Posted on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 at 11:22 AM

NELEA 2013 Annual Meeting is a success

Northeast Louisiana Economic Alliance (NELEA) held its Annual Meeting on Wednesday, March 20 at the Delhi Civic Center, Delhi, Louisiana. NELEA hosted economic development partners and business persons from all of the 10 parishes the organization represents: Union, Ouachita, Caldwell, Morehouse, West Carroll, East Carroll, Tensas, Madison, Richland, and Franklin Parishes.

Guest speaker Louisiana Economic Development (LED) Secretary Stephen Moret stated Northeast Louisiana is positioned to be the beneficiary of the state’s aggressive marketing efforts. The new strong business standing Louisiana has in relation to other states and the existing developed sites, including Franklin Farm and others give us a stronger competitive edge. Though there have been no new assembly plants built in the U.S. in the last 5 years, that industry is ramping up and LED is targeting that industry among others for strong job creation in NE Louisiana. Secretary Moret referenced Governor Jindal’s tax reform program and alluded to new opportunities for new jobs as Louisiana becomes even more business oriented.

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Posted on Monday, February 18, 2013 at 6:47 PM

Have you always wanted your own Clean-tech or Energy Efficient business? You could win $100,000 from the Department Of Energy!

For the first time ever, MegaWatt Ventures - a $100,000+ prize competition for small businesses in clean tech - is coming to the entire Southeast! This exciting accelerator-based competition provides seed funding, top notch mentors, and business boot camps over six months, to enable companies to inevitably compete in a grand finale event. This final forum pits highly competitive small businesses to pitch their technology and business model in front of a prestigious judges panel, comprised of renowned institutional investors as well as energy industry executives.

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Posted on Thursday, January 3, 2013 at 1:55 PM

FORECAST: JOBS on horizon

Employment opportunities expand

Northeastern Louisiana's economy will get continuing boosts in 2013 from ongoing expansions and fresh blood.

CenturyLink in Monroe and ConAgra's Lamb Weston sweet potato processing plant near Delhi have expansions on the boards, and the recently announced timber processing plant in Morehouse Parish will provide the new injection.

Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret said ConAgra informed him last week that it is committed to a $55 million capital expansion of its existing plant that's expected to create about 225 new jobs by the end of 2015.

ConAgra already employs about 275 workers at its $156 million Delhi plant that opened in 2006.

"The company is well ahead of its original payroll commitment and has already expended some of the capital required in the Phase 2 expansion," said Moret, referring to ConAgra's obligation after accepting up to $37.5 million in incentives from the state.

CenturyLink also will continue its growth with a commitment to create 800 new jobs at its Monroe headquarters by 2016. It will also break ground in 2013 on a $30 million headquarters expansion on U.S. 165 North.

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Posted on Friday, December 14, 2012 at 11:41 AM

Drax Biomass Announces Energy Project To Result In More Than 200 New Direct And Indirect Jobs

Project producing wood-based pellets near Bastrop for U.K. energy generation will include Baton Rouge shipping facility and total capital investment of more than $120 million

(NELEA congratulates Kay King, Morehouse Economic Development, The Police Jury and Louisiana Economic Development on this important project for Bastrop, Louisiana. Kay's year long plus pursuit and very hard work, has yielded results and demonstrates the importance of community support of the economic development effort on a local level. We applaud Morehouse Parish.)

BASTROP, La. — Today, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Drax Biomass International Inc. CEO Chuck Davis announced a more than $120 million investment by the company in Louisiana, where Drax Biomass plans to build a wood pellet facility in Bastrop and a storage-and-shipping facility at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge. The project will create 63 new direct jobs, with 47 of the jobs located at the Bastrop wood pellet facility and 16 jobs at the shipping facility in Port Allen near Baton Rouge. LED estimates the project will result in an additional 143 indirect jobs in the state. Drax will ship wood pellets formed in Morehouse Parish to its U.K. energy facilities for use in generating renewable power.

Gov. Jindal said, "The people of Bastrop and Morehouse Parish are no strangers to the challenges in dealing with the effects of the national recession. When Morehouse Parish received the news that International Paper would close its paper mill in Bastrop four years ago, we made a promise then to work with the leaders of the impacted communities to develop and execute a long-term economic recovery plan for this area. We committed to working together to get the people in this area back on their feet. We talked about making the local communities in this area stronger than before. That's why since 2008, we have made a strong commitment to aggressively pursue companies that want to invest in Northeast Louisiana and create jobs here for our people.

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Posted on Monday, November 26, 2012 at 12:27 PM

DEQ’s Drinking Water Protection Program moves to Franklin and Richland Parishes

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has selected Franklin and Richland Parishes as the next stop for its drinking water protection campaign, “Protect Drinking Water One Drop at a Time.” The program’s goal is to increase the public’s awareness and participation in protecting their area’s drinking water.

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Posted on Monday, October 22, 2012 at 11:52 AM

Louisiana Ranks No. 6 In National Business Ranking

Area Development magazine ranks Louisiana among top states for business

BATON ROUGE, La. — Today, Gov. Bobby Jindal recognized Louisiana's No. 6 ranking in a national business climate survey as evidence of the state's continued strength as a prime place for business investment, job creation and economic development. Area Development magazine's 2012 Top States for Doing Business report surveys the nation's leading site selection consultants, and their responses placed Louisiana No. 6 in the nation.

Gov. Jindal said, "The latest ranking from Area Development is yet another example that our work to make Louisiana the best place in the world to do business and find a job is paying off. We've removed burdensome taxes on business, reduced government spending, enhanced our governmental ethics laws, revamped our workforce development programs and passed landmark education reforms that will give every child in Louisiana the opportunity to get a great education. We have made great progress, but our work is not done yet. We won't stop until we're number one and that means taking on our next challenge of reforming our tax code so that it's fairer, flatter and simpler."

In addition to the overall Top States for Doing Business ranking, Area Development ranked states along several specific dimensions. For example, Louisiana ranks No. 1 in the U.S. for Cooperative State Government, No. 2 for Incentive Programs, No. 3 for Workforce Development Programs, No. 3 for Speed of Permitting and No. 4 for Cost of Doing Business. In the major evaluation categories, Louisiana ranks No. 2 for Leading in the Economic Recovery, No. 4 for Overall Business Environment and No. 5 for Overall Labor Climate.

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Posted on Thursday, October 11, 2012 at 3:01 PM

Opportunity for Louisiana Suppliers to Provide Goods and Services to Airbus

All companies with interest in doing business with Airbus should reply to the “Airbus For Suppliers” tab on the website: www.airbusalabama.com. On this site, suppliers will find two registration options:

1. For suppliers interested in working specifically on the new Airbus Alabama A320 Family final assembly line project, please click here to visit the EADS eProc tool at EADS ePROC tool.

In addition, Airbus has created a truly global supply chain that contributes to the success of its growing aircraft product line. More than 1,500 primary contractors in over 30 countries deliver the quality components, parts, systems and hardware that Airbus requires – at the best quality and within the established timeframe.

2. If you are a supplier interested in becoming part of the Airbus aircraft production supply chain, please click here to register your company’s information through the Airbus/EADS sourcing tool at Airbus/EADS Sourcing Tool.

The Airbus/EADS Sourcing Tool allows you to describe your capabilities to Airbus buyers who will then contact you directly, if applicable. Airbus/EADS Sourcing also allows buyers and suppliers to exchange requirements and proposals online during the bid process. For small and medium-sized companies, your best points of contact may be our 1st and 2nd tier suppliers. Please use any existing contacts you may already have with these suppliers.

To learn more about the Airbus Procurement organization and major suppliers, please click here.

For additional information:
Michelle Hurdle
Director of Economic and Community Development
AIRBUS AMERICAS, INC.
1801 South Broad Street
Mobile, Alabama 36615
251.434.7465 (office)
251.709.3490 (cell)

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Posted on Thursday, September 6, 2012 at 3:05 PM

Louisiana earns new All-Time High in Business Climate Ranking

Pollina Corporate Real Estate ranks Louisiana’s business climate No. 16, up 24 spots since 2008 – the largest improvement of any state in the last four years

BATON ROUGE, La. — Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc. released its annual ranking of top pro-business states, with Louisiana rising to No. 16 in the U.S. Louisiana has climbed 24 spots in Pollina’s ranking since 2008, making it the most improved state in the country over the last four years.

Since January 2008, Louisiana has improved to its highest-ever position in every major national ranking of state business climates, including those published by Area Development, Business Facilities, CNBC, Forbes, Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Site Selection and Chief Executive.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said, "When I took office, we committed to improving our state's business climate to make it easier for businesses to expand in or relocate to Louisiana in order to create more jobs for our people. Our work to cut burdensome businesses taxes, overhaul ethics laws, and rein in government spending is paying off. We're making incredible progress, but we're not stopping here. We will continue to improve our business climate by making our tax code fairer, flatter and simpler so that more companies want to invest and expand here, and, most importantly, so that there is more opportunity in Louisiana for our people to pursue their dreams here at home."

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Posted on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 1:00 PM

Louisiana Positives

The Louisiana Senate Communication Office prepared a list of “Louisiana Positives” that highlight all of the great achievements and improved in the state of Louisiana over the past year. You can view the full list here.

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Posted on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 5:36 PM

LIDEA 2013 Annual Convention

November 5-6, 2013 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Location

General Session on November 5-6
The Lyceum Ballroom
124 Third Street, Baton Rouge, LA

Awards Banquet on November 5
Shaw Center for the Arts Gallery
Mezzanine Level
100 Lafayette Street, Baton Rouge, LA

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Posted on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 5:31 PM

Southeast Louisiana Roundtable

Wednesday, October 16
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
IBERIA Bank Meeting Facility
2900 Ridgelake Dr.
Metairie, LA

Seating is limited so please pre-register today.

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Posted on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 5:30 PM

Central Louisiana Roundtable

Wednesday, September 18
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Central LA Chamber of Commerce
1118 Third Street
Alexandria LA

Seating is limited so please pre-register today.

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Posted on Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 5:29 PM

Southwest Louisiana Roundtable

Wednesday, July 17
1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
SWLA Alliance
1011 Lakeshore Drive
Magnolia Building, 7th floor
Lake Charles, LA

Parking is available across the street in the civic center parking lot at no charge

Seating is limited so please pre-register today.

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