NEW ORLEANS — Governor John Bel Edwards joined local and state officials at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome Monday afternoon to announce a 2,000-job Digital Transformation Center coming to the heart of New Orleans.
Edwards said in a press release that the project will create more permanent direct jobs at one site than any prior economic development deal in Louisiana.
DXC Technology, a $25 billion company with 6,000 major clients across 70 countries, offers a wide range of technology services for businesses, like cloud computing, app development, digital security and more.
“Companies have to have [IT services] in order to remain competitive and viable in a global economy,” said Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Don Pierson. “With that in mind, you see how important it is for Louisiana to stand at the center of this brave, new digital world.”
The average salary will be $63,000, plus benefits, Edwards said, noting that the company selected New Orleans over several other states and locations that were vying for the project.
The development will be at an undetermined site in the Central Business District.
Edwards said DXC’s development joins a long list of other companies that have made big investments in information technology projects in Louisiana, including EA, CenturyLink, IBM, CSRA, CGI, GE Digital and others in the past decade.
The development will begin in January 2018. DXC will hire 300 IT and business enterprise professionals during 2018, then ramp up to 2,000 jobs over five years and an annual payroll exceeding $133 million by 2025.
As part of the deal, the state of Louisiana will fund a $25 million higher education initiative to expand the number of degrees awarded annually in computer science, management, and science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM-related studies. The Louisiana State University System, University of Louisiana System and the Louisiana Community and Technical College System will guide the initiative primarily through four lead campuses: LSU in Baton Rouge, the University of New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, and Delgado Community College in New Orleans.
The digital transformation center will be the largest workplace for DXC.
“This is an historic economic development achievement for our state,” Edwards said. “DXC Technology could not have made a better selection than to choose New Orleans for their Digital Transformation Center, and we embrace the challenge of preparing our best and brightest students for this remarkable opportunity. DXC’s selection of New Orleans represents the rarest and most promising economic development win that Louisiana or any state could hope for.”
In addition to the 2,000 new direct jobs, Louisiana Economic Development estimates the project will result in 2,257 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 4,250 new jobs in the state’s Southeast Region.
An economic impact analysis from the LSU Economics & Policy Research Group estimates the DXC Technology project will translate to $64.3 million in new Louisiana taxes, $868.4 million in new Louisiana earnings and total economic output of $3.2 billion from 2018 through 2025.
“I’m thrilled to welcome DXC Technology to the City of New Orleans,” Mayor Landrieu said. “This newly formed IT services company will create thousands of job opportunities for New Orleanians, adding to our rapidly growing digital economy. DXC Technology’s decision to locate its Digital Transformation Center in New Orleans will no doubt propel our city to a new level of prominence and give rise to additional business attraction in New Orleans. As we approach our city’s 300th anniversary, I have no doubt that our best days are ahead of us.”
DXC is hiring now for the project. You can learn more here.
To secure the project, the state of Louisiana offered the company a competitive incentive package with $18.7 million in performance-based grants payable over five years and to include a flexible performance-based grant ($15 million), a performance-based parking assistance grant ($2.2 million) and a performance-based demolition grant ($1.5 million).