What a difference $65 billion makes.

That was the takeaway from a keynote presentation by Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois and Entergy Louisiana CEO Phillip May at the Tulane Business Forum on Friday, who argued that a series of major investments portend a new era of economic swagger for the state.

Before a crowd of about 500 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Bourgeois pointed to the last 21 months of outside investment in Louisiana, led by the $10 billion Meta data center in north Louisiana and the nearly $6 billion Hyundai steel plant near Baton Rouge, and said it’s time for Louisianans to believe in the state’s prospects again.

“We've been working hard to change the narrative,” Bourgeois said. “There’s been this feeling that we’re not good enough. We

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