business images northwest louisiana: 2009

Prescription StrengthRegion draws pharma firms

Playing a Winning HandDiverse economy bringsgood fortune to region

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NORTHWEST LOUISIANA2009 EDITION, VOLUME 4

C U S TO M M A G A Z I N E M E D I A

MANAGING EDITOR BILL McMEEKIN

COPY EDITOR JOYCE CARUTHERS

ASSOCIATE EDITORS LISA BATTLES,

SUSAN CHAPPELL, JESSY YANCEY

ONLINE CONTENT MANAGER MATT BIGELOW

STAFF WRITERS CAROL COWAN, KEVIN LITWIN

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS PAMELA COYLE, SAM SCOTT

DATA MANAGER CHANDRA BRADSHAW

REGIONAL SALES MANAGER CHARLES FITZGIBBON

SALES SUPPORT MANAGER SARA SARTIN

SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER BRIAN MCCORD

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS JEFF ADKINS, TODD BENNETT,

ANTONY BOSHIER, IAN CURCIO, J. KYLE KEENER

PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT ANNE WHITLOW

CREATIVE DIRECTOR KEITH HARRIS

WEB DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR BRIAN SMITH

ASSOCIATE PRODUCTION DIRECTOR CHRISTINA CARDEN

PRODUCTION PROJECT MANAGERS

MELISSA BRACEWELL, KATIE MIDDENDORF, JILL WYATT

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNERS LAURA GALLAGHER,

KRIS SEXTON, CANDICE SWEET, VIKKI WILLIAMS

LEAD DESIGNER JANINE MARYLAND

GRAPHIC DESIGN ERICA HINES, ALISON HUNTER,

JESSICA MANNER, AMY NELSON, MARCUS SNYDER

WEB DESIGN DIRECTOR FRANCO SCARAMUZZA

WEB PROJECT MANAGERS ANDY HARTLEY, YAMEL RUIZ

WEB DESIGN CARL SCHULZ

WEB PRODUCTION JENNIFER GRAVES

COLOR IMAGING TECHNICIAN TWILA ALLEN

AD TRAFFIC JESSICA CHILDS, MARCIA MILLAR,

PATRICIA MOISAN, RAVEN PETTY

CHAIRMAN GREG THURMAN

PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER BOB SCHWARTZMAN

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT RAY LANGEN

SR. V.P./CLIENT DEVELOPMENT JEFF HEEFNER

SR. V.P./SALES CARLA H. THURMAN

SR. V.P./OPERATIONS CASEY E. HESTER

V.P./SALES HERB HARPER

V.P./SALES TODD POTTER

V.P./VISUAL CONTENT MARK FORESTER

V.P./TRAVEL PUBLISHING SYBIL STEWART

V.P./EDITORIAL DIRECTOR TEREE CARUTHERS

MANAGING EDITOR/COMMUNITY KIM MADLOM

MANAGING EDITOR/CUSTOM KIM NEWSOM

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR NATASHA LORENS

PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR JEFFREY S. OTTO

CONTROLLER CHRIS DUDLEY

ACCOUNTING MORIAH DOMBY, DIANA GUZMAN,

MARIA MCFARLAND, LISA OWENS

RECRUITING/TRAINING DIRECTOR SUZY WALDRIP

DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR GARY SMITH

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR YANCEY TURTURICE

NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR JAMES SCOLLARD

IT SERVICE TECHNICIAN RYAN SWEENEY

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER PEGGY BLAKE

SALES SUPPORT RACHAEL GOLDSBERRY

SALES/MARKETING COORDINATOR RACHEL MATHEIS

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY/SALES SUPPORT KRISTY DUNCAN

OFFICE MANAGER SHELLY GRISSOM

RECEPTIONIST LINDA BISHOP

Business Images Northwest Louisiana is published annually by Journal Communications Inc. and is distributed through the Northwest Louisiana Economic Development Foundation. For advertising information or to direct questions or comments about the magazine, contact Journal Communications Inc. at (615) 771-0080 or by e-mail at [email protected].

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:Northwest Louisiana Economic Development Foundation400 Edwards Street • Shreveport, LA 71101Phone: (318) 677-2500 • Fax: (318) 677-2541 www.nledf.org

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On the Cover STAFF PHOTO

Shreveport-Bossier is a Northwest Louisiana draw.

OVERVIEW 3

BUSINESS ALMANAC 4

BUSINESS CLIMATE

Playing a Winning Hand 6Cost benefi ts, diverse economy bringgood fortune to Northwest Louisiana.

ENERGY

Fired Up on Natural Gas 8Huge Haynesville Shale deposit is fueling a boom in Northwest Louisiana.

LIFE SCIENCES

Lab Leaders 10Northwest Louisiana develops a culture of bioscience innovation.

Prescription Strength 12

HEALTH

Strong Medicine 13Northwest Louisiana attracts highly skilled doctors with national reputations.

ECONOMIC PROFILE 16

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N O R T H W E S T L O U I S I A N A I M A G E S N W L O U I S I A N A . C O M 1

BUSINESS

contents

2 I M A G E S N W L O U I S I A N A . C O M N O R T H W E S T L O U I S I A N A

NORTHWEST LOUISIANA

ARKANSAS

TEXAS

LOUISIA

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3

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RIVERRREDRED OTO ODE SOO

BIENVILLE

LINCOLNO

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Toledo Bend Res.

Natchitoches

RustonMinden

West Monroee

Alexandria

49

49

49

2020

4949444

Bossier City

7171

71

71

71

171

171

171

80

8484

84

84

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165555

16565

1676

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371

Mansfield

Vivian

Springhill

Many

Logansport

Coushatta

Arcadia

Benton

Homer

Oil City

PlainDealing

Haynesville

Shreveport

Northwest Louisiana encompasses 10 parishes, offering the best of both urban

and rural lifestyles. The region also features a low cost of living, a dynamic and

growing economy, and respected higher-education institutions.

For more information about the advantages of doing business in the region, contact:

Northwest Louisiana Economic Development Foundation400 Edwards St.Shreveport, LA 71101(318) 677-2536Fax: (318) [email protected]

SEE VIDEO ONLINE | Take a virtual tour of Northwest Louisiana at imagesnwlouisiana.com, courtesy of our award-winning photographers.


overview

A GUSHER OF ENERGY HISTORYThe significance and heritage of energy production in

Northwest Louisiana is captured at the Louisiana State

Oil and Gas Museum in Oil City.

Exhibits include a variety of early oil-field equipment,

a wooden flow-line pipe, an electric motor patented

in 1899, a steam-driven fluid pump, an oil derrick

and replica oil-boom buildings.

The museum

preserves 1911’s

Ferry No. 1 well, one

of the world’s first

over-water discovery

wells. The Caddo

Indian Room

features relics and

arrowheads dating

back 10,000 years.

The museum is

open from 9 a.m.

to 4 p.m. Monday

through Friday.

WAR AND REMEMBRANCEA key battle in the Civil War took place in

DeSoto County in April 1864 when

Confederate forces were able to turn back

the Union Army, stopping the Union from

gaining complete control of Louisiana and

the progression of the war into Texas.

Through living history events, exhibits, battle

re-enactments and interpretive programs, the

Mansfield State Historic Site allows visitors

to travel back to the unrest of the Civil War

years and learn more about a key clash that

many believe prolonged the war. Go to

www.mansfieldbattlefield.org for more.

LETS GOBOWL-INGThe Independence Bowl traces its roots

back to 1975 when the board of directors

of the Shreveport-Bossier City Sports

Foundation conceived the idea of bringing

a postseason collegiate football game to


Today, the game between schools from

the Southeastern Conference and Big 12

annually attracts upward of 30,000 visitors

to the area, generating an economic impact

of some $20 million for the community.

Shreveport has completed a $32 million

renovation of Independence Stadium,

and the Independence Bowl Foundation

stepped up and funded a state-of-the-art

scoreboard and DiamondVision screen. For

more, go to www.independencebowl.org.

ETh

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Exhibi

aa wood

iin 1899,

aand replic

The museu

preserves 19

Ferry N

ONG

Bowl traces its roots

the board of directors

ossier City Sports

d the idea of brin

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WHERE OUTLAWS MET THEIR FATEBonnie and Clyde’s outlaw days came to an end in Northwest

Louisiana. The Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum occupies

the exact location in Gibsland, La., of Ma Canfield’s Cafe

where Bonnie and Clyde dined for the last time in 1934 before

they met their bloody fate in a deadly ambush in Arcadia.

Featured exhibits in the museum include seized weapons from

Bonnie and Clyde’s death car, film footage taken by law

enforcement following the ambush and the authentic movie

car from the 1967 film about the duo starring Warren Beatty

and Faye Dunaway.

For more, go to www.bonnieandclydemuseum.com.

BY GOLLY, IT’S ABOUT THE TAMALEThe Zwolle Tamale Fiesta in Sabine County is a celebration

of the area’s Spanish and Native American heritage. The three-

day event is held each year in the second weekend in October.

The event is jam-packed with all things tamale – from

tamale-making demonstrations to a tamale-eating contest

to a tamale-judging event.

The fiesta also features pageants, Spanish costume contests,

rides and food booths, a very popular Fiesta Mud Bog Race for

trucks and more than 20,000 dozen tamales for sale. The 2009

event is set for Oct. 8-10.

Go to www.zwollela.net/tamale.asp for more.

FROM PIONEER DAYS TO THE OIL BOOMThe life and culture of Claiborne

Parish and Northwest Louisiana

from Pre-Columbian times to the

present day is on display at the

Herbert S. Ford Memorial Museum

in Homer, La.

Exhibits cover a wide swath, from

American Indian culture, Pioneer

life, African-American history and

daily life in Claiborne Parish to

the agriculture, lumber, and oil

industries, including the 1920s

oil boom.

The museum is named in honor

of Herbert Smith Ford, whose

collection of eclectic objects and

artifacts from Claiborne Parish

were donated to the town of

Homer when he died in 1960. Go

to www.claiborneone.org/ford

for more information.


business almanac

WinningCost benefits, diverse

economy bring the region good fortuneHand

Playing a

ScorecardNORTHWEST LOUISIANA BY THE NUMBERS

600,000Total population of the 10-parish region

32 millionPopulation within a 350-mile radius

199,000Total civilian labor force in Shreveport-Bossier MSA

$36,458Median household income


J im Dean describes himself as a walking billboard for the virtues of Northwest Louisiana.

An East Texas native, he spent 21 years with the Bell system, its spin-offs and affiliates, including serving as manager of the Shreveport Avaya plant that he had to shutter. He passed on the option to relocate to Denver with Avaya.

From quality of life to a cooperative business climate, Northwest Louisiana has what Dean wants.

“It is a big enough place to have everything, but a small enough place that if you need to pick up the phone you can,” says Dean, manager of the CellXion plant in Shreveport, a division of Sabre Industries that builds shelters for telecommunications equipment.

“There is a pro-business environment here. We take a regional approach. Rather than fussing with the neigh-borhood across the street, we work together,” he says.

The 10-parish region is diverse, with major industry sectors in life sciences and health care, manufacturing, film production, education, and gaming and hospitality. Interstates, rail and the Red River provide transport options to 32 million people within a 5-hour drive.

A 2008 KPMG study found Shreveport to be No. 1 in cost effectiveness among 14 comparably sized metro areas and the least-expensive location among 56 U.S. cities of all sizes in the study.

A major force in the economy is Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, home to some 16,000 active-duty personnel and civilian workers.

The base generates a direct annual payroll of $400 million. The 22,000-acre base was named in April 2009 as head-quarters for the new Air Force Global Strike Command.

The base’s work in cyber security helped spawn the Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City, a $107 million development designed as a super-secure and storm-proof home for the country’s military and intelligence communities, the contractors who serve them and international allies.

Haynes International in Arcadia makes tubing and other high-performance materials and manufactures parts for the aerospace industry and NASA’s space shuttle.

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Frymaster Corp. has called the region home for nearly 75 years, making Frymaster and Dean commercial cookers for shipment across the United States and beyond. The math has favored staying put, says Todd Phillips, the company’s chief financial officer.

He cites state grants for worker training and reasonable energy costs – the region’s rates are about 30 percent below the state average – as factors that help the company stay competitive.

“Louisiana has been the easiest state to work with that I have ever experi-enced,” he says.

Michael Douglas is vice president of Haynes International in Arcadia, which produces titanium tubing and other high-performance components for Boeing aircraft and NASA’s space shuttle program.

When Douglas arrived in May 2005, local officials immediately helped him hook up with state officials to tap existing programs, and later federal programs, that help businesses that target renewal communities such as Arcadia.

Since then, Haynes has spent $7 million to expand its plant and more than doubled sales volume. The company has a workforce of about 150 people, and Douglas says the quality of his employees is unmatched.

“This is the best workforce I have ever had the honor of working with,” he says.

Like Dean, Douglas has worked across the country.

“What happened with Haynes is not a f luke,” he says. “I am not that lucky. It seems like these people care at a dif-ferent level than I’ve been used to.”

– Pamela Coyle


business climate

Geologists had known about a major natural gas deposit buried in the Haynesville Shale below Northwest Louisiana and East Texas for years. But

the fact had all the excitement of knowing there’s sunken treasure on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Getting hold of the riches more than two miles below ground was too hard and too expensive to bother with.

But in 2008, rising energy costs and technological advances in horizontal drilling suddenly put the gas within reach.

The new reality crystallized when Chesapeake Energy, the country’s largest independent producer of natural gas,

announced a discovery in the Haynesville Shale with the potential for a “larger impact on the company than any other play in which it participated to date.”

Soon people were talking about the biggest gas field in the country spread over 3 million acres.

The resulting beeline made instant millionaires out of people whose land suddenly had more value than they ever could have imagined. Land men overwhelmed clerks-of-courts in the scramble to secure mineral rights.

DeSoto Parish received a windfall of $27 million from leasing the land.

Above left: Trillions of cubic feet of natural gas could lie below Northwest Louisiana in what is known as the Haynesville Shale. Above right: The economy of Northwest Louisiana has a long heritage of oil and gas production.

Haynesville Shale is fueling a boom in Northwest Louisiana

DepositA Major

SEE MORE ONLINELearn more about Northwest Louisiana’s

energy business at imagesnwlouisiana.com


Calm returned in late 2008 as the national economy cooled and gas producers turned from securing leases to starting operations. But the Haynesville Shale is still primed to trans-form the Northwest Louisiana economy as demand for the environmentally friendly fuel rebounds, says Kevin McCotter, a Chesapeake spokesman.

“We see the long-term wealth impact for Northwest Louisiana as being practically unimaginable,” he says.

Shreveport, the largest city on the Haynesville Shale, saw its first well in February 2009 – the first on the shale in such an urban environment.

Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, says the discovery will make Northwest Louisiana the envy of many other areas.

“It’s going to feel a lot better in Northwest Louisiana than in a lot of places in the country,” he says.

The shale holds trillions of cubic feet of natural gas, Briggs says, likely making it the fourth-largest gas field in the world and the biggest in the United States.

And not only is the supply plentiful, it’s clean burning, Briggs says, meaning the Haynesville Play will be a big priority for producers.

Companies have already invested tens of millions of dollars into securing rights and setting up wells, so they’ll need to continue drilling, Briggs says.

Chesapeake, for one, went from five rigs on the Haynesville Shale in April 2008 to 19 at the end of year with expectations of reaching 26 by the end of 2009, McCotter says.

“The only thing that has cooled off is the leasing environ-ment,” he says “The expansion of operation activities has not diminished in the least.” – Sam Scott

THE HAYNESVILLE SHALE natural gas fi eld is a shale rock deposit some 10,000 to 13,000 feet below Northwest Louisiana, East Texas and parts of Arkansas. The Haynesville Shale Play is sometimes referred to as Shreveport Shale or Louisiana Shale. Experts estimate

that the Haynesville Shale formation is spread over some 3 million acres and holds between 20 trillion and 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That would make the formation the largest such deposit in the United States. The Haynesville Shale is a rock formation composed of clay-

sized particles deposited and buried in Northwest Louisiana more than 170 million years ago. The formation has been known about for years, but only recently have energy prices and technology advances made it economically feasible for energy companies to drill for the gas.

More Insight TURNING GAS INTO GOLD


energy

Northwest Louisiana develops a culture of bioscience innovation

Health care is one of Northwest Louisiana’s largest economic sectors, but a growing bioscience industry is giving the region

a substantial research and development pres-ence as well.

Some formidable supporters are helping make it happen. Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport and three major private hospitals are within a short distance of each other.

The Biomedical Research Institute has 56 labs occupied by LSU researchers and scientists studying diseases such as stroke, cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer’s. It is a public-private part-nership that also houses the administrative offices of the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana.

The biomedical foundation was founded in 1986 amid an oil industry bust to help diversify a regional economy.

“Our focus is more on increasing new company startups, because we are not a hub location,” says Dennis Lower, the foundation’s vice presi-dent of business development. “We are focusing on growing our own and creating an infra-

structure that supports emergence of different companies, and support services and activity that will nurture emerging companies.”

InterTech Science Park is a major component of that mission. The 300-acre campus gives tenants access to academic facilities, wet labs, office space, researchers, venture capital and business planning. Biomedical and biotech-nology firms are one of InterTech’s four target industry sectors.

The park includes manufacturing space, too, plus another 500 acres to grow. Occupancy across all the buildings is 75 percent.

“We feel good about that,” Lower says.The Positron Emission Tomography Center

is another key initiative. The foundation operates three stand-alone nuclear imaging centers that create three-dimensional representations of bio-logical processes. PET is a powerful diagnostic tool, especially in areas such as oncology, cardiology and neurology.

Southern Isotopes, a wholly owned foundation subsidiary, is taking PET to new levels.

Southern Isotopes already does clinical screening and provides research isotopes to

Lab

More Insight

BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

The Virginia K. Shehee Biomedical Research Institute opened in 1994 in a 10-story, 160,000-square-foot facility next to Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport. The institute, built at a cost of $48 million, was a public-private partnership involving local, state and federal governments and LSU. It includes 56 state-of-the-art labs.

A researcher inoculates sterile media with PET radiopharmaceuticals at InterTech Science Park.

Leaders


life sciences

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Dr. Christopher Pattillo works with a fluorescence microscope at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.

universities but the plans don’t stop there. “Our business plan includes taking it into the private sector and developing diagnostic and therapeutic drugs,” Lower says.

Southern Isotopes is involved in multiple clinical trials. It is working on an agent that binds to plaque in the brain that causes Alzheimer’s so the disease can be diagnosed in a living patient. Even better, the technology will allow researchers to actually see if drug therapies are working in the brain.

“When you start getting into the brain, it is very difficult to do any research on living patients. PET has really allowed us to take a look at all those receptors, ” says Chris Vascoe, the company’s research lab manager.

PET could also advance diagnosis and treatment for Parkinson’s, rheumatoid arthritis, pancreatitis and primary brain tumors.

“We can look inside the human body without cutting it open,” Vascoe says. “And you can do it at different time frames.” – Pamela Coyle

Prescription StrengthREGION HAS A HEALTHY DOSE OF PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURING

Northwest Louisiana has a

long heritage of pharmaceutical

manufacturing.

In 2008, Dr. Reddy’s

Laboratories, a worldwide

pharmaceutical maker that is

based in India, acquired BASF’s

170-person manufacturing

operation in Shreveport.

Red River Pharma LLC makes

“medical foods” that deliver

nutritional compounds that

doctors prescribe for problems

such as diabetes and dementia.

Sage Pharmaceuticals is a smaller

operation with a focus on cough

and cold remedies, both generic

and branded.

Embera NeuroTherapies Inc.,

housed at InterTech Science Park,

is working on new drugs for

addiction, anxiety and depression.

Cedar Pharmaceuticals, another

InterTech tenant, specializes in

so-called niche pharmaceuticals.

Pharmaceutical companies have

been part of the region since the

mid-1960s, starting with Rucker

Pharmacal. The site of Dr. Reddy’s,

for example, had been built as a

corporate headquarters for one

of its predecessors.

The company has 42 acres in

Shreveport, but has developed

only half of them for its campus

and 300,000-square-foot facility,

says Paul Granberry, who is senior

director of Shreveport operations

for Dr. Reddy’s.

“We do expect to see some

fairly substantial growth in the

next 12 to 18 months,” he says.

Dr. Reddy’s is deciding which

product lines it will transfer to

Shreveport as well as which new

lines will be produced in


Red River Pharma is a wholly

owned subsidiary of PamLab

LLC, based in Covington, La.

It produces PamLab’s line of

medical foods and will launch

four new products in 2009, two

of them for prenatal care, says

Charles Wiggins, president.

Red River’s staff of 40 is likely

to grow as new products come

on line, he says.

A skilled local labor force

attracted Red River’s shareholders,

Wiggins says.

“Boots Pharmaceutical and

BASF at one time employed 1,000

people,” Wiggins says. “A lot of

that labor pool is still in the area.”

– Pamela Coyle

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life sciences

Northwest Louisiana attracts highly skilled doctors with national reputations

A strong health-care system, anchored in part by Louisiana University Medical Center-Shreveport, draws physicians who are providing leading-edge

care and attracting patients and notoriety from beyond Northwest Louisiana.

Dr. Lane Rosen, a Shreveport native, is a radiation oncol-ogist and expert on TomoTherapy, or intensity-modulated radiation therapy.

Willis-Knighton Medical Center, where he practices, was among the first sites in the world to offer it.

Dr. Shane Barton, a former NASA engineer from East Texas, also calls the region home. An orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist, he has a Super Bowl ring from his time in Boston as team physician for the NFL’s New England Patriots.

Dr. Ravish Patwardhan is another prominent specialist. He founded Comprehensive NeuroSurgery LLC at Willis-Knighton Pierremont and performs more than 750 surgeries a year.

Patwardhan not only runs a busy neurosurgery practice, but also founded and runs four related research, education and philanthropic entities.

In October 2008, Patwardhan was the first physician in the United States to use a laser probe to eradicate a brain tumor. He was the first U.S. doctor to reroute nerves to restore bladder

Medicine

Neurosurgeon Dr. Ravish V. Patwardhan has brought a number of pioneering procedures to Northwest Louisiana.A

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health

function in a patient with a spinal injury, in this case a child. The girl had been shot when only a toddler, severing key bladder nerves. In February 2009, the girl, now 7, went to school for the first time without a catheter.

Another first involved the implantation of a device in the brain for treatment of major depression that doesn’t respond to medication.

CHRISTUS Schumpert Sutton Children’s Medical Center opened in 2006 and now boasts a wide range of pediatric specialties that are drawing pediatric surgeons to the region.

“Some of the things that children have are emergencies and have to be done immediately, and trying to travel is counterproductive,” says Dr. Mark Brown, one of three pedi-atric surgeons at CHRISTUS Schumpert. “It is an extremely stressful experience for families, parents, grandparents and siblings to deal with significant illness in a child. Travel com-pounds that problem exponentially.”

Brown received his medical training in Shreveport, won a prestigious fellowship in pediatric surgery at The Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia and then practiced in Houston before coming to CHRISTUS. He started keeping statistics for the American Council of Surgeons in July 2008, and through February 2009, had performed about 400 surgeries. The practice is likely to add a fourth pediatric surgeon in the next few years.

“Shreveport is a great medical community,” Brown says. “We have unbelievable medical assets here.”

A graduate of UCLA School of Medicine, Patwardhan did his internship and residency at the University of Alabama. He

ScorecardHEALTH CARE BY THE NUMBERS

22Number of hospitals in the Shreveport MSA

3,429Total hospital beds in the MSA

1,100Physicians in the MSA

25,000Estimated health-care employment in the region

CHRISTUS Schumpert Sutton Children’s Medical Center in Shreveport is drawing pediatric surgeons to the region.

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came to Shreveport and then brief ly returned to UCLA for key fellowships in epilepsy neurosurgery and neurosurgery for pain.

“I brought the technology back here,” he says. “There were people waiting for years to have some of these procedures. I thought there was a lot of potential here.”

– Pamela Coyle


health

visit ouradvertisersBarksdale Federal Credit Union www.bfcu.org

Biomedical Research Foundation www.biomed.org

Coyle Engineering www.coyleengineering-bossier.com

Cyber Innovation Center www.cyberinnovationcenter.org

Entergy www.entergy.com

Hilton www.shreveport.hilton.com

NEON www.nledf.org

Northwest Louisiana Association of Realtors www.nwlar.org

Northwest Louisiana Economic Development Foundation www.workthisway.org


ECONOMIC PROFILE

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Northwest Louisiana

Economic Development

Foundation

400 Edwards St.

Shreveport, LA

Phone: (318) 677-2536

www.nledf.com

BUSINESS CLIMATENorthwest Louisiana is a 10-parish region of nearly 600,000 residents

and a key hub of commerce in the Ark-La-Tex region. Northwest

Louisiana is regularly recognized as having one of the most diversified

economies of its size in the South, with a track record of significant

investment and job growth. Major industry sectors are health care/

life sciences, manufacturing, education, hospitality, military and

film/entertainment.

POPULATION TRENDS

PARISH

Bienvile - 14,717

Bossier - 106,187

Caddo - 248,109

Claiborne - 15,798

DeSoto - 26,185

Lincoln - 41,053

Natchitoches - 37,963

Red River - 9,216

Sabine - 23,268

Webster - 40,412

Northwest Louisiana - 562,908

MAJOR EMPLOYERS

State of Louisiana - 14,490

Barksdale Air Force Base - 9,018

Caddo Parish School Board

School System - 6,743

LSU Health

Sciences Center - 5,941

Willis Knighton

Health System - 5,061

General Motors - 2,093

Harrah’s - 2,000

Bossier Parish

School Board - 2,638

City of Shreveport - 2,641

SOURCES:

www.nledf.org


Ad Index C3 BARKSDALE FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

15 BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION

C3 COYLE ENGINEERING

16 CYBER INNOVATION CENTER

2 ENTERGY

C4 HILTON

C3 NEON

2 NORTHWEST LOUISIANA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

15 NORTHWEST LOUISIANA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

P.O. Box 6177 Bossier City, LA 71171-6177

Fax: (318) 742-1018

3925 Benton Rd. Bossier City, LA 71111 Phone: (318) 746-8987

COYLE ENGINEERING CO., INC. has provided civil engineering, land surveying and architectural services to a wide spectrum of Northwest Louisiana clients for over

30 years. We can provide full services for your project, from the initial survey through construction management.

TYPICAL SERVICES PROVIDED: Civil Engineering

Land Surveying

Architecture

www.coyleengineering-bossier.com


business images northwest louisiana: 2009

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