Louisiana- Recovery and Economic Activity

Louisiana is one of the major agricultural and industrial states in the Southern United States, including its huge port, at the City of New Orleans. The state's principal agricultural outputs include seafood, crawfish, cotton, soybeans, cattle, sugarcane, poultry and eggs, dairy products, and rice. Its industrial outputs include chemical products, petroleum and coal products, and food processing. There are many ideas for your Louisiana Incorporation.

New Orleans is now recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, which breached levees and flooded large parts of the city. It is still a major industrial and distribution center and the busiest port system in the world by gross tonnage. The Port of New Orleans is the 5th largest port in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana, and 12th largest in the U.S. based on value of cargo. The Port of South Louisiana, also based in the New Orleans area, is the world's busiest in terms of bulk tonnage, and, when combined with the Port of N.O., it forms the 4th largest port system in volume handled. New Orleans is the home to one of the largest and busiest ports in the world, accounts for a major portion of the nation's refinery and production of petroleum, has a top university, Tulane University as well as a half a dozen other institutions of higher education.

Louisiana ranks 5th in oil production and 8th in reserves in the U.S. It is also home to two of the four Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) storage facilities. There are also 17 petroleum refineries with a combined crude oil distillation capacity of nearly 2.8 million barrels per day, the second highest in the nation after Texas. Louisiana has numerous ports including the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), which is capable of receiving ultra large oil tankers. Louisiana is home to many major pipelines supplying the nation. There are a substantial number of energy companies that have their regional headquarters in the city, including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Shell Oil Company, and also has the world headquarters of the diversified Entergy Corporation.

The federal government has a significant presence in the area. The NASA Michoud Assembly Facility is located in the eastern portion of Orleans Parish (New Orleans East) and is operated by Lockheed-Martin. It is a large manufacturing facility where external fuel tanks for space shuttles are produced, and it also houses the National Finance Center operated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In an effort to diversify its economy, tax incentives for movie production companies began to be offered in 2002. This has lead to a substantial increase in the number of films shot in the New Orleans area and lead to the nickname of "Hollywood South". New Orleans is also a home of Harrah’s Casino.

Annually, tourism in New Orleans is a $5.5 billion industry and accounts for 40 percent of New Orleans' tax revenues. Tourism employed 85,000 people, making it New Orleans' top industry. The city's colorful Carnival celebrations leading up to Mardi Gras during the pre-Lenten season draw particularly large crowds. The state’s second largest city is Baton Rouge, the state capital. Other major cities include Shreveport, and Lafayette, a center of Cajun and Creole culture.

Howard Giske writes about how to get your
Louisiana Incorporation
and other business info at http://www.incparadise.com