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Lawmaker touts $70 billion in investments and a Richland Parish project said to bring 150 jobs at Louisiana Tech event
Summary
A lawmaker speaking at Louisiana Tech credited recent state initiatives for attracting what they called $70 billion in investment, highlighted a Richland Parish project they said will create about 150 jobs with average pay above $85,000, and urged universities to act as industry incubators. Figures in the remarks were not independently verified and were inconsistently stated during the speech.
A lawmaker speaking at Louisiana Tech praised a wave of private investment in North Louisiana and said the state now "has got $70,000,000,000 worth of investment today," framing a new project in Richland Parish as an "anchor" that will spur additional economic activity. "This project is going to bring a 150 permanent jobs, just this 1 project, with an average salary of over $85,000 a piece," the speaker said.
The speaker framed the announcement as part of an 18-month push to attract businesses and keep graduates in-state, urging universities to become "incubators for creating job growth" and citing work with the Board of Supervisors and the Board of Regents. The remarks credited recent departmental reorganization and legislative support for enabling the state's outreach to investors and for tools used by university partners.
The speaker disputed an earlier figure mentioned at the event, saying, "Tim just mentioned that we had $50,000,000,000 worth of investment. And that's not true. We've got $70,000,000,000 worth of investment today." At a separate moment the speaker also referenced a larger number in an unclear aside—"this $370,000,000,000 investment"—but did not clarify how that figure relates to the $70 billion claim.
The remarks connected the local project to a broader national trend toward reshoring manufacturing, invoking then-President Trump and a push to bring domestic production back to U.S. soil. The speaker repeatedly thanked Louisiana Tech staff and individuals named "Bill" and "Susan" for their roles in advancing the project.
The speech was a public set of remarks and did not include formal votes or recorded actions. The investment totals and job projections cited were presented by the speaker and were not provided with documentary backing in the remarks; figures were stated inconsistently during the talk and have not been independently verified.
