Louisiana's eternal hangover

If you reside in the Gret Stet, this depressing bit of reading should humble you mightily, thus rendering you capable of the kind of mortification required of this Lenten season.

IN OTHER WORDS . . . remember, Tee Fats, you are dust, and dust you never quite rise above.

Appropriately for its Ash Wednesday edition, The (Baton Rouge) Advocate went to some national industry-site consultants and asked the question, "No, really. How are we doing?"

On Sunday, lawmakers will gather for a special session on ethics that Gov. Bobby Jindal is billing as the linchpin to building a stronger economy.

However, half-a-dozen out-of-state industry site consultants contacted by The Advocate said the state has more pressing hurdles than political graft.

The biggest problems are that company executives consider Louisianans to be poorly educated, poorly trained and in poor health, the consultants said.

“If I have a client that says we need to set up an operation in the South somewhere, Louisiana’s not going to pop to the top of our chart,” said Ron Pollina, president and founder of Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc. in Chicago.

Andrew Shapiro with Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co. in Princeton, N.J., said he mostly represents white collar projects — financial services, headquarters, research and development and pharmaceutical companies — that would not think of looking at the state.

“I haven’t considered Louisiana in years because it’s redlined by clients,” he said, which means it is essentially kept off any list of potential sites.

(snip)

For 2007, the top 10 “pro-business” states were Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alabama, Georgia and Nebraska.

Where did Louisiana fall? The state was in the bottom 25, finishing better than lowest-ranked California but still keeping company with the states with sputtering economic engines.

Pollina began doing the study in 2004 — long before federal agents found U.S. Rep. William Jefferson’s bundle of money on ice. In four years, Louisiana has never crept into the top 25.

Shapiro said Louisiana’s education problems begin at the elementary level and build from there.

To have a skilled labor force, preparation must begin the moment future workers enter the school system, he said.

“(Louisiana) is not creating a capable work force that can compete,” Shapiro said.

WHILE THE NEWSPAPER reports a positive buzz out there about Louisiana's new governor, what Pollina says in conclusion ought to be enough -- especially with the last round of Mardi Gras hurricanes still clouding the brain -- to sober up even the most slap-happy "Bobby Jindal is the Messiah" die-hard.

I'll give you a minute to embrace the porcelain deity and prepare for your offering.

OK, here we go:

Pollina, whose father grew up on a Louisiana strawberry farm, points out that Jindal has a lot of obstacles to overcome, including a legacy of lackluster qualities associated with the state.

“Various governors come in. They go out. They do things to try to stimulate business in the state. We have not seen any consistency in their efforts,” he said.

YEP, that's about the historical shape of things. But did all y'all Louisianians really need a Yankee from Chicago to tell you that?