Lafayette Region Software

Connected in Acadiana

Acadiana – located in South Central Louisiana along the Gulf of Mexico – provides a unique fiber optic network and homegrown software engineering talent. For these reasons and more, it continues to attract the world’s newest and most innovative software companies. The region’s major employers include a diverse mix of industry from healthcare to construction. Software and communications investments in the region include:

CGI Group, Inc.

As an anchor tenant of the 143-acre Research Park of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, CGI occupies a new $13.1 million, 50,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility designed to bring world-class IT Consulting capabilities to CGI’s clients. This location is CGI’s fifth Onshore Center of Excellence and well on its way to creating 400 new, high-quality IT jobs in the region. Founded in 1976, CGI is the fifth largest independent information technology and business process services firm in the world, employing approximately 68,000 professionals.

Perficient

A leading information technology and management consulting firm serving Global 2000 and other large enterprise customers throughout North America, Perficient chose vibrant downtown Lafayette for its domestic delivery center (DDC) in 2014. The DDC is ramping up its operations which will soon create 245 new direct jobs in the Acadiana region.

Global Data Systems (GDS)

GDS is an established provider of facilities-based satellite telecommunications serving clients with global needs. In Q4 2013, GDS launched its new teleport facility, located on property at its corporate headquarters site in Lafayette, Louisiana. Directly adjacent to the teleport is its newly completed Tier 4 hardened datacenter facility, where it takes advantage of Lafayette’s fiber optic network to offer a full suite of datacenter, telecommunications, and satellite teleport services to its clients.

Bold Incentives

Acadiana values its software industry, and will align state and local resources to provide customized incentive packages for businesses looking to grow. A few standard incentives are outlined below. You can find a full list of standard incentives here.

Digital Interactive Media and Software Development Incentive

The nation’s strongest, most comprehensive incentive for software development. Using this, software development companies of all sizes gain a competitive edge with no cap or minimum requirement for entry.

Quality Jobs

The Quality Job program offers a cash rebate for companies that create well-paid jobs and promote economic development in Louisiana.

A Quality Workforce

A right-to-work state for more than three decades, Louisiana ranks in the Top 10 for lowest rates of private workforce unionization. It is also home to LED FastStart, the nation’s No. 1 state workforce development program, which creates customized workforce recruitment, screening, and training solutions. With a growing labor force of nearly 318,000 in the region, competitive wages, and a strong education pipeline, Acadiana’s workforce is waiting for you. A number of Louisiana universities have specific programs and research strengths related to the software industry, with one of the strongest and fastest growing being right here in Acadiana.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

In order to meet and exceed the workforce demands of multiple new software companies in the region, UL-Lafayette created a state-funded, 10-year, $4.5 million higher education initiative that will result in a tripling of the number of degrees awarded annually by its College of Computing and Informatics. This growth is anticipated to place the university’s computer science program among the Top 25 such programs nationally for the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded annually.

Quality of Life

Living in Acadiana is easy. It is a place that has everything you need. We have a plentiful economy and growing job market, world-class healthcare, great schools, and all the entertainment and cultural options of a big city but with far less stress. Those who live here will agree – there has never been a better time to call Acadiana home. Explore the region here.

To Learn More, Contact:

Megan Duhon
Director, Economic Development
megan@oneacadiana.org
337-408-3669

A Better Bottom Line

  1. No. 1: Workforce Training Program – Business Facilities, 2022
  2. No. 2: Manufacturing Output – Business Facilities, 2021
  3. No. 2: Infrastructure Investment Supporting Economic Development – Site Selection, 2021
  4. No. 9: Speed of Project Permitting – Area Development, 2021

The Right Location is Waiting for You

We’ve got acres of opportunity.

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