Acadiana’s Economic Vitals

Acadiana’s economy is diverse and vibrant. With so many positive additions being regularly added to the business horizon, it can be difficult to keep up with all of the progress. Take a look at this promising economic rundown presented by One Acadiana. 

One Acadiana (1A) is the leading economic development organization for the nine-parish Acadiana region located in south Louisiana. With more than 1,000 investors, members and partners, 1A invites you to join us in building a stronger regional business community and economy. The organization is located in the city of Lafayette and, in partnership with other business and civic organizations, serves a region of roughly 700,000 people with a vibrant culture and unique entrepreneurial spirit. Its aim is to make Acadiana “one of the most high quality, sought after regions in the South for enjoying a prosperous career in an idyllic family environment.”

Creating a more vibrant Acadiana economy will require aggressive, focused leadership in two broad areas of activity, both locally and regionally:

•    Business development: marketing and sales efforts to secure business location, retention, and expansion in our area

•    Product development: public policy and related initiatives to improve the “product” that we are marketing and promoting (our business environment)

That’s why 1A’s work is driven by 3 core strategies:

•    Make Acadiana competitive by cultivating a portfolio of regional assets, infrastructure, and policies for competitive success

•    Tell our story by strategically marketing and promoting our region to businesses and talent

•    Make it beautiful by revitalizing our region’s core, and leverage that expertise for similar efforts around the region

How do regional business development initiatives, spearheaded by 1A, support this mission? The regional group is focused on several efforts to that end, thanks to the support of its investors and partners:

•    Coordinate 160+ business retention and expansion site visits with existing Acadiana companies (at no cost to them) to learn about the challenges businesses are facing and help them navigate through exploring business expansion opportunities

•    Complete 10-12 targeted lead generation missions outside the state for business recruitment, based on a Target Industry Strategy that will drive our recruitment efforts throughout the remainder of the decade

•    Secure third-party site certification for 3-5 high-quality, development-ready sites in the region, while marketing the portfolio of existing sites and buildings

•    Develop a new external brand for the Acadiana region focused on business attraction as recommended in our Target Industry Strategy

•    Strengthen and maintain external marketing targeted at site selectors and business decision makers, using OneAcadiana.org and SouthLouisiana.org

•    Maintain talent attraction and retention initiatives targeted at high-skilled professionals

Businesses across Acadiana can keep their finger on the pulse of the economy through a 1A report that analyzes key economic metrics that help them understand our regional and state economy. With support from Louisiana Economic Development and the Lafayette Economic Development Authority, every month 1A collects data on local businesses, current labor numbers, retail sales information and other economic statistics to put together an “economic vitals” report for the region. These metrics provide a snapshot of:

•    How and where our regional economy has grown or declined

•    The effect of various industries on our region’s employers and employees

•    How our economy compares to other regions in our state and the U.S. overall

This information is compiled on a 1A nine-parish regional level (including Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Jeff Davis, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, Vermilion parishes) where possible; however, there are several data points only available on a five-parish MSA level (including parishes of Acadia, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Martin, and Vermilion). This MSA level data dates back to January 2013 to reflect the current MSA definition established in January 2013.

Strategy

Working with partners, 1A is redoubling efforts to diversify our economic base, while protecting the energy sector, by recruiting target industries to Acadiana.

How does 1A remain focused on forward toward a bright future for Acadiana during bleak economic times? To improve this outlook, the organization is focused on a number of activities that will increase Acadiana’s competitiveness, including:

•    Actively marketing the certification of a 64-acre site at the Acadiana Regional Airport, in conjunction with Iberia Economic Development Foundation. The property is located along the 8,000+ ft. runway, offering an attractive site for recruiting aviation companies. Acadiana now has eight certified sites (Louisiana Economic Development’s highest tier of certification) and has certified the first “Business Site” in the state in Lafayette Parish.

•    Working in conjunction with regional partners to implement a Regional Workforce Development Strategy. This collaborative approach outlines five initiatives to meet workforce challenges based on an analysis of data and industry feedback. To check out our progress during our first year of implementation of this strategy, go to

http://oneacadiana.org/rwdsreport

.

•    Developing a strong new external brand – South Louisiana, Real Cajun – for the Acadiana region focused on business attraction, based upon a significant finding of the Target Industry Strategy commissioned for our region.

•    Working with school districts across Acadiana to accelerate their gains through collaboration with the regional business community.

•    Building support for the I-49 Lafayette Connector project through the Connect Lafayette Coalition, a diverse group of thirteen community organizations which support the I-49 Lafayette Connector. Acadiana is better positioned than ever to achieve the region’s #1 priority of completing I-49 South from Lafayette to New Orleans, which will provide a vital link for “America’s Energy Corridor” and provide a game-changing investment for the Acadiana area.

Find out more ways One Acadiana is focused on forward at OneAcadiana.org

*Data resources include LED, LEDA, the Louisiana Workforce Commission, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, MLS, Louisiana Department of Revenue, and the Lafayette Regional Airport.