to the question of talent attraction, and that’s what we’re looking at.”
Of the $18 million that BRAC hopes to raise for its new agenda, $15.4 million already has been secured in commitments from sponsors of the first campaign, and the chamber is hoping to attract 100 new investors by 2015. BRAC considers its first five-year campaign a great success in establishing a domestic economic development foothold that had not previously existed, Knapp says, but expanding globally will be the key variable in the success of its new campaign and the future of economic development in the region.
“As our population has grown and our economic development strategy has progressed, the No. 1 thing we’ve learned is that we have to begin to think more globally,” Knapp says. “It’s incumbent upon our business community to see what this change in mind-set means, and how this will affect our opportunity for continued success and growth going forward.”
AT ITS CORE
Here are the core strategies of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s five-year Creative Capital Agenda:
• Job creation. Implement an aggressive company outreach program and cultivate leads in competing markets, with a focus on high-growth companies, emerging industries and existing economic drivers.
• International investment. Develop a global brand to create a positive international perception of the area and attract foreign direct investment.
• Entrepreneurship and innovation. Create a regional innovation organization, provide a network of mentors for up-and-coming entrepreneurs, champion early stage pools of risk capital and foster industry-university collaboration.
• Global branding. Launch the brand to increase awareness of the area as a destination for high-growth companies and talented employees.
• Talent development. Establish a talent repository of corporate talent services, raise awareness of area amenities and advocate for improvements in public and higher education to attract and retain talent.
• Regional competitiveness. Champion strong public schools and a robust transportation network, and work to improve overall workforce, air access, regulation, and fiscal and trade policy.
