When Gov. Jeff Landry appointed Susan Bonnett Bourgeois as secretary of Louisiana Economic Development in January 2023, it was with the understanding that she would reimagine and run the state agency’s approach to economic development. Bourgeois — who previously served as founder and president of the North Shore Community Foundation for 17 years, and as the first business executive to chair GNO, Inc. — is perfectly poised for her new position.
In addition to learning how to navigate state government, and growing a proficiency and passion for strategic planning, project development, team-building and public service, she also has a track record of tremendous growth.
In June, the passage of SB 494 marked a major step forward in fostering economic development excellence in Louisiana. The bill allows LED to quickly reorganize and develop a new strategic plan for economic growth in Louisiana.
“The competition among states to attract business investment has never been more intense,” she said. “[Our mission] is to drive capital investment, job creation and wage growth in every region of our state [by] helping companies and educators meet the challenge of recruiting, training and sustaining a pipeline of skilled workers capable of excelling in an increasingly diversified economy.”
With this directive, Bourgeois is harnessing the strengths inherent to Louisiana and addressing challenges in a new way.
“No other state can match our strategic location and powerful infrastructure, which allow extraordinary access to global and domestic markets,” she noted. “But we need to do a better job of telling the world, and our own residents, our story. [This] is my charge, and LED’s challenge.”
Bourgeois plans to diversify the oil and natural gas industry in response to growing demand and global market dynamics via prioritization of energy investment and support for energy innovation. She also plans to capitalize on the agribusiness, manufacturing, bioscience and healthcare sectors; automotive parts production (especially electric vehicle battery materials); and data center, telecommunications and cybersecurity markets.
