Thursday, Trade & Industry Development magazine released its fifth annual “CiCi Awards” (Corporate Investment/Community Impact) in which four of Louisiana’s business development projects from 2009 received awards, more than any other Southern state.

SNF Holding Co. in Plaquemine, La., (510 new direct jobs), V-Vehicle Co. in Monroe, La., (1,400 new direct jobs) and ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston near Delhi, La., (500 to 600 new direct jobs) all were selected among the top 15 new Corporate Investment projects announced in the U.S. for 2009. Only four other Southern states had any projects in the top 15, and each of them had only one project versus three for Louisiana.

The Foster Farms project in Farmerville, La., was recognized as one of the top 15 in the country for Community Impact.

"No plan to move our state forward is realistic during these tough economic times without targeting business growth and greater job creation for our people," said Gov. Bobby Jindal. " We don't want our kids to have to leave our state to pursue their dreams; we want them to be able to find a great paying job right here at home because Louisiana is the best place in the world for businesses to expand and succeed. This new ranking is further proof that our efforts to grow our economy are working."

“Last year we were named State of the Year by Southern Business & Development magazine for having more significant business development wins per capita than any other Southern state, yet that ranking was based on our business development wins in 2008. In 2009, our business development results were even better than in 2008, and the latest business development rankings are a reflection of that,” said Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret. “This latest recognition by Trade & Industry Development, combined with the other positive recognition Louisiana has received recently, is another indicator that our economy is performing better than the South and U.S. during a difficult national recession, and that we are successfully positioning our state for future growth.”

Louisiana ranked second best in the U.S. with four total awards and second best nationally in the Corporate Investment category with three total awards. Louisiana’s four total awards, as well as its Corporate Investment awards, ranked best in the South.

According to Trade & Industry Development, more than 1,000 submissions were considered for project announcements that were made in the previous year. The Corporate Investment projects ranking is based on projects that have the largest number of new jobs, largest number of retained jobs and highest total amount of capital investment. The Community Impact projects ranking is determined by the number of new jobs created, number of current jobs retained, unemployment figures, income level of the region, plant closings and other relevant factors.

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