Finance & Markets

Business First Expands North Louisiana Footprint With Progressive Bancorp Acquisition

Business First Bancshares, Inc. has completed its acquisition of Progressive Bancorp, Inc. and its subsidiary, Progressive Bank, significantly expanding its presence in North Louisiana and pushing total assets to approximately $8.7 billion. The transaction strengthens Business First’s statewide footprint by adding nine North Louisiana branches and deepening its reach in a region that has become increasingly important to Louisiana’s economic growth. “We love this opportunity

Jan 52 min read

Opinion: Louisiana Families Deserve Financial Innovation That Works For Everyone

Submitted by DK Willard Louisianans are no strangers to hard work. We consistently rank as one of the hardest working states in the country, with many residents working overtime to pay down loans, invest in their first homes, and create financial stability for themselves and their families. Now, digital assets and new financial technologies are becoming integral to everyday investing, providing new tools to help Americans build financial security in ways previously thought t

Dec 18, 20252 min read

Louisiana Secures ElementUSA’s $850 Million Investment, Strengthening the State’s Economy and America’s Critical Minerals Supply Chain

Louisiana has secured another major industrial investment with national significance. ElementUSA’s decision to invest $850 million in a rare earth and critical minerals refining facility in St. John Parish marks an important milestone for the state’s economy and its expanding role in strengthening America’s domestic supply chains. The project is expected to create 200 direct jobs with an average annual salary of $90,000, nearly 30 percent above the average wage in St. John Pa

Dec 16, 20253 min read

Business First Expands North Louisiana Footprint With Progressive Bancorp Acquisition

Jan 52 min read

From a Pine Tree to a Fiber Network: How Cajun Broadband Is Rewiring Rural Louisiana

At a ribbon-cutting in Vermilion Parish celebrating Cajun Broadband’s latest expansion, there were all the usual trappings of a public milestone: remarks from local officials, a video message from Jeff Landry , and a ceremonial cut of the tape. There was also seafood gumbo — cooked the night before by company co-founder Chris Disher. It was a fitting detail. Cajun Broadband has grown into one of Louisiana’s most important rural infrastructure builders, but it still operates w

Jan 53 min read

Opinion: Louisiana Families Deserve Financial Innovation That Works For Everyone

Dec 18, 20252 min read

Louisiana Secures ElementUSA’s $850 Million Investment, Strengthening the State’s Economy and America’s Critical Minerals Supply Chain

Dec 16, 20253 min read

OPINION: PBM Reform Can’t Wait

Dear Editor, No matter how strong of a support system someone has, it can’t fix a healthcare structure that seems designed to exhaust people. The biggest frustration I hear, whether it’s from relatives, neighbors, or coworkers, is the constant interference from pharmacy benefit managers. These middlemen companies don’t treat patients or write prescriptions, yet they have enormous power over what medications people can access. In the end, they profit off everyday families,

Dec 2, 20251 min read

Louisiana to New York: “If You’re Tired of Socialism, Come South.

Gov. Jeff Landry is turning a moment of political upheaval in America’s largest city into an opportunity for Louisiana. Days after New York City elected democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani as its next mayor, Landry placed a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal urging businesses to rethink their future in the Big Apple — and to consider Louisiana instead. The headline, printed in bold above the fold, delivered the message with unmistakable clarity: “In Louisiana

Nov 21, 20253 min read

OPINION: Broad pharma tariffs could backfire

By Jeffrey Gerrish President Trump keeps proving his critics wrong, especially when it comes to his trade policy. When he announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, investors panicked, and the stock market sold off 20 percent in a matter of weeks. Economists predicted soaring inflation and an imminent recession. Foreign policy analysts scoffed at the president’s pledge to negotiate better deals with trading partners. None of that doom and gloom has come to pass. Stocks

Nov 12, 20253 min read

THACKER: We can’t let the Europeans get in the way of affordable energy

Louisiana’s thriving energy economy is a testament to the state and federal regulatory environments that allow it to flourish, because both balance growth with ensuring that the highest safety and environmental standards are followed to the letter of the law. This balance affords us both residential and industrial electricity rates that are significantly lower than national averages. Yet that is not enough for the European Union, which sought to impose statutes, signed an oce

Nov 11, 20253 min read

Op-Ed: Stablecoin 'rewards' are a risk to financial stability

By Dr. Dr. Rajesh P. Narayanan - Dr. Narayanan is the Louisiana Bankers Association Professor of Finance in the Department of Finance at Louisiana State University. Congress has long recognized that stablecoins should not function as unregulated bank deposits. The intent of the recently enacted GENIUS Act is clear: to prohibit stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield to holders, maintaining a distinction between payment instruments and bank deposits which are not onl

Nov 6, 20254 min read

Louisiana Farmers Face a Credit Crunch Fueled by Uncertainty in Both Policy and Markets

On a farm in Gilliam, Louisiana, the final harvest is in. Corn, soybeans, cotton, and peanuts have all been cut and loaded. Now, farmer Stephen Logan is spreading cereal rye seed and planning for the next growing season. But this fall, the federal shutdown has left him — and many like him — working without a safety net. For weeks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s local offices have been closed, cutting off access to conservation payments, short-term crop loans, and criti

Oct 23, 20253 min read

Finance & Markets

Business First Expands North Louisiana Footprint With Progressive Bancorp Acquisition

Opinion: Louisiana Families Deserve Financial Innovation That Works For Everyone

Louisiana Secures ElementUSA’s $850 Million Investment, Strengthening the State’s Economy and America’s Critical Minerals Supply Chain

Business First Expands North Louisiana Footprint With Progressive Bancorp Acquisition

From a Pine Tree to a Fiber Network: How Cajun Broadband Is Rewiring Rural Louisiana

Opinion: Louisiana Families Deserve Financial Innovation That Works For Everyone

Louisiana Secures ElementUSA’s $850 Million Investment, Strengthening the State’s Economy and America’s Critical Minerals Supply Chain

OPINION: PBM Reform Can’t Wait

Louisiana to New York: “If You’re Tired of Socialism, Come South.

OPINION: Broad pharma tariffs could backfire

THACKER: We can’t let the Europeans get in the way of affordable energy

Op-Ed: Stablecoin 'rewards' are a risk to financial stability

Louisiana Farmers Face a Credit Crunch Fueled by Uncertainty in Both Policy and Markets

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