Area Development magazine has ranked Louisiana No. 7 in latest annual Top States for Doing Business report—marking the eighth consecutive year the state has finished in the top 10.
Area Development surveys the country’s top site selection consultants to produce the annual report, and ranks states by the quality of their workforce development programs, regulatory environment, incentive programs and the responsiveness of the state government.
Louisiana also earned several other top 10 rankings in the categories that make up the overall designation, including: No. 7 for Most Improved Economic Development Policies; No. 9 for Overall Cost of Doing Business; No. 10 for Access to Capital and Project Funding; and No. 10 for Shovel-Ready Sites Program.
“Louisiana is headed in the right direction, and our eighth consecutive top 10 ranking by Area Development speaks to our business climate strength and our momentum,” says Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Don Pierson in a prepared statement. “Since early 2016, we’ve attracted 95 economic development projects that are resulting in 25,000 new direct and indirect jobs, the retention of another 16,000 existing jobs, and more than $26 billion in new capital investment for our state.”
