ANNUAL REPORT 2013 BRAC.ORG/AR

ANNUAL REPORT 2013 BRAC.ORG/AR

HIGHLIGHTS INDEX 04 Letters 08 Economic Outlook 10 Game Changer 12 The Creative Capital Agenda 14 Strategy 1: Job Creation 16 Strategy 2: International Development 18 Strategy 3: Entrepreneurship and Innovation 20 Strategy 4: Global Branding 22 Strategy 5: Talent Development 24 Strategy 6: Regional Competitiveness 26 FuturePAC 28 Awards 30 Board Members 34 Investors BRAC s Annual Report allows the organization to remain accountable to investors and to show RETURN ON INVESTMENT Business Facilities ranked the Baton Rouge Area NUMBER ONE in economic growth potential in the United States Two game-changing announcements were made IBM and the Water Campus and Water Institute BRAC set new annual records for announced payroll and capital investment BRAC leads economic development in the nine-parish Baton Rouge Area

1. Job Creation: Retain and attract high-growth companies THE CREATIVE CAPITAL AGENDA [2013] was the third year of BRAC s five-year strategic plan, The Creative Capital Agenda, which is defined by six core strategies that guide BRAC s activities. 2. International Development: Bring high-wage jobs associated with international business to the area 3. Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Support the development of new entrepreneurial firms and regional capacity for innovation 4. Global Branding: Increase awareness of the Baton Rouge Area as a destination location for high-growth companies and talented people 5. Talent Development: Attract and retain human capital to fuel the region s growth 6. Regional Competitiveness: Target key public policy issues that impact the Baton Rouge Area s ability to attract business investment 12 brac.org/ar 13

United Airlines Hemispheres, the in-flight magazine, included a special feature on Louisiana, focusing on the Baton Rouge Area. Strategy Four GLOBAL BRANDING brac.org/ar National Advertising: United Airlines Partnership: Talent Development Video: Corporate Lead Generation: BRAC advertised the economic development opportunities offered by the region in several targeted publications throughout the U.S., including print ads in major site-selection publications and online advertising. These ads were placed to coincide with rankings received by the region or BRAC in order to reinforce the message. Publications included Site Selection magazine, Southern Business and Development, and Business Facilities. In November, Dossier, a supplement to United Airlines Hemispheres, the in-flight magazine, included a special feature on Louisiana. The article heavily covered the Baton Rouge Area and BRAC ran a highly visible half-page ad. The publication was available to United Airlines 12 million plus passengers in the month of November. BRAC worked with the writers and publishers to ensure the feature focused on the Baton Rouge Area. BRAC completed a talent recruitment video for use by the Business Development and Talent Development teams. The video was produced in conjunction with BASF, who will also use the video in their recruitment efforts. This tool is also available to regional businesses and organizations for use in their individual recruitment and retention efforts and can be accessed by visiting brac.org/welcome. The purpose of BRAC s Corporate Lead Generation Program is to recruit new job growth projects to the Baton Rouge Area. This is accomplished by traveling to target cities to connect with c-level executives in companies that are in the early stages of expansion/relocation planning and presenting information to them on the assets of the Capital Region. In 2013, BRAC visited several cities nationwide including San Antonio, TX for the International Petrochemical Conference; Houston, TX for the Offshore Technology Conference; Detroit, MI; Ann Arbor, MI; Chicago, Il; Cleveland, OH; Toledo, OH; and Buffalo, NY. 20 brac.org/ar 21

[B] RAC leads public policy initiatives to improve the region s competitiveness for business investment, including these outcomes in 2013. Education: The East Baton Rouge Parish School System (EBRPSS) adopted a new strategic plan, which was developed with input from the business community. EBRPSS has been operating without a compelling vision for how to address public education. Public education is a large factor of economic development and BRAC has committed to lead education reforms that ensure all children in the region receive a quality education. The newly adopted plan sets a goal to become a top ten school district in Louisiana by 2020, and establishes a path to get there. Crime: BRAC s Crime Council has spent two years assessing the crime challenges in Baton Rouge. It supported a five-part plan to address the murder rate in the city. Of the five, three of them the Baton Rouge Area Violence Elimination (BRAVE) program, the Truancy Center, and Special Boots on the Ground Operations have been in place for over a year now and results were evident in 2013. The murder rate saw at least a 25 percent drop in a single year, a very impressive accomplishment. Additionally, BRAC supported the Broken Windows project which saw wins in 2013 including code lien enforcement legislation and redemption period reduction legislation. brac.org/ar Strategy Six REGIONAL COMPETITIVENESS Regional Transportation: The Capital Region Planning Commission acts as our region s Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), the entity responsible for improving regional transportation. After encouragement from BRAC and other regional groups, the group conducted a national search for a new director, who began working with the organization in July. The new director will have the difficult but critical task of determining how multiple parishes can work together on the region s traffic congestion, mobility, and accessibility issues. Pro-Business Tax Code: Defense of the pro-business tax code in the state and region required much work from the economic competitiveness and government affairs teams in 2013. BRAC worked on an exhaustive analysis of the governor s proposed tax plan early in the year and offered suggestions on how to improve portions of the plan to reduce its impact on the business community. The House of Representatives also briefly considered an idea that would have increased business taxes to cover revenue shortfalls, which BRAC and others aggressively lobbied against. The most useful outcome of the Legislative Session, besides not doing harm to the tax code, was the passage of improvements to the Enterprise Zone program and the BRAC-led Research and Development Tax Credit bill. Small Business: BRAC continued its engagement of small businesses through the three-prong approach of our Small Business Council to support advocacy, education, and meaningful interaction. BRAC offered education for small business owners on tools to support business growth through guest presenters and new pilots, such as Small Business Saturday, and provided meaningful interactions through its monthly investor lunch series. The BRAC-led Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit bill streamlined the approval process for small businesses with fewer than fifty employees that also seek application for the federal R&D incentive. The re-tooled R&D Tax Credit encourages continued product innovations for Louisiana s businesses. 24 brac.org/ar 25