GOVERNOR BLANCO OPENS GOVERNOR'S CONFERENCE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The following information was released by the Louisiana Governor:

Thank you, Michael. It's an honor to welcome so many economic development leaders to Baton Rouge. We're coming together to evaluate our progress, and to strategize next steps. Louisiana needs your energy, your creativity, and your drive. Make no mistake: Louisiana is moving forward!

Today's conference would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors. I'd like to ask all of our conference sponsors to stand and be recognized. Thank you.

I'd also like to invite Host Committee Chair, Fran Gladden, and the entire Host Committee, to stand.

Thank you all for your tireless work.

If we want to spur future growth, increase our economic security, and improve our quality of life, economic development is our trump card. It's no secret that I've made economic development my priority as Governor. We're pursuing the most aggressive economic development strategy in Louisiana's history.

When I appointed Secretary Olivier, I charged him with a mission. Create an economic development department that will go out into the world and aggressively pursue new leads. Lead a full court press to retain and grow existing businesses, and to recruit new businesses - and new jobs.

I believe in a comprehensive strategy to build the foundation for success.

Economic development requires us to reform and improve our education system, so that we can produce a skilled workforce. It requires us to invest in the research and technology needed to diversify our economy. It requires us to upgrade our transportation and infrastructure systems to pave the way for growth. And it requires us to enact economic incentives that will allow us to compete and win.

This is the strategy my team has pursued, and we've made great progress even in the face of great adversity. What do you do when you have a strategy that works? You keep pushing. You better believe I'm going to be pushing and fighting and pursuing this strategy until the very last day of my term.

There is only one way to replace rhetoric with results, and that's to act. We've made progress in economic development because my team has enacted a series of business-friendly incentives.

Let me share just five of our tax cuts that are changing business in Louisiana:

1. We CUT the sales tax on manufacturing machinery and equipment;

2. We CUT the corporate franchise tax on debt;

3. We CUT industrial taxes;

4. We CUT taxes by making permanent the Investor Tax Credit; AND

5. We CUT state sales tax on natural gas and utilities. I'm proposing that we further expand these cuts during this upcoming session.

With the help of the legislature, we've cut business taxes. But we're doing a lot more than just cutting taxes. We've made progress in economic development because we're investing in improving our education system.

Louisiana's national education rankings have gone up during my tenure. Our rankings have shot UP in student test scores, UP in teacher quality, UP in standards and accountability, UP in math and science, and the list goes up and up and up. This is not hot air. It's real achievement that will revolutionize Louisiana's workforce.

My Executive Budget builds on this progress.

I'm asking the legislature to make the largest investment in education in Louisiana's history.

I propose investing over $600 million dollars in education - including higher education - in this upcoming session.

When we recruit companies, they ASK about our education system. They want to know their employees can enroll their children in quality schools. And they want assurances that Louisiana will have a strong future workforce. We're giving them these assurances.

We've made progress in economic development because we're investing in the research and technology to diversity our economy. Louisiana must stay ahead of the Twenty-First Century technology curve. This is why I invested early in connecting Louisiana to the information superhighway.

Louisiana is linked to the supercomputers of the world. We're building a new technology corridor centered in the Acadiana region. Our investments are already attracting new information technology companies.

We've made progress in economic development because we're upgrading our infrastructure. I'm proud to be the first Governor to invest state funds in upgrading our rural roads. The $80 million plus we've directed to our rural roads paves the way for new business. And I'm proposing an investment of at least $450 million dollars in road improvements in this upcoming session. Let's make this happen!

We're building our ports. Let me give you just one example.

The State has invested close to $6 million dollars in the Ouachita Port in Northeast Louisiana. You better believe access to this port is a powerful selling point as we're pitching the I-20 mega-site east of Monroe. I think you'll agree that infrastructure investments are a MUST DO when it comes to economic development.

Over the past three years, our investments and incentives have produced new jobs and growth statewide. Just think about Roy O. Martin in central Louisiana, Union Tank Car in Alexandria, Steelscape in Shreveport-Bossier, Shintech near Plaquemines, Jeld-Wen in Winn Parish, NuComm in Lafayette, and the list goes on.

If you open a People magazine these days, you're likely to see celebrities in Louisiana's Hollywood South. The film industry is booming in Shreveport and New Orleans due to our film incentives. We even have Brad and Angelina! We're creating a buzz that's growing louder by the minute.

Since Hurricane Katrina, we've drawn in well over $6 billion dollars in new business investments, and created more than 7,000 new direct permanent jobs. Over the past three years, we've created over 35,000 jobs.

My team is currently pursuing 107 leads with a potential capital investment of $13 billion dollars and thousands of new jobs. Many of you may be involved with these leads.

The largest lead we are pursuing is the ThyssenKrupp Steel Mill. I'm asking the legislature to put up an additional $100 million dollar commitment - matching Alabama's - to secure the steel mill.

Whether or not the mill comes to Louisiana, we're already winners. We've shown that we can be a major contender for the nation's largest durable goods manufacturer. We beat out more than 30 states to land in the top two. Louisiana is finally in the position to compete. This opens our doors to future deals.

Finally, we are continuing to help businesses affected by the storm recover. Grants of around $20,000 dollars are going to more than 3,400 small businesses across the coastal region.

Last week, I personally delivered several checks to business owners in Lake Charles and New Orleans. In the Seventh Ward of New Orleans, I gave a check to bookstore owner Vera Warren-Williams. Vera's store is slowly but surely coming back to life.

Several women entrepreneurs have teamed with Vera to form a group called Belles of the Bayou. The Belles are working together to bring back their block business by business. A sandwich shop and beauty parlor have opened, and you can hear the sounds of children at play coming from a newly opened day care.

These women are not willing to throw in the towel. The story of Vera and the Belles represents the spirit of Louisiana's people.

It's a "can do" spirit that all of us here want to grow and expand and export to the world.

I'm so proud of the winning economic development strategy my team has enacted. Today, you've heard some of the powerful results. My goal is to leave Louisiana charged with a strong "can do" economic development foundation for future governors to build on. We are making progress. Working together, Louisiana will continue to move boldly forward.

Thank you.