BATON ROUGE, La. — The state of Louisiana has launched a new digital platform to connect entrepreneurs and small business owners with resources to help them start and grow their businesses.
Louisiana Business Hub (LouisianaBizHub.com) brings order to the often chaotic search for information, networking and resources that are the lifeblood of every small business. Visitors to the site gain access to a searchable database of resource providers around the state offering a wide range of services from business planning, entrepreneurial training and business counseling to sales and marketing, human resources and more.
Louisiana Economic Development will manage the website, which also feature a statewide events calendar containing information about conferences, webinars and other events of interest to entrepreneurs at every stage of small business ownership.
“LED is proud to champion this statewide network that will help Louisiana entrepreneurs access the resources that they need to build and grow their small businesses,” LED Secretary Don Pierson said. “Louisiana is home to thousands of small businesses that are the heart and soul of our state’s economy. LED, with the support and collaboration of our local and regional partners, strives to provide founders with the tools and resources their businesses need to reach their full potential. This new platform can empower them to take the next step, whether it’s applying for a loan or preparing to expand into new markets.”
Louisiana Business Hub is organized regionally, with separate landing pages for each of the eight economic regions in the state, with a lead organization for each region. The Northeast, Northwest, and Capital regions will be the first regions fully populated with resources.
Launch Network, led by the Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program in Shreveport, is supporting efforts in the Northeast and Northwest regions. OneSource, led by Nexus LA in Baton Rouge, will drive efforts in the Capital region. Lafayette Economic Development Authority and One Acadiana are working with LED to fully launch the Acadiana region later in the year. LED will collaborate with other lead organizations for future launches in the Bayou, Central, Southeast and Southwest regions.
“The Louisiana Business Hub will be the support network our business community has been waiting for, and this is just the beginning,” Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program Executive Director Dave Smith said. “If you are a non-profit organization that provides a service to a business at any stage in their journey, you should join our movement.”
Louisiana Business Hub is built on the SourceLink platform, a nationally recognized program specializing in online community tools. Since inception, SourceLink has assisted almost 200 entrepreneurship and community development initiatives define and reach their unique goals for success.
“This collaboration signifies a new era of entrepreneurship in Greater Baton Rouge and we are excited to be one of the first regional hubs to offer this service,” said Na’Tisha Natt, Nexus LA director of marketing and engagement. “OneSource will make it much easier for entrepreneurs to identify and take advantage of the tools, information and resources they need to start and scale their businesses.”
About LED
Louisiana Economic Development is responsible for strengthening the state’s business environment and creating a more vibrant economy. It is the only state agency in the U.S. accredited by the International Economic Development Council, boasting award-winning programs like LED FastStart, rated the No. 1 customized workforce training program in the U.S. 13 years in a row. In 2022, LED attracted 53 new economic development projects representing 18,137 new direct, indirect and retained jobs and $20.7 billion in new capital investment. Explore how LED cultivates jobs and economic opportunity for the people of Louisiana and employers of all sizes at OpportunityLouisiana.com.
