Louisiana Economic Development outlines strategic plan: new high‑wage jobs program, sites and infrastructure push

Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois told the House Committee on Ways and Means on May 6 that the agency is proposing a set of new incentives and a major sites and infrastructure initiative guided by a new strategic plan.

Bourgeois said the department’s high impact jobs program will measure projects by wage gains relative to parish averages, and will prioritize incentives where the “delta” between project pay and local average wages is greatest. “We were comfortable sunsetting the vast majority of our incentives,” Bourgeois said, describing the department’s intent to replace older tools with programs that target wage growth rather than raw job counts.

The committee was told the strategic plan — prepared with consultants at McKinsey — also calls for a larger, more flexible sites and infrastructure fund. Bourgeois said those dollars would be used to buy ready parcels and to improve existing publicly owned sites (ports, college properties, airport authority land) to speed private investment: “we need the ability to have sites that are ready to go when companies and industry come to this state,” she said. She added that funds could pay for road or rail extensions and other work to make existing tracts marketable.

Nut graf: The department’s proposals shift the focus of Louisiana’s economic incentives from job count to household prosperity and aim to shorten project timelines by investing in market‑ready sites. Bourgeois told lawmakers the plan aligns with federal onshoring initiatives that could bring more pharmaceutical and advanced manufacturing projects to the state.

Committee members asked how LED would target life sciences and related manufacturing. Bourgeois said state assets, workforce capabilities and the federal policy push to repatriate manufacturing create an opportunity for Louisiana to compete for pharmaceutical projects. “We are working a number of projects in our project pipeline right now that are directly related to pharmaceutical manufacturing,” she said. She said workforce and physical infrastructure are the two most common differentiators among states that have already targeted those industries.

Representative Farnham pointed to an existing mega‑site in his district that lacks an interstate exchange and said a single infrastructure investment could unlock distribution and manufacturing opportunities. Bourgeois agreed, saying the sites program is meant to provide that kind of gap funding or investment.

Bourgeois also told the committee LED plans to move program details out of statute and into agency rules for several new or updated incentives — including the high impact jobs program, the film program and the sites and infrastructure program — so the department can adapt quickly as markets change. “We thought it was a wise use of state resources to come to you with a proposal where the incentives that we’re proposing match and mirror the opportunities that the plan laid out,” she said.

Committee members did not vote on any measures during the presentation. The discussion concluded with lawmakers thanking Bourgeois and noting the department’s proposals will inform legislation the committee will consider later in the session.

Ending: LED’s strategic plan sets the administration’s priorities for the session: wage‑focused incentives, a new sites and infrastructure fund and greater rulemaking flexibility to change program specifics without waiting for legislative updates. Lawmakers signaled they will review bill language tied to those proposals as the session continues.