By Eileen Fleming
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-981998.mp3
New Orleans, LA – Governor Bobby Jindal joined economic development and political leaders in New Orleans to announce the Gameloft development studio plans. The move is expected to create almost 150 jobs over the next 10 years, and Jindal says the average salary is about $70,000 a year. Michael Hecht of Greater New Orleans Incorporated has been involved in talks to attract Gameloft for the past year. He says part of the strategy involved setting up a website to find staff that the company wasn't sure is available in the region.
"They had 15 positions. They were able to attract over 1,300 resumes of people interested."
Gameloft operates more than two dozen studios around the world, employing about 4,000 people. Hecht says the selection of New Orleans bodes well for developing a new technology industry.
"We really won this business fair and square. There's nobody at Gameloft who has a spouse from Louisiana. There's nobody who went to Tulane. We simply competed against the best technology hubs in North America and we won straight up. And so, I really, I think, is a very objective indication that we can be very competitive in this industry."
Gameloft has not selected an office yet, but plans to be open in October.
For WWNO, I'm Eileen Fleming