Silicon Valley Company Moves To Louisiana And Is Expected To Create 1,300 Jobs

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal joined Globalstar Monday to mark the company's milestone in exceeding 100 Louisiana jobs with the company's headquarters relocation from Silicon Valley to Covington.  One year after announcing the move to Louisiana, the company now employs 114 direct jobs.  Gov. Jindal said the company, which recently launched the first six of its second-generation mobile communications satellites, is on track to reach 185 jobs at its Covington headquarters by the end of 2011 and 593 jobs with an average annual salary of $70,000, plus benefits, by 2020.  Louisiana Economic Development estimates the 593 new direct jobs will result in the creation of approximately 800 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 1,300 new jobs in Louisiana.

Gov. Jindal said, "Only in Louisiana has our rapidly growing economy won us a No. 1 ranking by Southern Business and Development magazine for the last three straight years.  Only in Louisiana do we have the No. 1 worker-training program in the country and the honor of being named Business Facilities magazine's 2010 State of the Year.  We are also proud to say that only in Louisiana do we now have the official headquarters of Globalstar -- which has now surpassed a major milestone by creating more than 100 jobs for Louisiana workers to date.  My No. 1 priority is to make Louisiana the best place to create jobs and to raise a family, and we won't rest until everyone can say with confidence that only in Louisiana do we give every business all the tools they need to compete and succeed."

"As we are launching our new satellite constellation, our move to Louisiana was just another step toward rebuilding Globalstar into the world's pre-eminent provider of high-quality commercial and consumer mobile satellite voice and data services," said Jay Monroe, Executive Chairman and Interim CEO of Globalstar Inc.  "Relocating to Covington helped reduce our operating costs as we executed our next-generation strategic initiatives.  We also benefited greatly from our move thanks to LED's progressive digital interactive media incentives and tax credits.  We considered relocating our headquarters to numerous states, but the overall advantages of moving here were simply too compelling to ignore.  Once again I would like to thank Gov. Bobby Jindal, (LED Secretary) Stephen Moret, their respective staffs and all levels of local government involved for their enthusiastic support and responsiveness in helping bring Globalstar to the Gulf Region."

Further building on today's milestone of more than 100 Louisiana jobs, Globalstar expects to reach a total of 593 jobs with an average salary of more than $70,000 by 2020.  Louisiana provided an incentive package that included $4.36 million in relocation assistance over a two-year period and $3.69 million in lease payment support over a 10-year period to secure the headquarters relocation project.  All of those funds are performance-based and require Globalstar to meet payroll targets set out in a 2010 agreement with the state.  Globalstar is located in the former Wink Engineering building in Covington.

As it develops software critical to the deployment of its mobile satellite communications products, Globalstar is expected to make use of Louisiana's Digital Interactive Media and Software Tax Credit, worth up to 25 percent of certified development expenditures and up to 35 percent when applied to Louisiana-based payroll expenditures.  Globalstar also is being assisted by the Louisiana FastStart™ program, the state's customized workforce screening, hiring and training solution that's ranked best in the nation by Business Facilities magazine.

Gov. Jindal said that Louisiana is one of only three states in the nation that can tout having a rapidly growing information sector, including growth in software design, digital publishing and telecommunications.

"Globalstar is a true reflection of the New Louisiana economy, evolving and diversifying with technology companies that record sales all over the globe and that generate new wealth for Louisiana and high-paying career opportunities for our people," said Moret.  "We're pleased that Globalstar, along with many other expanding and relocating companies, recognizes the unique opportunity that investing in Louisiana and its talented workforce represents."

About Globalstar
Globalstar Inc., through phones that look and act like mobile or fixed phones, delivers Code Division Multiple Access satellite signals that connect people and send information across more than 120 countries. The company has a customer base of about 400,000 mobile satellite voice and data subscribers and recently invested more than $1 billion in developing and deploying a second generation of mobile communications satellites.