Despite Gov. Bobby Jindal's frequent trumpeting of the state's gains, Louisiana ranks near the bottom in CNBC's latest ranking of America's Top States for Business.
Despite Gov. Bobby Jindal's frequent trumpeting of the state's gains in attracting outside business interests and keeping the ones already here, Louisiana ranks near the bottom - No. 43 - in CNBC's latest ranking of America's Top States for Business. This despite Louisiana being in the top 10 among states offering incentives to lure/keep businesses; more than $3.1 billion in our case.
The financial news cable network used 51 measures of competitiveness based on input from business groups and trade associations, the Council of Competitiveness and the National Association of Manufacturers among them. Those 51 measures were then separated into 10 broad categories and weighted based on the frequency that a particular state cites them in economic development marketing materials. In other words, states are ranked in large part based on how they sell themselves, according to CNBC.
Louisiana did fairly well on some measures - 10th for the cost of doing business, for example - but the Bayou State was dragged down by such measures as quality of life (dead last), infrastructure (41st) and education (40th).
The top five states for doing business are led by South Dakota, followed in descending order by Texas, North Dakota, Nebraska and Utah.
See the ranking here.
For more on states' incentive packages to business, check out the report, "Megadeals: The Largest Economic Development Subsidy Packages Ever Awarded by State and Local Governments in the United States."