By Melissa Campbell
Founder, Louisiana Launch Alliance
I'm in my car; Ella Langley's song is turned way up and on repeat. "Choosin' Texas." It's my fave.
On Saturday, the Texas Longhorns come to Death Valley to take on the Tigers–it's a must-win for the Louisiana team, and the country will be watching. Soooo much talk about Texas, I want to talk about a different kind of choosin’.
META Digital Factory in Louisiana from the Louisiana Department of Economic Development.
Last week's election has left a lot of people asking what happens to the data centers that were announced in Texas. Some may slow down. Some may move. Nobody knows yet. But when companies that build these campuses start choosing where to put them, they need three things: power, land, and a state that wants them.
Louisiana has all three, and we already have the proof.
LOOK AT THE MAP
Exhibit A shows what has already been announced in Louisiana. These are not ideas on a whiteboard. They are named projects with named companies and real dollar figures attached:
- Meta's Hyperion AI data center in northeast Louisiana, $50 billion, with a $13 billion Entergy buildout to power it
- Amazon's multi-site AI data center campuses in the Shreveport area, $18 billion
- Hut 8's AI data center near Baton Rouge, $10 billion
- Applied Digital's AI data center near Alexandria, $4 billion
- SpaceX Starbase Louisiana, $100 billion
- LNG projects across the coast, including Woodside, Venture Global, Argent, Cameron and Commonwealth, adding up to roughly $90 billion
- The Hyundai steel mill, the Ascension carbon ammonia project, CF Industries, Shintech, DG Fuels and the Louisiana International Terminal, another $27 billion. The list goes on and on!
Add it all up and the projects on this map total more than $300 billion. Some of that will be built over many years, and plans can change. But the direction is clear.
THE UTILITIES ARE SAYING THE SAME THING
A CNBC Power Lunch segment on the takeaways from the EEI utility conference boiled it down to three bullets: no electricity growth slowdown, the data center boom continues, and Louisiana and Oklahoma absorb any Texas changes.
We are not predicting what happens in Texas. We love Texas, and we'll happily share a stadium with them on Saturday. We are saying that if projects look for a new home, Louisiana is READY. Game ON!
WHY LOUISIANA
We have capacity. Power, pipelines, ports, rail, river, and industrial land that is already zoned and ready.
We have creativity. Louisiana companies have been building complicated things in difficult places for generations, from refineries to chemical plants to offshore platforms, and they know how to make a hard job work.
We have the resources. Skilled trades, engineers, fabricators, contractors, and the people who keep them moving. The work does not happen without them.
Here is the part that matters most to me. Billions of dollars will not help Louisiana unless Louisiana businesses are in the room when the work is awarded. Big projects bring out-of-state primes. Whether local companies get a seat at the table depends on who they know and who knows them.
ENTER THE LOUISIANA LAUNCH ALLIANCE
The Louisiana Launch Alliance is an invite-only referral network of Louisiana business leaders. We keep it to one member per trade, so members don't compete inside the group. Our job is simple:
- Make introductions between members and the people who can hire them
- Help members be introduced with trust, not as a cold call
- Tell their stories through a formal launch, interviews and media, and ongoing content
- Keep the network focused on one thing: helping Louisiana businesses win Louisiana work
We cannot promise any member a specific contract. No one can. What we can promise is a structured way to meet the right people and a network that works for you.
THE BOTTOM LINE
If companies are choosin' a state, Louisiana is ready to be chosen. We have the capacity, the creativity, and the resources. Now we need the connections. Saturday, we're choosin' the Tigers. From here on out, we're choosin' Louisiana. It has a nice ring to it.
If you run a Louisiana business and want to be part of what is coming, I would love to talk with you.
Melissa Campbell
Founder, Louisiana Launch Alliance
225-205-3587
melissa@peakmediala.com