Susan Bourgeois talks about charting a new economic path for Louisiana

Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois is charting a new course for the state’s economy, and early results suggest the strategy is working. 

For the latest Business Report’s Strictly Business webcast, Bourgeois outlines how LED is shedding its slow, regulatory reputation for a business-first, “yes-and” culture focused on speed, collaboration and outcomes. The new approach balances attracting headline-grabbing projects like Meta, Hyundai and major LNG investments with stronger support for existing Louisiana businesses and a renewed push to grow homegrown startups. 

Bourgeois also details new initiatives aimed at connecting local companies to major projects, modernizing workforce pipelines and leveraging Louisiana’s legacy industries with emerging technologies like AI. 

“We have to make sure Louisiana is a place where you can build companies as well, right?” Bourgeois says. “We want to build them here. We want to grow them here. We want to attract them here. So creating an innovative startup culture so we can grow the next Meta instead of just attracting the next Meta, it’s just as important to [LED].”

With billions of dollars in industrial and energy investments underway, she says Louisiana’s competitive edge is in the ease of doing business, abundant energy resources and unprecedented coordination across state agencies, regional partners and the private sector. The goal: higher wages, better jobs and long-term prosperity statewide.