BRAC seeking new headquarters operations
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The Baton Rouge Area Chamber is pursuing a pair of corporate headquarters offices that could add another 250 to 300 professional jobs and diversify the region’s economy.
Economist Loren Scott referenced the recruitment in his 2009-10 Louisiana Economic Outlook forecast published this month, but the chamber typically doesn’t comment on prospects it’s recruiting that have requested confidentiality.
Existing corporate headquarters in Baton Rouge tend to be either longstanding businesses in the region or homegrown success stories or both: The Shaw Group Inc., which the state recently convinced to add 1,500 new professional jobs over the next decade in Louisiana and to keep its headquarters here at least another 15 years; Albemarle Corp., which has roots dating back nearly 50 years in the former Ethyl Corp. agreed in 2007 to move its Richmond, Va., headquarters to Baton Rouge; H&E Equipment Services Inc., which sells and leases construction equipment in more than half the nation; Turner Industries Group, the petrochemical maintenance and construction provider; and Amedisys Inc., the home health care provider.
Each of those companies generates $1 billion a year or more in revenue and largely grew from business markets along the Gulf Coast. Limiting factors, such as the size of the area work force and commercial and charter flight options at Metro Airport, are hurdles the chamber must address with new headquarters prospects.
Most of the chamber’s efforts are being placed on recruiting regional offices of large corporations, such as the 400-job Staples customer service center that opened recently near Interstate 10 and Highland Road, and niche players like Bercen Inc., a 50-employee specialty chemicals manufacturer that agreed this year to move its headquarters here from Rhode Island.
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