New Orleans Named Major Market of the Year
Southern Business & Development (SB&D) magazine has named Greater New Orleans as the #1 “Major Market” (pop. 750K – 2.5M) in the South for 2018, tied for first with Nashville.
SB&D ranks economies based on economic development project wins for the year. Markets earn 10 points for projects within the Top 100 list for most investment and jobs, and five points for qualifying projects below the Top 100. Greater New Orleans finished with 135 points.
Greater New Orleans’ success was driven by outstanding partnership between the State (Louisiana Economic Development), GNO, Inc., and ten parish economic development partners, as well as all of the businesses, public officials, universities, and others that were essential contributors.
Example winning projects included:
– Accruent’s 350-job technology center in New Orleans
– Avondale Marine’s re-opening in Jefferson
– Formosa Plastic’s 1,200-job, $9.4B facility in St. James
– Venture Global’s 300-job, $8.5B LNG complex in Plaquemines
– Diversified Foods’ $12M investment, 120 retained jobs and 44 new direct jobs in St. Tammany
– Marathon Petroleum’s $27M investment and 1,500 retained jobs in St. John
– Fuji Oil’s 87-job, $70M food oil facility in Jefferson
– US Foods’ 140-job retention, 45-job addition in Jefferson
– LM Wind Power’s addition of 100 jobs to its NASA Michoud campus
– Dixie Brewing’s manufacturing expansion to New Orleans East
In a different ranking, SB&D named Louisiana No. 2 for Best Economic Development Performance in the South on a Per Capita Basis. This will be detailed in a separate Newsflash.
