Lori

Lori Melancon is the President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber (BRAC) and is one of the top place marketing and economic development leaders in the nation. She is known for her creativity, strategic approach, and passion she brings to every project.

Before joining BRAC as CEO, Lori was COO and VP of Marketing at Global Location Strategies (GLS), one of the nation’s top site selection consulting firms.

Prior to GLS, Lori was on the leadership team at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) and Louisiana Economic Development. Lori started her economic development career at BRAC.

During her tenure at VEDP she had a pivotal role in crafting the winning bid for Amazon’s HQ2, helped create Team Virginia—a private-sector funder partnership with the Virginia Chamber to market Virginia, and led site consultant cultivation efforts for the Commonwealth.

Lori began her work in economic development under the leadership of Stephen Moret in 2004 and was a key player in transforming the then Chamber of Greater Baton Rouge to the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. She worked on BRAC’s first campaign, the statewide LA Ethics 1 grassroots effort, and even produced a movie about the region called Revolution in 2006.

Lori earned a bachelor’s degree with College Honors from LSU and a master’s in occupational technology from the University of Houston.