Louisiana Economic Development tells committee $92 billion in announced investment, stresses workforce and predictability

Susan Bourgeois, secretary of Louisiana Economic Development, told the House Ways and Means Committee that LED’s pipeline and incentive changes have produced significant project wins and elevated the state's business competitiveness.

Bourgeois said LED has announced about $92 billion in capital investment associated with roughly 37,000 new direct jobs since the administration began, that 2025 was a record year for announced projects, and that LED’s high‑impact jobs incentives and the $150 million site‑investment fund have been key tools. "We asked for flexibility to transform the department," she said, and credited Acts passed last year for giving LED new tools to pursue large projects.

Members focused on workforce readiness and local coordination. Bourgeois described LED’s work with the LCTCS system and local campuses to build targeted curricula and training pipelines tied to large projects; she cited the Hyundai project as an example where state, system and company worked on curriculum, facilities and a local training campus. "Every project that we incentivize ... goes through a model that is done by independent economists to create a return," she said, describing collaboration with fiscal offices to validate LED’s models.

Committee members also asked about carbon‑sequestration policy: Bourgeois said a substantial share of the active pipeline has sequestration implications and warned that policy missteps could put projects at risk.

The committee received LED’s briefing and asked follow‑up questions; no formal action was taken.