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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

CGI Begins Major Expansion At Louisiana, IT Center of Excellence

05/23/2018
CGI, a global technology firm, will launch a significant expansion of its IT Center of Excellence in Lafayette, Louisiana. The company plans to create 400 new direct jobs.

“CGI is proud to make this renewed commitment to job creation in Lafayette, where a skilled and highly motivated workforce continues to exceed expectations on behalf of our clients undertaking critical digital transformation projects in Acadiana and across the country,” said CGI Executive Dave Henderson, who serves as President of CGI’s U.S. commercial and state government operations.

“Since opening our campus facility in 2016, we have continued to measure success in many different ways, including the time and resources our employees have committed to community engagement, whether through youth-oriented STEM education and environmental sustainability projects, or our successful ongoing collaboration with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The commitment of our employees in Lafayette embodies what is most important to us at CGI and represents a strong reflection of our heritage, values and commitment to the region,” he added.

To support CGI’s expansion, the State of Louisiana offered the company a competitive incentive package that includes a performance-based grant of $5.3 million to offset the costs of personnel relocation, recruitment, training, and operation and maintenance costs. The company also is expected to utilize Louisiana’s Digital Interactive Media and Software Development Incentive and Quality Jobs Program. CGI will continue to lease its state-funded original location from the university-affiliated Ragin Cajun Facilities Inc. while UL Lafayette will continue to lead a 10-year, $4.5 million, state-funded higher education initiative that will triple the number of undergraduate degrees awarded annually by the university’s School of Computing & Informatics.

CGI employment will reach 800 over the coming years at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Research Park, and at a second Lafayette Parish site to be determined. Statewide, CGI’s employment will reach 900, according to Louisiana Economic Development.

In March, CGI announced the Lafayette IT Center of Excellence had surpassed the original full-employment target of 400 professionals. Now, the company will build on that baseline with a second phase of growth. Over the next decade, the CGI Lafayette center’s cumulative payroll will exceed $480 million, LED reported.

“Here in Acadiana, we are proving how powerful and game-changing our economy can be,” Governor John Bel Edwards said. “We’ve structured a partnership involving state and local government, economic development and higher education, and we’ve developed a blueprint for growth in the digital economy. CGI’s clientele includes oil and gas, manufacturing, retail, health care, utilities, government, banking, insurance and communications customers. So, in reality, by growing this technology presence in Lafayette, we are touching virtually every sector of the economy while touching nearly every neighborhood in this community with exceptional careers.”

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