Patrick has served as the Director of Small Business and Community Services at Louisiana Economic Development since 2005. He has over 35 years of experience in community and economic development, public finance, and government.

In addition to his work with small business and community capacity building, Patrick serves as staff support for the department’s engagement with regional economic development organizations as well as disaster response, recovery, and resilience.

Patrick earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He has served on the New Roads City Council, as President of the Pointe Coupee Chamber of Commerce, President of the Louisiana Industrial Development Executives Association (LIDEA), and as State President of the Louisiana Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees).

He and his wife of 39+ years, Stephanie reside in New Roads.

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Stephanie R. Hartman is a native of Baton Rouge. She graduated with a BA in English from Louisiana State University (LSU) with some courses completed at the University of Essex in Colchester, England. Following her undergraduate education at LSU, she completed her Masters in Business Administration in the LSU Flores MBA Program while working for the E.J. Ourso College of Business Office of Advancement and interning for Celtic Media Studios in Baton Rouge.

Following the completion of the Flores MBA Program, Stephanie worked for a little over a year in the Louisiana film industry and later began working for a small consulting business assisting an out of state Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with their New Market Tax Credit allocation and related SBA 7(A) loans.

Stephanie joined the LED Small Business Services team in 2012 and has worked with planning, coordinating, and implementing programmatic and policy-based efforts that enhance the entrepreneurial environment across the state of Louisiana. Since joining the Small Business Services team, Stephanie has completed certification as an Economic Development Finance Professional and has had the privilege of working to implement programs and resources for business owners and prospective business owners across all industries to help start, sustain and grow their businesses.

Stacey Neal is the Director of Community Competitiveness with Louisiana Economic Development. For 14 years prior to joining LED, she was the Community Developer for the City of Hammond and then Executive Director of Economic Development for Tangipahoa Parish.

Stacey grew up in Tangipahoa Parish and graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in 1991 earning a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. She has also completed training through the Community Development Institute in Conway, AR, where she received the Professional Community and Economic Development certification 2010. In addition, she holds the Certified Louisiana Economic Developer certification through LIDEA.  

She has served on committees for multiple Chambers of Commerce, was a board member on the Greater Hammond Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Northshore Technical and Community College Advisory Board, a board member of Louisiana Industrial Development Executives Association (LIDEA), Past President of Southeastern Louisiana University Alumni Association, sits on the Southeastern Marketing Program Advisory Board, and is a graduate and past board member of Leadership Tangipahoa.  Stacey most recently completed the Delta Leadership Institute, a community development program of the Delta Regional Authority.

Robby Abboud is the Assistant Director of Community Competitiveness at Louisiana Economic Development. With six years of prior experience in association management within the legal field, Robby has developed statewide contacts in both private and public sectors. He earned his Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from Louisiana State University in 2014, where he served as Treasurer of the Public Administration Institute Student Association (PAISA). Robby is in the process of completing training through IEDC’s Basic Economic Development Course, along with Louisiana Industrial Development Executives Association’s (LIDEA) Certified Louisiana Economic Developer (CLED) Community Development Course.

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Robby is responsible for the development and statewide implementation of LED’s Community Competitiveness Initiative (CCI). The CCI program is designed to enhance community competitiveness by focusing on economic development capacity and readiness at local levels. The initiative raises awareness of the processes of economic development and the necessary factors to achieve success. It provides community leaders with clear direction on specific resources needed to foster successful economic development while increasing collaboration between municipal, parish, regional, and state economic development practitioners.

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Robby also functions as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Military Advisory Council (LMAC). LMAC was formed to provide a forum for issues concerning the installations and units of the Armed Forces located in Louisiana and the military and retired military personnel and their families who reside in Louisiana. They are responsible for formulating goals and objectives to enhance cooperation, coordination, communication, and understanding among the military, United States Department of Defense, the Louisiana Congressional Delegation, the communities in the state interfacing with the military, and state and local government agencies.

Christopher P. Cassagne was born and raised in the Greater New Orleans area, where he graduated from Brother Martin High School in 2008. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Marketing from Louisiana State University (LSU) and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the LSU Flores MBA Program with a dual concentration in Human Resource Management and Global Entrepreneurship.

Chris joined the Small Business Services group within Louisiana Economic Development in October of 2014. He is responsible for programs and initiatives related to accelerating the growth of second-stage companies throughout the entire state of Louisiana. In April 2015, he was awarded a Professional Certification in the Principles of Economic Gardening (EGc) by the National Center for Economic Gardening (NCEG), which focuses on the organization and implementation of a high fidelity Economic Gardening program. The Edward Lowe Foundation – a national non-profit organization – has and continues to recognize Louisiana’s complete suite of services as a best practice and national model for nurturing the second-stage business community.

In 2018, Chris was promoted to Assistant Director of LED Small Business Services and charged with branding, launching, and growing the LED Growth Network, which is the expanding suite of resources and offerings including peer-to-peer learning, strategic research, leadership retreats, networking events, awards, additional technical assistance, and more that are designed to accelerate the growth of Louisiana-based second-stage companies poised to create jobs and export their innovations beyond Louisiana borders. The LED Growth Network is constantly growing and has developed into a powerful alumni group of growth-oriented small businesses that as of January 1, 2020, collectively employ over 15,500 Full-Time Equivalent employees and represent over $3.3 Billion in annual sales.

Solomon Lee IV, a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Louisiana State University and A & M College.

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In 2019, Solomon worked as an intern with Nexus LA in Baton Rouge, LA. During his time with Nexus, he worked with the BizTech Fellows and BizTech Challenge program. The BizTech program is dedicated to sharing the principles of entrepreneurship to students enrolled in historically black colleges and universities (HBCU). His responsibilities included outreach with different universities and serving as a resource for students during the fellowship and challenge program. In addition, Solomon worked with Nexus LA to coordinate several other entrepreneurship-focused programs.

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In March 2020, Solomon joined the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) Small Business Services team as a Program Manager. As a Program Manager, he works to connect Louisiana small businesses to the many programs that LED offers including the Small & Emerging Business Development program.

Camille D. Campbell was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she graduated from McKinley Senior high school in 2014. In 2018, Camille graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management from Southeastern Louisiana University.

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In the Fall of 2018, Camille began working at Louisiana Workforce Commission, Research and Statistics Division, Occupational Employment Statistics unit as a Labor Market Specialist 1. There she began collecting and sampling occupational wage data from employers across the state of Louisiana for the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.

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In October of 2019, Camille joined the Small Business Services team at Louisiana Economic Development. In addition to supporting small and emerging businesses in Louisiana through the SEBD program, Camille is also charged with supporting and growing LED’s construction-based programs which include the Bonding Assistance Program and Louisiana Contractors Accreditation Institute. Since 2016, the Bonding Assistance Program has provided guarantees for a total of 38 projects, representing over $21 million-cumulative in contracts total. Also, since 2016, Louisiana Contractors Accreditation Institute has grown to three seminars with over 1,000 participants to graduate from the program.

Tatiana Bruce is a native of Cali, Colombia and has been living in Louisiana for the last ten years. In 2005 she graduated with a BS in Economics from Universidad del Valle (Cali, Colombia). Before graduating from College, she worked as an intern in a family-owned chemical company and after graduation moved to a position overseeing the retail side of the business gaining invaluable experience. After five years with the company she decided to expand her horizon and moved to the U.S. to pursue a Master’s degree and received a scholarship from Southern University and A&M College MBA program, completing her Master of Business Administration in December 2013.  

Tatiana joined the LED Small Business Services team in January 2014 and has worked with planning, coordinating, and implementing programmatic and educational efforts that enhance the entrepreneurial environment across the state of Louisiana. She is responsible for programs providing developmental and technical assistance to business owners including the Small and Emerging Business Development (SEBD) Program, Mentor Protégé Recognition Program in addition to supporting of business to business activities particularly related to women and minority owned businesses and monitoring small business rankings, best practices and policy issues to identify potential opportunities for enhancement of services to Louisiana small businesses.

Since joining the Small Business Services team, Tatiana has completed True South Economic Development Course at the University of Southern Mississippi and was awarded in 2018 a Professional Certification in the Principles of Economic Gardening (EGc) by the National Center for Economic Gardening (NCEG), which focuses on organization and implementation of a high fidelity Economic Gardening program.  She has enjoyed working with business owners and prospective business owners across all industries to help start, sustain and grow their businesses.