Louisiana Rising in the National Rankings

As the International Council of Shopping Center’s (ICSC’s) State Director for Louisiana, I recently contributed an article for the July 2013 edition of our Quarterly Membership Newsletter that I’d like to share:

As the returning ICSC State Director, I am extremely excited about the progress that we are making in the State of Louisiana on a number of fronts.  Most importantly for our retail industry the economic and business growth trends continue to show a phenomenal trend for the region.  Over the last 5 years, Louisiana has risen significantly across numerous national rankings – and the accolades keep coming!  It’s hard to keep up with all the good news, which is a great problem to have.  Highlighted below for quick reference are some of the rankings earned by the State of Louisiana over just the last quarter – very impressive for a state that was traditionally on the bottom of every list.

Louisiana Rankings – 2^nd Quarter 2013:

• Top 10 Most Entrepreneurial States
  CNN Money, June 2013

• #1 State with the Most Engaged Employees (most involved & enthusiastic)
  Gallup, June 2013

• 2^nd in the U.S. for construction job growth from May 2012 to May 2013
  Associated General Contractors of America, June 2013

• 11^th among “Best/Worst States for Business” based on CEO survey (most improved in the U.S. over the past 4 years, up 33 spots since 2009)
  Chief Executives, May 2013

• Top 5 State in the U.S. for worldwide exporting in 1st Quarter 2013
  World Trade Center of New Orleans, May 2013

• #2 Best States for Retirement
  Bankrate.com, May 2013

• #7 among “Top Ten Competitive States of 2012”
  Site Selection, May 2013

• 2^nd Least Stressed State in 2012
  Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, April 2013

• 1 of 6 states experiencing the largest increases in entrepreneurial activity rates over the past decade; 9^th for 2010 to 2012 Entrepreneurial Activity with a rate of 400 per 100,000 residents (U.S. 300 per 100,000)
  Kauffman Index, April 2013

• 2^nd fastest revenue growth (up 170%) and 4^th fastest growth in number (up 84%) of women-owned firms from 1997 to 2013
  The State of Women-Owned Businesses, March 2013

• 12^th in the U.S. for per-capita economic development project wins
  Site Selection’s 2012 Governor’s Cup, March 2013

• Record-breaking $63.2 billion in merchandise exports in 2012, growing 15% over 2011
  International Trade Administration, March 2013

• 3^rd Best State for Banking
  MoneyRates.com, March 2013

Louisiana’s cities and metro areas are also commanding positive national attention.  Summarized below are some of the rankings earned over just the last quarter in these areas.

Notable Metro/City Rankings – 2^nd Quarter 2013:

• Lafayette #1 overall among 100 Leading Locations in the U.S. for economic & job growth; #1 for Economic Strength, Year-Over-Year Growth & “Recession-Busting” factors among Top 25 Mid-Size Cities
  Area Development’s Leading Locations for 2013, Summer 2013

• New Orleans and Shreveport among Top 20 Fastest Growing Cities in U.S.
  NerdWallet.com, June 2013

• New Orleans is America’s Fastest Growing City
  Forbes, June 2013

• New Orleans #3 among “Big Cities Winning the Battle for Information Jobs”
  Forbes, May 2013

• Benteler Steel/Tube in Shreveport among “Top North American Deals of 2012” – 2^nd largest investment in the U.S. during 2012
  Site Selection, May 2013

• New Orleans #2 “Boomtown” in America, based on population and GDP growth
  Bloomberg, April 2013

• Baton Rouge and Alexandria among “25 Best Places to Retire” out of 400 total U.S. cities
  Forbes, March 2013

• New Orleans & Baton Rouge among Top 30 Best Cities for Young Entrepreneurs 2013
  Under30CEO, March 2013

Louisiana has fared relatively well during the Great Recession and the national rankings show it.  National and trade publications are taking notice and businesses are too.  Louisiana is well positioned for a great future.