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Chemical Manufacturing and Tech

Louisiana has steadily improved is business climate over the years. While the Pelican State remains a hub for petrochemical and chemical manufacturing, it’s also continuing to break new ground in tech. CGI announced in May an expansion at its IT Center of Excellence in Lafayette, and Accruent announced in June it will establish a technology center in New Orleans with 350 new jobs.

Key Contacts

Economic Development

Don Pierson, Secretary
225-342-5388
1051 North Third Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70802-5239
Don.Pierson@la.gov
http://www.opportunitylouisiana.com/

Key Incentives

Angel Investor Tax Credit: Offers up to a 25% tax credit for individual investors in early-stage, wealth-creating businesses that seek startup and expansion capital.

Enterprise Zone: Offers a $1,000 or $3,500 tax credit for each certified new job created and either a sales/use tax rebate on capital expenses or a 1.5% investment tax credit for qualifying expenses.

Industrial Tax Exemption: Offers a property tax abatement for up to eight years on a manufacturer’s new investment and annual capitalized additions.

Quality Jobs: Offers up to a 6% rebate on annual payroll expenses for up to 10 years, and either a state sales/use tax rebate on capital expenses or a 1.5% project facility expense rebate.

Research and Development Tax Credit: Offers tax credit up to 30% to existing businesses that operate in the state and establish or continue R&D.

EDCs

Louisiana Economic Development: opportunitylouisiana.com

Baton Rouge Area Chamber: brac.org/economic-development

Greater New Orleans Regional Economic Development: gnoinc.org

Highlighted Program or Initiative

LED FastStart has been recognized as a top workforce training program for nearly a decade. It works with new and expanding companies in targeted industries to develop recruiting, screening and state-of-the-art training solutions. Through collaboration with industry, FastStart has helped develop training centers and certification programs across the state.

Big Deals

• Formosa Petrochemical company announced in April it will construct a $9.4 billion chemical manufacturing complex on a 2,400-acre site in St. James Parish and create 1,200 jobs.
• Twistlock announced in April it will establish a software engineering office in Baton Rouge with 42 new jobs.
• CGI announced in May it will expand its Lafayette IT Center of Excellence and create 400 jobs with a total payroll that will exceed $480 million in the coming years.
• Accurent announced in June 2018 it will establish a technology center of excellence in New Orleans with 350 new jobs.
• Shintech Louisiana LLC announced in July 2018 a $1.49 billion chlor alkali and vinyl chloride monomer production facility in Plaquemine.

Big Companies

Dow Chemical
ExxonMobile
BASF-Chemical
Acme Truck Line
Turner Industries Group

Two Fortune 500 companies are headquartered
in the state:

CenturyLink
Entergy

C-Suite Testimonials

“Given the vibrant corporate community, tremendous growth opportunities and Accruent’s existing base of 50 Louisiana customers, New Orleans became the clear choice for our next wave of expansion.” —John Borgerding, CEO, Accruent

“CGI is proud to make this renewed commitment to job creation in Lafayette, where a skilled and highly motivated workforce continues to exceed expectations on behalf of our clients undertaking critical digital transformation projects in Acadiana and across the country.” —Dave Henderson, President of U.S. Commercial and State Government Operations, CGI

“We selected Baton Rouge and Louisiana for our engineering center because of the state’s growing cybersecurity industry base, the business-friendly climate and the opportunity to develop a talent pipeline with a major research university in LSU.” —Ben Bernstein, CEO and Co-founder, Twistlock