LAFAYETTE -- Lafayette continues to receive props for its business-friendly climate and high-tech innovation.
Leading all Louisiana cities, Lafayette ranked 68th in the country for doing business in the latest edition of Inc. Magazine.

Inc., which gave Lafayette high marks for its information technology development, based its rankings on job growth and balance among different sectors of the economy.

Lafayette ranked 126 last year.

Inc. considered 274 metro areas. New Orleans ranked second in the state at 123, Lake Charles 131, Baton Rouge 134, Shreveport 144, Monroe 176, Alexandria 209 and Houma-Thibodaux 231.

Lafayette showed the highest growth in Louisiana for information technology jobs, which grew 21.5 percent in the last three years.

The only other city in Louisiana with growth in that sector was Baton Rouge, which grew 1.3 percent.

Inc. concluded in its study that high-paying technology jobs have declined in areas like Silicon Valley and Boston and popped up in smaller towns, where the cost of living and doing business is lower and quality of life is high.

City-Parish President Joey Durel said in a statement Friday he's glad Lafayette is being recognized as a "business-friendly" community.

"Lafayette continues to be a progressive city, and when you combine that with a business-friendly climate, the reputation we are garnering as a technologically savvy city and the excellent quality of life that we enjoy, it can only help in our efforts to bring business and jobs to this area," Durel said.

In October, Entrepreneur magazine named Lafayette as one of the four most attractive areas in the country for high-tech business.

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By KEVIN BLANCHARD
kblanchard@theadvocate.com
Acadiana bureau