Beyond Katrina

More Postcards from the Edge...

From Governor Blanco's Press Office:

We are casting a wide net in hopes of landing a big catch. And now, more than ever Louisiana is ready to reel in investment opportunities. We continue to roll back business taxes that stifled our economic development efforts in the past and actively promoting our extraordinary incentive packages. The Gulf Opportunity Zone incentive package in South Louisiana and the Renewal Communities economic incentives in North and Central Louisiana are powerful economic drivers. Portions of the Gulf Opportunity Zone package expire in 2008, though I am requesting a federal extension. The Renewal Communities incentives in many of North Louisiana's rural communities also offer outstanding opportunities with comparable tax incentives. Louisiana's own package of available incentives includes a variety of tax credits to businesses hiring a minimum number of net new employees, encouraging businesses to create good-! paying jobs, supporting the expansion, restoration, improvement and development of existing commercial structures and offering special incentives to Louisiana manufacturers. These are the selling points I offered during meetings with business executives in Hong Kong yesterday and will continue to mention in the days ahead.

During her two-week business development mission to Asia, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will share her experience with constituents through e-postcards. Her trip will take her to Japan, China, and Taiwan as she works to maintain relationships with investors who have projects or current investments in Louisiana while cultivating new investors exploring opportunities in the state.

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The Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
Louisiana's Fund for Louisiana's People
www.louisianahelp.org 1-877-HELPLA1 (877-435-7521)

Postcards from the Edge

Well, I've just received a series of postcards from Governor Blanco's Press Office re her recent trip to Asia to scout economic development opportunities for Louisiana. Thought I'd pass these along :=)

From Governor Blanco's Press Office:

It's been a busy trip so far! We are inviting companies to do business in Louisiana just as we planned to do before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We have been very well received, and company executives tell me there is a great deal of interest in Louisiana right now. In Japan we met with Toyota executives and had a meeting with the Japan External Trade Organization. We also met with Shin-Etsu, which is the parent company of Shintech. As you know, Shintec! h is investing $1 Billion in a PVC plant in Louisiana. The Chairman informed us of the nine businesses in his family of companies, that offers us great opportunities for the distant future. We also made a personal visit to their semiconductor silicon crystal plant. We just have arrived in China. It is almost midnight and we have had a long day, but I look forward to the days ahead.

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We are setting the stage for more opportunities in Louisiana. Synfuel, a business that announced their interest in Louisiana not too long ago, greeted us in the airport here in Shanghai along with a number of public officials. I met with Mayor Han Zheng and Jinshan District President Hao Tiechuan and our delegation attended a signing ceremony between Synfuel and Chemtura, formerly Uniroyal. We look forward to seeing the same relationship develop between Synfuel and Ascension Parish as the company builds a coal gasification plant in Louisiana. Our state has one of most extensive stores of lignite coal available. It! will be mined in Northwest Louisiana, impacting multiple ports along Red River, and processed in South Louisiana. We continue to pursue new investments and strengthening relationships forged during this Administration with top international business leaders. Stay tuned for more.

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What a week! Our trip began with a meeting with auto manufacturing executives in Tokyo and leaders behind the Shintech development coming to Louisiana. Then we headed to Shanghai for productive meeting with Synfuel executives. There are opportunities abound; we are not only in a global market, but a competitive one as well. That's why it is so important to be here in person. You can't win the economic development game if you're not on the field. We have to aggressively pursue these projects if we expect to get anything done for our citizens. We are including every region of our state in our hunt for major economic dev! elopment projects and we invite business leaders to come visit us in Louisiana. It is important for us to work with individual companies to "match" them with available sites that fit their needs and to keep local leaders and citizens involved in this process.

Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco

During her two-week business development mission to Asia, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will share her experience with constituents through e-postcards. Her trip will take her to Japan, China, and Taiwan as she works to maintain relationships with investors who have projects or current investments in Louisiana while cultivating new investors exploring opportunities in the state.

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