Press Releases

Louisiana Honored for Nation’s Best Economic Development Project

The Water Campus named ‘Best in Show’ as state earns five 2022 International Economic Development Council Awards

Sep 22, 2022

BATON ROUGE, La. (Sept. 22, 2022) – The Water Campus in Baton Rouge was recognized as the top Resiliency, Recovery and Mitigation economic development initiative and the best economic development project in the country overall at the 2022 International Economic Development Council Awards ceremony Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

The Gold and Best in Show honors for the Water Campus were among five awards for Louisiana, the most the state has received since becoming the only IEDC accredited state economic development agency in the U.S. in 2018. The state’s rural revitalization program, including LED’s Rural Entrepreneurship Initiative, won a Silver Award for Equity and Inclusion programs; and “Louisiana: Building for Tomorrow, Today,” LED’s multi-platform annual report, won Gold in the Specialty Purpose Website and Bronze in the Annual Report categories.

“The Water Campus was built to bring together the best minds from the academic, government, non-profit and private sectors to work collaboratively on some of our most pressing challenges,” said Justin Ehrenwerth, President and CEO of The Water Institute of the Gulf. “Together, we’re advancing innovative water and climate resilience solutions for Louisiana and exporting that knowledge to communities across the country and around the world. We’re honored that the IEDC has recognized this work with such a prestigious award as we continue to deepen collaborations and grow our region’s water sector.”

Read the full release from Louisiana Economic Development here.

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