LOUISIANA POSITIVES

LOUISIANA POSITIVES

A new study by the Louisiana Board of Regents' Louisiana Teachers Quality Initiative found that the state's 46, 173 public school teachers are the best they've been in nearly a decade. 99% of the state's education students have passed the Praxis every year since 2003, while 96% passed in 2002, 90% passed in 2001 and 89% passed in 2000 (CityBusiness, May 2008).
Louisiana ranks 8th among the fifty states in terms of state financial commitments for preschool education and says Louisiana meets seven or eight of its 10 criteria for high-quality programs. The overall average of 7.8, the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University says, is better than all but 11 states (National Institute for Early Education Research, March 2008).

Westdale Heights Academic Magnet School has been named one of 22 schools in the nation to earn the distinction of "School of Excellence" from a national association of magnet schools. Baton Rouge Magnet High School earned the "School of Distinction" honor for the third time in five years by the association (Magnet Schools of America, February 2008).

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) announced that 181 Louisiana teachers from 42 school districts across the state achieved national board certification after passing a rigorous program. Louisiana now has 1,215 teachers who have achieved national certification and ranks 13th in the nation for new awards this year (NBPTS, December 2007).

U.S. News and World Report awarded gold, silver and bronze medals to the "best high schools" across the U.S., including 33 from Louisiana (U.S. News & World Report, December 2007).

Louisiana's Jobs for America Graduates program has received a national performance award for a graduation rate of above 90% from the national JAG program. Students in the program are high school seniors who typically have academic, personal, environmental, economic and work-related barriers. The JAG program, which began in Louisiana in 1995 with two sites, is one of the most successful at-risk youth programs, having served more than 12,000 students (Monroe News-Star, December 2007).

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has issued a report that lists Louisiana as the only state in the 16-state southern region to achieve promising progress in every category essential to developing a school leadership preparation system. The report, titled "Schools Need Good Leaders Now: State Progress in Creating a Learning-Centered School Leadership System" was designed to encourage states and school systems to inspire and train a new generation of school leaders who put curriculum and instruction first (SREB, Nov 2007).

Louisiana is one of three states recognized by the Southern Regional Education Board for showing exceptional progress in narrowing the achievement gap among black, Hispanic and white high school students on the state's comprehensive exams required for high school graduation. Louisiana has seen a 24% jump in achievement by black students since 2002. Hispanic students showed 22% improvement, and white students improved by 13% (Southern Regional Education Board, July 2007).

Louisiana ranks among the best states in delivering economics and personal finance education through its K-12 public schools, according to the National Council on Economic Education. The council's 2007 Survey of the States identifies Louisiana as one of only 9 states to require a course with personal finance content and to require testing on it; one of 17 states to require a course with economics content; and one of 22 to require testing of economics (National Council on Education, June 2007).

Louisiana had the greatest real increase in salaries (13.9%) for teachers in the nation between the 1994-1995 and 2004-2005 school years (National Education Association, November 2006).

Louisiana ranked 11th in The State of State Standards 2006, up from 14th in 2000. The report, conducted by the Fordham Foundation, appraised the quality of statewide standards in core curricula (Fordham Foundation, August 2006).

Louisiana’s composite ACT score is 20.1, its highest average ever. The state ranks 12th in the nation for percentage of students tested (ACT Inc., 2006).

Almost 90 percent of all Louisiana school districts improved their District Performance Scores, the third year of improvement for the state. The DPS indicates a combination of LEAP, GEE and Iowa scores, as well as attendance and dropout rates (Louisiana DOE, March 2006).

Louisiana’s public school accountability program ranks first in the nation. The ranking praises the state’s efforts in improving teacher quality (first in the nation), student performance, violence, and other factors that make up the learning environment. Only Louisiana and South Carolina received two “A” grades in accountability (Education Week, January 2006).

Louisiana’s comprehensive early childhood education program, LA4, is among the best in the nation. It has been highlighted by Georgetown University as “simply stunning” and a model initiative. The nation’s premier specialist in pre-kindergarten education says Louisiana is now in the top tier of states in pre-K education, despite Louisiana’s students starting later than their peers across the nation. For the 2005-2006 year, students improved from the 10th percentile to the 50th percentile in language; from the 11th percentile to the 59th percentile in print; and from the 5th to the 52nd percentile in math (Dr. Craig Ramey, Georgetown University, January 2006).

Louisiana is 14th among all U.S. states for the number of teachers receiving a benchmark national certification in 2006. There are now 207 more educators from 44 school districts who have become National Board Certified Teachers. The state Department of Education says this is a positive indicator for student success (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, December 2006).

Five Baton Rouge-area teachers are among 44 teachers nationwide selected for the 2006 Disney Teaching Award highlighting creative educators. The winners will each receive $10,000 and a 6-day trip to Disneyland, and their schools will receive $5,000 each. The winners are: Amanda S. Mayeaux, Kathryn Lynn Pilcher and Monique D. Wild, all 8th-grade teachers at Dutchtown Middle; Felicity Amond, a 7th-grade math teacher at McKinley Middle; and Brenda Joyce Moncriffe, a high school math teacher at Scotlandville High. The winners can also take advantage of a six-day professional development training (The Advocate, May 2006).

Baton Rouge's University High (listed as LSU Laboratory in the rankings) made the list of Top 1000 High Schools in the nation, coming in at 208th. The list is based on the number of Advanced Placement and/or International Baccalaureate tests taken by all students in 2005 divided by the number of graduating students (Newsweek, May 2006).

HIGHER EDUCATION

Louisiana has 24 nursing schools, and they include for of the 12 largest in the country. Northwestern State University School of Nursing is ranked 4th nationally; Southeastern Louisiana University is 5th; University of Louisiana-Lafayette is 7th; and McNeese State is 12th (Modern Health Magazine, May 2008).
Louisiana's colleges and universities received the nation's 27th largest pot of federal funding for medical research in 2005. Tulane received $73.3 million of the more than $293 million allocated to the Louisiana institutions. The Tulane School of Medicine ranks 59th out of the 123 schools with such funding (National Institutes of Health, September 2006).

Louisiana is being praised for improved efforts in enrolling, retaining and graduating college students. Louisiana set goals for all three areas, and prior to the hurricanes saw a 2 percent increase in enrollment, a 76 percent retention rate (5 percent improvement over the 2000 rate) and a 5 percent improvement in graduation rates (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, May 2006).

A college education is more affordable in Louisiana than in the entire country of Canada and all but two other U.S. states. A study found that the combination of low tuition, the TOPS program and lots of federal aid for students makes Louisiana the third most affordable state ( behind New Hampshire and Oklahoma) in which to attend college (Educational Policy Institute, April 2006).

Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business has been named one of the 10 best schools for finance in the world by the global business newspaper Financial Times. The ranking is based on the recommendations of more than 11,000 MBA alumni from around the world who responded to this year's survey (Financial Times, January 2008).

Louisiana State University's Robert S. Reich School of Landscape Architecture has been ranked 2nd in the nation by DesignIntelligence, the leading journal of design professionals. This is the third consecutive year LSU's landscape school has been ranked among the top five in the nation. LSU has been in the survey's top 10 schools every year since the survey began several years ago (DesignIntelligence, January 2008).

University of Louisiana at Monroe is one of only 12 schools nationwide selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to launch a year-long course known as the Phage Genomics Research Initiative, which engages students in real-world type studies in which they practice genetic mapping (Monroe News-Star, December 2007).

Loyola University's Edgar and Louise S. Monroe Library is the sixth-best college library in the nation, according to the Princeton Review's "The Best 366 Colleges". Loyola University also placed 20th in the country in terms of town-grown relations (Princeton Review, October 2007).

Loyola, Tulane and Xavier Universities, and the University of New Orleans were all made the list of "Best Southeastern Colleges", a list of 146 institutions in a dozen states (Princeton Review, October 2007).

Newsweek magazine has listed Tulane University and Centenary colleges among "The 25 Hottest Schools in America" for 2008. Tulane is deemed "Hottest on the Rebound" as it recovers from Hurricane Katrina. Centenary College in Shreveport is labeled the "Hottest Liberal Arts School You Never Heard Of" (Newsweek, August 2007).

LSU Health Sciences Center's audiology doctoral program has been ranked in the top 24 nationally in US News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools 2008 (US News & World Report, April 2007).

Southern University has been named a host school for the U.S. Navy's Seaman to Admiral Nuclear Options Program. Southern shares that distinction with only 17 other schools across the country. The program selects distinguished Navy cadets and puts them on a fast track to become top officers and earn college degrees in three years (The Advocate, March 2007).

Xavier, Tulane, Dillard and Loyola universities are all ranked on the America’s Best Colleges 2007. Tulane is ranked 44th in the Best Schools in the Nation category; Loyola and Xavier Universities ranked 4th and 29th, respectively, in the category of Best Universities – Masters in the South. Dillard ranks No. 17 in Comprehensive Colleges – Bachelors in the South (U.S. News & World Report, 2006).

The Southern Growth Policies Board in North Carolina, which promotes enlightened economic development policies throughout the South, has singled out Louisiana Tech University in Ruston as a promising example of how university-based research might drive economic progress. Louisiana Tech researchers have developed a cost-effective way to make paper that can conduct electricity (Southern Growth Policies Board, November 2006).

The E.J. Ourso College of Business Flores MBA Program at LSU is ranked 9th in the nation for attracting corporate MBA recruiters (Wall Street Journal, September 2006).

LSU had four Goldwater Scholarship finalists who were all selected to receive the prestigious national awards. The 2008 Goldwater Scholars are Brian Goh, a biochemistry major from Baton Rouge: Leah Rebecca Muller, a bioengineering major from Hammond; Michael Parent, a chemical engineering major from Mandeville; and Nabil Thalji, a biochemistry/chemistry major from Baton Rouge (The Advocate, April 2008).

Dr. Jack Strong, the LSU Health and Sciences Center pathologist who first established the relationship of smoking to hardening of the arteries, has been named the 2008 recipient of the President's Award from the U.S. and Canadian Academy of Pathology. Dr. Strong, a graduate of LSU's medical school, has received top honors from the American Medical Association and the International Academy of Pathology, and he was the first recipient of LSU's Distinguished Alumnus Award (U.S. and Canadian Academy of Pathology, August 2007).

The National Endowment for the Arts, a Washington-based federal agency that promotes excellence in the arts, awarded Southeastern Louisiana Instructor and poet Alison Pelegrin a prestigious $20,000 creative writing grant. Only about 40 creative writing fellowships from a pool of 1,300 nationwide are awarded each year (NEA, November 2006).

Betty Kleen, an information-systems professor at Nicholls State University, recently received the Computer Educator of the Year Award from the International Association for Computer Information Systems. The award is one of the highest the international organization gives, and recognizes research and teaching skills, significant contributions to information systems and work throughout the industry (International Assocation for Computer Information Systems, November 2006).

A Southeastern Louisiana University film on Manchac Swamp has been selected to compete for Best Overall film honors at the New York International Film Festival. The film is produced by the University’s Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies, and details the historical degradation of the swamp (The Advocate, August 2006).

Dr. Sally Clausen is being recognized as one of the most entrepreneurial college presidents in the United States for her success in improving teacher certification standards and presiding over major financial and academic turnarounds at two universities (Inside Higher Ed, August 2005).

LSUHSC graduate Bradley Davis is recognized as an outstanding student in audiology. He developed a “hearing loss simulator” to help parents “hear” how their voice sounds to a hearing-impaired child. He has given scholarly talks to many professional groups. He won several grants and fellowships, and plans to pursue a doctoral degree (LSUHSC, August 2005).

UNO assistant professor Marc Rosenblum was awarded an International Affairs Fellowship for his work in international policy. As one of the 12 people to receive the award, he will work with the White House, National Security Council and Congressional immigration subcommittees (Council on Foreign Relations, 2005-2006).

TOURISM

Conde Nast Traveler Magazine has named Harrah's New Orleans one of the 100 best hotels in the mainland United States (Conde Nast Traveler, December 2007).
Travelocity has ranked New Orleans as a Top 10 Global Destination for Food Fanatics (Travelocity, March 2007).

Before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast, Louisiana’s state parks saw a 4.6 percent increase in visitors in FY 2004-2005, the fourth year in a row the number increased (CRT, August 2005).

Tourist visiting Louisiana spent $500 million more than the previous year (LA CRT, 2004 vs. 2003).

Set decorator and New Orleans native Gretchen Rau was part of the team that won the Oscar for art direction for "Memoirs of a Geisha." She was previously nominated for "The Last Samurai." (March 2006).

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Fitch Ratings assigned a rating of A+ to Louisiana general oblication bonds and upgraded approximately $2.3 billion in outstanding general obligation debt to A+ from A. The ratings organization says that the upgrade for the state "reflectst the state's recent strong financial performance and management, growing reserve position, and continued economic expansion" (Fitch Ratings, July 2008).

Standard & Poor's raised Louisiana's state's general obligation bonds from A to A+ because of state budget safeguards that have been implements over the years and "prudent financial decisions since the hurricanes of 2005" (Times-Picayune, July 2008).

The American Legislative Council, has ranked Louisiana 21st in the U.S. in an economic rating of the fifty states. Low personal income, business and property taxes helped Louisiana earn its ranking (CityBusiness, March 2008).

Louisiana worldwide merchandise exports, which set a record in 2006, set a new record last year by reaching $30.4 billion. Shipments were 29.2% above 2006, the second-largest percentage increase of any state. Also, the state's export of nearly 30% was more than double the overall U.S. rate of 12.1% (New Orleans World Trade Center, February 2008).

Louisiana ranked 4th in the nation last year for the number of jobs created and the amount of business investment in the state. The rankings are based on the number of jobs created or projected to be created in the last year among its top five largest projects, and on the total projected highest capital investment totals among the top five companies in each state (Business Facilities Magazine, January 2008).

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis says that personal income–a measure of all sources of income of all residents–jumped 1.8% in Louisiana to nearly $144 billion in the July-September 2007 period (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, December 2007).

The U.S. Department of Labor said Louisiana ranks third in the nation for dollars spent on customized training for employees. The Louisiana Department of Labor's primary training program is the Incumbent Worker Training Program, which has trained more than 206,000 workers since its inception in 1999 (U.S. Dept. of Labor, October 2007).

Citing the state's economic growth, Southern Business & Development magazine gives Louisiana the title "State of the Year" for 2007. The magazine ranks Southern states on a points system based on the investment and job announcements from the previous year. The states receive scores for recruiting corporations and industries that offer a large number of jobs or investment. Louisiana nearly doubled its point total from the previous year, with a score of 220 (Southern Business & Development Magazine, Spring 2007).

258 million tons of goods passed through the Port of South Louisiana last year making it the third-busiest year since 1995 (Associated Terminals, February 2008).

The value of experts from Louisiana climbed 28% in the first quarter of 2007 to $7.3 billion compared to the same period of 2006.

Louisiana's worldwide merchandise exports hit an all-time record of $23.5 billion in 2006, an increase of 22.2 percent. The state's previous export high was in 2005 with $19.9 billion shipped abroad. 2005 reached $19.2 billion despite two devastating hurricanes (World Trade Center of New Orleans, February 2007).

The Port of New Orleans has been named 2007 Best Comeback Port by Porthole Magazine. The award is bestowed upon those in the cruise and travel industry who have gone above and beyond in terms of service, quality and excellence. Port officials said the cruise industry rebound is under way with passenger embarkations and disembarkations projected to top 475,000 in 2007 (New Orleans CityBusiness, March 2007).

Film production in Louisiana has boomed since 2000, going from $20 million that year to $640 million in 2005. The state predicts film production will bring in $700 million next year (Baton Rouge Business Report, November 2006).

Louisiana ranked 17th in states with best business climates. The ranking was based 50 percent on a survey of corporate site selectors and 50 percent on other factors, including new and/or expanded projects and new plant performance (Site Selection, November 2006).

Louisiana's worldwide merchandise exports resumed their strong growth in the first three quarters of 2006 and are headed for a record-breaking year. The state's total export value reached $16.2 billion for the Jan.-Sept. 2006 period, a 16.2 percent increase from the year before. This increase outpaces U.S. export growth of 14.4 percent (World Trade Center, November 2006).

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development earned two national awards from the National Partnership for Highway Quality for its evacuation plans that helped more than 1 million people leave the New Orleans area before Hurricane Katrina (NPHQ, November 2006).

New York-based Fitch ratings has upgraded Louisiana's Rating Outlook on general obligation bonds to "stable" from "negative" and affirmed the state's "A" rating on $2.4 billion in existing Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds. The improved rating reflects the positive financial developments in the state since the rating was downgraded from A+ to A in December 2005, following the hurricanes Katrina and Rita (Fitch Ratings, August 2006).

Louisiana is the No. 1 state in which to make a movie outside of California, according to P3 Production Update magazine, which uses industry responses to determine state’s friendliness to the industry (The Advocate, August 2006).

Louisiana climbed from 8th to 4th in the May 2006 Update of Top 20 States for Industrial Project Spending Activity. Louisiana climbed the list because of 13 new projects totaling more than half a billion dollars (Industrialinfo.com, May 2006).

Louisiana is 8th in the nation for Industrial Project Development with $6.37 billion in total investment value in 242 projects. The analysis is based on projects scheduled to begin construction in 2006 (Industrialinfo.com, February 2006).

The Louisiana Economic Development organization has won accreditation from the International Economic Development Council. To become accredited, LED had to demonstrate adherence to commonly held standards in the profession (July 2006).

Lafayette was named one of the "Top 10 Great Innovation Markets in the South" by Southern Business Development Magazine. The magazine points to Lafayette's multicultural and multi-industrial makeup, along with innovative projects such as the Lafayette Utilities System fiber project, the Louisiana Optical Network initiative, and the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise as key contributors to the ranking (Southern Business Development, April 2008).

Local officials in Northwest Louisiana broke ground this month on the Cyber Innovation Center, a $100 million research park that will support and foster collaboration, research and technology development in the cyber space industry. The permanent installation of the military command and its 500-600 officers coupled with the research park could have a transformative impact on the northwest region of the state, and indeed the state as a whole (CABL Wire, January 2008).

Shreveport is among the country's cheapest place for doing business, according to a study from accounting firm KPMG LLP. In its annual survey, the firm ranked Shreveport the least-costly among 14 metropolitan areas in its "small city" category–those with populations between 10,000 and 500,000. KPMG, which used a variety of economic date for the ranking (The Advocate, April 2008).

MovieMaker ranks Shreveport as the 3rd best place in the U.S. to make independent movies, right behind Austin, TX, and Memphis, TN. Shreveport's ranking is up three places from last year (MovieMaker, January 2008).

The Milliken Institute, a California think tank, and Greenstreet Real Estate ranked Lafayette among the top 25 cities in the U.S. for creating and sustaining jobs. The Best Cities Index, which ranks the top 200 cities for job growth every two years, reported that Lafayette had the largest growth in the nation since the 2005 ranking (Daily Advertiser, October 2007).

Expansion Magazine has ranked East Baton Rouge Parish and the Capital Region high on its list of most popular places for businesses to relocated. East Baton Rouge Parish ranks No. 8 among mid-sized counties and the Capital Region nine-parish area, anchored by Baton Rouge, ranks No. 17 among mid-sized metro areas. More than 350 metro areas and 3,100 counties in three size categories were considered (Expansion Magazine, June 2007).

Trade through New Orleans customs district reached a record $153 billion in 2006, more than two-thirds of which was imports. This marks a 17% increase over 2005 and a 32% increase over 2004 (U.S. Census Bureau, February 2007).

Southern Business and Development Magazine ranks Gov. Blanco and economic development secretary Mike Olivier among the Top 10 People Who Made a Difference. The magazine cites Louisiana's outstanding business reforms in the past three years as reason for the ranking (Southern Business and Development Magazine, April 2007).

Southern Business and Development Magazine named Lafayette as a Top 10 place in the South for the "creative class"–citing the city's risk-taking spirit and technological advances. The magazine describes the creative class as "relatively young, highly educated professionals who give more to their communities while demanding more from their communities" (Southern Business & Development Magazine, April 2007).

Shreveport/Northwest Louisiana has been ranked as one of the Top 10 Places in the South for Emerging Growth Industry by Southern Business and Development Magazine. The magazine cites the region's growth in life sciences and other tech-intensive industries as well as the oil and gas, renewable energy and the film and entertainment sectors for the ranking (Southern Business & Development, April 2007).

Shreveport-Bossier City has been named one of the Top 10 U.S. cities to live, work and make movies in. The rating puts Shreveport-Bossier in the same category as New York, Philadelphia, and Austin (Moviemaker Magazine, February 2007).

Ascension and Cameron Parish rank among the Top 20 nationwide for industrial spending in 2007. Ascension ranks second with $5.11 billion, most of it associated with the proposed $5 billion Synfuel coal-gasification plant construction scheduled to be finished in 2009 or 2010. Cameron Parish ranks sixth in the nation at $3.02 billion due to the emergence of liquified natural gas projects (Industrial Information Resources, January 2007).

2006 was a record year for the Port of Southern Louisiana. The port, which handles more cargo tonnage than any other U.S. port, moved nearly 263 million tons of material through its wharves, up from 243 million tons in 2005 (Times-Picayune, April 2007).

Lafayette-based "e-tailer" Golfballs.com has been named to the Internet Retailer Magazine Hot 100 Web Sites list for 2008 (Baton Rouge Advocate, December 2007).

Two Baton Rouge companies–Edgen Murray Corp. and Gas and Supply Co.–rank among the 50 largest industrial suppliers in the nation, according to a new ranking by the Industrial Distribution trade journal. Edgen Murray, a high-performance pipe supplier, ranked 14th in the magazine's big 50 list and Gas and Supply, a fixture in the industrial gas and welding supply business, ranked 30th (The Advocate, June 2008).

Four Louisiana companies made Fortune Magazine's list of "100 Fastest Growing Companies for 2007." At 10th is Global Industries of Carlyss, 19th is Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold of Phoenix, 26th is Hornbeck Energy Services of Covington and at 54th is Superior Energy Services of Harvey (CityBusiness, March 2008).

Houma-based Gulf Island Fabrication Company has ranked 43rd in the 2007 list of America's 200 Best Small Companies by Forbes Magazine. It's the third time Gulf Island Fabrication has made the list: in 2003 it was ranked the 155th best company; in 2004 it was ranked 132nd (Forbes, October 2007).

ExxonMobil Baton Rouge's polyolefins plant was awarded a Distinguished Safety Award form the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. This is the fifth straight year ExxonMobil Baton Rouge has earned the award and the first time a company has one so since the program began in 1982 (Baton Rouge Business Report, April 2007).

The Associated Builders and Contractors Association named The Shaw Group Contractor of the Year. The award goes to an ABC member that demonstrates significant accomplishments for the association and construction industry. Shaw was honored for its emergency response work after the 2005 hurricane season, when the company provided temporary repairs to hundreds of buildings and pumped floodwaters out of New Orleans (Baton Rouge Business Report, April 2007).

Marathon Oil has announced plans to build a refinery in Garyville, LA. The new plant will create 250 new permanent jobs and provide 2,000 constructions jobs (WAFB, November 2006).

Jeld-Wen, Inc., an Oregon-based window and door manufacturer announced plans to build an $85 million materials plant in Winn Parish that will employ 75 people. It is the biggest investment the company, which employs over 20,000 people worldwide, has made in a single facility (nola.com, November 2006).

Formosa Plastics Corporation announced a $100 million expansion of the company's Baton Rouge plant. According to company officials, Gulf Opportunity Zone incentives made expansion in Louisiana the most attractive choice for their business (LED, November 2006).

Coe and Company of Metarie was one of two runners-up in the latest list of small business awards. The awards celebrate entrepreneurs who are using technology in innovative ways to grow their businesses. Diamond Date of New Orleans was named as an Outsourcing Finalist for the awards (PC Magazine, October 2006).

Mezzo Technologies is the winner of the annual Tibbetts Award for the nation's most productive technology company. The company was founded by Dr. Kevin Kelly, an LSU faculty member and entrepreneur. The company got its start in the Louisiana Business & Technology Center of the E.J. Ourso College of Business at LSU, which itself was named the 2005 National Business Incubator of the Year. (Small Business Innovation Research Program/U.S. Small Business Administration, September 2006).

Baton Rouge-based Amedisys Inc. ranks 7th on Fortune magazine's annual "100 Fastest-Growing Companies" list, the only home health company to make the list (The Advocate, September 2006).

Synfuel, Inc. has announced plans to build a major coal gasification plant in Ascension Parish. The total capitol investment once the project is compete is expected to be more than $5 billion, and will use lignite from the northern part of the state as raw material to produce gasoline, ethanol, synthetic gas, electricity, steam and methanol (LED, June 2006).

Plaquemine's Shintech is named in the list of Top 10 Deals of 2005 in North America. The rankings are based on total capital investment, number of jobs, regional economic impact, value of jobs and speed to market, among other things. Global Energy of North America in St. Gabriel ranks 3rd; Shreveport's Steelscape is named as an honorable mention (Site Selection Magazine, 2006).

The Tulane-based Hancock Horizon Burkenroad fund was featured on Kiplinger.com in a story praising the small fund for its returns – 16 percent on average over the past three years. The fund, which invests mainly in small Louisiana companies, has grown from $12 million a year ago to $22 million. Student analysts at Tulane help fund manager David Lundgren Jr. pick the stocks (September 2006).

Apogen Technologies, a Top 10 homeland security contractor, has been awarded four contracts for hurricane recovery. It has been named a best place to work (CityBusiness, Washington Business Journal, August 2006).

Venture capital firm Advantage Capital of New Orleans is a top 100 firm for both first-time funding to companies as well as later-stage companies (Entrepreneur magazine, July 2006).

St. Charles Parish's Valero Energy Corporation is ranked 3rd on the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For (Fortune Magazine, January 2006).

Dryades Savings Bank of New Orleans is the eighteenth-largest black-owned bank in the United States (BE Banks, 2006).

LOCAL/CITIES

Lake Charles made Forbes.com's list at No. 9 of Top 10 Up-and-Coming Tech Cities (CityBusiness, March 2008).
The Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office has received the Triple Crown Award–the highest honor achievable in the law enforcement community. The sheriff's office is one of 25 agencies to receive the award and the first in Louisiana. The award recognizes agencies that receive accreditations through the American Correctional Association, the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care (Lafayette Advertiser, January 2008).

Lafayette has been awarded the Smart Community Award by the Digital City Expo in recognition of Lafayette Utilities System's fight to provide retail phone, cable and high-speed internet services to every home in the city (Baton Rouge Advocate, March 2007).

Madisonville and Mandeville were both named among the "2007 Top 100 Places to Live" in the U.S, according to Relocate-America. The ranking is based on statistics and feedback from the people who live, work and play in these communities (Relocate-America, 2007).

The Baton Rouge Area Foundation climbed once again in the ranks of community foundations. The Foundation is 21st in gifts received, 48th in grants paied, and 24th in market value (Columbus Foundation, October 2006).

New Orleans made the list of America's Top 10 Most Walkable Cities (AAA, August 2006).

The Jefferson Parish Chamber of Commerce is being recognized as a four-star chamber for its effective organizational procedures and outstanding contribution to positive change in the parish, despite setbacks after Hurricane Katrina (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2006).

Baton Rouge jumped 66 spots to No. 19 on the Most Unwired Cities Survey, measuring the number of commercial and public places where wireless Internet service is available. New Orleans comes in at No. 38 (Intel, June 2005).

Baton Rouge's Shaw Center for the Arts has been named Best Multi-Purpose Arts Building based on its architectural design, putting it on the list of The World's 12 Best new Buildings (Artinfo.com, January 2006).

Baton Rouge was featured in the New York Times travel section as a great tourist destination for parents traveling with children. The half-page feature was titled “On the Banks of the Mississippi, Where the Kingfish Lived.” (NYTimes, March 2005).

In Natchitoches, Alligator Park, noted for its well-organized fun nature exhibits, and Merci Beaucoup Restaurant with its Cajun baked potato and bread pudding specialties, both placed as “Local Secrets, Big Finds” in an Internet poll (Travelocity, 2005).

HEALTH/HOSPITALS

Louisiana's electronic system for tracking childhood immunizations, the Louisiana Immunization Network for Kids Statewide (LINKS), has received the highest award from the American Immunization Registry Association for its excellent service during Hurricane Katrina. The LINKS staff worked tirelessly to make sure the data in their system was available to registries around the country. This enabled children to start school and avoid the pain of unnecessary vaccinations (American Immunization Registry Association, March 2006).
Louisiana's childhood immunization rate is up to 32nd nationally, after the past two years of 46th and 49th, respectively (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, September 2006).
Louisiana's colleges and universities received the nation's 27th largest pot of federal funding for medical research in 2005. Tulane received $73.3 million of the more than $293 million allocated to the Louisiana institutions. The Tulane School of Medicine ranks 59th out of the 123 schools with such funding (National Institutes of Health, September 2006).
Ochsner Health Systems in New Orleans has been recognized on of "America's Best Hospitals" by U.S. News and World Report. Ochsner is listed as one of the nation's 50 best in the ear, nose, and throat category. Ochsner's ENT Department was ranked in the top 50 hospitals with its specialists in neurology, otology, rhinology, facial Ppastics, head and neck cancer and pediatrics (U.S. News & World Report, July 2007).
Louisiana Heart Hospital earned the Total Benchmark Solution Best Acute care Hospitals Award based upon quality measure data provided by U.S. health care organizations for 2005. Louisiana Heart Hospital tied for the top U.S. hospital in quality of care for heart attack patients out of 2,600 hospitals measured. It was the 11th hospital overall (Total Benchmark Solutions, January 2007).
LSU’s nine charity hospitals have received the 2006 “Safety Net Award” for their performance during Hurricane Katrina. The award recognizes the dedication, service and heroism displayed by the staff of the hospitals (National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems, 2006).
The Scientific American Magazine awarded an LSU research team, headed by Professor Robert Hammer, for their work in creating a synthetic peptide that can disrupt the formation of plaques believed to cause brain cell death in Alzheimer's patients. The 2006 Scientific American 50 Awards honor individuals and organizations who are driving science and technology advances through research, business and policy-making (Scientific American, December 2006).
Louisiana is one of only seven states deemed to be prepared to distribute drugs and other emergency supplies from a federal stockpile. The designation is part of a survey that finds Louisiana among the top 21 states in planning for disease, disaster and bioterror attacks (Trust for America’s Health, December 2005).
Louisiana’s CommunityCARE Program, which links Medicaid recipients to primary-care physicians, program was recognized as a top program for the efforts it made in improving routine, well-child care visits to identify children with disabilities at an earlier age (Center for Health Care Strategies, August 2005).
Louisiana's illegal (under 18) tobacco sales are just over 7 percent, one of the three lowest rates in the nation (DHH/Office of Addictive Disorders, August 2005).
MD Technologies and its website received the Silver Award in the Best Community Benefit Communications category in eHealthcare Strategy & Trents' sevents annual eHealthcare Leadership Awards. MD Technologies was chosen from among 1,100 other entries nationwide. The website was initially designed just after hurricane Katrina to help displaced patients locate their physicians and is now continuing to help patients and physicians reconnect and rebuild through it statewide physician registry (Strategic Health Care Communications, November 2006).

AGRICULTURE

Louisiana’s farmers help Louisiana place very high in the nation in:

Harvested Acres

No. 1 in sugar

No. 2 in rice and sweet potatoes

No. 9 in cotton and sorghum

Crop Production

No. 1 in crawfish

No. 2 in sweet potatoes and sugar

No. 2 in rice

No. 20th in sorghum

No. 9 in cotton

(Louisiana Agricultural Statistics 2005)

GOVERNMENT/MISC

The National Association for Government Training and Development, a nationally recognized professional association for public sector trainers and developers, has named the Louisiana Department of Civil Service 2008 "Program of the Year". The award, which is given out annually to the highest performing governmental agencies participating in the field of training and development, recognizes the Department of Civil Service for its efforts in implementation and design of the State of Louisiana Mandatory Supervisory Training Program (National Association for Government Training and Development, June 2008).
The Center for Public Integrity has given Louisiana 99 out of 100 points on a survey for its new laws concerning elected and public officials' financial disclosure (CityBusiness, March 2008).
Louisiana scored above the national average in "Grading the States 2008", an assessment released by the Pew Center which ranks states on how well they manage their public resources. Louisiana scored a "B" based on a range of performances and conditions, from budget and finance to roads and bridges (Governing Magazine, March 2008).
The Daily Reveille Web site, lsureveille.com, won a 2008 Eppy Award from Editor & Publisher Magazine as the nation's best collegiate Web site (The Advocate, May 2008).
The Shaw Center for the Arts in Baton rouge is one of 13 projects in the nation to win the 2008 American Institute of Architects' Institute Honor Awards. The awards were given to projects that were aesthetically appealing and had social impact (Baton Rouge Advocate, January 2008).
The Center for Public Integrity ranks Louisiana 3rd in the nation–with a strong grade B–for its law requiring governors and gubernatorial candidates to disclose their personal financial dealings (Center for Public Integrity, July 2007).
The Annie E. Casey Foundation has honored Governor Blanco and the Governor's Office of Youth Development for its commitment to the welfare of Louisiana families by reforming the juvenile justice system. The foundation cites Governor Blanco for establishing the Office of Youth Development and implementing juvenile justice reform as reasons for the honor (Annie E. Casey Foundation, March 2007).
Louisiana was only one of five states to receive an "A" for its legal representation provided to abused and neglected children. The report assigned grades based on several criteria, most importantly whether legal counsel for children is mandatory and whether that attorney is required to advocate for the child's expressed wishes.
Other criteria included requiring specialized training in child-advocacy law, the attorneys' ethical responsibilities, and the child's right to attend key court hearings (First Star, April 2007).
Louisiana ranks in the top tier of 16 states with strong highway safety laws designed to save lives, according to a study by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a coalition of insurance, consumer, health, safety and law enforcement agencies. The ranking is a credit to state officials who have worked to improve state traffic safety laws. As a result, last year, Louisiana Highway fatalities dropped by 3% (AHAS, January 2007).
Randy Raggio, a professor of marketing at LSU, was presented with the President's Volunteer Service Award by President George W. Bush for his work with the Desire Street Academy, which was started to help New Orleans to help educate at-risk African-American males (The Advocate, April 2008).
Two LSU students, John Early III, of New Orleans, and Claire Kendig, of Shreveport, have been selected as finalists for the nationally competitive Truman Scholarships. Winners will be announced March 25, 2008 (The Advocate, March 2008).
Tommy Stryjewski of Baton Rouge, was featured as one of only 20 members nationally of USA Today's "2008 All-USA College Academic Team". Stryjewski's resume stands out for his work as an EMS volunteer ambulance first-responder, which he started doing in high school, and later for his cornea transplant work at the Baton Rouge Regional Eye Bank, from which he started Tigers for Donating Life at LSU (Baton Rouge Advocate, February 2008).
Baton Rouge native Brett Blackledge is the winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize, journalism's highest honor. Blackledge, who received his degree from LSU and is currently a reporter for the Birmingham News, won the prize for a series of stories exposing corruption in Alabama's two-year college system (Baton Rouge Advocate, April 2007).
St. Bernard Parish school Superintendent Doris Voitier has been named a recipient of the 2007 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage for her dedication to the school district during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The nation award honors citizens who display an exceptional commitment and contribution to public service (JFK Library & Museum, March 2007).
Tereson Thomas of Broussard was named Best Entrepreneur at the annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Thomas, CEO of Mother of Eden, Inc., based in New Iberia, invented the Fuzzi Bunz, a reusable cloth diaper that eliminated rashes (Baton Rouge Business Report, March 2007).
Cynthia DuBois and Jackie Zimmerman, two LSU seniors, were honored as overachievers by USA Today as part of the national newspaper's 2007 college Academic All-Stars (USA Today, February 2007).
Melissa Hymel, Pointe Coupee Parish administrative librarian, was selected as one of the 21 Top Librarians in the Nation by The New York Times, for her work in helping provide resources to those displaced by the hurricanes of 2005 (Advocate, Jan 2007).
Kerry Jeanice, an RN at West Jefferson Medical Center, is a 2006 Nation Winner for the Registered Nurse category of the Cherokee Inspired Comfort Award, one of the nation's premier nurse and healthcare honors. Jeanice earned the award for his service and commitment in the days following Hurricane Katrina (Cherokee Uniforms, 2006).
R. King Milling received the 2006 National Conservation Special Achievement Award from the national Wildlife Federation for his work in helping to restore Louisiana's wetlands (National Wildlife Federation, November 2006).
Louisiana ranked to 7th on the list of most generous states, as measured by the amount its citizens give to charity. This comes even as Louisiana is 46nd in earnings of its citizens (Catalogue for Philanthropy, November 2006).
Baton Rouge blues musician Henry Gray is being honored as one of only 11 recipients of the 2006 National Heritage Fellowships. The award is the nation’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts, and is based on artistic excellence, cultural authenticity and contributions to the field. Gray will receive $20,000 in addition to the honor. Also receiving the award is the Treme Brass Band from New Orleans. (National Endowment for the Arts, June 2006).
The New Orleans Times-Picayune won two Pulitzer Prizes for meritorious public service for its coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The prizes are journalism’s most prestigious honor (Times-Picayune, April 2006).
Louisiana ranks with the top states for providing open government. A study shows that Louisiana, along with four other states, provide the public the best access to government records (University of Florida, March 2006).
Keith Thibodeaux, chief information officer for Lafayette Consolidated Government, is one of the top 100 information technology leaders in the nation. His work collaborating with other governmental and nongovernmental entities earned him the honors (Computerworld, December 2005).
New Orleans community activist Stephen Bradberry received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for his work to give the poor a stronger voice in hurricane recovery. He is the first American to win the award (AP, November 2005).
Louisiana's Office of Alcohol & Tobacco Control has been named the 2005 Liquor Law Enforcement Agency of the Year. The agency achieved over a 91% compliance rate after conducting more than 1,300 compliance checks (National Liquor Law Enforcement Association, October 2005).
Louisiana's Governor's Office of Film & Television Development made the list of Top 50 Executives and Creatives who had an impact on the independent film industry last year (Variety, September 2005).

PREPARED BY THE SENATE COMMUNICATION OFFICE

P.O. Box 94183
Phone (225) 342-9737 Fax (225) 342-0617
websen@legis.state.la.us
Updated July 8, 2008