On the Move

On the Move: Jim Bourgeois

One Acadiana President and CEO Jason El Koubi, who has a background in economic expansion, Jim Bourgeois knows what it takes to attract and retain business.

Jim Bourgeois

One Acadiana has added another economic developer to its payroll. Like One Acadiana President and CEO Jason El Koubi, who has a background in economic expansion, Jim Bourgeois knows what it takes to attract and retain business.

Bourgeois, who previously was director of business development (corporate recruitment) for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, joins One Acadiana today as executive director of business development, heading up its new business attraction, retention and expansion program for the nine-parish region.

This newly created senior executive role for the regional business organization (formerly the Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce) will be funded by The Campaign for One Acadiana, a five-year regional economic development program that began its implementation phase this year.

Bourgeois has worked at BRAC since 2011 on a variety of programs, including corporate lead generation and business intelligence for the nine-parish capital region. According to a press release announcing his new post, he was a key player on a team that facilitated the recruitment, retention and expansion of more than 5,000 jobs through 55 projects. Those projects will generate nearly $300 million in new annual wages and approximately $8.6 billion in new capital investment across that region. During his time at BRAC, the organization was recognized as one of the Top Ten Economic Development Teams in the country by Site Selection magazine and named No. 1 Major Market by Southern Business & Development magazine.

Before joining BRAC, Bourgeois was a research analyst on the business intelligence team at Louisiana Economic Development (where he and El Koubi developed a working relationship), focused on business prospect evaluation and the development of proposals, incentive calculations and other analytical tools. His previous roles also include experience as a market research analyst for Innovative Emergency Management, where he evaluated conditions in local, regional, and national areas to determine market potential and strategic advantages.

In his new role, Bourgeois will also focus on diversifying Acadiana’s economic base with emerging growth industries. Under Bourgeois’ leadership, One Acadiana will seek to fill several other business development positions to support his efforts, including a director of business expansion and retention and a project manager focused on site development.

Bourgeois’ selection concludes a targeted search effort by some of Acadiana’s key economic development leaders including Gregg Gothreaux, president & CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority, and Mike Tarantino, president and CEO of the Iberia Industrial Development Foundation. The committee was chaired by attorney Frank Neuner, managing partner of NeunerPate and a member of One Acadiana’s board of directors.

Bourgeois holds a BA and MBA from LSU. He and his wife, Jenee, have three children: Jackson (8), Anna James (6), and Sloane (5).