Report reviews 20 years of achievements at annual LEDA luncheon

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - The Lubbock Economic Development Alliance, or LEDA, hosted its annual year in review luncheon on Tuesday, marking 20 years of achievements.

A compilation highlighting those success and a forecast of what to expect next year were presented by The Perryman Group.

The President and CEO of the group, Dr. Ray Perryman, said Lubbock would not be the city that it is without LEDA.

"I think its an opportunity to really see that this would be a profoundly different place - not as prosperous, not as many jobs, not as much investment by a very big margin if it were not for the efforts of LEDA," he said. "I think it's a time for everybody to come together to recognize that and celebrate that."

The report showed the current annual economic benefits of jobs incentivized by projects led by LEDA include more than $2 billion in gross product each year and nearly 20,000 jobs in the Lubbock area.

Over the past two decades, LEDA has been involved with 268 businesses, which includes 200 local expansions and 68 new companies, supporting nearly 14,000 total direct jobs.