LED Creates Digital Resource Guide To An Emerging Key Industry In Louisiana: Life Sciences

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Economic Development is responding to the expansive growth of scientific research and innovation throughout the state by recognizing life sciences as a key industry and launching a new website focused exclusively on the companies, nonprofits and higher education institutions doing groundbreaking work in that space. LouisianaLifeSciences.com features an interactive Resource Guide containing essential information about dozens of established life sciences entities that range from start-ups and incubators in New Orleans, Thibodaux and Lafayette to established research institutions in Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Covington.

“Louisiana’s life sciences community has built a thriving business and medical ecosystem. Growth has been decades in the works, and its rise has driven economic stability and sustainability, making Louisiana a global leader in life sciences,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said. “LED works to increase jobs and opportunity across all of Louisiana, and our life sciences sector is doing just that. We are proud of our long history of research and groundbreaking discoveries, and look forward to the continued expansion of this sector within our state.”

The life sciences sector – sometimes referred to as the bioscience industry – encompasses for-profit and non-profit institutions specializing in a broad array of products and technologies, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, research, testing and laboratories. More than 101,000 life sciences businesses currently employ 1.87 million people in the U.S., with annual workforce growth of 7.2 percent and average wages of $107,000 — both more than twice the national average (source: Biotechnology Innovation Organization, 2020).

The impact of life sciences investment in Louisiana is increasingly evident, from cutting-edge water management research to advanced radiopharmaceutical development, breakthrough diabetes treatments to innovative genome sequencing on the front lines of COVID-19 treatment.

In addition to exploring the resource guide, site visitors will find feature stories, project announcements and video profiles of life sciences trailblazers in Louisiana. Among the video offerings are launch: a feature about the $100 million, 35-acre Water Campus on the Baton Rouge riverfront; a profile of BioInfoExperts founder Susanna Lamers, whose pathogen transmission software has been deployed in the fight against COVID-19 in Louisiana; and a visit to Obatala Sciences in New Orleans, whose founder, Dr. Trivia Frazier, has pioneered specialized human tissue research advancing the world’s understanding of obesity, diabetes and regenerative medicine. The site also connects prospective investors to LED team members who can provide more information about the life-changing work originating in Louisiana and the LED programs that support it.

LouisianaLifeSciences.com is one of five economic development websites operated by the state, which is continually expanding its digital footprint to support the needs of current and prospective Louisiana business operators. The others:

• OpportunityLouisiana.com, the main website of the state’s office of economic development;
• LouisianaEntertainment.gov, which showcases the state’s film, music, interactive and  live entertainment industries;
• LaRuralEvolution.com, which captures the many programs offered by Gov. John Bel Edwards and LED to fuel rural revitalization in Louisiana;
• Faststart.Opportunity.com, the online portal to LED’s workforce development program that has been named the nation’s best for 12 years in a row.

 

About LED
Louisiana Economic Development is responsible for strengthening the state’s business environment and creating a more vibrant Louisiana economy. LED cultivates jobs and economic opportunity for the people of Louisiana, and promotes business opportunity for employers of all sizes. In 2020, LED attracted 58 new economic development projects representing over 11,600 new jobs, 8,600 retained jobs and more than $12.7 billion in new capital investment. LED’s Small Business Services team, in conjunction with the Louisiana Small Business Development Center Network, assisted more than 17,500 Louisiana small businesses and entrepreneurs in 2020. For more information, visit OpportunityLouisiana.com.