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The $10 billion Meta artificial intelligence data center under construction in Richland Parish was named the Platinum 2024 Deal of the Year by Business Facilities magazine, the magazine’s highest honor for major investments.
“The profound community impact of Meta’s average salaries, which will exceed 150% of the state’s per capita average, helped set Louisiana apart,” Gov. Jeff Landry said in a prepared statement. “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.”
Business Facilities also recognized Amazon Web Services $10 billion data center project in Mississippi with a Gold Award.
Work is currently underway on a 2,250-acre section of the former Franklin Farm megasite in Richland Parish. Meta projects that more than 5,000 construction workers will help build the 4 million-square-foot data center at the peak of construction.
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.
Louisiana is no stranger to Business Facilities’ Deal of the Year awards. Previously, Grön Fuels’ proposed renewable fuels complex in West Baton Rouge Parish was named the nation’s No. 2 project in the magazine’s 2020 Economic Development Deal of the Year competition.
