Gov. John Bel Edwards’ administration has had plenty to crow about lately in the categories of economic development and the state’s overall economic health, writes Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel in her latest column.
Among the good news touted by the Edwards team:
- The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, which is the data-keeping arm of the U.S. Commerce Department, released statistics July 25 from the first quarter showing Louisiana’s gross domestic product grew 2.3% during the first three months of this year. That was a better growth rate than 35 other states and, perhaps more significantly, the state’s second straight quarter of growth after a mostly flat 2017.
- Shintech Louisiana announced a nearly $1.5 billion expansion to its Plaquemine chemical plant that will create 120 new direct jobs and another 500 indirect jobs.
- Business Facilities ranked Louisiana Economic Development’s FastStart workforce training program as the best in the country in its annual metro and state rankings for 2018.
“But while everybody can feel good about a blip in quarterly GDP growth or a mention on a handful of the countless top 10 lists floating around out there, it’s important to keep it all in perspective,” Riegel writes.
What the governor’s office didn’t mention in its press release about the Business Facilities rankings, she notes, is that Louisiana didn’t even show up in what are arguably the most important categories.
“On one list of best business climate, Alabama, of all states, finished first, followed by Texas and Tennessee,” Riegel writes. “And as if it’s not painful enough to see top honors in the category going to Alabama, whose flagship university and football program have far surpassed LSU’s in the past decade, it gets worse: Mississippi made the list, too, rounding it out at No. 10.”
Unfortunately, Riegel says, where we see the more long term, consistent trends are in such rankings as our poverty rate, 49th; population health, 49th; level of educational attainment, 47th; and infrastructure, 44th, Riegel writes.
“And let us not forget that U.S. News and World Report, for what it’s worth, ranked us dead last earlier this year as the worst state in the country,” Riegel writes. “So while we’re celebrating certain economic development and economic wins—however legitimate they may be—let’s remember that we’re a long way from topping the lists that count the most.”
Read the full column. Send comments to editor@businessreport.com
