While attending a conference recently, a couple of friends from Louisiana gave me some friendly grief, telling me how they are "kicking some Yankee butt," or some such.

Amused, I inquired, "What are you talking about?"

They then proceeded to remind me how a few months ago, Gardner Denver Inc. decided to move 230 manufacturing jobs out of Sheboygan to Monroe, La.

This decision prompted Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is believed to be one of the frontrunners for the Republican Party presidential nomination in 2012, to say, "Today's announcement follows a recent trend - since early 2008, leading companies have announced moves of their headquarters or other significant operations to Louisiana from states, such as California, Georgia, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Virginia and Wisconsin. We expect to see even more of these moves in the future as national executives become increasingly aware of Louisiana's recent progress with ethics reform, tax competitiveness and workforce development."

That's a great campaign sound byte (aside from the "progress with ethics reform" part), but let's look a little closer at this Baton Rouge two-step.

Read Jagler's full column

-- Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.

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