industry cluster approach to economic development — to target and support specific industries in the hope of growing those industries in the state and creating jobs and economic prosperity. This effort, too, is a direct result of the Louisiana: Vision 2020 strategy cited elsewhere in this report.
      The industries targeted are advanced materials, aviation, agriculture/forestry /food, durable goods/manufacturing, energy/oil & gas, entertainment, information technology, life sciences, logistics & transportation and petrochemicals. Each cluster has economic development staff dedicated to recruiting new companies and supporting existing ones in that industry. For detailed information on the state's activity in the designated clusters, visit www.lded.state.la.us/industry/.
      David Kane, director of logistics and transportation cluster development for the Dept. of Economic Development, says his purview affords him involvement in a number of the other clusters. "Transportation drives a lot of location decisions," he notes. "In the petrochemical industry, transportation costs are roughly 10 percent of what the product costs, and it can put you in a market or keep you out of a market."
      Kane says Louisiana is facing highway-capacity constraints, and the six main railroads are operating at capacity. "But the inland river system, which we enjoy the best access to of any state in the country, is operating at only 10 percent of capacity," Kane points out. "The river system can relieve a lot of the congestion." This same congestion, though, is good news to the ports, which increasingly are ramping up container-on-barge operations.