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Economic Development

The LPFA has issued more than $31 billion in bonds for projects and programs that serve as engines for economic development throughout Louisiana.

This level of involvement has resulted in the creation of tens of thousands of jobs and provided Louisiana borrowers access to billions of dollars at lower than market rates. The LPFA’s involvement in economic development, however, goes beyond the Authority’s role as an “on behalf of” issuer of bonds.

Years of financing experience coupled with the ability to respond to situations requiring financial experience in a quick and efficient manner has afforded the LPFA the opportunity to ally with a number of statewide economic development agencies in providing much needed services.

The LPFA has been and will continue to be a support player to the state Department of Economic Development as well as regional and local economic development groups. The LPFA works with these groups to enhance and add value to their efforts. Coalition building and meaningful programming are at the heart of the LPFA’s economic development efforts.

Case Studies

The LPFA has been very active in encouraging and achieving job growth, economic expansion and economic diversification for the people of our state. It has worked with chambers of commerce, the State Department of Economic Department, local economic development professionals, utility companies, and local governmental entities statewide to assist them in their efforts. The LPFA has conducted numerous seminars statewide, assisted in business development trips to foreign countries, hosted foreign officials and business professionals, and sponsored appropriate functions that foster economic accomplishment for Louisiana, and helped bring billions of dollars of outside capital into Louisiana.

The LPFA is pleased to have played a major role in assisting their startups.

Just a few of these include the following:

Business Incubators

The LPFA helped establish this concept in Louisiana, fostering incubators in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Carencro and New Orleans. These provide new business ventures with the space, facilities, shared services and expertise necessary to survive the tenuous start-up period.

While 80 percent of small businesses fail in the first five years, 80 percent of incubator-started businesses are still operating after five years. In Louisiana, 325 businesses have graduated from incubators and over 243 are still in business, generating over 5,000 jobs and over $100 million in payroll. Louisiana’s eleven incubators house 300 businesses with 800 employees in the facilities.

Over 1,000 new businesses that do not reside in incubators have also been assisted:

  • Louisiana Business and Technology Center (LBTC)
  • Enterprise Center of Louisiana (ECOL)
  • Louisiana Business Incubator Association (LBIA)
  • Pennington Biomedical Center
  • Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana (BRFNL) includes the Virginia K. Shehee Biomedical Research Institute (originally the Biomedical Research Center of Northwest Louisiana)
  • Council A Better Louisiana (CABL)
  • Leadership Louisiana (CABL)

The Audubon Institute

LPFA grant funds helped finance the “Riverfront 2000” project startup and planning studies in New Orleans that blossomed into such accomplishments as the Aquarium of the Americas and projects at the Audubon Zoo, including the new Species Survival Center and the creation of over 3,600 jobs.

Tax Free Shopping

Since the LPFA-assisted startup of this unique program, 1,200 stores statewide have rebated sales taxes to foreign shoppers. The incentive doubled spending by foreign visitors to our state (from $18 million in 1989 to $38.6 million in 1995), generating $6 in other taxes for every $1 rebated. Since 1989 the economic impact is calculated at $278 million and the creation of 5,800 jobs.

Greater New Orleans, Inc.

LPFA funding initialized the formation of this alliance that forges eight New Orleans-area parishes into one cooperative economic development unit.

Academic Distinction Fund

The LPFA helped endow this program in East Baton Rouge Parish that makes grants to teachers for materials and projects that directly impact the students in the classroom. Through this Fund, over 768 academic projects involving over 60,000 students and more than 1,500 teachers have been assisted. The results of this assistance are apparent through improved grades, increased morale, and decreasing absenteeism.

Partnership for Technology and Innovation

The Partnership has assisted hundreds of technology-driven companies located in or seeking to locate in Louisiana, providing extensive strategic business planning assistance to more than 25 of these companies. These companies have attracted more than $14 million in private investment.