Business Report
For the fifth year in a row, Site Selection magazine has named BRAC among the top economic development organizations in the country, and the trade magazine has also singled out IBM’s technology center in downtown Baton Rouge as one of North America’s top nine deals of 2013. The IBM project was also named a top deal of 2013 by Business Facilities magazine. In February, as part of its annual economic development rankings, Site Selection ranked Baton Rouge tied for second among all U.S. metros with a population between 200,000 and 1 million for the number of new major projects or expansions announced last year. Baton Rouge’s 46 projects tied it with the Allentown-Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, metro area, and placed it just two projects behind the No. 1 metro area on the list: Omaha, Nebraska-Council Bluffs, Iowa. “With $7.32 billion in capital projects and 4,738 jobs created by those investments, the Baton Rouge Area was not just an American leader in 2013; it was a global force,” Site Selection says. See the complete Site Selection rankings, which also place Louisiana fourth in the nation for economic competitiveness last year.