Some site seekers first learn about Louisiana on the Web. And that very first Internet exposure to the state usually determines if a user will stay to learn more. AccessLouisiana, the state economic development portal currently in development, is designed to keep site selectors' attention - and it will. Louisiana has been a pioneer in providing online access to Louisiana businesses and a vehicle for those businesses to showcase their products and services to the global marketplace. AccessLouisiana only adds to that tradition for online access in business development.
      Work on the database of Louisiana companies got under way under a previous administration at about the time the "Choose Louisiana" marketing campaign was launched. These efforts were among the initiatives designed to help the state meet some key goals of "Louisiana: Vision 2020," the state's strategy for ensuring statewide prosperity and global competitiveness by 2020.
      The goals in question call for "the preservation, development and promotion of Louisiana's natural and cultural assets for their recreational and aesthetic values" and envision "a fundamental shift from our current emphasis on recruitment to a new emphasis on business retention, creation and growth."

      But to the mind of Dr. Ramesh Kolluru, the "Choose Louisiana" campaign only went so far.

Dr. Ramesh Kolluru, Director of the Center for Business and Information Technologies at the University of Louisiana Lafayette, is developing tools to help state businesses and economic developers transition from a traditional economy to a knowledge-based economy.

Kolluru is Director of the Center for Business and Information Technologies (CBIT) at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL), "How exactly does one go about choosing Louisiana?" he asks. "Here at the center, we started to build a tool one can use to realize that vision to choose
     Louisiana." CBIT uses business and information technologies to lend competitive advantage to businesses and agencies that partner with the Center. One of those agencies is Louisiana Economic Development. "Our goal is to take everything we do in the area of research and turn it into something meaningful and tangible," says Kolluru. "We want to make sure that federal and state R&D dollars result in something that is applied."
      AccessLouisiana will be three economic development tools in one. The first, www.AccessLouisianaBusiness.com, is a free, searchable online directory of Louisiana businesses. Companies in the state post information about their products and services, geographical markets of interest and contact information. More than 85,000 businesses are listed; 4,500 companies are actively managing their online profiles.
      The second tool is www.AccessLouisianaExperts.com, a searchable online directory of experts composed of faculty and staff at ULL and all public and private universities in the state. Business users of this site can access experts in higher education with whom they may want to explore research opportunities. Similarly, university experts can access other academics in their fields with whom they may want to collaborate on research projects. This tool also will enable universities to lease, rent or time-share scientific equipment or foster other academic-industry collaborative practices. Businesses in the state may discover access to equipment they need for research projects at a campus in their very city.
      The third component is www.AccessLouisianaSites.com, which serves as the state's official listings database and is intended to be the preferred database for economic development professionals throughout Louisiana. Besides location, the site will provide a wealth of other information useful in evaluating a site, including utilities; previous use; distance from airports, interstates and railroads; contact information; and regional demographic information. Additionally, area businesses and local expertise are available, as is integration with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies.
      "The challenge of 'Louisiana: Vision 2020' is for Louisiana to be a top 10 state, which we are not today in several areas," says Kolluru. "The way to do that is to transition from a traditional economy to a knowledge economy. We are helping the state take a few steps in that direction."