Start a New Business in Louisiana

The business division of the State of Louisiana provides all the resources you need to start and grow your business. Programs and resources include:

• GeauxBiz: The Secretary of State's one-stop site for launching new businesses in Louisiana, providing current and potential business owners with all the necessary information to operate across the state.

• FastStart: Louisiana Economic Development's FastStart is a state workforce training program providing customized employee recruitment, screening, training development, and training delivery for eligible, new or expanding companies—all at no cost.

• FastLane: FastLane Next Generation is the web-based system that manages Louisiana’s business incentive programs that are approved by the Board of Commerce and Industry. FastLane is a secure online interface that allows applicants to electronically send data directly to Louisiana Economic Development. It is designed for individual applicants managing one company or consultants who manage multiple companies’ data.

State of Louisiana Business website

Louisiana Economic Development is responsible for strengthening the state's business environment and creating a more vibrant Louisiana economy. They offer:

Basics for Starting a Business
For prospective business owners, knowing where to start is important. Links to vital resources at the federal and state levels are provided within each section.

• Business Structure and Registration

• Tax and Insurance Requirements

• License and Permit Requirements

Statewide Business Counseling and Planning
Resources include one-on-one business consulting to entrepreneurs, affordable workshops and training seminars designed to help you broaden your business knowledge, and education and mentorship for pre-venture and early stage businesses in achieving their goals for business startup and growth.

617 North Third Street
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802
Phone: 800-450-8115

Louisiana Economic Development LED website

The Louisiana SBA is supported by a district office in New Orleans. It provides services including funding programs, counseling, federal contracting, certifications, and disaster recovery. They can also connect you to partner organizations, lenders, and other community groups that help small businesses succeed.

This location serves all 64 parishes across Louisiana.

Examples of educational programs and events include SAM Registration and Military Spouses Pathway to Business.

500 Poydras Street
Suite 828
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
Phone: 504-589-6685

Louisiana Small Business Administration SBA website

The goal of this nonprofit collaborative initiative is to connect you to key people, events and opportunities and ensure that New Orleans is a place for you to thrive and grow.

Entrepreneurship support organizations include:

Fund 17
Fund 17 partners with micro-entrepreneurs or self-employed individuals who are running informal, home-based, or small-scale enterprises. They offer business development relationships to provide the knowledge and support necessary to expand your business and livelihood, and Financial Empowerment seminars on basic personal finance as well as customized workshops based on the requests of community partners.

Lift Fund
Lift Fund is a nonprofit organization that helps small business owners with limited access to capital have a chance to live their dreams. Lift Fund offers services in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana.

trepwise
trepwise is an impact consulting firm whose mission is to use entrepreneurial thinking and approaches to grow and sustain for-profit and nonprofit organizations by providing innovative and practical solutions.

-and many more.

1250 Poydras Street
#2150
New Orleans, Louisiana 70113
Phone: 504-934-4571
Housed at the New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA)

504ward website

Formerly known as Good Work Network, Go.Be. helps entrepreneurial minority small business owners gain access to the resources they need to succeed and prosper—with a longer-lens focus on building a more diverse, inclusive and equitable economy. Go.Be. is focused on enhancing the community through skills development, contracts, and capital, and networks to scale as you go beyond survival to success.

Programs include:

• Level Up!: Get the business knowledge, management know-how, and networks you need to grow your small business. Accelerate your business to increase your revenue, create jobs, and positively impact your community.

• Mastering Money: Gain mastery of your business finances. Decipher financial statements and demystify business credit in this 4-part series.

2016 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard
New Orleans, Louisiana 70113
Phone: 504-309-2073

Go.Be. website

The Baton Rouge Area Chamber maintains partnerships with the region’s entrepreneurial resources to ensure that every aspiring business owner has the tools necessary for success.

BRAC has dedicated staff to help you get connected to the information and networks you need, including:

• Creating a business plan

• Small business coaching

• Obtaining DBE status or other certifications

• Becoming a vendor for other local businesses

• Contracting with municipal, state, or federal government entities

• Management consulting

• Access to capital

• Market research

• Workforce development

• Understanding federal, state and local incentives

David E. Roberts Center for Economic Development
564 Laurel Street
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70801
Phone: 225-381-7125

Baton Rouge Area Chamber Small Business and Entrepreneurship website

The Louisiana Small Business Development Center network (SBDC) provides tools, training and resources to help small businesses grow and succeed.

The Louisiana SBDC has 18 offices ranging from Alexandria to Thibodaux to serve the needs of Louisiana’s business community. The network helps construct a statewide ecosystem to foster the spirit, support, and success of entrepreneurs and innovators.

In addition to the primary state office in Baton Rouge, there are 9 additional office locations across Louisiana in Alexandria, Baton Rouge, Hammond, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans, Shreveport, and Thibodaux.

SBDC at Louisiana State University
8000 Innovation Park Drive
Building 3000
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70820
Phone: 225-578-4842

Louisiana Small Business Development Center SBDC website

Nexus Louisiana’s mission is to accelerate the growth of high-potential technology-enabled companies by providing them with coaching, capital, and connections. Programs leverage regional collaboration to foster mentorship, investment, and opportunity for local entrepreneurs to grow their ideas and transform the technology industry in Louisiana.

The organization’s goal is to support Louisiana’s talented entrepreneurs as they shape the future of business.

7117 Florida Boulevard
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806
Phone: 225-218-1100

Nexus Louisiana website

NAWBO-NOLA is the local New Orleans chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). NAWBO propels women entrepreneurs into economic, social, and political spheres of power worldwide. NAWBO-NOLA is proud to be the premier organization supporting and representing the interests of women business owners in the Greater New Orleans region.

You can engage actively with the New Orleans chapter. Monthly meetings provide networking opportunities with other women business owners while learning about a topic of relevance to your business. Monthly Friday Briefs series of conference calls and webinars are timely, “Just the Facts Ma'am” information for the business woman on the go. Plus, a series of social mixers/networking events and social media provide ample opportunities to stay “In the Know.”

NAWBO National Association of Women Business Owners’ Louisiana website

The Women’s Business Resource Center (WBRC) was established in 2001 to support minority and women-owned businesses as a pathway to secure economic parity for African Americans and other underserved populations.

The WBRC provides small-business development services including business education workshops and interactive trainings, hands-on technical assistance, and access to resources relevant to aspiring and existing entrepreneurs throughout southeastern Louisiana.

Services include: comprehensive business planning and support, loan packaging, business certifications, and assistance with operational streamlining, business financials, and accounting.

Main office:
4640 South Carrollton Avenue
Suite 210
New Orleans, Louisiana 70119
Phone: 504-620-2332

Urban League of Louisiana Women’s Business Resource Center website

Baton Rouge office:
445 North 12th Street
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70802
Phone: 225-831-1501

The library has a variety of free tools that can turn your idea into something solid. For established businesses, they can also help you find new customers. Get in touch and arrange a consultation with a business librarian to see what the library can do for you. This service is free.

Staff can come out and meet with you and customize what the library offers to match your unique needs.

7711 Goodwood Boulevard
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806
Phone: 225-231-3740

East Baton Rouge Parish Public Library Small Business Services website

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps small businesses get the funding they need. Funding resources include:

• Loans - Start or expand your business with loans guaranteed by the SBA.

• Investment capital - Find an investor for your business. Investors make both debt and equity investments.

• Disaster assistance - Get help after a disaster with low-interest disaster loans.

• Surety bonds - Protect your work and your client with an SBA-guaranteed surety bond.

• Grants - Look for government grants that help businesses do scientific research and development.

United States Small Business Administration SBA website

Innovation Catalyst is a nonprofit venture development organization formed by community leaders to strengthen and broaden Louisiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and drive new high-tech company formation through education, connections, and capital. The company is committed to creating a small-business owners culture by investing in local entrepreneurs and catalyze a change for business ownership in Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas.

They collaborate with existing resources throughout the state to identify, engage, educate, and connect Louisiana entrepreneurs to the right resources to accelerate their business.

Innovation Catalyst is laying a solid foundation for Louisiana’s future economy through The Catalyst Fund, NexusLA, Entrepreneurial Education, and Women and Minority Support.

7117 Florida Boulevard
Suite 202
Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806
Phone: 225-215-2466

Innovation Catalyst website

LiftFund is a non-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and Community Development Corporation (CDC) that supports small business owners with limited access to capital through small business loans and technical support for their dreams of entrepreneurship.

LiftFund provides small business loans for women, minorities, and startups in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lafayette, and throughout Louisiana. These loans include:

• Small business loans in Louisiana up to $250,000

• Startup loans

• SBA 7a Community Advantage loans

• Business and financial training

1240 North Claiborne Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70116
Phone: 1-888-215-2373

Lift Fund website

The Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Freeman School of Business brings together scholars, inventors, investors, and students to solve problems and build businesses.

The Lepage Center offers programs and resources geared toward the entire Tulane community, including faculty, staff, students and alumni both within Freeman and across campus. In addition, they work with entrepreneurs in the Greater New Orleans and Gulf South regions.

Student programs include academic courses, a minor in Entrepreneurial Business, five monthly pitch competitions and the Tulane Business Model Competition. Community programs include the Tulane Family Business Center and the Greater New Orleans Startup Report.

A. B. Freeman School of Business
Goldring/Woldenberg Business Complex
7 McAlister Drive
New Orleans, Louisiana 70118

Tulane University Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the A.B. Freeman School of Business website

The Center for Entrepreneurship and Community Development (CECD) is Loyola's hub for entrepreneurial activity across campus and a vital link to the New Orleans entrepreneurial community.

Through internships, business competitions, specialized training, and one-on-one mentorship, students involved in the CECD can identify problems quickly and produce sustainable solutions through critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability. Through an Entrepreneurship Minor or MBA specialization, students across all majors can gain the training needed to bring innovation to large organizations, or brand new startups.

Loyola University New Orleans
6363 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, Louisiana 70118

Center for Entrepreneurship Phone:
504-864-7927

Loyola University New Orleans College of Business website

Located in the College of Business, the Center for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology (CEnIT) connects the talents and resources of the College of Engineering and Science and the College of Business. Working to advance research, entrepreneurial education, and technology transfer, the entrepreneurial ecosystem is focused on providing services, support, and networking opportunities to facilitate rapid growth for new ventures and innovation within existing business enterprises.

The Center works with both aspiring entrepreneurs and existing businesses to offer intensive training, coaching, and consulting from experienced professionals. Through a wide range of programs, events, and courses, entrepreneurs are guided through the startup and expansion process. Students get the opportunity to conduct in-depth customer discovery, research, and validation to refine a minimum viable product and develop an effective business model and funding proposal.

Louisiana Tech University
Ruston, Louisiana 71272
Phone: 318-257-2000

Louisiana Tech University Center for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology at the College of Business website

Business news, commentary and analysis of New Orleans and its surrounding area.

Topics include the the top business news of the day, hospitality, tech, healthcare, oil and gas, real estate, education, politics, and banking and finance.

110 Veterans Boulevard
Suite 123
Metairie, Louisiana 70005
Phone: 504-828-1380

BIZ New Orleans website

Greater Baton Rouge Business Report is committed to delivering comprehensive, accurate, coverage of the Baton Rouge business scene.

Business Report is required reading for area professionals, executives and small business owners. They deliver the business news first, spotlighting the local players, keeping a finger on the pulse of the economy, and “putting a face” on business issues.

The Business Awards & Hall of Fame, Influential Women in Business, and Top 40 Under 40 are also some of the most anticipated annual events of the business community.

9029 Jefferson Highway
Suite 300
Baton Rouge Louisiana 70809
Phone: 225-928-1700

Greater Baton Rouge Business Report website

New Orleans CityBusiness provides the most in-depth, up-to-the-minute coverage of business trends in the region. Its reporting staff provides thorough coverage of the area’s industry spectrum: real estate, construction, culture, economic development, banking, retail, government, technology, investment, military, tourism, healthcare, energy, maritime, and emerging sectors.

From employment numbers to revenue and sales figures, the industry lists that appear in each issue and in the annual Book of Lists are an unparalleled source for local business data.

3350 Ridgelake Drive
Suite 281
Metairie, Louisiana 70002
Phone: 504-834-9292

New Orleans CityBusiness website