GNO, Inc. awarded the Mac Conway Award for Excellence in Economic Development by Site Selection Magazine

Site Selection Magazine awarded Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.) the Mac Conway Award for Excellence in Economic Development. The Mac Conway Award for Excellence in Economic Development recognizes the top economic development agencies of the previous year in both metropolitan and micropolitan areas. The criteria used to select the recipients includes the total number of …

President’s Message: Disrupt or be disrupted.

Recently, I attended a seminar at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week titled CEO Disrupt Breakfast featuring Steve Case, founder of AOL and one of America’s best-known and most accomplished entrepreneurs, and (New Orleans native) Walter Isaacson, president & CEO of the Aspen Institute and national writer and journalist. The rudimentary theme was that companies must disrupt …

New Orleans: A City for Entrepreneurs

The “Big Three” cities for entrepreneurship—San Francisco/San Jose, Boston and New York—all have a high cost of living, which can be difficult on a startup budget. Resultantly, entrepreneurs are starting to look elsewhere. Enter post-Katrina New Orleans. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita allowed one of America’s most historic places to reimage itself as a startup city …

Coastal Revenue Sharing: A Letter to the Editor

As chairman of the Coalition for Coastal Resilience and Economy (CCRE), which was formed last year under the umbrella of Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO Inc.), our primary mission is to use our business led coalition to ensure that the funds earmarked for coastal restoration are used for that intended purpose. While there are many …

New Orleans Named Among 2016 Markets to Watch

At the recent Urban Land Institute (ULI) Fall Meeting held in San Francisco, the keynote speaker Andy Warren of PwC presented the Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2016. This year’s release marks the 37th edition of the Emerging Trends in Real Estate®, which is undertaken jointly by PwC and ULI based on insights from hundreds of …

President’s Message: Reflection, Rebirth, Resiliency

Next week, we will pause to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. From the shock, disbelief and uncertainty in the days, weeks and months that followed, Southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast have persevered. New Orleans has risen up from the brink of death to emerge, as it once had been, into one of …

Coalition for Coastal Resilience and Economy (CCRE): Ecosystem Restoration Is Economic Development

As Chairman of the Coalition for Coastal Resilience and Economy (CCRE), I wanted to take a moment to introduce the coalition and give an update about the traction we’ve made in our first year. Launched in July 2014 by the economic development organization Greater New Orleans, Inc. (GNO, Inc.), CCRE is a business-led coalition tasked …

President’s Message: Change and Progress

Our 40th year is now in full swing! Recently, we officially celebrated this milestone during our annual Stirling Honors recognition luncheon. My message for the day centered around Tony Robins’ quote “Change is Inevitable. Progress is Optional.”  Stirling has survived and prospered over the years and it is clear that Stirling opted to choose progress. Here’s what 40 years …