BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry announced Will Green as its new president and CEO after a months-long search.

According to LABI, Green has served as the president and CEO of the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association since 2016.

“Will represents the best of a new generation of leadership at a time when their involvement has never been more essential,” said Jude Melville, LABI board chair and CEO of b1BANK.  “As our state’s primary advocate for the uplifting power of free enterprise, LABI has been a decades-long force for good—this choice ensures we can continue to positively impact the lives of Louisianans for years to come.”

“I’m honored by the confidence LABI’s officers have in my ability to lead this organization,” said Green. “LABI is a powerful voice for the Louisiana business community, and I am committed to honoring its past while focusing on its future. Our state is at a pivotal point in its history, and LABI is ready to advance the positive policies Louisiana desperately needs. I’m ready to get to work.”

LABI is a powerful entity that represents businesses of all sizes across the state and major industry partners.

“We need to create a business climate for our existing businesses that gives them relief from the burden that they’re currently under, burden of a noncompetitive tax climate, and a frivolous legal environment that they’re under,” Green said.

LABI works closely with lawmakers to pass legislation they feel is pro-business and better helps the state’s economy to support the job market. Green is looking forward to addressing the issue of the state’s young people leaving and jobs staying unfilled.

“We do have to focus on need-based educational reform,” Green said.

LABI has not had a new leader in a decade, with the past CEO Stephen Waguespack resigning to run for governor. The organization has supported measures such as school choice and centralized sales tax collection. It also wields its power in the labor committees, often coming out against raising the state minimum wage.

“Our state is positioned to be an economic driver and economic force, and those are the things that our state just has. Those are things you can’t change legislatively or regulate through regulations,” Green said.

Green will be in the front seat of making recommendations to legislators in the new administration to address the insurance crisis, education, and tax reform.