Business News

Louisiana officials are betting that SpaceX's new Starbase Louisiana facility in Vermilion Parish will do more than launch rockets, it may fundamentally reshape where people in this state choose to live. Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois says the $100 billion project could push the Lafayette metro area past both New Orleans and Baton Rouge to become the state's largest population center within the next decade or so, a claim she acknowledges sounds bold

Every time a local company gets bought by a private equity firm, the reaction in Louisiana tends to run the same direction: worry. Another headquarters moves out of state, another boardroom stops being local, another piece of Louisiana's economy answers to someone in Houston or New York instead of Baton Rouge or Metairie. The recent sale of Livingston-based Epic Piping to a Houston firm, the third deal like it in south Louisiana in a single month, has renewed that anxiety. Bu

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

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

Faith Technologies Incorporated announced this month what may be the most significant private investment Northeast Louisiana has seen in years: an $80.5 million commitment to build a sprawling 500,000-square-foot Excellerate manufacturing facility in Ouachita Parish, creating at least 200 direct jobs and rippling across the region with over 500 indirect positions. Construction is already underway, with the facility expected to open by spring 2027. For Monroe, a city that's we

Governor Jeff Landry stood at England Airpark on Tuesday and made an announcement that Central Louisiana's economic development community has been waiting years to hear. Applied Digital Corporation — a Dallas-based company that designs, builds, and operates data centers for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing — will develop Delta Forge 1, a $3.6 billion AI factory campus in Rapides Parish. It is the largest economic development project in the region's moder

Louisiana's tax reform story over the last two years is one worth telling. The 2024 special session produced genuine, structural change: a flat 3% individual income tax, a reduced corporate rate of 5.5%, the elimination of the corporate franchise tax, and permanent full expensing — making Louisiana one of only three states in the country to fully decouple from federal phasedown rules on business investment. The Tax Foundation took notice. Louisiana jumped six spots in its Sta

By Sean Corkery One of the first things I did when I turned 18 was open a brokerage account and buy my first stock. The rules were clear, the broker had to be registered with FINRA, material risks had to be disclosed in the prospectus, and fraud carried real legal consequences. These aren't bureaucratic hurdles, they are the bedrock of a system that made American capital markets the deepest and most trusted in the world. Now Congress is considering legislation that would exem

Louisiana’s economic challenges are well known in the business community: slow population growth, inconsistent job creation, and difficulty attracting outside investment compared to neighboring Southern states. While recent tax reforms have improved the state’s standing, they have not yet addressed the core issue shaping long-term competitiveness—how Louisiana taxes income. For business leaders and site selectors, tax structure is not just a line item. It is a signal. It refl

Thanks to the more than $300 million services contract to Green Tug Towing , a joint venture of Harbor Docking & Towing and Saltchuk Marine , for the design and construction of four new tugs to be built at C&C Marine and Repair in Belle Chase and delivered to Louisiana LNG in 2028, Woodside and its contractors have now committed more than $1 billion to Louisiana suppliers for the foundational development of this LNG project. Jeff Landry , Louisiana Governor, highlight

For most Louisianans, the debate happening in Washington over cryptocurrency regulation can feel distant. But the outcome will have very real consequences — especially for the community banks that power local economies across the state. As Congress works toward advancing the CLARITY Act, one of the most important provisions taking shape is a bank-friendly approach to stablecoin regulation. That matters more than it might seem. Stablecoins are often described as digital dollar

A revealing moment during the Louisiana House Commerce Committee’s March 18 hearing made one thing unmistakably clear: political opposition to carbon capture is no longer a theoretical debate—it is costing Louisiana real projects, real jobs, and real investment. And in Beauregard Parish, that cost has already been paid. Testifying on House Bill 670, Louisiana Economic Development’s Chief Business Development Officer Paige Carter delivered a striking example. A confidential co