Alabama-based Radiance Technologies is investing $370 million to build a “state-of-the-art” secure microchip packaging facility in Ruston.
Radiance, an employee-owned defense contractor, has offices in Baton Rouge and Shreveport. Its new 40,000-square-foot facility in north Louisiana will house microchip research and development, design and fabrication operations.
News of the project comes amid President Donald Trump’s push to make the U.S. self-sufficient when it comes to advanced manufacturing. The president has framed the nation’s reliance on foreign chipmakers as a national security risk.
“[The facility] is going to start to do what President Trump has continuously tried to do in his ‘America First’ program, wanting to reshore, wanting to bring domestic manufacturing, and especially those vital components that we need in our supply chain,” Gov. Jeff Landry said in a Monday morning press conference announcing the project.
Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2026 and end in the summer of 2027, according to Louisiana Economic Development. The facility is expected to create 150 direct new jobs with an average salary of $85,000―180% higher than the average Lincoln Parish salary.
LED, Louisiana Tech University, the Louisiana Tech University Foundation and the city of Ruston all played “key roles” in securing the project, state officials say.
Radiance is already a tenant of Louisiana Tech’s Enterprise Campus research park, and LED is awarding $17 million to the university to upgrade its research equipment and create specialized training programs in secure chip manufacturing. Through a performance-based grant, LED is also providing $20 million in matching dollars to the Louisiana Tech University Foundation for the purchase of equipment at the new facility, with funding tied to project milestones.
Radiance CEO Bill Bailey, a Louisiana Tech alumnus, calls the project a “win-win” for his company, the university, the Ruston community and Louisiana as a whole.
“We’re honored by the trust being placed in us and recognize what makes this region truly special,” a statement from Bailey reads. “We look forward to contributing to this community’s continued growth and success.”
The Radiance facility is the second major economic development project to be announced for north Louisiana in recent months. Late last year, it was announced that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is building a $10 billion AI data center in Richland Parish.
