Louisiana Earns ‘Deal of the Year’ Award for Historic $10 Billion Meta AI Data Center Project in Northeast Louisiana

• Highest national honor: Business Facilities magazine has recognized transformational capital investments with Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum awards for more than 30 years. This is Louisiana’s first Platinum.

• Wage growth a deciding factor: Business Facilities cited the scale of the investment, job creation and average salaries exceeding 150% of the state per capita average.

• All-of-Louisiana approach: State’s new data center incentive program, education partnerships and robust local power and water infrastructure also credited with setting Louisiana apart from competing states.

BATON ROUGE, La. – Business Facilities Magazine, a respected national trade publication favored by site selectors for large businesses, has recognized Louisiana’s $10 billion Meta artificial intelligence data center as its Platinum 2024 Deal of the Year. It is the magazine’s highest honor for major investments in the United States.

Business Facilities also recognized Amazon Web Services $10 billion data center project in Mississippi with a Gold Award. The profound community impact of Meta’s average salaries, which will exceed 150% of the state’s per capita average, helped set Louisiana apart. The magazine also applauded LED’s “all-of-Louisiana” approach, singling out the state’s new data center incentive program, education partnerships and robust local power and water infrastructure capacity as differentiators.

“This prestigious award makes clear that pursuing major capital investments in technology, we can dramatically improve the lives of Louisiana residents with high-paying jobs that support families and help workers all across our state adapt to a fast-changing world,” Governor Jeff Landry said. “We are making good on our commitment to not leave rural areas behind as we position Louisiana as a global leader in innovation.”

LED estimates the project will also create more than 1,000 indirect jobs. Meta projects that more than 5,000 construction workers will help build the 4 million-square-foot data center at the peak of construction. Work is underway on a 2,250-acre section of the former Franklin Farm megasite in Richland Parish. The data center has been called a transformational investment for northeast Louisiana and the state.

“The 2024 Platinum Deal of the Year award sends CEOs and site selectors around the world a powerful message: Louisiana is not only in the game. We are in it to win,” LED Secretary Susan B. Bourgeois said. “I want to thank the editors of Business Facilities for recognizing the profound impact of the Meta data center project not only for Louisiana but for the signal it sends. It’s the kind of transformational investment that Louisiana is now positioned and determined to achieve.”

In addition to the massive investment Meta is making in the data center in Richland Parish, the company will also award Data Center Community Action Grants that are aimed at improving educational resources. These grants will help train a new generation of workers around science, technology, engineering, the arts and math (STEAM). In addition, Louisiana Delta Community College in Monroe is developing a curriculum that is designed to prepare students to enter the workforce ready to take on challenges around emerging technology such as artificial intelligence and data centers.

“The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and the demand for technology capabilities overall spurred significant investment in data centers throughout 2024,” Anne Cosgrove, Business Facilities Editorial Director, said. “Our 2024 Deal of the Year winners represent billions of dollars in capital investment and thousands of jobs for the communities in which these companies and their suppliers will operate. We congratulate the economic development teams that worked to bring all of these projects to fruition.”