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Business

Lafayette isn’t just called the “Hub City” for its culture. The business arena has diversified from its history in oil and gas to include information technology, manufacturing, finance, construction, retail trade, transportation and distribution and medical and healthcare. From major corporations to small businesses, Lafayette and the Acadiana region have great representation in all areas of industry. Acadiana’s top 10 businesses bring in almost $1 billion annually, and oil and gas is still a major player in the industry. Acadiana is known for its entrepreneurial spirit and new businesses are popping up and succeeding every day.

RECENT ACCOLADES:

Recession-Proof Cities—This study named cities that are riding out the “Great Recession” and identified 20 metropolitan areas that since 2007 have shown positive growth across three economic categories: their overall employment, per capita personal income, and metropolitan area GDP.
Source: The Daily Beast, August 2010

Great Place to Train Your Workforce—
Approximately $5.5 million was awarded in IWTP training funds to Acadiana Area businesses in the 2009-2010 fiscal year. In addition, for the 2009-2010 fiscal year, the Small Business Employee Training (SBET) workforce program allocated approximately $3.2 million statewide for workforce training for small businesses. Companies in the Acadiana region were awarded approximately 1/3 of the total state allocation, just over $950k, second only to the Baton Rouge region, which was awarded just over $1 million.Source: LA Workforce Commission, July 2010

Awesome Summer Vacation— Bing Travel names Lafayette as their top Louisiana recommendation for summer vacations in each state.Source: Bing Travel, July 2010

Best of the South— Several Lafayette and Acadiana businesses and attractions were named as the best places to visit, eat, shop and more. Lafayette was named “Best Small City for a Weekend Getaway”; Lafayette’s Aaah! T’freres was named “Best B&B”; Lafayette’s The Juliet won “Best Small Hotel”; Louisiana Cajun Country (Acadiana) earned third place for “Best Summer Family Destination”; Lafayette’s Wetlands Golf Course placed second for “Best Golf Course”; Lake Fausse Pointe in St. Martinville won “Best State Park”; Lafayette Chef Patrick Mould placed third for “Best Local Chef”; Acadiana’s The Mamou Playboys won “Best Local Musicians”; and Breaux Bridge shop owner Jennifer Casanova won “Best Local Shopkeeper” with her southern hospitality managing Lagniappe Antiques.Source: AAA Southern Traveler Magazine, Jul/Aug 2010.

America’s Best Music Towns— In his Fourth of July article “High Notes: America’s best music towns,” Jim Harrington of the Oakland Tribune ranks Lafayette right alongside music Meccas Austin, Seattle and New Orleans, and ahead of L.A., San Francisco, Nashville and New York.Source: Oakland Tribune, July 2010

Surviving the Recession— Lafayette was recently named one of “20 Cities Surviving the Recession” based on job availability and opportunity.Source: Mainstreet, May 2010

Best City for Job Growth— Lafayette was ranked #8 in the “Best Cities for Job Growth” listing among other medium-sized cities and 46th in the overall rank.The index is calculated based on Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data and takes into account recent growth trends, mid-term growth, long-term trends and momentum and current year growth.Source: New Geography, April 2010

Top Place to Live— Lafayette was one of America’s “Top 100 Places to Live” in RelocateAmerica’s 13th edition of its annual list. This year, the firm focused on communities poised for recovery and future growth. The editorial team discovered communities with strong local leadership, employment opportunities, thriving community commitment, improving real estate markets, growing green initiatives, plentiful recreational options and an overall high quality of life. These are all communities moving in the right direction.Source: RelocateAmerica, April 2010

Strong Economy during Tough Times— Lafayette was one of nine cities in the country to experience a growth in construction jobs during the time period from January 2009–January 2010. Lafayette gained roughly 100 jobs during that time period and was ranked ninth in job growth out of 337 metro areas.Source: Associated General Contractors of America, April 2010

Happiest State— Louisiana ranks first in happiness ratings where a survey of 1.3 million people across the country collected data to gauge how satisfied people are with their lives.Source: Science Magazine, January 2010

Best Cities— The Lafayette MSA was ranked 9th “Best Performing” (Large Metro) City in the nation citing job growth (ranked 22nd), salary growth (ranked 10th) and five-year high-tech GDP growth (ranked 19th) as key indicators. Lafayette was ranked 14th in 2008.Source: Milken Institute, November 2009

Best Place to Launch a Business— Lafayette was ranked 2nd and one of only 20 mid-sized markets in the nation for small business start-ups based on factors like a growing economy, affordable workforce, stable housing market and low crime.Source: Fortune Small Business, October 2009

BUSINESS RESOURCES

Lafayette Economic Development Authority, created by the state legislature, exists to facilitate economic growth in Lafayette Parish. LEDA and its board of 12 commissioners work together with a full-time staff to provide answers, information and assistance to businesses. LEDA’s mission is to help local companies grow, in addition to market development and workforce development. The organization also works to recruit companies to the area and assists in the development of new companies in order to diversify the economy within Lafayette Parish.

For more information on LEDA, call (337) 593-1400 or visit lafayette.org.

Also on hand to assist businesses in Lafayette is the Small Business Development Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The SBDC provides counseling, seminars and resource information to small businesses. For more information on the SBDC, call (337) 262-5344 or visit louisiana.edu/Research/SBDC.

IMMEDIATE ROI EXCLUSIVE TO
2012 PUBLICATION ADVERTISERS

LUS Fiber
www.lusfiber.com

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana
www.bcbsla.com

The Graham Group
www.graham-group.com


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