Business News

A new batch of Louisiana laws took effect August 1, and several of them carry real consequences for how businesses across the state operate day to day. For owners and managers who haven't had a chance to read through this year's legislative output, here's what actually changes starting this month. The most immediate shift for retailers is the new ban on debit card surcharges. Under Act 751, businesses can no longer charge customers an extra fee simply for choosing to pay with

Every few months brings another headline about Louisiana's economic turnaround, and by now the numbers are familiar: more than $100 billion in announced capital investment since early 2024, a data center campus in Richland Parish that could top $50 billion on its own, a new steel mill, an expanding LNG export corridor. A new report from Ohio River South, an Atlanta-based government affairs and political-risk firm, confirms that the momentum is genuine. It also delivers a more

Louisiana's run of headline-grabbing economic wins is about to add its most futuristic chapter yet. The state is in the final stages of a deal that would bring Elon Musk's SpaceX to a remote stretch of coastal Vermilion Parish, where the company plans to build a spaceport capable of launching rockets into orbit from an 18-mile stretch of marshland known as Pecan Island, about 45 miles southwest of Lafayette. The scale of the site alone sets this apart from anything Louisiana

Louisiana's economic development officials aren't just touting another good year. They're describing a trajectory that keeps bending upward, and the newest numbers back it up. The state has now secured more than $150 billion in corporate investment and roughly 16,000 new jobs in recent years, according to Louisiana Economic Development, with Secretary Susan Bourgeois telling reporters she expects the total to cross $200 billion within months. What stands out isn't just the si

Governor Jeff Landry spent part of last week in Washington making the case that Louisiana isn't just riding the AI and data center boom, it's helping write the rules for how the rest of the country pays for it. Landry and Richland Parish Schools Superintendent Sheldon Jones joined President Trump at a White House roundtable focused on the administration's ratepayer protection plan, and Louisiana walked away with one of the clearest wins in the room. The plan itself is straigh

While the biggest headlines out of Louisiana's economic development office tend to go to the multibillion-dollar mega-projects, some of the most reliable growth in this state comes from a quieter pattern: companies that are already here choosing to expand rather than look elsewhere. That's exactly what's happening in Acadiana, where Quality Companies LLC is investing more than $7 million across two sites in Iberia and Lafayette parishes. The Youngsville-based energy services

Louisiana's significant energy potential, encompassing oil, gas, and carbon capture, is being systematically undermined by a heavily funded, out-of-state campaign. A Pelican Institute report details over $115 million flowed to local environmental groups from 2020-2025, with over 70% originating from California, D.C., and New York, backed by billionaires like Bloomberg and Bezos. This "lawfare" manifests through challenges to carbon sequestration primacy, legal assaults on LNG

Vehicle manufacturers have built a rigged market, and Louisiana's independent repair shops are paying the price. Automakers restrict independent mechanics from accessing the same diagnostic data and software tools they freely hand to their own authorized dealerships. The result is artificial scarcity, inflated costs, and the slow strangulation of a sector that employs millions of Americans and tens of thousands of Louisianians in every parish across the state. The REPAIR Act

First it was manufacturing. Then it was data centers. Now Louisiana is chasing rockets, and the Legislature just rewrote state law to make sure the state has a real shot at landing one of the biggest prizes in the private aerospace race. Over the course of the session that wrapped June 1, lawmakers passed and Governor Jeff Landry signed a full package of aerospace incentive bills, all sponsored by Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville, who chairs House Ways and Means, and Rep. Jac

Louisiana just closed the door on one of the biggest legal threats facing its energy industry, and business owners across the state should be paying attention, because the protection doesn't stop at the oil patch. Governor Jeff Landry signed House Bill 804, the Louisiana Energy Protection Act, into law in June, capping off one of the session's signature business wins. The law bars civil lawsuits filed in Louisiana state courts that seek personal injury, property, or economic

Louisiana just found an extra $50 million for one of the few insurance fixes that has actually shown results, and it did it without raising a single tax or fee. Governor Jeff Landry signed House Bill 1187, sponsored by Rep. Paul Sawyer, R-Baton Rouge, in late May, directing $50 million in surplus funds from Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation into the state's Fortify Homes Program. The money comes from an unusual source: excess funds Citizens collected through a

Louisiana's economic development strategy of the past eighteen months has often been discussed in silos. Data center announcements in Richland Parish. AI facility decisions in Rapides. Advanced manufacturing commitments in Northeast Louisiana. Each celebrated separately, each impressive on its own. But they're not really separate at all. They're pieces of something larger: a deliberate diversification away from energy-dependent extraction and toward technology-forward product