Biz New Orleans February 2018

Annual BEST LAWYERS ISSUE! CHRIS MEAUX CEO of Waitr

His food delivery app is racking up new markets and CEO Chris Meaux is aiming high, but

Will Waitr DELiver the tech win we need? february 2018

Perfect Pitch:

8 tips for making your idea stand out pg. 36

Compensation and Benefits:

How one tech firm revamped to stay competitive pg. 56

Doubling In Size: M.S. Rau Antiques expands as retail everywhere is shrinking pg. 64

2 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

4 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

bizneworleans.com / 5

Publisher Todd Matherne

Editorial Editor-in-Chief Errol Laborde Managing Editor Kimberley Singletary Art Director Sarah George Web Editor Kelly Massicot Associate News Editor Jenny Peterson Multimedia Blogger Leslie T. Snadowsky

Contributors Julia Carcamo, Maria Clark, Rebecca Friedman, Pamela Marquis, Ashley McLellan, Chris Price, Kim Roberts, Jessica Rosgaard, Jennifer Gibson Schecter, Will Scott, Poppy Tooker, Keith Twitchell, Melanie Warner Spencer

Advertising Vice President of Sales Colleen Monaghan (504) 830-7215 Colleen@BizNewOrleans.com Sales Manager Maegan O’Brien (504) 830-7219 Maegan@BizNewOrleans.com Senior Account Executive Caitlin Sistrunk (504) 830-7252 Caitlin@BizNewOrleans.com Senior Account Executive Carly Goldman (504) 830-7225 Carly@BizNewOrleans.com Account Executive Jessica Jaycox (504) 830-7255 JessicaJ@BizNewOrleans.com

Marketing Director of Marketing & Events Cheryl Lemoine Event Coordinator Whitney Weathers Digital Media Associate Mallary Matherne For event information, call (504) 830-7264

Production Production Manager Jessica DeBold Traffic Manager Topher Balfer Production Designers Emily Andras, Demi Schaffer, Molly Tullier

Administration Chief Executive Officer Todd Matherne President Alan Campell Executive Vice President Errol Laborde Office Manager Mallary Matherne Distribution Manager John Holzer Subscription Manager Brittanie Bryant For subscriptions, call (504) 830-7231 AABP 2016 Award of Excellence Bronze: Best Feature Layout 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123 Metairie, LA 70005 (504) 828-1380 Biz New Orleans is published monthly by Renaissance Publishing, LLC, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005; (504) 828-1380. Subscription rate: one year $24.95, two year $39.95, three year $49.95 — foreign rates vary call for pricing. Postage paid at Metairie, LA, and additional mailing entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Biz New Orleans, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. Copyright 2016 Biz New Orleans. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. The trademark Biz New Orleans is registered. Biz New Orleans is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos and artwork, even if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. The opinions expressed in Biz New Orleans are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine or owner.

6 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

top stories this month

features

ABOVE: Antiques powerhouse M.S. Rau is in the process of doubling its downtown footprint.

58

64

69

Salt of the Earth with a Head in the Clouds

French Quarter Gem Shines in Era of Declining Retail

Best Lawyers

Small town native Chris Meaux, CEO of food delivery app Waitr, has found fast success targeting smaller markets “the big guys won’t touch.” Not afraid to think big, he’s now setting out to transform the entire restaurant industry.

By kim singletary photographs by craig mulcahy

The largest antiques dealer in North America, M.S. Rau will soon double in size.

By rebecca friedman photographs by jeffery johnston

1,457 Lawyers in 107 Specialties PLUS Toughest Cases profiles by MARIA CLARK photographs by jeffery johnston

february 2018 / Volume 4 / Issue 5

contents 12 / Editor’s note

32 / sports

A Maybe Not-SoGuilty Pleasure

Second Half Comeback: Pelicans need to rebound after All-Star break to make the postseason a reality

14 / publisher’s note

EO Louisiana 18 / Calendar

34 / entertainment 20 / industry news 22 / recent openings 24 / Events

perspectives 44 / maritime & ports

Time to Go Deep: Southeast Louisiana maritime professionals continue their fight to dredge to 50 feet.

What Hollywood Learned in 2017: Women dominated both the box office and the Golden Globes. Will 2018 continue the trend?

36 / entrepreneurship

Grooving Your Pitch: Professional tips for success in pitch competitions.

38 / etiquette

in the biz

Time Crunch: The art of rescheduling meetings

28 / dining

Bean Business: A look at the Louisiana institution that is Camellia beans.

30 / tourism

40 / marketing

A Second Chance: Resolutions not going so well?

Don’t give up yet on improving your skills.

48 / education

Train and Retain: A New $13 million grant aims to address New Orleans’ teacher shortage.

52 / healthcare

Heart Health in 2018: The nation’s largest killer will be met by multiple technological innovations this year.

from the lens 96 / great workspaces

Romance in Any Language: Looking for a Valentine’s Day gift? Check out a new French ballet interpretation of “Roméo and Juliette.”

Creative Collective: Four female business owners share success in an Uptown Victorian cottage 102 / why didn’t i think of that?

Tip of the Hat: Colby Hebert, a.k.a. The Cajun Hatter, is introducing New Orleans to his version of “Swamp Chic.”

56 / guest viewpoint

on the cover Chris Meaux, CEO of food delivery app Waitr.

Photograph by Craig Mulcahy.

We Did It, Should You?: Faced with retention problems, Will Scott, CEO of Search Influence, shares how the tech company revamped their compensation and benefits package.

106 / making a match: businesses and nonprofits

Hooves That Heal: The Greater New Orleans Therapeutic Riding Center in Laplace offers a great opportunity to support children and adults with disabilities.

112 / on the job

How the Sausage is Made — Charlie’s Sausage

Editor’s Note

A Maybe Not-So-Guilty Pleasure It’s February in New Orleans, which means one thing is on everyone’s mind — Mardi Gras. In

my house, however, it’s not King Cake that’s dominating our sweet dreams, it’s Girl Scout Cookies.

My daughter is a Brownie this year and I am both her troop leader and the troop’s cookie manager. What does this mean? Among other things it means that later this month you may catch me driving a car packed to the gills with Girl Scout cookies, obsessed with the thought at every stoplight that if ever I was going to get carjacked — this would be the time.

It also means my dining room will again be taken over by boxes and boxes of Peanut Butter Patties and Samoas (now called Caramel deLites) and the new favorite cookie, S’mores. I will be harassing my co-workers to forget about their post-Mardi Gras diets and emailing family members with videos of my little girl hopefully being too cute to resist.

But the best thing I will be doing this month is helping my daughter, and 10 other 7-year-old girls, learn how to set a goal for themselves, manage money, market a product, have the confidence to pitch it to someone and learn how to work as a team toward a common goal.

All this and I get a freezer stacked with Thin Mints for the year… It’s a beautiful thing.

So, this is my pitch — please join me this year in supporting the next generation of business leaders.

For these young girls, this is their Superbowl. From February 23 through March 11, Girl Scouts across the country will be standing at tables, reaching out to strangers to ask for their support in achieving their goals. Know that 100 percent of what you spend stays local — all the proceeds go straight back to Girl Scouts Louisiana East, with a portion going to that girl’s troop.

For those of you who want to stay on that diet AND do even more good, you can always buy cookies and donate them. Our troop’s charity this year is the New Orleans Women and Children’s Shelter. Basically, “If you can’t eat ‘em, treat ‘em.”

On that note, last year we had an older gentleman walk up to our booth and hand over a $20 bill while explaining sweetly to our girls that he has diabetes so he can’t eat cookies, but he was so proud of what they were doing. The girls talked about him all day.

Every sale means something to them, just like it does for every business owner.

So, happy Mardi Gras, and Happy Cookie Time to you!

On the Web

Beyond the Magazine But wait, there’s more! Visit BizNewOrleans.com to watch videos from this month’s issue, including:

NOCHI Grand Opening It was standing room only at the opening of the New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute on Jan. 16. See what they have cooking.

Fab Lab NOLA Tour

Kimberley Singletary Managing Editor Kimberley@BizNewOrleans.com

12 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Take a peek at the new Fab Lab NOLA, located at Delgado Community College’s City Park avenue campus, where manufacturing and design tools like laser cutters and 3D printers are being made available to community learners and small businesses.

Meet the Sales Team

Maegan O’Brien Sales Manager (504) 830-7219 Maegan@BizNewOrleans.com

Caitlin Sistrunk Senior Account Executive (504) 830-7252 Caitlin@BizNewOrleans.com

Carly Goldman

Senior Account Executive (504) 830-7225 Carly@BizNewOrleans.com

Jessica Jaycox Account Executive

(504) 830-7255 JessicaJ@BizNewOrleans.com

Colleen Monaghan Vice President of Sales (504) 830-7215 Colleen@BizNewOrleans.com 16 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

A STUNNING COLLECTION OF 50 TRADITIONAL (AND SOME NON-TRADITIONAL) LOUISIANA RECIPES. AN ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE FOR YOUR KITCHEN, OR THE PERFECT GIFT FOR A LOUISIANA FOOD LOVER.

$16.95

TO ORDER VISIT

LOUISIANACOOKBOOK.COM Now in its second printing!

Calendar

February 2

Jefferson Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting 8 to 11 a.m.

Crowne Plaza New Orleans Airport 2829 Williams Blvd., Kenner

6

New Orleans Chamber of Commerce Power Breakfast sponsored by Fidelity Bank 8 to 9:30 a.m.

1515 Poydras St. NewOrleansChamber.org

8

LABI Annual Meeting — Reimagining Louisiana: Bolder Vision, Brighter Future Presented by Cajun Industries LLC 8 a.m.

Crowne Plaza Executive Center 4728 Constitution Ave., Baton Rouge

15

AMA New Orleans Event Marketing on a Global Level — Takeaways Every Marketer Can Use Featuring Live Nation’s Senior Marketing Manager, Mark Roberts 11:30 a.m .to 1 p.m.

Location T.B.A. AMANewOrleans.com

15

ABWA New Orleans Monthly Luncheon 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Cannery 3803 Toulouse St., New Orleans ABWA New Orleans.org

20

St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce B2B Networking 8 to 9 a.m.

Chamber Board Room 610 Hollycrest Blvd., Covington StTammanyChamber.org

21

22

Propeller Raising Capital: Perfecting the Ask & Closing the Deal Session 5 of a 6 session free series 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Propeller Incubator 4035 Washington Ave., New Orleans GoPropeller.org

23

Jefferson Chamber of Commerce Business & Breakfast 7:45 to 9:30 a.m.

Zea Rotisserie & Bar 5080 Pontchartrain Blvd.

JeffersonChamber.org

23

Jefferson Parish Public Schools Career Expo 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

UNO Lakefront Arena 6801 Franklin Ave. JPSchools.org

27

Louisiana Statewide Economic Development Summit presented by Entergy 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

L’Auberge Casino Hotel 777 L’Auberge Ave. Baton Rouge BRAC.org

28

Jefferson Chamber of Commerce Legislative Issues Breakfast 8:30 to 10 a.m.

Crowne Plaza New Orleans Airport 2829 Williams Blvd., Kenner JeffersonChamber.org

28

St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce State of the Parish Breakfast 7:30 to 9 a.m.

Benedict’s Plantation 1144 N. Causeway Blvd., Mandeville StTammanyChamber.org

Jefferson Chamber of Commerce Prosper Jefferson — Life Cycle of Business Part 1: How to Start a Business 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Location T.B.A. JeffersonChamber.org

21

St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce Exploring Cloud Based Accounting — Free Seminar 9 to 10:30 a.m.

Chamber Offices 610 Hollycrest Blvd., Covington StTammanyChamber.org

18 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

For a more complete list of events visit BizNewOrleans.com. We’d love to include your businessrelated event in next month’s calendar. Please email details to Editorial@BizNewOrleans.com.

ADVERTISEMENT

Close your next deal at one of these business-friendly bistros.

Compére Lapin

NOSH

535 Tchoupitoulas • (504) 599-2119 comperelapin

752 Tchoupitoulas St. • (504) 581-7101 noshneworleans.com

Inspiration for the menu comes from the traditional Caribbean folktales featuring a mischievous rabbit named Compère Lapin that Chef Nina Compton read during her childhood in St. Lucia. Drawing on the story’s themes of exploration and play, she mixes the indigenous ingredients and rich culinary heritage of New Orleans with those of her Caribbean roots.

Tapping into her classical French culinary training and deep experience with Italian cuisine, the result is a playful menu that takes food you know, and makes it food you love.”

New Orleans Social House is located in the historic Warehouse District of New Orleans. Combining the fun of a music venue, the cuisine of a worldly new restaurant, and the beverages of a high end craft cocktail & wine bar, NOSH encapsulates the true essence of a “good time.” From a friendly outing, to a work meet & greet, to a date night, NOSH transforms a social house into a home for all. Social Hour 4pm-7pm daily.

Briquette

Riccobono’s Peppermill Restaurant

701 S Peters St. • (504) 302-7496 briquette-nola.com

3524 Severn Ave., Metairie • (504) 455-2266 riccobonospeppermill.com

Briquette features a contemporary, yet casual, restaurant interior marked by our signature open kitchen. Briquette is proud to showcase contemporary and coastal dishes like Snapper Pontchartrain, Louisiana Redfish on the Half Shell, and Peppercorn Crusted Strip Steak. Located in the Warehouse District, Briquette is the perfect place for any business luncheon. Stop by for lunch any time Monday-Friday between 11am-3pm or happy hour any time between 3-6pm!

For over 42 years the Riccobono family has been serving classic New Orleans and Italian fare to locals and visitors alike. Timeless classics like Shrimp Creole, Trout Amandine, Veal Parmigiana, Oyster Riccobono and much more. Consistently rated as one of the top dining destinations of Metairie. Private dinning facilities available for meetings and events. Join us for a meal to remember. Open Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. On parade route. Book your parade reservations now! bizneworleans.com / 19

Industry News

stats

Louisiana Among Top 10 States for Outbound Moves According to Atlas® Van Lines’ 2017 Migration Patterns study, Louisiana ranked 9th in the country for outbound moves.

This is the third year in a row that more than 55 percent of moves in the state were outbound.

10 U.S. States with Highest Percentage of Outbound Moves 1. Illinois (62.4%) 2. West Virginia (60.4%) 3. Nebraska (60.3%) 4. South Dakota (59.9%)

tourism

5. Hawaii (59.8%)

WWII Museum Sets Visitation Records

6. Indiana (59.7%)

In 2017, the National WWII Museum welcomed the most visitors since opening its doors in 2000 — 706,664 people. Just before closing out the year, the museum broke its previous single-day attendance record of 5,553 set in 2016 by welcoming 6,642 guests Dec. 27, 2017. The National WWII Museum has been the No. 1 attraction in New Orleans for five years running.

7. Delaware (59.6%) 8. New York (59.2%) 9. Louisiana (57.9%) 10. Kansas (57.7%)

AWARD-WINNING

Robert R. Barkerding Jr. Named Maritime Person of the Year

National recognition

Chairman of the Commissioners for the Port of New Orleans and President of Admiral Security Services, Robert R. Barkerding, Jr. “Rusty” was named the 59th recipient of the Propeller Club of the U.S. Port of New Orleans on Jan. 11. The award was presented at the 84th Annual Maritime Person of the Year Gala held at the New Orleans Marriott Convention Center. The event was emceed by Propeller Club President, William “Bill” Baraldi.

Brandy Christian, president and CEO for the Port of New Orleans introduced Barkerding.

The New York Times Celebrates New Orleans

Tulane Launches Immersion Program for Biotech Execs and Investors Biotech executives, venture capitalists, scientists and entrepreneurs visiting New Orleans will now have access to a fully functional, on-the-go workspace at Tulane University School of Medicine. Located in the heart of the city’s medical and biotech corridor, the new In-Residence Immersion Program will provide these visiting professionals with an easy way to learn about the research community in the city.

20 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

George Brower, one of NOCHI’s founding members and current board co-chair and treasurer, speaking about what’s next after closing on funding for the $32 million New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute and breaking ground on the project at 725 Howard Ave. on Jan. 16.

education

Online Enrollment Boom at Delgado Delgado Community College is among the fastest-growing online higher education providers in the nation, according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Education, which ranked Delgado 60th among all American colleges and universities in the number of students enrolled online.

In the fall of 2015, online enrollment reached 4,828 students. In the fall of 2016, it jumped to 11,791. Online students hail from not only Louisiana, but 19 other states representing every region of the country.

School officials attribute the jump to increased course offerings, flexible scheduling and offering courses that can be completed in eight weeks rather than the traditional 16.

t u l an e p hoto by r yan r i v e t; w w ii m u s e u m p hoto by ch e r y l g e r b e r

In early January, The New York Times named New Orleans the No. 1 destination to visit in 2018.

According to the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau (NOCVB), 25 other media outlets have also called out the city as a great destination for 2018, including: Conde Nast Traveler, AARP, Travel + Leisure, Fodor’s, Frommer’s Travel Guides, Essence, Robb Report, Bloomberg, CNN Travel, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, and the UK’s The Globe and Mail and Harper’s Bazaar.

“We are now shifting our focus to fundraising, not only so that NOCHI is able to meet its financial obligations, but so the school is adequately funded for long-term growth and success.”

bizneworleans.com / 21

Recent Openings

El Doco Loco Dance Studio The creation of Kenner pediatrician and ER physician Dr. Raymond Poliquit, El Doco Loco Dance Studio opened Jan. 19 at 500 Vintage Drive, Unit F in Kenner.

The studio aims to bring fun to fitness at the Chateau Estates Neighborhood.

El Doco Loco offers a variety of Zumba fitness classes for both adults and children, along with specialty dance classes, including line dancing.

COMING SOON

Children’s Hospital expansion

Cambria Hotel A Mardi Gras-style second-line parade was used to help announce the grand opening of the Cambria Hotel New Orleans at 632 Tchoupitoulas Street in the heart of the Warehouse District on Jan. 11. Cambria’s first venture into Louisiana, the boutique hotel features 153 guest rooms and nine suites. The property is part of a venture by Fillmore Hospitality and Choice Hotels to increase Cambria’s presence across the country. There are currently 32 Cambria hotels in the U.S., with another 100 slated to open or in the pipeline in the U.S. and Canada.

Ruby Slipper Café NOCHI Set to open its doors in 2019, the New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute broke ground Jan. 16. The $32 million culinary school is co-founded by Ti Adelaide Martin, co-proprietor of The Commander’s Family of Restaurants; Dickie Brennan, owner of Palace Café, Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse, Bourbon House and Tableau; and George Brower, tax credit specialist and developer of $125-plus million in commercial ventures, including the Saenger Theatre and La Petit Theatre in New Orleans.

22 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant, the Ruby Slipper Café, opened its flagship restaurant in MidCity on Jan. 11. In addition to housing the company’s corporate offices, the 10,000-square-foot location at 315 S. Broad Street includes a commissary kitchen, 125 seats for dining, including a room for private events, outdoor seating and a wraparound balcony, plus a children’s play area. The Ruby Slipper Café first opened in 2008 and now has five locations in New Orleans, as well as in Baton Rouge; Pensacola, Florida; Orange Beach, Alabama; and Mobile, Alabama.

On Jan. 4, Children’s Hospital announced its plans to construct a new Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Center at its 17-acre State Street campus. Construction is set to begin in late spring of this year on a new building with a 50-bed capacity. Completion is anticipated in the fall of 2019. The hospital’s current behavioral health unit on its Calhoun street campus has 34 beds.

Humana Reopening In order to accommodate the growing number of people participating in its free fitness classes, health and wellness seminars, healthy cooking demonstrations and disease-specific education classes, health benefit company Humana relocated its neighborhood location in Metairie to 747 Veterans Memorial Blvd. on Jan. 11. The new location’s 6,500-squarefoot space is almost double the size of the previous location.

bizneworleans.com / 23

Events 1

1

2

2

3

3

Fidelity Bank P.O.W.E.R. program luncheon for womenowned businesses

St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce Installation & Awards Luncheon

Wednesday, December 13 | Treme Market

Wednesday, January 10 | The Greystone

At Fidelity Bank’s P.O.W.E.R. Program for women-owned businesses, guest speaker Kate Armstrong, a.k.a. “International Kate,” shared her dedication in 2016 to buying products and services from only women-owned companies.

In addition to welcoming new board members, the St. Tammany West Chamber presented its Community Leadership Award to Dr. William Wainwright, chancellor of Northshore Technical Community College and the Tammany Award for Business of the Year to Stone Creek Club and Spa at this year’s luncheon. General Manager Larry Conner accepted the award for Stone Creek.

1. Rebecca Livaudais and Jackie Bryant 2. Dr. Kya Robottom and Shawntele Green 3. Emily LaBorde and Herb Smith

1. Business of the Year Award Winners Larry Conner and Lacey Toledano 2. Cynthia Thompson and Rhonda Bagby 3. Ryan Pearce, Lori Murphy and Mike Tillman

24 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

select photographs by cheryl gerber

bizneworleans.com / 25

Biz columnist s spe ak out

in the biz DINING / TOURISM / SPORTS / ENTERTAINMENT / ENTREPRENEURSHIP / ETIQUETTE / MARKETING

Poppy Tooker takes a look at the “Red Bean Madness” created by Louisiana staple Camellia red beans.

In The Biz dining

Bean Business A look at the Louisiana institution that is Camellia beans.

by Poppy Tooker

NielsEn Research recently identified

Camellia Brand as America’s No. 1 selling red bean. It seems the rest of the U.S. has learned what New Orleanians have known for generations — nothing else cooks up creamy quite like Camellia red beans and no one knows beans better than Camellia’s CEO, Vince Hayward.

A Family Affair

28 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Quality That’s Created a Following

It’s a good guess that Gordon Hayward would be amazed and pleased by the trip the beans take today from supplier to

Catch Poppy Tooker on her radio show, Louisiana Eats! Saturdays at 11 a.m. and Wednesdays at 1 p.m. on WWNO 89.9 FM.

i l lu st r at ion by Ton y H e a l e y

A native New Orleanian, Poppy Tooker has spent her life devoted to the cultural essence that food brings to Louisiana, a topic she explores weekly on her NPR-affiliated radio show, Louisiana Eats! From farmers markets to the homes and restaurants where our culinary traditions are revered and renewed, Poppy lends the voice of an insider to interested readers everywhere.

Mercantile roots run deep in the Hayward family. Vince’s great-great-great- grandfather, Sawyer Hayward, came to New Orleans from the Caribbean in 1850. Originally he was a cotton broker, but he soon transitioned into dry goods, bringing beans and other items into the port while also developing a local produce distribution business.

Sawyer’s grandson, Lucius Hayward, brought the family business into the 20th century when he founded Camellia Brand in 1923, naming the company for his wife’s favorite flower. The focus of the company’s product selection narrowed to beans and Camellia prospered, supplying bulk beans to vendors at the French Market and to corner groceries across the city.

Lucius’ son, William Gordon Hayward, revolutionized the family business again in 1940, when he identified a growing market for pre-packaged bags of beans.

The dawn of supermarkets helped convince housewives that the modern way to buy beans was to simply pluck a pound package from a shelf instead of scooping their own.

Camellia’s beans were packaged in clear cellophane so every bean was visible.

That was vital to Gordon, as he knew the secret to Camellia’s success was in the quality of the bean. Growers across the country came to recognize his exacting standards and the industry widely came to accept that the Hayward grade exceeded U.S.D.A. grades one and two. All Camellia beans had to be uniform in size and color and impeccably clean. The top U.S.D.A. grade standards accept up to two percent debris and damage, something unacceptable at L. H. Hayward.

package. First, they must pass the scrutiny of state-of-the-art optical sorters, which take a look at each bean, making sure it’s not damaged or dirty. The beans then travel across tilted, shaking tables that sort out lighter, defective beans, leaving only the best to be sold as Camellia Brand. That’s quite an accomplishment considering upwards of 100,000 pounds of beans are packaged daily.

There are currently 18 varieties of beans, peas and lentils packaged by Camellia, available in stores across a dozen states and internationally online.

The company’s online web and social media presence is significant, providing a home base for fans across the world.

When Food and Wine magazine published an online recipe including tomatoes in what was purported to be a traditional New Orleans style preparation, it ignited a firestorm – especially among Camellia’s red bean fans, who decried the recipe as heresy!

In its 95-year history, Camellia has become an integral part of New Orleans’ culinary culture. Most days Vince Hayward sports a work shirt bearing the company name. Everywhere he goes, people stop him to talk beans — often sharing poignant family memories and recipes.

The love and loyalty that New Orleanians have for Camellia is in a class of its own.

Red beans and rice were once a dish reserved just for Mondays. At Dooky Chase’s Restaurant, 95-year-old Leah Chase shakes her head remembering those days.

“Now my customers expect red beans on the menu every day,” she said, “So every day we’re cooking a pot of beans!”

Ten years ago, rabid red bean devotee Devin DeWulf began the Krewe of Red Bean, a Lundi Gras procession with over 100 participants, all sporting costumes adorned with red beans and rice.

If you’re curious to learn more about the delicious history of Camellia, visit “Red Bean City” at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. There, you can try on a beaned parade costume and catch “Red Bean Madness” yourself. n

bizneworleans.com / 29

In The Biz to u r i s m

Romance in Any Language Looking for a Valentine’s Day gift? Check out a new French ballet interpretation of “Roméo and Juliette.”

by Jennifer Gibson Schecter

30 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

known ballet presented in New Orleans was in 1799. Within 20 years the demand for ballet was so strong that the proprietor of the Orleans Theater, John Davis, went to Europe to recruit dancers. Davis returned to New Orleans with Jean Rousset, the premier dancer at Paris’ Porte Saint-Martin theater, and Monsieur Olivier, a pupil of ballet at the Paris Opera, along with his dancer wife.

One reason credited for ballet’s enormous popularity at the time was that New Orleans was a linguistically diverse city of 20,000. Ballet, as opposed to opera, relied on the art of pantomime and universal language of music to tell the stories. Just as audiences today sometimes struggle with the Italian or German of many classic operas, they can more easily follow the plot of a beautifully choreographed ballet.

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo promises to bring just such a performance with its “Roméo and Juliette.” New Orleans is the first of only three U.S. cities to host the ballet company’s production this year.

It’s through NOBA’s advocacy that New Orleans is one of the lucky few.

“NOBA has had a very close relationship with Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo for over a decade, and of course, the city has close ties to Monaco – in a way, this event can be considered a gift to the people of New Orleans,” explained Hamilton. “NOBA worked with the dance company, as well as colleagues in Minneapolis and Chicago to bring the troupe to the States, and we are honored to kick off the tour here in New Orleans as a featured event of the Tricentennial and of a week of activities celebrating the relationship between this great city and state and Monaco.”

The company of 50 dancers will perform the ballet in three acts, with an intermission between the first and second acts.

Approximately two hours and 15 minutes of gorgeous dancing will transport all the (hopefully not star-crossed) lovers in the audience.

Tickets are available starting at $40 and can be purchased by phone or online at (504) 522-0996, Ext. 201 or at nobadance.com. n

i l lu st r at ion by Ton y H e a l e y

Jennifer Gibson Schecter was once a tourist in New Orleans herself and is now proud to call NOLA home. She also writes the Wednesday Tourism Blog on BizNewOrleans.com.

New Orleans is one of America’s

most romantic cities. The dawn and dusk of the day enjoy a filtered light viewed as a late night is ending or revelry is just beginning. The lazy Mississippi River encourages walking hand-in-hand, the ironwork balconies inspire quiet shared moments and the raw oysters have their aphrodisiac reputation as well. It’s no wonder so many couples are drawn to visit our beautiful city.

With romance in mind, February brings not only Mardi Gras magic and Valentine’s Day sweethearts, this year it also brings one of the world’s most tragic love stories as told through the art of dance.

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo begins its North American tour in New Orleans on Feb. 24 with a special full-evening performance of Roméo and Juliette at the Mahalia Jackson Theater. The Italian story, as written by an Englishman, gets a French interpretation through the vision of world-renowned choreographer and director Jean-Christophe Maillot.

This version of the ballet, set to the classic Prokofiev score, has been described as ultra-modern, but its timing is historic, as the New Orleans Ballet Association (NOBA) is bringing this production to New Orleans as part of the city’s Tricentennial celebrations.

“NOBA couldn’t be prouder to celebrate NOLA’s history through this partnership with one of the world’s most prestigious ballet companies,” said Jenny Hamilton, executive director of NOBA. “For us, this celebration is about coming together and sharing talents to showcase what truly makes up the fabric of our city. For our organization to bring this caliber of performing arts to NOLA while extending our close relationship with Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo is a great honor. Dance is intertwined into the city’s DNA, so it only made sense to bring such an acclaimed performance into the Tricentennial celebration events.”

Ballet has long been a part of the New Orleans cultural scene. According to Know Louisiana, a digital encyclopedia of Louisiana produced by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the first-

bizneworleans.com / 31

In The Biz sports

Second Half Comeback Pelicans need to rebound after All-Star break to make the postseason a reality by chris price

32 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

power forward Anthony Davis, center DeMarcus Cousins, guards Jrue Holiday, Rajon Rondo, E’Twaun Moore, and a supporting cast under the leadership of head coach Alvin Gentry. But, for whatever reason, the New Orleans Pelicans haven’t been able to put together a cohesive unit that can escape mediocrity.

As the NBA gets ready for its mid-winter All-Star break this month, fans and experts are wondering not only why the Pelicans haven’t achieved more success, but also if they are even capable of joining the ranks of the NBA’s best teams.

Davis, the 24-year-old, 6’11” wunderkind, excels in the lane and can shoot from 15 to 20 feet away from the basket and from beyond the arc when a three-point shot is open. Through early January, Davis is averaging 22.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 35.5 minutes per game. Many believe the former top overall draft pick is continuing his upward progression to his full potential.

Yet in his five professional seasons he has not won a playoff game.

Cousins is Davis’ twin tower. The duo may be the best big man combo in the association. He arrived in New Orleans too late last season to provide a postseason push, but in 17 games with the Pelicans he averaged 24.4 points, 12.4 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 1.5 steals in 33.8 minutes per game. He’s continued to be a dominating presence this season with 26 points, 12.5 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.5 blocks and steals in 35.4 minutes per game.

Holiday has contributed mightily, with 18.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists, .5 blocks, and 1.3 steals in 36.5 minutes per game.

There has been reason to believe this trio can not only lead the Pelicans to the postseason, but also be on the brink of something special and make a deep run toward a championship. The early part of the 2017-18 season has been an enigma.

The Pels have been able to beat some of the league’s best teams, then turn around and, inexplicably, lose to some of the worst.

For most of the season, the Pels have hovered around .500, having won as much as they’ve lost. That’s been much better than the 34-48 record they posted last season, and good enough to keep

them around eighth place in the Western Conference, which would qualify the team for the postseason. Still, there’s a feeling this team could and should be doing much better.

Cousins admitted as much, saying the team has lacked consistency. “We might play the right way three games, then play the wrong way four games,” he told The Times-Picayune’s William Guillory. “That’s our biggest struggle.”

The team is competitive. When they’ve lost, the score has been close. That’s frustrating for the team and its fans. A closer look shows the Pels are doing it right when they have the ball. With 113.0 points per 100 possessions, they followed only the Houston Rockets (113.9) in offensive efficiency in December. But they’re not getting it done at the other end of the court.

In the same span, the team was second to last in defensive efficiency, giving up 110.6 points per 100 possessions. For a team that was supposed to be improved on defense, that statistic is really disappointing.

The Pelicans haven’t been to the playoffs since 2015. Barring a catastrophic injury, that streak should end this season. But expectations are rising. An eighth seed might get the Pels in the playoffs, but it would mean the daunting task of playing the first seed. The franchise has only won one playoff series in 15 years, back when Chris Paul, David West, and Tyson Chandler dominated the Smoothie King Center’s hardwood.

For expectations to be met this season, the Pelicans need to come out of the All-Star break with a win-at-all-costs mentality. They need to collect wins, improve their rank in the conference, and position themselves for an easier postseason matchup.

Without an improvement, there is fear New Orleans could see Davis, Cousins, and others leave the team for a title contender much the same way Paul, West, and Chandler did previously. Legendary franchises, including the Boston Celtics, have inquired about trading for Davis.

They’ve been denied thus far, surely, with the belief the Pelicans can be a winner.

But another stumble and miss could give reason for players to demand trades to teams in contention, unraveling present hopes for a round ball winner in the Crescent City. n

i l lu st r at ion by Ton y H e a l e y

Chris Price is an award-winning journalist and public relations principal. When he’s not writing, he’s avid about music, the outdoors, and Saints, Ole Miss and Chelsea football. Price also authors the Friday Sports Column at BizNewOrleans.com.

The pieces seem to be in place. There’s

bizneworleans.com / 33

In The Biz e n t e r ta i n m e n t

What Hollywood Learned in 2017 Women dominated both the box office and the Golden Globes.

Will 2018 continue the trend?

by Kim Singletary

34 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

year — except when it came to directing.

As Natalie Portman notably pointed out while handing out this year’s award, all the nominees were men. In fact, there’s only been one woman who has ever won the big prize — an Academy Award for directing — and that was Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker” in 2010. Only four women have ever even been nominated for the honor.

On the television side, woman-power continued with the “Handmaid’s Tale” starring Elizabeth Moss winning for Best Drama and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” starring Rachel Brosnahan and created

by Amy Sherman-Palladino, winning for Best Comedy/Musical.

The award for best Limited Series unsurprisingly went to the big hit “Big Little Lies,” with Nicole Kidman and Laura Dern both taking home the awards for their performances.

And then, of course, there was Oprah accepting the Cecil B. DeMille award — the first African-American woman to do so.

As I’m writing this, nominations for this year’s Academy Awards on March 4 have not yet been released, but some are calling “The Shape of Water,” starring Sally Hawkins and directed by Guillermo del Toro (who took home the Golden Globe this year) to be a strong Best Picture contender.

Looking into 2018, it’s clear Hollywood is getting the message that there’s a big market for strong female leads. Among some of the upcoming films this year are “Annihilation,” which has Natalie Portman leading an all-female group through the jungle; Jennifer Lawrence as a Russian spy in “Red Sparrow,” and a new Tomb Raider (minus Angelina Jolie).

Oprah is back too, this time starring with Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling in “A Wrinkle in Time,” but for the most female star power condensed into one film look to “Ocean’s 8,” with Sandra Bullock, Kate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter. And for a little throwback action, Jamie Lee Curtis will reprise her role in a new “Halloween.”

Will 2018 be “The Year of the Woman,” as many news outlets are predicting? Could it be even more so in Hollywood than 2017 was? We shall see. n

i l lu st r at ion by Ton y H e a l e y

Kimberley Singletary is the managing editor of Biz New Orleans magazine. A 20-year Southern California veteran, she has been surrounded by the film industry for most of her life.

Hollywood is all about strong

women right now, and with good reason.

Looking back, what do all three of the top-grossing films in 2017 have in common?

They starred fiercely independent, “don’t mess with me,” women.

Let’s start with “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

Unlike the male-centered original, this version put a woman, Daisy Ridley starring as Rey, in the lead role and it definitely didn’t hurt viewership. This iteration of the famed franchise topped the year with over $591 million domestically and more than $1.2 billion worldwide.

Not far behind, however, was the live action remake of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” starring “Harry Potter”-famed Emma Watson, with just over $504 million domestically and just a hair under Star Wars in worldwide ticket sales. Being that Watson is an outspoken women’s rights activist, it’s no surprise that this iteration had Belle wearing boots instead of flats and had her as the inventor, not her father. The movie had the highest domestic opening gross of all time for a PG-rated film.

In third place was the hit everyone was talking about this year, “Wonder Woman.”

In the highest grossing live-action movie ever directed by a woman (Patty Jenkins), Israeli actress Gal Gadot kicked butt both on and off the screen, bringing in over $412 million domestically and over $821 million worldwide.

How common is it for women to sweep the box office? Well, the last time the three most popular films of the year were all woman-led was in 1958.

With the black clothing and “Time’s Up” pins, this year’s Golden Globes awards were all about the ladies, and that didn’t stop when it came to handing out the statues. “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” starring Frances McDormand beat out both “Dunkirk” and “The Post” — a Steven Spielberg movie starring Tom Hanks no less— for Best Motion Picture/ Drama, with McDormand winning for best actress in the category.

For Best Musical/Comedy, a female coming-of-age story took home the gold and star Saoirse Ronan won best actress for her work.

Yes, the women dominated pretty much every category they could this

bizneworleans.com / 35

In The Biz e n t r e pr e n eu r s h i p

Grooving Your Pitch Professional tips for success in pitch competitions. by keith twitchell

There are more pitch contests in

New Orleans these days than you’d find at a Major League Baseball tryout, which makes it a challenge for startups or early stage entrepreneurs (or even established enterprises launching new products or services) to keep up.

But what separates the winning pitches from the also-rans? I asked a pair of coaching professionals who have guided previous entrants to success for their opinions.

1

Tailor to fit. “The first and most important thing is to know your audience,” said Maureen Huguley, who helps entrepreneurs prepare for all kinds of business presentations. “Understand who you are speaking to and tailor your presentation to them.”

2

Don’t let your duds distract.

Dressing appropriately is also important, said Huguley, who recommends against flashing a bunch of tattoos in a formal business setting. “Your physical appearance can prevent your audience from listening to you.”

3

Practice makes perfect. Huguley and Daniel Applewhite, director of programs at Propeller, both emphasized the importance of practicing your pitch.

“Whatever your time limit is for your pitch, get it to where you can do it with 15 seconds to spare,” Applewhite advised, as this gives contestants a little wiggle room to make sure their grand pitch finale doesn’t get cut off.

“Speak your presentation into a cell phone, then play it back and listen to it,” Huguley recommended. “Even get a little audience together and get their feedback. More rehearsals make you more comfortable.”

4

36 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Remember paragraph writing in school? In terms of content, Huguley stressed following a basic outline, with opening, body and close.

“You should always begin with something to capture the audience’s attention – a fact, an image, a statistic, a quick story.

Then you follow the traditional approach of telling them what you’re going to tell them, telling them, and telling them what you just told them.”

6

Clutter free is the way to be. Brief and simple is important. “The judges don’t need to know everything about your widget, just enough to want to know more,” she added. ‘I don’t need to know how a Styrofoam cup works, just that it keeps hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold.”

Other tips she offered including avoiding jargon – “And if you simply have to use it, explain it and provide context” – and as may be appropriate, adding a little humor to your spiel.

7

Make sure the dollars make sense.

Applewhite made a key point regarding the financial component of the pitch.

“Make sure your ask is compelling and appropriate. If the prize is $10,000 and you need $4 million to launch, you’re not likely to get the $10,000. But if you can tell me specifically what you are going to do with the prize amount, describe some tangible way you are going to benefit from it and have an impact with it, then I am interested.”

8

Think beyond the grand prize.

Participating in pitch contests has benefits beyond the possible monetary rewards. People in the audience may hear your pitch and be interested in supporting you even if you don’t win. Reactions you get to your pitch may help you improve your presentation in other settings. Simply speaking in public, especially with something at stake, is always a good exercise.

Still, no matter how many participation trophies are handed out to kids these days, there’s nothing like winning, especially when there’s money up for grabs.

The key to success in one word?

Preparation. As Huguley concluded, “Ninety percent of how your presentation goes is determined before you step on stage.” n

i l lu st r at ion by Ton y H e a l e y

Keith Twitchell spent 16 years running his own business before becoming president of the Committee for a Better New Orleans. He has observed, supported and participated in entrepreneurial ventures at the street, neighborhood, nonprofit, micro- and macro-business levels.

Know thyself, and adjust as needed. Applewhite urged competitors to avoid personal and speech mannerisms that can be off-putting, like pacing the stage or ending sentences in ways that make them sound like questions. And then there’s the dreaded “um.”

“Say ‘um’ 100 times out loud before you go on stage,” he advised; this gets them out of your system, and should you relapse during your pitch, you are more likely to notice and stop doing it.

5

bizneworleans.com / 37

In The Biz e t i q u e tt e

Time Crunch The art of rescheduling meetings

by Melanie Warner Spencer

38 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

reschedule business meetings. There are countless legitimate reasons to postpone or find a new date for a meeting, but the fact is, explanations don’t matter.

While that may sound surprising coming from an etiquette writer, hear me out. One of the principal philosophies of etiquette is to put others at ease. The idea is that it’s bad manners to make others feel uncomfortable or put them on the spot.

This is not to be confused with doormat behavior, so obviously if someone is being abusive or inappropriate, it’s not your job to make him or her feel comfortable. But, within the context of standard, appropriate interactions, especially in the business realm, we should strive to alleviate, not exacerbate, the mental, physical and emotional burden for coworkers, managers, customers and clients.

Which means when rescheduling meetings, there are a few strategies to keep in mind that will keep you in the good graces of the other party.

The easy-to-remember adage, “Never complain; never explain,” is attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, the British politician who served as prime minister from 1874 to 1880. Complaining is of course off-putting, ineffective and inefficient, and explaining is often seen as approval seeking behavior. These are attributes any self-respecting Victorian, such as Disraeli, would have wanted to avoid and —one would hope — traits also eschewed by modern individuals.

While there are of course times when there has been a miscommunication with someone you respect and/or love, necessitating an explanation, when it comes to rescheduling, less information is more.

If you must reschedule, simply call or email the other person and say or write, “Unfortunately, I have to reschedule our meeting for Tuesday. Please accept my sincere apology for the inconvenience.” By not offering an excuse or complaining that you are “crazy busy,” it’s left up to the other person to decide what might have come up and 99 percent of the time — unless

you are the flaky sort — they will assume it was important and couldn’t be avoided.

The apology is important too, so don’t leave it out. Be certain to also let them know that they and the meeting are important to you; that you are looking forward to the rescheduled meeting; and why you are looking forward to it.

Keep in mind that while yes, we all have things that come up now and then, it’s imperative to avoid cancelling at the last minute. Unless there is a true emergency, reschedule as soon as you know there is a conflict. A few days in advance is the ideal amount of time. Once you get a day or a few hours out, the probability of offending the other person starts to rise. As always, put yourself in the other person’s shoes.

It’s possible that they declined something important in order to meet with you.

Last-minute cancellations are a last resort.

When coordinating the new date, it’s crucial that you offer specific dates and times. Don’t just say or write, “What works for you?” This places the burden on the other person. You are the one who cancelled, so it’s up to you to offer alternative dates and avoid the inevitable back-and-forth time suck. Suggest three dates and times for them to choose from and they will either pick one or offer up a new list.

Either way, it will be more efficient than you leaving things open ended. Be sure to include a sense of urgency, by using phrases like, “as soon as possible.”

There are times when rescheduling may come as a relief to everyone involved, but always assume that it’s an irritating inconvenience and act accordingly. Your time is valuable, but so is everyone else’s.

Ensure that your contacts always know you respect them and their time. Every interaction you have with a business contact impacts your working (or potential working) relationship, so the more positive than negative interpersonal communications you have, the more you strengthen the foundation of your bond. n

i l lu st r at ion by Ton y H e a l e y

Melanie Warner Spencer is editor of New Orleans Bride and New Orleans Homes & Lifestyles and managing editor of Louisiana Life and Acadiana Profile. Spencer’s ever-expanding library of etiquette books is rivaled only by her ever-ready stash of blank thank-you notes. Submit business etiquette questions to Melanie@MyNewOrleans.com.

On occasion, we all have to

bizneworleans.com / 39

In The Biz marketing

A Second Chance Resolutions not going so well? Don’t give up yet on improving your skills.

by Julia carcamo

Mardi Gras is in full swing and

those resolutions we made are now likely nothing more than a memory, replaced by the goal of maximizing parade viewing.

Research tells us that although most of us will have given up on our resolutions, some may be looking to pick one of them back up for Lent. Typically, we give things up for Lent as a practice of sacrifice. Some, however choose to conquer something.

Last year I think I gave up sugar, which sort of checks both boxes for me. If you read last month’s column, I hope you chose to make one of your business resolutions to be one of investing in yourself. Learn a new skill, get more organized, whatever makes you a better marketer, business person or entrepreneur. If you’re still trying to figure out how to do that, I have some ideas for you.

So, what can you tackle in 40 days?

And how can you fit it into an already full schedule? Here are some of my favorites.

Spin Sucks Modern Blogging Masterclass

This class is more about getting found than it is about blogging. I was part of the pilot program, and it was of incredible value to me. It’s available as a self-study program that teaches you how to create content based on what your audience, clients or customers care about, get it distributed in the right spots, and have measurable results to show for it. Plus, it gives you access to a whole group of people you can bounce ideas off of or ask for advice.

Hubspot’s Inbound Certification Course

If you’re selling anything online or using your website to create leads, you must try this course. It covers the four stages your potential customers will go through in their search for a solution (hopefully yours).

Understanding these stages, and the key magnets you can create, will make you look at your website in a whole new way.

Julia Carcamo is president and chief brand strategist at J Carcamo & Associates, specializing in brand and marketing strategy. She is also the co-founder of espNOLA, a Hispanic marketing and engagement agency. Learn more at jcarcamoassociates.com and espnola.com.

40 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Social media is a free way to market, but only to a certain degree. Today, we know it takes some skill to be good at it. A great social media marketer is an asset for any business, but what if you don’t have a

Canva Learn

How do you devise a thoughtful social media strategy and understand where and when to post? Both of these critical skills are covered in just the first day of the Canva Learn course. In the following days, you’ll learn how to create graphics and determine which images are right for your brand. And, if you’re one of those people who always says, “I’m not creative,” there’s even a lesson for that that will walk you through how to grab attention with your designs, as well as how to get motivated and inspired.

Coursera

This is one of my favorite sources. Coursera has partnered with some of the world’s top universities and organizations to provide interactive courses. Each course features pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.

Plus, you can connect with other learners to discuss the material or engage in healthy debates. Some courses offer recognition you can share on your resume. From leading people to mastering accounting, graphic design or starting your own business, there is a course for you to take at your convenience.

One more that I haven’t yet tried but would like to this year is Skillshare. They have over 18,000 classes in design, business, technology, photography, crafts and culinary arts. I always wanted to learn how to hand letter and make my own signature drink!

I hope this list inspires you to invest a little in yourself. It’s 40 days of a little work. You can do it. Let me know what you select and how you do! n

i l lu st r at ion by Ton y H e a l e y

Hootsuite Academy’s Social Marketing Training modules

superstar on staff ? What if you’re the jack-of-all-trades and social media is one of your many responsibilities? Take a look at Hootsuite Academy’s Social Marketing Training modules. No matter what your skill level you’ll find a course that fits your needs. These modules can teach you things like how to optimize your profiles, how to develop the right strategy for your business and how to grow your community.

bizneworleans.com / 41

Next in

hot topics in southe a st Louisiana industries

perspectives maritime & ports / education / healthcare / GUEST VIEWPOINT

Teachers Wanted: A look at what’s being done to address New Orleans’ teacher shortage.

Perspectives maritime & ports

Life on the Mississippi

Time to Go Deep Southeast Louisiana maritime professionals continue their fight to dredge to 50 feet.

by Chris Price

The 230 miles of the meandering

Mississippi River on either side of New Orleans are home to the world’s largest port system. Collectively, the five deep-water ports on the lower Mississippi River — New Orleans, South Louisiana, Baton Rouge, St. Bernard, and Plaquemines — handle more tonnage than any other port in the world, providing billions of dollars in annual economic impact and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs.

44 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Nearly 12,000 ships — including 6,000 oceangoing vessels — travel the lower river corridor annually, carrying 500 million tons of cargo and 700,000 cruise passengers.

Those numbers may soon increase, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a plan to increase the depth of the Mississippi River to accommodate larger cargo ships built in the wake of the Panama Canal expansion.

The Mississippi River and its tributaries connect 31 states and two Canadian provinces through the third largest river basin in the world, all of which funnels through southeastern Louisiana.

In a 2012 paper prepared for The Ports Association of Louisiana, The Economic Impact of the Ports of Louisiana, LSU economist James A. Richardson said the combined economic impact of the state’s ports, providers of port and vessel services, businesses operating within the ports, and cruise ship operations — most of it centered in the lower Mississippi River corridor — includes almost 73,000 jobs created and supported. It also includes personal earnings of $3.96 billion, and state and local tax collections of $517 million per year with approximately $289 million going to the state government and $228 million going to local governments.

When connected industries — including agriculture, oil and gas, petrochemical and coal products, chemicals and related products, food and related products, paper, wood, and fabricated metals — which rely on the ports to assist in moving their goods are included, Richardson said the figures jump to almost 400,000 jobs and personal earnings of close to $20 billion.

Those figures are based on the Mississippi’s current maximum depth, which is supposed to be maintained at 45 to 47 feet, but has been as low as 41 feet in recent years. That has caused some larger ships to unload some of their cargo before they enter the river’s mouth, resulting in delays, increased logistical costs and a reduction in the region’s ability to compete globally by pushing business away from Southeast Louisiana.

“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to deepen the Mississippi River to 50 feet will allow the Port of New Orleans and the lower Mississippi River port-complex to reliably handle larger vessels that carry more cargo and generate significant economic benefits for the port and region,” said Brandy D. Christian, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans. “The capability of handling larger vessels is essential to the port’s competitive advantage and supports our existing success of retaining the service of major carriers. Failure to dredge will make the Port less competitive and could result in a significant loss of business.”

giving back

Deeper River, Healthier Wetlands One of the most exciting aspects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to increase the depth of the Mississippi River is its idea to use dredge sediment to help restore more than 1,400 acres of wetlands in Plaquemines Parish in the federally owned Delta National Wildlife Refuge and the state owned Passa-Loutre Wildlife Management Area.

It is estimated both wildlife areas have lost more than 800 acres over the past 50 years due to saltwater seepage from the Gulf of Mexico into the freshwater wetlands. The Corps expects the dredging project to produce about 18 million cubic yards of sediment.

As an added benefit, diverting the mud into the restoration of the nearby wetlands is expected to be cheaper than transporting it from the riverbanks. A lower bill helps taxpayers, but that’s not the only way we win. More wetlands mean more protection from the wrath of storm surge and flooding from future hurricanes and tropical storms, hopefully limiting the financial exposure to rebuilding projects.

bizneworleans.com / 45

Panama Canal expansion drives global change

The expansion of the Panama Canal in June 2016 has created waves of change around the globe as the maritime industry continues to react to larger ships with nearly tripled cargo capacity being allowed to traverse the nautical shortcut.

The widening and deepening of the canal led to the creation of the Neopanamax, or New Panamax, size limits for ships to safely travel through the canal. Based on new lock dimensions of 1,401 feet in length, 180 feet in beam (width), and 60 feet in depth, the canal can now accommodate ships with a 1,201 foot length, 160-foot beam, 50-foot draft, and a capacity of 14,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the size of a standard shipping container. Its previous maximum was ships 950 feet in length, with a 106-foot beam, 39.5-foot draft, and 5,000 TEU capacity.

Naval architects and ship builders have been scrambling to construct new cargo ships to appease shippers, and ports are working diligently to update their facilities to accommodate the larger vessels.

The shift has been so dramatic that according to the BBC, pre-expansion or “old Panamax” ships, some less than a decade old, have been sold for scrap.

Several U.S. ports, including New York and New Jersey, Miami, Norfolk and Baltimore, have or are in the process of increasing their wharfs’ depths to 50 feet to accommodate the new ships.

Ports in Jacksonville, Florida, Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, are considering going to 50 feet, and Mobile, Alabama, recently dredged to 45 feet.

Container shipping has been a major priority for the Port of New Orleans. In fiscal year 2017, the port handled more than half a million TEUs for the third consecutive year and is capable of handling 840,000 TEUs annually, with a potential expansion footprint at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal that allows for a capacity of up to 1.5 million TEUs. A Mightier Mississippi

A Corps of Engineers study says the 50-foot depth would provide a $96.8 million annual benefit to the U.S. economy. The dredging project’s estimated cost is $238 million, of which the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) would pay about $120 million, with annual maintenance and operating cost paid by the federal government.

Sean Duffy is executive director of the Big River Coalition (BRC), a collection of more than 110 maritime businesses, trade associations and port authorities that do business on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, which he describes as a maritime superhighway. Duffy says the benefits of dredging for the entire U.S. clearly far outweigh the costs.

46 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

According to the study “The Economic Impact of Deepening the Mississippi River to 50 feet,” co-sponsored by both the BRC and the DOTD, the U.S. economy will add 17,000 jobs as a result of the increase in production and $849.5 million in increased income for American workers.

“The BRC has often discussed the importance of the Mississippi River to the American farmers, as the ship channel connects over 350 million acres of agricultural lands to international markets,” Duffy said. “American farmers export up to 70 percent of U.S. agricultural exports to world markets via waterborne commerce on the Mississippi River, and the ship channel deepening project offers significant reductions in shipping costs. The math is easy.”

restriction to 41 feet that causes them to loose valuable space and have that cost go up to $27 a ton. Plus, there is surplus of cargo left on the dock that must be dealt with. On the flip side, if a ship comes in from Shanghai expecting a certain cost, but can’t get into the river, it has to unload some of its cargo before coming upstream, adding stops and increasing cargo storage, fuel and related costs.

“It doesn’t play well on the world market,” Aucoin said. “This is about being reliable and competitive.

If we don’t address it, it’s going to affect us.” n

What’s Next?

Cargo Ship Comparison

The Corps is expected to approve and release a director’s report in May 2018, at which time Congress must approve the dredging project. Once funds are allocated and construction begins, the project is estimated to take between three to five years to complete, Christian said.

Port of South Louisiana Executive Director, Paul Aucoin, said Congress needs to approve the project and has the money to do it through funds raised by the harbor maintenance tax on all imported cargo with the funds directed to dredging.

“Fifty feet is what we ought to consider a normal depth – every day, all day,” Aucoin said. “It’s a U.S. issue, not just a Louisiana issue.”

Aucoin added that with grain from 31 states shipped though the mouth of the Mississippi River, it affects business across the country when a ship is quoted a shipping price of $22 a ton based on loading a ship to 45 feet of draft, only to face a

the future is bigger

The Panama Canal expansion, completed in 2016, allows much larger cargo ships to travel through the nautical shortcut. Panamax refers to size limits for ships to safely travel through the canal. The change has East Coast and Gulf Coast ports increasing the depth of their terminals to 50 feet to accommodate modern container ships built to the new guidelines.

Panamax

New Panamax

Tonnage

52,500 DWT*

120,000 DWT

Length

950 ft.

1,201 ft.

Beam

106 ft.

161 ft.

Height

190 ft.

190 ft.

Draft

39.5 ft.

50 ft.

Capacity

5,000 TEU**

13,000 TEU

Enacted 1914

2016

* Deadweight tonnage is the amount of weight a ship is carrying **Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit, the size of a standard shipping container

bizneworleans.com / 47

Perspectives e d u c at i o n

Train and Retain A new $13 million grant aims to address New Orleans’ teacher shortage.

by Jessica Rosgaard

The United States is facing a major

teacher shortage — particularly in urban areas, including New Orleans.

According to a report by the Alliance for Excellent Education, 40 to 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession after five years. Schools in highpoverty areas experience a teacher turnover rate of about 20 percent each year. Low salaries, high accountability standards and difficult working

48 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

conditions are only some of the challenges facing today’s teachers.

The Alliance for Excellent Education estimates that high teacher turnover rates cost Louisiana’s public-school system as much as $32 million a year.

In order to address teacher shortages, cities need programs to proactively recruit teaching candidates, train them and connect them with local jobs. Xavier and Loyola Universities — along

with four local education nonprofits — have been awarded a $13 million-dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help address these so-called teacher pipeline challenges across the city.

Developing a teaching pipeline is a key component of maintaining a strong teaching corps.

“The big goal is to help build up the teacher pipeline with local, or at least attached people, so that they won’t be leaving two years later; they’ll

actually stay and live in the community, become citizens of New Orleans,” says Dr. Renee Akbar, chair and associate professor of Xavier University’s Division of Education and Counseling.

Teach for America Greater New Orleans, teachNOLA, Relay Graduate School of Education and New Schools for New Orleans are the nonprofit partners in the grant. The plan is to foster collaboration between different types of teacher preparation programs.

“Instead of us competing against each other and working in silos,” Akbar says, “we’re going to actually try to work together, identify challenges together, identify solutions to those challenges together, and we’re able to get started on that under this grant.”

Each partner has developed a budget based on what they’re going to do under the grant — whether it’s the Master of Arts in Teaching program at Loyola, the Relay Teaching Residency program, or teachNOLA’s placement program for teachers working with high-need students.

The grant is based on a match — with each entity required to match 25 percent of their budget.

The goal is to add 900 highly effective, culturally competent teachers from diverse backgrounds by 2020.

“That’s the number of teachers we will need to adequately staff all of the schools here in New Orleans,” says Akbar.

Post-Katrina Policy Changes

Xavier University in New Orleans has been a teaching preparatory school since 1925 — a time when teaching was one of the few career fields open to African Americans. At the time, Xavier was known as a “normal” school, meaning its purpose was to train high school graduates to be teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. Now these schools are known as teachers’ colleges.

“We’ve always been advocates of excellent education and we’ve always been in the classroom meeting the needs of the students, as well as the teachers, the leaders and the counselors in K-12 schools in New Orleans,” says Akbar.

But changing times have brought new challenges. A 2015 brief from the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans points to a list of policy changes that directly impacted the New Orleans teacher workforce.

After Hurricane Katrina, the Orleans Parish School Board released all of its employees, as the city transitioned to a charter school system. This meant 4,300 teachers lost their jobs. Demographically, those teachers were 71 percent black and 78 percent female, with more than 15 years of average teaching experience.

The school district’s collective bargaining agreement expired and was never renewed and the newly formed charter schools were not required

OLD SCHOOL

Luring Teachers Back In At St. Katharine Drexel Preparatory School — a private, Roman Catholic high school in New Orleans — Principal Jacob Owens says recruiting math and science teachers is the school’s biggest challenge. “Oftentimes we have to resort to locating retired teachers to come in and to fill those vacancies,” he says.

Bringing retired teachers back into the classroom can present challenges, depending on how long they’ve been out.

“Some of the retired teachers may not be as accustomed to using lesson plan technology that we have today,” Owens says.

“For example, some textbooks will have a support software that helps students to go home and learn various functions and math through their computer protocols that they have for that particular lesson.”

Retention is also a problem at St. Katharine Drexel Prep. Principal Owens says that while many teachers stay due to a commitment to the school’s mission, it’s hard for the Catholic school to compete with salaries at local charter and private schools.

“The younger teachers who are not on board with mission-driven schools or not totally committed to what we’re doing usually leave within a year or two,” he says. “They move on to find something more fruitful in terms of the economic side of teaching so that they can pay off loans, or so that they can purchase homes or do other types of things.”

Owens says the school is trying to increase fundraising to bring in money to increase teacher salaries and benefits.

bizneworleans.com / 49

Step Two — Training

to hire certified teachers, which meant teachers from Teach for America and The New Teacher Project were lacking a university-based teaching preparation program.

This influx of outside help also resulted in less diversity. From 2004 to 2014, the percentage of black teachers in New Orleans dropped from 71 percent to 49 percent. During the same time period there was also a steady drop in the percentage of teachers who graduated from New Orleans-based colleges: from 60 percent in 2005, to 34 percent in 2014.

The teachers that were working in New Orleans’ emerging charter school system quickly found themselves under a microscope – with mandated statewide teacher evaluations, a decentralized hiring system and charter schools under threat of closure due to low test scores.

In the years that followed the policy changes, the New Orleans school system saw an increase in teacher turnover – the annual rate of teachers leaving doubled.

“What our students need here in New Orleans are professional educators,” Akbar says. “People who will be here for the long term and to help build the community of New Orleans, as well as the education community, and to strengthen it.”

Step One — Recruitment

Recruitment of students to teaching programs is the first part of the pipeline. New Orleans was a popular destination for programs like Teach for

50 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

America, teachNOLA and Relay in the first 10 years after Katrina, but that interest has waned.

Dr. Akbar says that local universities have also been suffering from low enrollment in teacher education programs due to education reforms, often choosing Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes over Orleans.

“There’s definitely a teacher shortage, number one, and number two, a teacher of color shortage. We need to rebuild that teacher pipeline that was here pre-Katrina.”

Dr. Renee Akbar, chair and associate professor of Xavier University’s Division of Education and Counseling

For Xavier University’s part of the grant, the university has a team working on recruiting applicants to their Masters of Arts in Teaching program. Xavier then works with New Orleans public schools to determine their workforce need. Using a system similar to the one used by medical schools when matching residents to a hospital — Xavier matches teaching residents to a charter school.

By bringing teachers up in the pipeline through New Orleans’ university programs, and funneling them into local jobs, city education officials hope to hold on to teachers with local ties.

“We are looking to train folks out there who want to become teachers in New Orleans,” Akbar says. “It helps to build community.” That local connection, experience, and knowledge helps teachers better understand their students. “Our role is to try to help folks understand what it means to teach in a New Orleans public school — culturally in particular — and what it means to teach young people who might be dealing with challenges from poverty, or who might be dealing with folks who may not understand why they do the things that they do,” Akbar says.

The grant also has a stipend to assist with tuition to help educate and train teachers of color, whose numbers have declined sharply since Katrina.

“There’s definitely a teacher shortage, number one, and number two, a teacher of color shortage,” says Akbar. “We need to rebuild that teacher pipeline that was here pre-Katrina.”

Step 3 — Retention

Today’s teachers are looking for better salaries to combat the rising cost of living in New Orleans and better working conditions overall.

“Studies find that most of the teachers that leave fairly quickly do within 1-5 years of teaching,” says Akbar, “so when you have a commitment for two years they will finish their commitment and then they’ll leave.”

The grant partners are working together to come up with solutions to stem the tide of teacher turnover. Challenges like cultural competency, classroom management and how to talk to and communicate with parents are a few of the topics the group will be talking about throughout the year.

“Teachers go through a lot of professional development,” says Akbar. “It costs a lot of money and if you’re continuously investing that kind of money in new people every two years you’re not going to get the continuity, you’re not going to get what you invested in because it’s already gone. So, the longevity of staying in a particular position really helps to strengthen what you’re trying to build: your education community within your building, as well as the community that surrounds the school.” n

Charter Schools

Another Language, Same Shortages New Orleans public schools aren’t the only ones dealing with recruitment, training and retention challenges. The city’s bilingual schools face a unique set of challenges.

Ecole Bilingue is a French private independent school in New Orleans serving 270 students in pre-school, elementary and middle school. The school teaches a French curriculum, with most classes taught in French and a few in French and English. Students attend Spanish classes starting in fourth grade.

By the time they graduate, students are fluent in three languages.

Finding teachers with fluency in French can be a challenge in New Orleans, says Pauline Dides, principal of Ecole Bilingue. “Most of the time I have to hire my teachers directly from France, which is a little challenging because they have to come here with a visa, and so they can only work for three years, sometimes five years. We’ve been very lucky as a private school in that we’ve been able to sponsor some of our teachers for longer.”

Dides says Ecole Bilingue offers a competitive salary, as well as opportunities to work at summer camp or tutoring to give teachers the opportunity to make more money. While the school attracts teachers from French speaking countries like Haiti and Canada, they also have some local teachers from Lafayette who spoke French with their parents and grandparents.

“When people are from here, it’s much easier for them to support a family and to stay long-term,” says Dides. “For the team, for the curriculum, the whole school and for the community – the more stability, the better.”

Audubon Charter School also offers a French immersion track, but just over half of its 860 students are in a Montessori program.

The school’s CEO, Latoye Brown, says the demands of Montessori training present a big challenge for the school’s program.

“It’s difficult to find people who have that specific training, or who have the mindset to be

open to getting that type of intensive training on top of their initial teaching certification,” she said.

Montessori training is almost the equivalent of an alternative certification for teachers — it’s time consuming, and can cost anywhere from $7,000 to $13,000. To help entice teachers, Audubon has a program to split the costs of Montessori training for teaching candidates they feel would be a good fit for their program.

“It’s a pretty substantial investment but we find it absolutely necessary,” says Brown. “Montessori is a very specific way of presenting instruction and interacting with the environment, so a person has to receive that very particular training in order to be able to deliver it effectively for students in the classroom.”

Audubon Charter experiences the same retention issues as Ecole Bilingue when it comes to their French instructors; visas expire, but Brown says retention challenges with their Montessori program are a big concern because they tend to worsen in the upper grade levels, as teacher accountability increases and coursework gets more intensive.

“Some people are hesitant to invest their time and effort into the Montessori training and enrichment knowing they’re also responsible for test scores so it’s difficult to find people who are willing to put in the work for the long haul,” says Brown. “Now, when we find the people who are ready to do that, we have definitely found a gem.”

The goal is not just to find teachers, but to create stability within the school in order to provide a foundation for excellence.

“If you have a teaching base or a faculty that continues to change every year it’s very difficult to ever get beyond trying to normalize that environment,” Brown says. “It’s hard to get beyond, ‘What are our protocols and procedures?’ to really get to ‘How do we deepen our understanding of our instruction and our teaching and learning to really have the greatest impact on children?’”

bizneworleans.com / 51

Perspectives h e a lth c a r e

Heart Health in 2018 The nation’s largest killer will be met by multiple technological innovations this year.

by Kim Roberts

Heart disease is the leading cause of

death in the United States for both men and women.

Fortunately, it’s also one of the most preventable.

Since February is Heart Health Month, it’s a good time to learn about the strategies that are available in the new year for preventing heart disease and encouraging those around you to have their hearts checked and commit to hearthealthy lives.

On October 25, Cleveland Clinic announced the Top 10 Medical Innovations of 2018 at a

52 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

multimedia presentation during its Medical Innovation Summit. Among those innovations were medications that lower the low-density lipoprotein (“LDL”) cholesterol — better known as bad cholesterol — which brings about fatty deposits that can clog arteries. With certain new drug combinations, LDL levels are reduced by 75 percent.

According to Cleveland Clinic, a number of trials have been in progress recently testing this theory. So far, the floor has yet to be found. New

studies reported a 20 percent reduction in the risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction or stroke for patients who took statins combined with a new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs (PCSK9 inhibitors) to reach ultra-low LDL levels.

“About 20 years ago, we found the bad cholesterol gene and out of that came the human genome project and then the PCSK9 medication which is an antibody that breaks down LDL,” explained Touro Infirmary cardiologist Dr. Frank Wilklow. “The patient gets one injection every two weeks. It’s a

great medication — the first to show regression of plaque. While it’s expensive, it’s covered by insurance and it’s optimal for people that don’t have a lot of options.”

Wilklow said he was excited that doctors now have a tool to fight LDL cholesterol.

“Additionally, there is a new medication, Entresto, for the treatment of heart failure,” he said. “It’s really helpful in treating congestive heart failure by aiding in getting rid of the excess fluid. It takes the place of a diuretic.”

With over 400,000 coronary disease deaths every year and 102 million Americans living with high cholesterol levels, these new medications could make a real difference in 2018.

Also introduced at the Cleveland Clinic summit was the idea of expanding the healthcare environment into the patient’s home and removing geographic barriers to care. The intended result would be quicker, more efficient and more optimal outcomes, as well as significant cost savings. Distance health technologies (known more commonly as telehealth) are part of these efforts as it can enable care for both the physically challenged and those most susceptible to infection.

The summit reported that 90 percent of healthcare executives said they have, or are currently building, a telehealth program. Seven million patient users are expected did you know? in 2018.

The United Health These technologies are Foundation reported also expanding beyond in December 2017 the simple two-way video that cardiovascular deaths were up platform. More patients 2 percent are now equipped with from 2015 and have attachable devices that been identified as record and report medical one of the fastestgrowing health information to doctors to problems in the U.S. monitor their condition.

In a report they Over 19 million patients presented, Louisiana are projected to use these ranked in the bottom remote monitoring devices 10 for the most in 2018. cardiovascular deaths, citing obesity as a “Technological advanceleading risk factor. ments in cardiovascular care continue to rise with the use of telecardiology, new devices and procedures and new methods of treatment,” said Dr. Chris Paris, interventional cardiologist at Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS). “In 2018, we plan to continue to grow our Virtual Care Center, which offers a 24/7 on-demand call center, at-home monitoring and CardioConnect, a patient portal and mobile app that gives patients secure access to their health record at their fingertips.”

What’s Your Risk?

It depends on where you live.

According to a study, published Nov. 9 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, a person’s risk of developing heart disease depends on biological factors, such as their age and gender, but it also tends to vary based on where they live. The new study estimated the risk of heart disease for people in each U.S. state.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at medical data of nearly 300,000 people ages 30 to 74 to estimate someone’s risk of developing heart disease over the next 10 years.

The risk was calculated by looking at a number of factors, including high blood pressure and cholesterol, smoking habits, obesity and low consumption of fruits and vegetables.

The results showed a remarkable variation across states. Those with a higher heart disease risk tended to live in the Southeastern states, and people with a lower risk tended to live in Northwestern states.

The study also found:

14.6%

of men and

7.5%

of women will develop heart disease over the next 10 years.

For men, the risk ranged from a low of 13.2 percent in Utah to a high of 16.2 percent in Louisiana.

For women, Minnesota had the lowest risk, with 6.3 percent and the risk was highest in Mississippi, with 8.7 percent.

bizneworleans.com / 53

Dr. Robert Drennan, electrophysiologist at CIS, was the first physician in South Louisiana to implant the Confirm Rx™ Insertable Cardiac Monitor, the world’s first implantable cardiac monitor with Bluetooth wireless technology.

Drennan first implanted the device on Dec. 12, 2017, during a minimally invasive procedure in the electrophysiology lab.

The Confirm Rx cardiac monitor is the first and only system of its kind used to monitor patients who experience unexplained symptoms such as dizziness, chest pain and shortness of breath. The system is also used to diagnose and evaluate conditions such as arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation. Its Bluetooth technology allows for remote monitoring through a patient’s smartphone, eliminating the need for a traditional radio frequency-based bedside transmitter, which can be intrusive and cumbersome, and limits mobility. Through the myMerlin smartphone app, patients are informed of successful device checks and clinic-scheduled transmissions without interrupting their daily lives.

“In the past, if we had a patient that was passing out or getting dizzy for example, we would put a halter device on to monitor them for 24 hours,” Wilklow said. “Within the last year, the technology has emerged where we can inject a chip under a patient’s skin, it lasts for five years, and it will continuously monitor them.”

The monitoring is done via an iPhone app and the information is sent to physicians immediately.

“Because of this technology we have been able to find so much information that we would have never found before,” said Wilklow, “like strange arrhythmias.”

Wilklow added that over the last year all ICD and pacemakers have become MRI compatible. “A study conducted last year showed that 75 percent of the population will have an MRI sometime in their lifetime,” he said, “and if you had a pacemaker in the past that was a real issue — you could not have an MRI. That was obviously a problem, so there has been a rapid transition to progress and make this technology available.”

According to Christy Kareokowsky, director of West Jefferson General Hospital’s Cardiac Service Line, the new generation of heart healthcare is about innovative machines and what they can do for the patients.

“The newest technologies, for example, with an ECHO machine allow the doctors to see and view things much clearer and more precise,” she said. “They can make a faster and more accurate diagnosis. The technologies also offer better communication between the doctors so they can easily communicate findings, which in turn enhances overall patient safety and satisfaction.

We can now do hand-held echocardiograms, for example, which can be much quicker and less expensive.” n 54 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

RECAP

Heart Care at Ochsner 2017 was a big year for the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute (JOHVI), home to more than 50 cardiologists providing care at multiple locations throughout New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Kenner, the river parishes, North Shore and bayou regions.

69th Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) implantation in December LVADs are devices that help advanced heart failure patients who can no longer rely on earlier stage treatment options.

Became first and only facility to implant HeartMate 3™ LVAD in Louisiana and Mississippi in October JOHVI became the first facility in Louisiana and Mississippi to implant the HeartMate 3™ LVAD. The device is the latest LVAD design for patients awaiting transplant or experiencing advanced heart failure. The first patients included a 77-year-old and a 16-year-old — both are home and recovering well.

950th Heart Transplant in November JOHVI performed the first heart transplant in the Gulf South in 1970 and performs approximately 25 transplants every year, making it one of the most experienced heart transplant centers in the country.

bizneworleans.com / 55

Perspectives guest viewpoint

In the years since we started

Search Influence, the New Orleans tech scene has exploded. In that same time, Generation Y, also known as “millennials,” became the majority of the workforce. We’re lucky to have several millenials among our ranks at my company.

At the time of our founding in 2006, digital marketing was a new field and we were unique in the New Orleans area as its practitioners. In the beginning, we were a completely remote U.S. company with mostly New Orleans area-based account service. Our production team was in India. Thus, from 2006 to 2010 “working from home” was synonymous with “working” for us.

Today’s reality calls for a different approach to compensation and benefits; an approach which is familyfriendly and millennial approved and which works for business, too.

In 2010 we made a decision to redevelop our production team in the U.S. From then until this summer, when we radically overhauled our compensation philosophy — stay with me — we addressed pay and benefits incrementally, in fits and starts and, usually in crisis. We felt the effects of this with an employee retention rate that made us feel less than proud.

In talking with other business owners, it seems our approach was pretty common.

In the last couple of years a few things have changed which have brought us to a new way of thinking.

I think we’d all agree that if a person, or a business, failed to learn over the span of 11 years that would be pretty unacceptable.

The biggest among the changes is that we as a leadership team have started reading books together. From that practice, we’ve gotten exposure to some great concepts which we’re trying to put into practice.

Like many companies, we have always collected anecdotal feedback like suggestions and exit interviews.

56 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

We Did It, Should You? Faced with retention problems, Will Scott, CEO of Search Influence, shares how the tech company revamped their compensation and benefits package.

by Will Scott

What we didn’t have was a clear framework for how to integrate that into our business decisionmaking.

So, as a group, we read a few books which got us going on a process to better analyze and integrate the feedback we get from employees, customers and other stakeholders.

First among our reading was “The Great Game of Business” by Jack Stack, which outlines some thinking about creating a meeting cadence and content in order to help with management. We also read “The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age” by Reid Hoffman, cofounder and chairman of Linkedin,

which gave us some new ways to think about the employee employer relationship and what our expectations should be at different levels of tenure and within the organization.

And finally, we read “Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It… and Why the Rest Don’t” by Verne Harnish, which brings together all of the above into a real framework for organizational management with a focus on quarterly planning in the areas of strategy, execution, cash and people.

I was introduced to “The Great Game of Business” by Erik Frank, CEO of Your Nutrition Delivered,

and to “The Alliance” by Scott Wolfe, CEO of zLien — both members of the New Orleans startup community and members of EO (Entrepreneurs’ Organization) Louisiana.

With an abundance of input, some “data,” some learning and some anecdotal feedback, we got to work with a goal of collecting intel on competitive compensation.

We commissioned an outside HR consultant to do some polling of companies we thought of as “talent competitors,” i.e. companies who would hire our team members after we’d given them a year’s experience, or just prior to their next step on our ladder.

As you can imagine, it’s frustrating to put so much time, energy and training into an employee and have them walk out the door over, what seemed to us, a few dollars. Then to hear in exit interviews about “better” benefits — typically without much detail — added fuel to our fire to make sure we had good data.

We started this process without a critical team member, though. Alison Zeringue, our director of account management, was on maternity leave and on her return reviewed the plan from a fresh perspective. She helped us understand that simply collecting data about pay wasn’t going to be enough. Alison helped the rest of us realize this was our shot. We had to come full-force or risk losing the faith of the team.

Sadly, our HR consultant was not as successful as we’d have liked. In some cases this was due to a reticence on the part of local companies to share information with “competitors.” In others it was busy-ness; our needed contacts weren’t able to provide the information in a timely enough fashion.

Thankfully we did manage to collect good data from a representative few. That, plus a Herculean effort from our COO, Angie Scott, our HR manager, Myndi Savoy, and many more of our managers, enabled us to

put together a matrix that included new minimum and maximum salaries for each position based on online resources from salary.com and payscale.com. For some positions the result was an annual raise, for others, affirmation that their salary was already competitive.

Our original quarterly goal was to get a firm grasp on competitive pay.

Check! More than check!

We knew that updating annual compensation wasn’t the complete answer, because to our employees it’s all about the total package of benefits and pay. So we knew a benefits and “perks” overhaul was also necessary. Sounds easy, right?

You have no idea..

Looking at benefits, getting through everyone’s must-haves was a bloodbath. Thankfully, our leadership team have thick skins and are not afraid to advocate for what they believe.

Nothing was off the table. We adjusted PTO (paid time off ), working hours, work-from-home rules, parking reimbursements, you name it!

We had done it! We rolled out the full package and the team was elated. We addressed a number of long-standing concerns, like “sick pay” — which we addressed by universally adding paid time off days. We addressed smaller issues like making Lundi Gras a holiday.

With clients all across the U.S. and many in Canada, we had always felt like we needed to be present for at least part of the Mardi Gras holiday.

And the one no one expected, we rolled out a universal “transportation” stipend. We didn’t feel it was fair to only give a “parking” benefit to those who drove. So whether it’s an RTA Jazzy Pass or two bicycle tubes and a poor boy, we wanted everyone to be treated fairly.

We are now five months in and the response has been great.

Our top concern was feeling like we were losing valuable team members over pay and benefits.

While I’d love to say we’ve had no voluntary exits in the time since, that’s just not so. That said, each of the folks who’ve chosen to move

on have been very complimentary of the work we did and indicated that their choice to leave was to pursue career aspirations outside of the scope of Search Influence’s current business, not more money.

By rolling out such a comprehensive compensation package at once we were able to set employee expectations that with competitive and generous benefits comes responsibility. For the sake of our clients, we need to be able to expect excellence from our team. Our team has delivered. We’re more agile and committed than ever before, pumping out great work with short turnarounds and launching campaigns faster than ever.

It’s easy to complain about or stereotype a generation, but as we know, there is no universal definition of either the generations or their members.

As business leaders, it’s our responsibility to assure we’re meeting the needs of customers and employees.

It’s a balancing act between profitability and supporting your team.

I am confident the investment in our team, and our investment of time in crafting a great benefits package, will return us even greater profits over time. n

Will Scott runs New Orleansbased Search Influence with his wife and co-founder, Angie Scott.

Search Influence is a national, fullservice Digital Marketing agency with a focus on locally focused businesses.

Founded in 2006, Search Influence employs more than 50 full time workers and hundreds of freelancers and has 7 years on the Inc. 5000 list.

bizneworleans.com / 57

58 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Salt of the Earth with a Head in the Clouds

Small town native Chris Meaux, CEO of food delivery app Waitr, has found fast success targeting smaller markets “the big guys won’t touch.” Not afraid to think big, he’s now setting out to transform the entire restaurant industry.

By Kim Singletary Portraits by Craig Mulcahy

bizneworleans.com / 59

N o more standing in line to

order food. No more giving your order to a waiter or figuring out how to split a check. Saints players delivering dinner to your front door.

Crazy dreams? Nope, just Waitr CEO and founder Chris Meaux sharing his plans for 2018.

A native of Estherwood, Louisiana (population 977), Meaux grew up showing livestock with dreams of becoming a veterinarian.

While in college at LSU, he discovered a love of computers, but this shining star of Louisiana’s tech community’s small-town roots remain very much a part of his company and who he is.

Clad in jeans, Meaux throws out words like “city folk” and instead of a briefcase, carries a backpack everywhere he goes. Inside sits one of his most treasured possessions — a well-worn LSU notebook.

It was in this notebook, back in 2013, that Meaux worked out all of his ideas for a food delivery app he

60 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

was going to call Foogle — “food plus Google.”

In January 2015 that dream came to life under a different name – Waitr.

The on-demand food delivery restaurant platform allows you to order food from local restaurants online, or from any iPhone or Android device, and have it delivered.

In the three years since its launch in Lake Charles, the company has grown its presence to 150 cities and six states, taking over 4 million orders in 2017.

“We grew 390 percent between 2016 and 2017,” said Meaux. We’ll do close to 9 million orders this year and all of it started in this notebook as an idea.”

While in college, Meaux started buying parts and building computers to sell to businesses. His first job out of college was selling computers for Hyundai Electronics. But it was during the dot com boom that Meaux took his first leap into entrepreneurism.

It didn’t go well.

Can you talk about the first tech company you started?

I started an internet company in Silicon Valley that had a little success off the bat. We developed one of the first DIY website tools for small businesses to build their own websites. We were really focused on doctors, lawyers, etc. Then, when the bubble burst, it ended up being a colossal failure. The company ended up going out of business, which took a pretty big toll on me personally. As the leader, I felt like I could have done something differently, but the reality was a lot of companies failed. It took me a long time to get over that.

I almost gave up on entrepreneurship. In fact, I got to the point, right before I started Waitr, where I was so down on entrepreneurship that I had decided to just go get a teacher’s certificate and become a teacher or do some noble profession and teach others — maybe how to avoid the same mistakes I did. Instead, my wife encouraged me to keep going with another idea I had.

How did the idea for Waitr come about?

In between the computer work I had owned a couple of restaurants with some partners. That’s when I first thought of the idea in 2009. I started a concept called Meaux 2 Geaux in South Lake Texas in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, where you could order food on the internet, and we would cook it and deliver it. I rented a test kitchen to try it and it was actually fairly successful but I could never find a permanent spot that was affordable to roll out that concept so I put it on the shelf. In 2011, I moved back to Louisiana, to Lake Charles.

The real jumping off for Waitr then occurred in 2013?

Yes, I decided to drive to Startup weekend in Gainesville in October 2013 and pitch my food delivery idea. The way Startup Weekend works is it starts on Friday, where you have 60 seconds to pitch your idea. From there you form a team and have to create a prototype in 54 hours. On Sunday, there’s a panel of judges that pick a winner. We actually won the competition, so I turned to the four guys on my team and told them I was going to go back to Louisiana and raise the money to start this company. Two didn’t want to continue, and two did, they were students at

the University of Florida — Evan Diaz d’Arce and Addison Killebrew. They probably thought they’d never see me again [laughs].

From there, I needed two more software developers, so I emailed all the professors at colleges in Louisiana and said ‘I’m starting this company, this is what I’m going to do. I need two software developers, one that understands application development and one that understands backend development.’ From that I found Adam Murnane and Manuel Rivero, who were students at McNeese University. All four are cofounders of Waitr. They built the product while they were still in school and I was raising the money and funding the company for about 9 months until we raised our first capital.

We incorporated in Dec. 2013 and got our first funds from local investors in St. Charles in May of 2014. Then we were on our way. We spent most of 2014 developing the software and then rolled out the app to the App Store in January 2015.

We actually rolled out as dine-in first. You would go to a restaurant, sit down and go on your phone and order and the food would come out to your table. We tested it in Lake Charles and it really took off.

What was your experience like pitching to venture capitalists?

I remember pitching to some VCs in Houston and they sat me down and said, ‘If you’re going to do this you’re going to have to be in Austin or Silicon Valley because you’re not going to find enough software engineers in Louisiana.’ They actually said, ‘If we’re going to invest, you have to move the company.’

At that point I said to myself, ‘Don’t move the company. You can do it here.’ Then someone turned me on to LED and they talked to me about the Angel Investor Tax Credit program they had. At the time, it was a 35 percent tax credit to investors who invested in Louisiana-based startups. Well, I wanted to raise $200,000 so I thought, if I raise 200,000 those investors will be getting 70,000 back, meaning their net investment is only 130,000 but has a 200,000 value. So I applied for it and we used that in the first funding round.

At that point I started reading through the other programs on LED’s website and became interested in the Digital Interactive Media and Software Development Incentive, which, at the time I think, meant we could get 35 percent back

on the money we spent developing software.

It allowed us to kind of extend the runway for the capital that we raised. Basically, if I spent $1 million developing software and got $350,000 back, that was hugely important to a startup company like ours.

You used another state program to help with your expansion, right?

Yes. In 2015 Waitr was in Lake Charles and Lafayette, and I think we had just launched in Baton Rouge.

We were starting to expand, but we didn’t have any research on where we should be going and it was going to cost us a lot of money to get the research to expand out of Louisiana.

That was when Chris Cassagne pitched us LED’s Economic Gardening Initiative for second stage companies like ours. We gave them a 12-state area and said we were looking for cities like we were in that would be perfect for us to expand. They did the research and it didn’t cost us anything.

They came back with 222 markets out of that study and we narrowed that down to 80 markets.

We opened 24 of those 80 by the end of 2017 and we’ll open another 24 to 30 new markets this year.

We now have a roadmap. We wouldn’t have had that without LED.

You expanded out to California but are no longer there. What happened?

We bought a company out there and launched in Sacramento, but it was only open for a few months. What we figured out really quickly is that our playbook is more suited to contiguous expansion as opposed to just popping up hubs around the country. As a result, we grow now from markets we’re already strong in. We realized we really need to focus on our base – the Gulf South. We’ll eventually get to those cities and those markets though.

So the app is free for users, with just a flat delivery fee, but the restaurants pay to be included.

What are the benefits to them?

I’ll give you a number. It’s a pretty amazing number.

In 2017, we brought restaurants $90 million in food sales. In most cases, restaurants have told us they saw a 20 to 25 percent increase over their normal

bizneworleans.com / 61

business. What we’re doing is helping restaurants get orders they wouldn’t normally get because we’re making it convenient for the consumer and connecting them to the restaurant. As a former restaurateur, that’s the thing I’m most proud of.

In the last two years, we’ve brought restaurants over $160 million in business.

Restaurants have access to the menu people see on the app right?

Yes. We built a menu manager platform just for restaurants so that once we add them in they can easily change their menu themselves — they can add items, delete items, change pricing. If they’re out of green beans, for example, then they can put that in and the next customer won’t be able to order them. It’s a very robust platform and that’s a big differentiator between us and our competitors.

We also give them the ability to add a button to their website that says, ‘Order Online.’ What used to happen is that restaurants would put their menu up on their website and it would stay up there for a year or two. Some wouldn’t even know who their webmaster was or it was just a pain to get it changed. Now we give them this button and it leads to a menu that is always up to date. A perfect example is Zea’s. Now customers have three ways to order from them— from Zea’s website, the Waitr.com website and the Waitr app itself. Restaurants love that.

What does Waitr’s infrastructure look like? How many people do you employ?

Our operations center is in Lafayette and we have about 125 to 130 employees there. Our headquarters are still in Lake Charles — we have about 75 to 80 there.

Plus, in every city where we operate, we have a small office of usually about four to five people. All in all, it adds up right now to 246 corporate employees and over 2,800 driver employees.

Waitr moved into New Orleans in 2015 and you have since garnered the support of a pretty famous Saints player. How did Drew Brees get involved?

62 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Yes, he invested in one of our rounds a little over a year ago. Drew is of course a partner at Walk On’s and we put that restaurant online in Lake Charles first, after which they saw a huge spike in their to-go business. Later I actually ran into Brandon Landry at a business pitch in Baton Rouge — he was a judge in a panel where I was doing a pitch. He’s the one that hooked me up with Drew. We started talking on the phone and he liked the idea. It happened that we were just doing a round of funding so he decided to lead that round.

Separately, we’re actually the official food delivery app for the Saints. We’ve done some

deliveries with some of the cheerleaders. I’m not sure we’ve done any with players yet but we will.

Never know who’s going to knock on your door.

There’s been some competition sprouting up in your market since you started. The first one I think of is Uber Eats. Is this hurting you at all?

Since we started the space has gotten kind of crowded, but we actually don’t face a lot of competition other than in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

This is mostly because we built our company to focus on those smaller to mid-size markets where those other companies typically wouldn’t go.

We’re a small-town company. One of our tags is “we’re local everywhere,” and we are. We have a local organization everywhere that runs those markets. That gives us a significant advantage.

Our competitors don’t have that ground game in those markets.

Of course we do have our challenges, especially in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge markets where we’ve had so much growth that it’s hard to keep up, but we’re managing through those problems. With most cities we go to though it’s more like, ‘Thank goodness someone thought of us.’ Places like Gulfport, Mississippi and Columbus Georgia that we’re about to go into. Some of these places don’t have a lot of businesses that come there and roll something out that they can sink their teeth into.

Of course it’s also just a better experience on Waitr than it is on UberEats.

So it’s safe to assume Waitr is in Louisiana to stay?

I think about all those VCs telling me to move out of Louisiana and it’s funny because I’m talking to VCs now who are wanting to invest outside of those traditional valleys. So I tell them about these programs we have here and for the most part they don’t believe me until they look at it.

Once they see it they say ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ We’ll spend prob-

ably $2 to 3 million in new software development and we’ll get back 25 percent of that. That’s incredible.

This is really a great state for entrepreneurism.

We’ve raised a total of $26 million to fund our company to this point — almost every dime from investors in Louisiana. And I could raise a ton more if we needed to but we don’t need to. There is a lot of money in this state looking for entrepreneurs with great ideas to invest in. I just want Louisiana entrepreneurs, especially, to know that you can build a successful technology company in the state of Louisiana, no matter what VCs from the coast tell you.

What’s next for Waitr?

We’re in 24 markets right now and we want to be in 50-plus markets by the end of 2018. We want to cover that 12-state region that we had economic gardening research for us. We want to be in every one of those 12 states in 2018 and if we do that, we’ll employ, I think over 8,000 people total.

Right now we employ 2,200 or 2,300 people in the state of Louisiana. We’ll probably add another 500 to 1,000 in Louisiana. That includes our drivers too, but a lot of that will be corporate. We’ll be positioned really well to expand beyond those 12 states in 2019.

One of things we’re doing now is expanding into alcohol delivery. We’ve already built that capability into the app in a way that has seven levels of checks that ensure minors can’t order alcohol through Waitr. We want to accomplish that this year too.

We’re also going to roll out dine-in this year.

We’re going to start working with fast casual restaurants so that instead of standing in line, you’ll just go sit down at a table and order on Waitr. We’ll eventually move into full service, not to replace the server, we won’t replace the server. What we’ll do is augment what the server is capable of doing. The server will still be there to bring food, do refills, get your silverware, all of that, but they won’t have to be in the back keying orders, splitting checks, and all of that.

Waitr can do that for you.

This will allow servers to serve more tables meaning servers will make more money, restaurants will make more money and Waitr’ll make a bit of money. Everybody will be better off. That’s a project I want to see come to fruition in 2018 and it will happen.

We’re also doing grocery delivery in Lake Charles, where we started a pilot with Market Basket. It’s going really well. So eventually, maybe you’ll be able to do groceries through Waitr.

Imagine if every time you thought of food, you went to Waitr. That’s really what I want.

Looking more long-term, what are your ultimate goals for the company?

I have a bigger vision of the future for the restaurant industry and technology. Restaurants struggle with a lot of things in the front of the house — a lot of turnover with servers, a lot of struggles with scheduling and with point of sale systems.

I think Waitr can solve a lot of these problems. I want our company to be the leading platform of the front-of-the-house problems.

What does that mean? Not only can you order for delivery on Waitr, you can use Waitr as your order entry point for servers. That means when servers take an order they put it right into the Waitr order manager. It replaces the order entry point at the point of sales system.

Really big vision: I do believe that drone delivery is going to happen at some point. If Waitr can be involved in those kinds of things, I think it would be great. And there’s some efforts we’re looking at.

Many people have said that Louisiana needs that big “win” in terms of tech. Do you see Waitr as that win?

Well, of course I’d love to be the biggest technology success story in Louisiana, but Centurylink’s a pretty big company [laughing]. But hey that’s a goal to shoot for.

I’ll tell you like I tell our team, we’ve had some success but we’re not successful yet. What we need to do is get Waitr to be successful. What does successful look like? I can’t really tell you, but it’s a big win for Louisiana and we’ll know it when it happens. Either a nice exit for our investors, we service the bulk of our nation. I can’t tell you what it looks like yet, but success for Waitr is absolutely going to be success for Louisiana.

favorites: Favorite book? “Crossing the Casim” Favorite TV Show? “Friends” Who do you look up to? My father Biggest life lesson learned? Learn from failure and power on! Best advice ever received? Be humble and listen! Hobbies? Golf Daily habits? Not a habitual person but I do like to finish my day with a review of tomorrow. Pet peeve(s)? Tardiness What are you most looking forward to in the next year? Fulfilling more of my vision for Waitr!

bizneworleans.com / 63

French Quarter The largest antiques dealer

Gem Shines in North America,

in Era of M.S. Rau

Declining Retail will soon double in size.

S

ome of Rebecca Rau’s fondest childhood memories of her family business, M.S. Rau Antiques, involve Mardi Gras celebrations with cousins in the Royal Street store, pressing their luck on antique slot machines and “assisting” the staff behind the jewelry counter.

Today, Rebecca Rau oversees strategic development for M.S. Rau, representing the fourth generation of the family in the business. She works alongside her father, owner Bill Rau, who first learned the trade from his father, uncle and grandmother when he began working in the store part-time at age 13.

And while both Raus attribute much of the business’s success over 105 years to luck, the journey has been considerably less random than playing the slot machines. Years of savvy decisions around inventory and marketing have helped make M.S. Rau the largest antiques dealer in North America (in terms of sales), bringing what Bill calls “the best of the best” to a growing number of clients around the world.

M.S. Rau’s latest undertaking is a 19,000-square-foot expansion that will nearly double the store’s French Quarter footprint. The addition, made possible through the purchase of two neighboring buildings, is intended to house a breathtaking inventory of treasures more comfortably and make M.S. Rau even more attractive to art collectors and antiques enthusiasts.

“I think we’ll have a more recognized presence in the French Quarter, and I think it will feel more like a destination,” says Rebecca Rau. “We love staying in touch with our clients and doing business with them remotely, but it’s really nice when they come visit us too, and I think this will give reason for them to be here.”

Growing pains “The great news is we’re in a historic landmark with great charm,” says Bill. “The bad news is we can’t change it. So, when we had an opportunity to buy a building that attaches to us, we had to take it.”

Although M.S. Rau acquired the first of its two additional buildings (622-624 Royal Street) in late 2015 and the second (616-618 Royal Street) only months later, construction has yet to begin. The two buildings are historic structures (archival records from the Historic New Orleans Collection date them to 1831), which means they are eligible for historic tax credits. However, it also means that

By Rebecca their renovation and restoration is subject to Friedman stringent oversight by entities such as the Vieux photos by jeffery Carré Commission. johnston Rau said he is hoping construction will start in March 2018, but the application process for historic tax credits has taken longer than expected.

“One of the difficulties of dealing with [the State Historic Preservation Office] is they have specific ideas of what should stay and what shouldn’t stay that we have to work around,” said Bill Rau. “You have this vision of everything in the beginning, and it sort of gets eaten away bit by bit. At the end of the day, it’s still going to be great.”

M.S. Rau’s inventory and staff (which currently numbers around 50) continue to expand, so the Raus say they are eager to see their new home completed.

“Even though we have a lot of space, we have so many objects that I think you’ll be able to appreciate them more as individual things when they have room to breathe,” says Rebecca Rau.

As with any major construction project, there are concerns. The new structure will have two entrances (both facing Royal), which will change the flow of customer traffic. After 86 years on the block, the Raus say they feel a strong sense of responsibility to their neighbors.

“I want to be cognizant that we disrupt everybody’s livelihood and homes as little as possible,” emphasizes Bill Rau. Though he labors over every decision — “It makes me lose my hair!” — Bill Rau and his staff believe the careful consideration will result in a better project, benefitting both his business and the city.

His daughter shares that optimism.

“As a young New Orleans native, I’m kind of nervous but also excited to feel like we are investing in the future of the city and trusting that we will continue to matter and people will continue to come here and spend time and money.”

Cornering the high-end market M.S. Rau built its reputation on high-end fine art and antiques, specializing in one-of-a-kind items. According to Bill Rau, that was a conscious choice.

“There’s a term in the antique world called ‘brown wood dealers,’ and it was a person that sold typically English or American tables, chairs, beds — and everything was brown wood… Years ago, we decided we didn’t want to be that. We wanted to buy the best of everything.”

The one that got away

The Tower of Katoubia Mosque

by Sir Winston Churchill Over Bill Rau’s long career, he only regrets selling one item — this work by accomplished painter Sir Winston Churchill. Though Churchill was a prolific artist, this was the only painting he made during World War II. It was even more special because he gifted it to President Franklin D. Roosevelt after the 1943 Casablanca Conference, which both men attended and marked a turning point in the war.

“Even though we made a lot of money on it, I wish we hadn’t sold it,” says Rau, whose father was a World War II veteran.

“This work had it all. It was painted by one of the most important people of the 20th century and given to another of the most important people of the 20th century at one of the most important moments of history. And it was absolutely beautiful. Every single box got checked. That’s the type of thing that really excites me.”

bizneworleans.com / 65

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Vice and Virtue: An Exhibition of Sex, Saints and Sin April 7 – June 9, M.S. Rau Antiques Over the past couple of years, under Rebecca Rau’s guidance, M.S. Rau has stepped up the caliber of its gallery exhibitions — producing catalogues and wall text and displaying a greater number of items on loan.

The upcoming exhibition, “Vice and Virtue: An Exhibition of Sex, Saints and Sin,” is inspired by the city’s tricentennial and will explore, through art and artifacts, the themes of vice and virtue and the relationship between the city’s Catholic heritage and its more indulgent leanings.

That decision to differentiate themselves from other dealers through their inventory has paid off.

“One of our [local] competitors… gave us a very nice compliment,” Bill Rau recalls. “He said, ‘Y’all used to be competition with us, but you’re not anymore.’ You have to change with what the market wants.

And, luckily, we have, and we made some good guesses… The market has unequivocally moved to where we are. I won’t say we were smart — I’m sure part of it is luck.”

Rebecca Rau credits her father’s knowledge of historical performance and a forward-thinking view for the business’s success.

“I think he has a really solid understanding of the types of objects that have thrived historically and also of artists and silversmiths with solid potential,” she says. “That includes not only market value but also art historical value and historical importance, having foresight and being able to let go of things, like wrought iron, that might have been popular once upon a time, but were not the future of the business.”

Bill Rau also believes in keeping a long-term perspective when it comes to performance.

“Because we have things that are very expensive, we can have outlier years,” he says. “The people that like looking at data — we drive them crazy because we have so many outliers. We’re not selling 87,000 bars of soap a year. If we sell two [Norman] Rockwells in a year, one might be $200,000 and one might be $5 million.”

By any measure — sales, profits, new customers — M.S. Rau’s growth has moved steadily upward.

66 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

“When you look at the long term, it’s two-and-a-half times what it was 10 years ago, and five times what it was 20 years ago,” says Bill Rau. “Our CFO, who started right after Katrina, was utterly shocked. He had come from a business where everything was about next month. We look at things really long term.”

The art of predicting demand As with most markets, it’s difficult to forecast the ups and down of art and antique categories. The Raus’ track record over time is excellent, as evidenced by their continued growth. But Bill Rau acknowledges a few decisions he might have made differently.

“There are a number of things going gangbusters that we don’t deal in,” he says. “So, when I say we moved in the right direction, we didn’t move completely in the right direction.” He points to the “extraordinarily hot” contemporary art market as an example, although he believes that market is a bubble.

Rau also admits being late to recognize the potential of World War II artifacts.

“Twenty years ago, somebody asked me about something from World War II, and I said, ‘I can’t really agree that it will be a good long-term investment because 800 WWII vets are dying every day,’” he said.

“The part I missed was that their kids and grandkids were much more interested in the things than they were.” He cites a German Enigma I cipher machine as an example. “It’s the ugliest thing we have in the store, but it stops people: ‘Wow! You have an Enigma machine!’”

Reaching their target market When your business is selling the “best of everything” to discerning clientele, effective marketing is critical.

“We want to reach people that love our things and can afford our things,” says Bill Rau. Approximately 12 percent of M.S. Rau’s customers are local, a designation Bill Rau gives to anyone who would drive to New Orleans for a meal. The rest come from every corner of the globe.

And customers, according to Rau, fall into two categories: those with “the collecting gene” and the “decorators.”

His favorite “collecting gene” example is the porcelain-loving customer who, after a call from Bill alerting him to the availability of a new piece, skipped an emergency dental appointment to come in immediately for a better look. “I wish more people had that gene,” he laughs.

The “decorators” are those who might just want “a really important painting for above the fireplace…and a really nice table,” he says. “You get those two pieces and you’re finished. You have fond memories of us, and you still come in to see what we have. But you don’t have to have anything else. So those are the basis of our two best types of clients. Obviously, we prefer the collector.”

To reach both types, M.S. Rau advertises heavily in national publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. They participate in shows, and they do a lot of research on their customers and potential customers.

“At the end of the day, we have still only gotten the tip of the iceberg,” says Bill Rau. “It’s a huge iceberg, and getting to them all is not easy. But we chip away at it, and I know we have a far bigger portion than we ever did.”

The role of the internet M.S. Rau has invested heavily in its website, which has expanded the company’s reach and reputation. In Bill Rau’s opinion, the internet is also “the greatest de-inflation tool of all time.” When a customer is making a purchase decision, he explains, they can research it immediately online. “It only becomes about money: ‘Can I sell you one cheaper than you can buy somewhere else?’”

However, while pricing competition is true with commodities (e.g., a Wedgewood piece), it isn’t necessarily for unique items.

“When something is a ‘one of,’ you have this great advantage,” says Bill Rau. “This is really where our market is. The internet has helped us in that. You come in here and see a Norman Rockwell and you flip on your phone, and say, ‘Gee, this last Rockwell sold for $7 million in auction, and this one is less money than that, so…’ That makes it really easy for us.”

As for online dealers that sell antiques, Rau considers them a “two-edged sword.”

“When someone says, ‘You’re asking $10,000 for something I saw on eBay for $500,’ I would respond: ‘a) Was it real? b) What kind of condition was it in? c) Maybe it was as good as ours, and it did sell for $500, but I didn’t know it nor did any of my competitors, and something slipped through the cracks.’ But that will probably happen once every 30 years.”

And while online antiques marketplace sites like 1stdibs.com do present some competition, they also offer M.S. Rau a sales platform to a broad audience. “We made a $35,000 sale this week on 1stdibs. com. We have picked up some nice clients from it,” he says.

As millennial consumers continue to demonstrate spending patterns that favor the “experience economy” over objects (a departure from previous generations), the Raus have considered how this trend might impact their industry.

Rebecca Rau, herself a millennial, isn’t worried.

“There is a reason humans have produced things across history,” she says. “I think things allow you to have recurring experiences — every time I look at something I love, I get a lot out of it. I believe there will be a time when ‘stuff ’ will matter again, and we’ll need that attachment to history because everything else is becoming more abstract as so much of our lives moves toward devices. The handmade and the tangible is something immediate. It might take some cultivation to push that, but I know there are other millennials out there who will value and want to collect what we deal in. It’s just a matter of when.”

“Most businesses, if you’ve done it long enough, you know 99 percent of the things you need to know,” he says. “I’d like to think we know more than most people in this business, and I personally only know 15 to 20 percent of what I need to know. I got a head start. I never would have gotten to learn what I learned at a young age if it had been any business but a family business.”

For Rebecca Rau, the learning has been more self-driven as the organization has grown.

“In terms of product knowledge, I’m sure my father spent more time with his father learning the inventory himself,” she says. “Some of that I have to seek out and teach myself because it’s become a fast-paced business, and people are not as available as they once might have been. I think that’s just the times.”

She says she also had to come around to the idea of joining M.S. Rau, which she did after spending several years studying and working across the fine arts in New York, California and London.

“Growing up, I felt a lot of pressure to join, and it kind of made me want to flee,” she says with a laugh. “I felt like if I committed, it was a real, long-term serious commitment and that was daunting.

But once I did some soul searching, I came to terms with the fact that I’m going to be working in the arts in some capacity, and this is an amazing business in an amazing city, so why not embrace it?”

Being part of a family business

Pushing toward the future

Both Raus acknowledge the pros and cons of their arrangement. Bill Rau recalls a conversation held during his twenties with an older friend who was also part of a family business.

“My friend said, ‘Bill, when you go into a family business, the road to the top is a lot shorter, but it’s a lot rockier.’ And I just always made it my goal just to get along with everybody. Don’t let that stop the right decisions, but keep everybody’s feelings in mind.”

He said he also appreciates the fact that he’s constantly learning on the job — and has been since childhood.

Every segment of the retail industry has seen big changes, and Bill Rau believes his business is no exception.

“The days of sitting down and waiting for people to come in and buy are gone,” says Bill. “When I first started, we used to make a bank run every day at 1 p.m. because we’d already had four or five sales by then. I smile about it now — the $100 or $300 sale. Those days are gone. You’ve got to go out and find the clients. You’ve got to push.

There’s a general axiom of business that if you’re staying still, you’re falling behind. And there’s no doubt about that.”

The next generation of collectors

bizneworleans.com / 67

68 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Credit

The Best Lawyers in America© is published by Woodward/White Inc., Aiken, S.C. and can be ordered directly from the publisher. For information call 803-648-0300; write 237 Park Ave., SW, Suite 101, Aiken, S.C. 29801; email info@bestlawyers.com; or visit bestlawyers.com.

An online subscription to Best Lawyers® is available at bestlawyers.com.

Disclaimer and Copyright

Woodward/White Inc. has used its best efforts in assembling material for this list but does not warrant that the information contained herein is complete or accurate, and does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions herein whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. All listed attorneys have been verified as being members in good standing with their respective state bar associations as of July 1, 2017, where that information is publicly available. Consumers should contact their state bar association for verification and additional information prior to securing legal services of any attorney.

Copyright 2018 by Woodward/ White Inc., Aiken, S.C. All rights reserved. This list, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission. No commercial use of this list may be made without permission of Woodward/White Inc. No fees may be charged, directly or indirectly, for the use of this list without permission.

“The Best Lawyers in America” and “Best Lawyers” are registered trademarks of Woodward/White Inc. Methodology for Best Lawyers®

This list is excerpted from the 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in

Best Lawyers 1,457 Lawyers in 107 Specialties Profiles By Maria Clark Photographs by Jeffery Johnston

America©, the pre-eminent referral guide to the legal profession in the United States. Published since 1983, Best Lawyers lists attorneys in 140 specialties, representing all 50 states, who have been chosen through an exhaustive survey in which thousands of the nation’s top lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The 2018 edition of Best Lawyers is based on more than 6.7 million evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

The method used to compile Best Lawyers remains unchanged since the first edition was compiled more than 30 years ago. Lawyers are chosen for inclusion based solely on the vote of their peers. Listings cannot be

bought, and no purchase is required to be included. In this regard, Best Lawyers remains the gold standard of reliability and integrity in lawyer ratings.

The nomination pool for the 2018 edition consisted of all lawyers whose names appeared in the previous edition of Best Lawyers, lawyers who were nominated since the previous survey, and new nominees solicited from listed attorneys. In general, lawyers were asked to vote only on nominees in their own specialty in their own jurisdiction. Lawyers in closely related specialties were asked to vote across specialties, as were lawyers in smaller jurisdictions.

Where specialties are national or

international in nature, lawyers were asked to vote nationally as well as locally. Voting lawyers were also given an opportunity to offer more detailed comments on nominees.

Each year, half of the voting pool receives fax or email ballots; the other half is polled by phone.

Voting lawyers were provided this general guideline for determining if a nominee should be listed among “the best”: “If you had a close friend or relative who needed a real estate lawyer (for example), and you could not handle the case yourself, to whom would you refer them?” All votes and comments were solicited with a guarantee of confidentiality ― a critical factor in the viability and validity of Best Lawyers’ surveys.

To ensure the rigor of the selection process, lawyers were urged to use only their highest standards when voting, and to evaluate each nominee based only on his or her individual merits. The additional comments were used to make more accurate comparisons between voting patterns and weight votes accordingly. Best Lawyers uses various methodological tools to identify and correct for anomalies in both the nomination and voting process.

Ultimately, of course, a lawyer’s inclusion is based on the subjective judgments of his or her fellow attorneys. While it is true that the lists may at times disproportionately reward visibility or popularity, the breadth of the survey, the candor of the respondents, and the sophistication of the polling methodology largely correct for any biases.

For all these reasons, Best Lawyers lists continue to represent the most reliable, accurate and useful guide to the best lawyers in the United States available anywhere.

bizneworleans.com / 69

B e s t L aw y e r s Administrative / Regulatory Law Mark A. Cunningham Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Robert E. Holden Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 David A. Marcello Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Bertrand M. Cass, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Don K. Haycraft Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Kevin Marks Melchiode Marks King 504-336-2880

Charles R. Talley Kean Miller 504-585-3050

Charles A. Cerise, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Gary A. Hemphill Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Robert P. McCleskey, Jr. Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Peter M. Thomson Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Kathleen K. Charvet Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith 504-525-6802

Russ M. Herman Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Micheal A. McGlone Kean Miller 504-585-3050

Jefferson R. Tillery Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Peter L. Hilbert, Jr. Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Evans Martin Mcleod Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Brian D. Wallace Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Alanson T. Chenault IV Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600

Thomas Kent Morrison Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Rodger Wheaton Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990

R. Keith Jarrett Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Stewart F. Peck Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990

Conrad S.P. Williams III Williams Law Group 504-200-0000

George B. Jurgens III King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800

William J. Riviere Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Scott E. Delacroix Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Kenneth M. Klemm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Antonio J. Rodriguez Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600

Thomas P. Diaz Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Edward J. Koehl, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000

J. Kelly Duncan Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Patricia A. Krebs King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800

E. Gregg Barrios Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

CĂŠleste D. Elliott Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990

James H. Roussel Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Edwin C. Laizer Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Kent B. Ryan Miller Law Firm 504-684-5044

Francis J. Barry, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

S. Gene Fendler Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Kevin J. LaVie Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Richard D. Bertram Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Delos E. Flint, Jr. Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600

David B. Lawton Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

William B. Schwartz Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

John A. Bolles Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Thomas D. Forbes Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

J. Dwight LeBlanc, Jr. Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Alan G. Brackett Mouledoux, Bland, Legrand & Brackett 504-595-3000

Joshua S. Force Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

J. Dwight LeBlanc III Frilot 504-599-8000

John J. Broders Jones Walker 504-582-8000

George J. Fowler III Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600

Philip S. Brooks, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

John E. Galloway Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith 504-525-6802

Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Admiralty & Maritime Law Donald R. Abaunza Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Robert B. Acomb III Johnson Yacoubian & Paysse 504-528-3001 Robert B. Acomb, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Michael H. Bagot, Jr. Wagner, Bagot & Rayer 504-525-2141 Robert J. Barbier Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Michael M. Butterworth Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 David L. Carrigee Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

Robert C. Clotworthy Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Christopher O. Davis Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Laurence R. DeBuys IV Patrick Miller 504-527-5400

Glenn G. Goodier Jones Walker 504-582-8000 A. Gordon Grant, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

70 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Grady S. Hurley Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Edward F. LeBreton III Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600 Charles E. Leche Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

James T. Rogers III Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

David B. Sharpe Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990 James R. Silverstein Kean Miller 504-585-3050 Stephanie D. Skinner Miller Law Firm 504-684-5044 Mark J. Spansel Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

David W. Leefe Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Paul M. Sterbcow Lewis, Kullman, Sterbcow & Abramson 504-588-1500

Robert T. Lemon II Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Norman C. Sullivan, Jr. Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600

Francis V. Liantonio, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Dean A. Sutherland Jeansonne & Remondet 504-524-7333

Brett D. Wise Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 James E. Wright III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Alternative Dispute Resolution M. Nan Alessandra Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 J. Gregg Collins Gregg Collins Mediation Arbitration 504-616-7535 Thomas K. Foutz TomFoutzADR 504-237-3183 E. Phelps Gay Christovich & Kearney 504-561-5700 Charles J. Murray Charles J. Murray, Attorney at Law 504-723-6719 William R. Pitts William R. Pitts 504-831-5050 Ronald J. Sholes Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 H. Bruce Shreves Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn 504-569-2030 Antitrust Law Mark R. Beebe Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 James A. Brown Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Craig L. Caesar Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

bizneworleans.com / 71

M y to u g h e s t c a s e

Bessie Antin Daschbach Environmental Law Managing Member Jones Swanson Huddell & Garrison, LLC 17 years in practice LLM Columbia Law School, New York, 2006 J.D. Tulane Law School, New Orleans, 2001 B.A. Duke University, Durham, N.C., 1998 Native of New Orleans

A

manager of teams of attorneys in multiple practice areas, Bessie Antin Daschbach describes herself as a “facilitator, the foreman on the job,” sometimes she even describes her work at Jones Swanson Huddell & Garrison law firm in New Orleans as “air traffic control.”

Daschbach joined the firm in 2011, bringing an extensive background in the three main practice areas at Jones Swanson—environmental, commercial and international law.

She explained that she didn’t necessarily choose the areas of law she wanted to practice in but was guided into them through the cases she was assigned to.

“A good lawyer practices what’s in front of them,” Daschbach says.

“We look for those cases that are high risk and that are intellectually stimulating with clients who really have a problem in front of them. The

72 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority- East value of these cases is so significant for these clients.”

After graduating from Tulane University Law School, she practiced with the defense firm Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein and Hilbert in New Orleans in construction litigation for five years. She then moved to

New York City where she completed a master’s degree in comparative law at Columbia University.

She came back to New Orleans and joined Jones Swanson where she “slid over to the environmental side of law,” in 2011 leading the firm’s environmental litigation team.

“I fell into it with the aim of bringing structure and project management to a group of people,” she said. “I have been learning on the fly from managing this group and have since started managing our international practice that we started as well.”

In 2013, Daschbach led the firm’s landmark Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority- East case against 97 oil companies.

“It was an enormous undertaking in every way,” she says. “We also were responsible for coordinating three different law firms, 20 lawyers and dozens of lobbyists. There was a political part of the case, the legal side and then communications part.”

She described how every day was new and brought “different bills that were targeting this legislation,” adding that the firm “had an enormous amount of blowback.”

“Not only did I come out of that as a different kind of lawyer with new competencies, but we were all different because of it. Our understanding of joint ventures is so much more mature,” she said. “When you represent a cause and a public body you have the inside information for something that is critical for the community. That enables us to educate, which became particularly important because you need to make sure the constituents understand.”

B e s t L aw y e r s Mark A. Cunningham Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Russ M. Herman Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Amelia Williams Koch Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Stephen H. Kupperman Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

Gene W. Lafitte Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Louis C. LaCour, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

John M. Landis Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Charles W. Lane III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Wayne J. Lee Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Alexander M. McIntyre, Jr. Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 David G. Radlauer Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Bruce V. Schewe Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Richard C. Stanley Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 Appellate Practice Barry W. Ashe Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Kim M. Boyle Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Roy C. Cheatwood Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Nancy Scott Degan Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Thomas M. Flanagan Flanagan Partners 504-569-0235 Harold J. Flanagan Flanagan Partners 504-569-0235 Michael R. Fontham Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Harry Simms Hardin III Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Gene W. Lafitte Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Patrick McGoey Schonekas, Evans, McGoey & McEachin 504-680-6050 Joseph L. McReynolds Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Martin A. Stern Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Banking & Finance Law Lee R. Adler Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Ricardo A. Aguilar McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 John T. Balhoff II Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Wm. Blake Bennett Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 G. Wogan Bernard Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Robert B. Bieck, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Roy E. Blossman Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800 Robin B. Cheatham Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Roy C. Cheatwood Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Philip deV. Claverie, Sr. Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 E. Howell Crosby Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

bizneworleans.com / 73

B e s t L aw y e r s William T. Finn Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

Robert Paul Thibeaux Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

Louis Y. Fishman Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252

Susan M. Tyler Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Joshua S. Force Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

R. Patrick Vance Jones Walker 504-582-8000

James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 A. Gregory Grimsal Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 William H. Hines Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Henry A. King King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800 Alvin C. Miester III Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Randy Opotowsky Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199 J. Marshall Page III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Daniel T. Pancamo Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Leon J. Reymond, Jr. Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Robert S. Rooth Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Robert M. Steeg Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199 James A. Stuckey Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Susan G. Talley Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Frank A. Tessier Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

Edward Dirk Wegmann Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Sterling Scott Willis Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 John D. Wogan Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Bankruptcy & Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law Ricardo A. Aguilar McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 Edward H. Arnold III Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Brent B. Barriere Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Christopher T. Caplinger Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990 Rudy J. Cerone McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 Robin B. Cheatham Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Douglas S. Draper Heller, Draper, Patrick, Horn & Dabney 504-299-3300 John M. Duck Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Matt J. Farley Krebs Farley 504-299-3570

Elizabeth J. Futrell Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Brent B. Barriere Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252

Harry Rosenberg Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Alan H. Goodman Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454

Edward Hart Bergin Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Jan M. Hayden Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

James A. Brown Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

James H. Roussel Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Sessions Ault Hootsell III Butler Snow 504-299-7700 Patrick Johnson, Jr. Akerman 504-586-1241 Philip K. Jones, Jr. Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Marguerite K. Kingsmill Kingsmill Riess 504-581-3300 Omer F. Kuebel III Locke Lord 504-558-5100 John M. Landis Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 R. Lewis McHenry Jones Walker 504-582-8000 William H. Patrick III Heller, Draper, Patrick, Horn & Dabney 504-299-3300 Stewart F. Peck Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990

Mark A. Cunningham Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Ewell E. Eagan, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Larry Feldman, Jr. McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 Thomas M. Flanagan Flanagan Partners 504-569-0235 George C. Freeman III Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 Robert S. Glass Glass & Reed 504-581-9083 Harry Simms Hardin III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Pauline F. Hardin Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Charles L. Stern, Jr. Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199

Grady S. Hurley Jones Walker 504-582-8000

R. Patrick Vance Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Stephen H. Kupperman Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

David F. Waguespack Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800 Michael Q. Walshe, Jr. Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Bet-the-Company Litigation

William T. Finn Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

Barry W. Ashe Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

J. David Forsyth Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel 504-582-1500

Judy Y. Barrasso Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

74 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Roy C. Cheatwood Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Gene W. Lafitte Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Wayne J. Lee Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Daniel Lund Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

Kyle Schonekas Schonekas, Evans, McGoey & McEachin 504-680-6050 Danny G. Shaw Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 985-819-8400 Richard C. Stanley Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 Charles L. Stern, Jr. Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199 James R. Swanson Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Walter C. Thompson, Jr. Barkley & Thompson 504-595-3350 Steven W. Usdin Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 R. Patrick Vance Jones Walker 504-582-8000 John M. Wilson Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Phillip A. Wittmann Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Biotechnology Law Daniel T. Pancamo Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Business Organizations (including LLCs & Partnerships) E. Howell Crosby Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Edward N. George Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 William F. Grace, Jr. Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Joseph Maselli, Jr. PlauchĂŠ Maselli Parkerson 504-582-1142

Steven I. Klein Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

John Wilson Reed Glass & Reed 504-581-9083

William H. Langenstein III Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

bizneworleans.com / 75

M y to u g h e s t c a s e

Antonio J. Rodriguez Maritime Law Managing Partner Fowler Rodriguez 44 years in practice B.S. United States Naval Academy J.D. Loyola University of the South (J.D. Cum Laude) Native of New Orleans

T

here is a photograph of an oil tanker called the Burmah Agate on a wall in attorney Antonio J. Rodriguez’s office.

On the morning of Nov. 1, 1979, the tanker was heading inbound to Galveston Bay when it was struck by a freighter ship called the Mimosa.

The incident not only resulted in the loss of 33 lives, it’s often cited as one of the worst oil spill disasters in the U.S. The accident badly damaged the hull of the Burmah Agate and an estimated 2.6 million gallons of oil were released into the Gulf of Mexico.

According to Rodriguez, one of the ships burned for 70 days.

The photograph is a reminder of one of the most challenging cases Rodriguez has worked on in a legal career that spans more than 40 years in maritime, environmental and

76 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Burmah Agate Oil Spill energy law, and one that inspired his interest in promoting safety in the maritime industry.

“There was a large loss of life during that incident and it started to shift the focus so that more was done with marine pollution law,” he said.

The incident also helped shift the legal focus surrounding liability and recovery of damages when major pollution accidents happen.

Rodriguez grew up in New Orleans.

At the age of 17 he went to the United States Naval Academy where he advanced to become a naval officer.

“From where I grew up to my years in the naval academy there was always this focus on the maritime industry,” he said. “A casualty practice was natural for me.”

Rodriguez’s practice began handling major shipping casualties and pollution incidents in the 1970s. Since then, he has helped in the development of a Major Marine Casualty Response Plan for his law firm, Fowler Rodriquez, where he has been managing partner since 1992.

That was around when he became more active with the regulatory side with a focus on navigation safety.

He explained that it wasn’t until the passage of the Oil Pollution Act in 1990­—­­shortly after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska March 24, 1989— that there was a set framework that helped streamline and strengthen the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency to respond to catastrophic pollution events.

More recently, Fowler Rodriguez also conducted the legal support for the immediate response stemming from the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010.

His extensive career in maritime law has gone hand-in-hand with teaching law as an adjunct professor of law over the last 34 years at Tulane University Law School.

“It keeps me sharp and current on the topics I focus on,” he said about his teaching position. “It’s been very rewarding.”

B e s t L aw y e r s Jerome J. Reso, Jr. Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

John C. Anjier Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

John A. Rouchell Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

Raymond G. Areaux Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

Scott T. Whittaker Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Barry W. Ashe Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Civil Rights Law

John T. Balhoff II Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Susan F. Desmond Jackson Lewis 504-208-1755 Closely Held Companies & Family Businesses Law William F. Grace, Jr. Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Steven I. Klein Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Robert A. Kutcher Wagar Richard Kutcher Tygier & Luminais 504-830-3838 William H. Langenstein III Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Laura Walker Plunkett Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Jerome J. Reso, Jr. Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 John A. Rouchell Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 Commercial Finance Law Robert M. Steeg Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199 Commercial Litigation Ryan Acomb Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson 504-581-3838 Ricardo A. Aguilar McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 W. Raley Alford III Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 Jack M. Alltmont Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel 504-582-1500

Robert E. Barkley, Jr. Barkley & Thompson 504-595-3350 Judy Y. Barrasso Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 Brent B. Barriere Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Walter F. Becker, Jr. Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Mark R. Beebe Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Thomas M. Benjamin Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454 Edward Hart Bergin Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Carmelite M. Bertaut Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 David F. Bienvenu Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn 504-569-2030 Kim M. Boyle Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 C. Wm. Bradley, Jr. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Sean P. Brady Flanagan Partners 504-569-0235 James A. Brown Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Stephen G. Bullock Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Peter J. Butler, Jr. Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454

bizneworleans.com / 77

B e s t L aw y e r s Craig L. Caesar Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 David L. Carrigee Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

Ewell E. Eagan, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Matt J. Farley Krebs Farley 504-299-3570

Thomas A. Casey, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000

John P. Farnsworth Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Charles A. Cerise, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Larry Feldman, Jr. McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

Roy C. Cheatwood Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

William T. Finn Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

Stanley J. Cohn Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990 Steven W. Copley Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Thomas J. Cortazzo Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 E. Howell Crosby Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Mark A. Cunningham Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Donna Phillips Currault Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 M. Taylor Darden Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

Madeleine Fischer Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Thomas M. Flanagan Flanagan Partners 504-569-0235 Harold J. Flanagan Flanagan Partners 504-569-0235 Delos E. Flint, Jr. Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600 Joshua S. Force Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 George J. Fowler III Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600 George C. Freeman III Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Leonard A. Davis Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Covert J. Geary Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Nancy Scott Degan Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Edward N. George Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Lawrence R. DeMarcay III Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 George Denegre, Jr. Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Mary L. Dumestre Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Richard A. Goins Sutterfield & Webb 504-598-2715 Tim Gray Forman Watkins & Krutz 504-799-4383 A. Gregory Grimsal Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

78 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

James C. Gulotta, Jr. Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Alida C. Hainkel Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Harry Simms Hardin III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Pauline F. Hardin Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Robert A. Kutcher Wagar Richard Kutcher Tygier & Luminais 504-830-3838 Gene W. Lafitte Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Kent A. Lambert Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Don S. McKinney Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Allen C. Miller Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Loretta G. Mince Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Corinne A. Morrison Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Fred L. Herman Fred Herman Law Firm 504-541-9034

Martin E. Landrieu Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

Maury A. Herman Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Charles W. Lane III Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Peter L. Hilbert, Jr. Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Katie E. Lasky Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison 504-523-2500

Philip D. Nizialek Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

Douglas R. Holmes Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Joseph F. Lavigne Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Joe B. Norman Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Andrew R. Lee Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Eric Nowak Harrell Nowak 504-522-7885

Wayne J. Lee Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

John F. Olinde Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Joseph W. Looney Joseph W. Looney, Attorney at Law 504-299-3468

C. Lawrence Orlansky Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Shannon Skelton Holtzman Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Grady S. Hurley Jones Walker 504-582-8000 James K. Irvin Milling Benson Woodward 504-569-7000 Craig Isenberg Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 Robert E. Kerrigan, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Amelia Williams Koch Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Cheryl Mollere Kornick Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Keith A. Kornman Degan, Blanchard & Nash 504-529-3333

Joseph J. Lowenthal, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Daniel Lund Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Thomas J. Lutkewitte Favret, Demarest, Russo & Lutkewitte 504-561-1006 Nancy J. Marshall Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Joseph Maselli, Jr. Plauché Maselli Parkerson 504-582-1142

Leann Opotowsky Moses Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

Thomas P. Owen, Jr. Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 G. Bruce Parkerson Plauché Maselli Parkerson 504-582-1142 Richard G. Passler Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454 David L. Patrón Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Dwight C. Paulsen III Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Patricia A. Krebs King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800

Paul J. Masinter Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Joseph C. Peiffer Peiffer Rosca Wolf Abdullah Carr & Kane 504-523-2434

David J. Krebs Krebs Farley 504-299-3570

Donald C. Massey Couhig Partners 504-588-1288

Maura Z. Pelleteri Pugh Accardo 504-799-4500

Stephen H. Kupperman Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

Patrick McGoey Schonekas, Evans, McGoey & McEachin 504-680-6050

H. Minor Pipes III Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

bizneworleans.com / 79

M y to u g h e s t c a s e

David Whitaker Labor and Employment Law Partner Kean Miller (New Orleans) 27 years in practice J.D. Tulane University Law School 1991 B.S. University of New Orleans 1988 Raised in New Orleans

F

ollowing a series of accusations that shook workplaces across multiple industries in the United States this year, it has possibly never been a more interesting, or challenging, time to practice labor and employment law.

David Whitaker, a partner at Kean Miller, exclusively represents employers and has seen a clear uptick in clients wanting to make sure their policies against harassment and discrimination are up to date in order to avoid any problems in the workplace.

Whitaker has practiced labor and employment law since graduating from Tulane University Law School in 1991. His interest stemmed from a course in business school that delved into labor law while he was still an undergraduate at the University of New Orleans.

80 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Whistleblower Protections and Gender Identity Whitaker said many cases have stood out over the years, but in particular there was one case, shortly after Louisiana’s Whistleblower Statute was passed in 1997, where a woman claimed she had been terminated after reporting unlawful behavior by her employer. The state’s whistle-

blower statute provides protection to employees who might face retaliation from reporting an employer’s misconduct.

“The case created an internal civil war within the company because the employer had terminated someone in senior management. It became a case

of ‘he said, she said’ about whether the person had been terminated for a business reason,” Whitaker said.

The plaintiff had employees who spoke up in support of her, and others who spoke against her. In the end, Whitaker and the attorneys representing the employer were able to prove that the woman had been terminated for her style of supervising and that the employer had not acted unlawfully.

With more focus on issues of gender identity and sexual orientation coming up in the workplace, Whitaker recalled another particularly challenging case involving the termination of a transgender employee.

“The issue was driven by ideology and there were very public implications,” he said.

The ex-employee was supported by public interest organizations who were invested in advancing gender identity as a protected class status under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protect employees in the workplace based on race, gender, religion, age, and sexual orientation.

It was a simple case, he said, about one employee being fired.

However, “the employee was lawyered up by 20 lawyers, meanwhile there were four of us on the other side,” he said. The case ended in arbitration.

Whitaker said that moving forward, the overall landscape for employment law won’t change and is likely to become more complex.

“It’s definitely a tricky area for employers to navigate,” he said.

B e s t L aw y e r s Andrea M. Price Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Christopher K. Ralston Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Howard E. Sinor, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

Kirk Reasonover Reasonover & Associates 504-526-2921 David E. Redmann, Jr. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Carol W. Reisman Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Bryan C. Reuter Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 Stephen W. Rider McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 Antonio J. Rodriguez Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600 Robert S. Rooth Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Harry Rosenberg Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 William M. Ross Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 Deborah B. Rouen Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Elizabeth Roussel Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 James H. Roussel Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Richard E. Sarver Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 Ellie T. Schilling Schonekas, Evans, McGoey & McEachin 504-680-6050 Kyle Schonekas Schonekas, Evans, McGoey & McEachin 504-680-6050 Danny G. Shaw Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 985-819-8400

Benjamin Slater III Akerman 504-586-1241 Randall A. Smith Smith & Fawer 504-525-2200 Richard C. Stanley Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 Robert S. Stassi Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800 Robert J. Stefani King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800 Charles L. Stern, Jr. Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199 James R. Swanson Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Lynn Swanson Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison 504-523-2500 Brent A. Talbot Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Walter C. Thompson, Jr. Barkley & Thompson 504-595-3350 Jennifer L. Thornton Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 William D. Treeby Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Steven W. Usdin Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 R. Patrick Vance Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Robert A. Vosbein Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 David F. Waguespack Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

bizneworleans.com / 81

B e s t L aw y e r s Edward Dirk Wegmann Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Lara E. White Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 John M. Wilson Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Gerard Wimberly, Jr. Akerman 504-586-1241

Michael E. Botnick Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Terrence L. Brennan Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Robert J. Burvant King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800

Rachel Wendt Wisdom Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Larry G. Canada Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith 504-525-6802

Anne Derbes Wittmann Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Daniel J. Caruso Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn 504-569-2030

Phillip A. Wittmann Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Jimmy A. Castex, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Matthew A. Woolf Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Adrian A. D’Arcy Shields Mott 504-581-4445

William E. Wright, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Leonard A. Davis Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Commercial Transactions / UCC Law

Harold J. Flanagan Flanagan Partners 504-569-0235

Edward H. Arnold III Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Mark W. Frilot Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 985-819-8400

Robert J. Burvant King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800

James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

E. Howell Crosby Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Randy Opotowsky Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199 Robert M. Steeg Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199 Communications Law Janet S. Boles The Boles Law Firm 504-861-0882

Elizabeth L. Gordon Shields Mott 504-581-4445 Steven F. Griffith, Jr. Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Lambert J. Hassinger Jr. Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith 504-525-6802

David J. Krebs Krebs Farley 504-299-3570 David Kurtz Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Keith M. Landry Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Daniel Lund III Coats Rose 504-299-3070 Gerald Melchiode Melchiode Marks King 504-336-2880 Mark W. Mercante Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 985-819-8400

Kelly E. Theard Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Richard J. Tyler Jones Walker 504-582-8000 John W. Waters Jr. Bienvenu, Foster, Ryan & O’Bannon 504-322-1375 Edward Dirk Wegmann Jones Walker 504-582-8000

F. Rivers Lelong, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Kenneth J. Najder Jones Walker 504-582-8000 William N. Norton Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 J. Marshall Page III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Leon J. Reymond, Jr. Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Corporate Governance & Compliance Law

Leon J. Reymond III Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Maura Z. Pelleteri Pugh Accardo 504-799-4500

Walter F. Becker, Jr. Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

David C. Rieveschl Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Paul L. Peyronnin Paul L. Peyronnin 504-895-3143

F. Rivers Lelong, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000

H. Minor Pipes III Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

Michael W. Magner Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Leon H. Rittenberg, Jr. Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

Jeffrey K. Prattini Shields Mott 504-581-4445 Denise C. Puente Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn 504-569-2030 Bryan C. Reuter Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 Richard P. Richter Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Gary J. Rouse Couhig Partners 504-588-1288 Michael R. Schneider Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Construction Law

Scott J. Hedlund Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Charles F. Seemann, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

W. Raley Alford III Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580

Peter L. Hilbert, Jr. Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Danny G. Shaw Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 985-819-8400

Keith J. Bergeron Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Grady S. Hurley Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Lloyd N. Shields Shields Mott 504-581-4445

Darnell Bludworth Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Jay H. Kern Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn 504-569-2030

H. Bruce Shreves Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn 504-569-2030

82 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Howard E. Sinor, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Corporate Law Joseph L. Caverly Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 E. Howell Crosby Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Anthony M. DiLeo Anthony M. DiLeo 504-274-0087 Louis Y. Fishman Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Mark A. Fullmer Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Edward N. George Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Carl C. Hanemann Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Curtis R. Hearn Jones Walker 504-582-8000 William H. Hines Jones Walker 504-582-8000 William H. Langenstein III Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

John A. Rouchell Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Robert M. Walmsley, Jr. Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Scott T. Whittaker Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 John D. Wogan Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Richard P. Wolfe Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Criminal Defense: General Practice Robert S. Glass Glass & Reed 504-581-9083 John Wilson Reed Glass & Reed 504-581-9083 Harry Rosenberg Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Richard T. Simmons, Jr. Hailey, McNamara, Hall, Larmann & Papale 504-836-6500

bizneworleans.com / 83

B e s t L aw y e r s Criminal Defense: White-Collar

Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law

Walter F. Becker, Jr. Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Jane E. Armstrong Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

William Gibbens Schonekas, Evans, McGoey & McEachin 504-680-6050

Hilton S. Bell Milling Benson Woodward 504-569-7000

Robert S. Glass Glass & Reed 504-581-9083 Pauline F. Hardin Jones Walker 504-582-8000 John Wilson Reed Glass & Reed 504-581-9083 Harry Rosenberg Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Richard T. Simmons, Jr. Hailey, McNamara, Hall, Larmann & Papale 504-836-6500 Jason Williams Jason Rogers Williams & Associates 504-585-1413 Economic Development Law Lee C. Reid Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Education Law Scott D. Schneider Fisher Phillips 504-522-3303 Elder Law Joel A. Mendler Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 Patrick K. Reso Chehardy, Sherman, Williams, Murray, Recile, Stakelum & Hayes 985-269-7220 John A. Rouchell Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 Kenneth A. Weiss McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Timothy P. Brechtel Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Stacey C.S. Cerrone Proskauer Rose 504-310-4088 Susan K. Chambers Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Ernest L. Edwards, Jr. Ernest L. Edwards Jr., Attorney at Law 504-450-4226 Michael R. Fontham Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 C. Peck Hayne, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Aimee W. Hebert Kelly Hart & Hallman 504-343-7768 Jonathan A. Hunter Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Entertainment Law Suzette Toledano Becker Becker Entertainment & New Media Law 504-525-2552 Environmental Law Tad Bartlett Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison 504-523-2500 Louis E. Buatt Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Charles A. Cerise, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Robert E. Kerrigan, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Terrence K. Knister Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Robert B. McNeal Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Stanley A. Millan Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Glen M. Pilié Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Katherine Conklin McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

Cheryl Mollere Kornick Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Roy C. Cheatwood Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Nicole Eichberger Proskauer Rose 504-310-4088

Gene W. Lafitte Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Miles P. Clements Frilot 504-599-8000

Andrew L. Plauché, Jr. Plauché Maselli Parkerson 504-582-1142

Sandra Mills Feingerts Fisher Phillips 504-522-3303

Francis V. Liantonio, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Jane C. Raiford Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Covert J. Geary Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Charles D. Marshall, Jr. Milling Benson Woodward 504-569-7000

Bessie Antin Daschbach Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison 504-523-2500

Michael E. Guarisco Guarisco, Cordes & Lala 504-587-7007

Cynthia A. Nicholson Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

Keith M. Pyburn Jr. Fisher Phillips 504-522-3303 Robert W. Rachal Holifield • Janich • Rachal & Associates 504-301-1248 Rudolph R. Ramelli Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Charles F. Seemann III Jackson Lewis 504-208-1755 Howard Shapiro Proskauer Rose 504-310-4088 Randye C. Snyder Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 René E. Thorne Jackson Lewis 504-208-1755 Energy Law Miles P. Clements Frilot 504-599-8000 Ewell E. Eagan, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

84 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Leonard A. Davis Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Loulan J. Pitre, Jr. Kelly Hart & Hallman 504-343-7768

Elizabeth Haecker Ryan Coats Rose 504-299-3070

Scott E. Delacroix Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Richard E. Sarver Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

Kathleen F. Drew Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Ronald J. Sholes Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Edward B. Poitevent II Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Jane C. Raiford Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

James C. Gulotta, Jr. Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Howard E. Sinor, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

Gerald F. Slattery, Jr. Slattery, Marino & Roberts 504-585-7800

Peter L. Hilbert, Jr. Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Joe B. Norman Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Alan C. Wolf Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Paul L. Zimmering Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Adam Zuckerman Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Benjamin Slater III Akerman 504-586-1241 Mark J. Spansel Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Robert E. Holden Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

A. Wendel Stout III Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Kevin E. Huddell Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison 504-523-2500

Mark C. Surprenant Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Energy Regulatory Law

Eric E. Jarrell King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800

Noel J. Darce Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Greg L. Johnson Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Daniel T. Pancamo Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Mary S. Johnson Johnson Gray McNamara 985-246-6544

Patrick A. Talley, Jr. Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 William D. Treeby Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Quentin F. Urquhart, Jr. Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

B e s t L aw y e r s John M. Wilson Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Phillip A. Wittmann Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Equipment Finance Law Edward H. Arnold III Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 James A. Stuckey Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Robert Paul Thibeaux Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800 Susan M. Tyler Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Sterling Scott Willis Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Ethics & Professional Responsibility Law William M. Ross Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 Family Law Jeffrey M. Hoffman Lowe, Stein, Hoffman, Allweiss & Hauver 504-581-2450 Steven J. Lane Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Richard C. Stanley Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 James R. Swanson Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Franchise Law Steven I. Klein Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Gaming Law Wm. Blake Bennett Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 J. Kelly Duncan Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Deborah Duplechin Harkins Roedel Parsons Koch Blache Balhoff & McCollister 504-566-1801 C. Lawrence Orlansky Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Brian D. Wallace Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Margaret M. Silverstein Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Peter E. Sperling Frilot 504-599-8000 Jack M. Stolier Sullivan Stolier 504-561-1044 Danielle Trostorff Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Immigration Law Malvern C. Burnett Law Offices of Malvern C. Burnett 504-586-1922 David A. M. Ware Ware Immigration 504-830-5900 Insurance Law

Donna D. Fraiche Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Michael H. Bagot, Jr. Wagner, Bagot & Rayer 504-525-2141

Deborah Duplechin Harkins Roedel Parsons Koch Blache Balhoff & McCollister 504-566-1801

David M. Prados Lowe, Stein, Hoffman, Allweiss & Hauver 504-581-2450

Philip O. Bergeron Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Frank P. Tranchina, Jr. Tranchina & Mansfield 985-892-1313

E. Paige Sensenbrenner Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Ryan Acomb Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson 504-581-3838

E. Paige Sensenbrenner Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Kermit L. Roux III Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Normand F. Pizza Milling Benson Woodward 985-871-3924

Government Relations Practice

Robert C. Lowe Lowe, Stein, Hoffman, Allweiss & Hauver 504-581-2450

Philip R. Riegel, Jr. Riegel Law Firm 504-834-5345

Don S. McKinney Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Health Care Law

Anthony M. DiLeo Anthony M. DiLeo 504-274-0087 Donna D. Fraiche Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Judy Y. Barrasso Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

Elia Diaz-Yaeger Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990 Richard N. Dicharry Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Leah Nunn Engelhardt Preis 504-581-6062 George D. Fagan Leake & Andersson 504-585-7500 Madeleine Fischer Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Harold J. Flanagan Flanagan Partners 504-569-0235 Joshua S. Force Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Darryl J. Foster Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Gus A. Fritchie III Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 Monica A. Frois Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 A. Kirk Gasperecz Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 James W. Hailey III Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith 504-322-4100 George B. Hall, Jr. Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

David F. Bienvenu Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn 504-569-2030

Stephen P. Hall Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Robert L. Bonnaffons Leake & Andersson 504-585-7500

William H. Hines Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Larry G. Canada Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith 504-525-6802

Warren Horn Heller, Draper, Patrick, Horn & Dabney 504-299-3300

Jaimmé A. Collins Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

First Amendment Law

Monica A. Frois Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Martha Young Curtis Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Mary Ellen Roy Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Cecile L. Gordon Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Sidney W. Degan III Degan, Blanchard & Nash 504-529-3333

James K. Irvin Milling Benson Woodward 504-569-7000 John W. Joyce Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 David S. Kelly Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Keith A. Kornman Degan, Blanchard & Nash 504-529-3333 Leslie A. Lanusse Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Edward F. LeBreton III Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600 Wayne J. Lee Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Lisa L. Maher Couhig Partners 504-588-1288 Nancy J. Marshall Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Deirdre C. McGlinchey McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 Kim E. Moore Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 James R. Nieset, Jr. Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson 504-581-3838 Philip D. Nizialek Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800 David W. O’Quinn Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 H. Minor Pipes III Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 Andrew L. Plauché, Jr. Plauché Maselli Parkerson 504-582-1142 Katherine K. Quirk Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Seth A. Schmeeckle Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990 Jay Russell Sever Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Robert I. Siegel Gieger, Laborde & Laperouse 504-561-0400 David A. Strauss King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800 Dean A. Sutherland Jeansonne & Remondet 504-524-7333

bizneworleans.com / 85

B e s t L aw y e r s Quentin F. Urquhart, Jr. Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 Steven W. Usdin Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 Patrick Wartelle Leake & Andersson 504-585-7500 Matthew A. Woolf Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Intellectual Property Law Raymond G. Areaux Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800 Len R. Brignac King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800 Stephen G. Bullock Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Charles C. Garvey, Jr. Garvey, Smith, Nehrbass & North 504-835-2000 Harry Simms Hardin III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Keith M. Landry Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Joseph W. Looney Joseph W. Looney, Attorney at Law 504-299-3468 Seth M. Nehrbass Garvey, Smith, Nehrbass & North 504-835-2000 David L. Patrón Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Mary Ellen Roy Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 International Arbitration Thomas K. Foutz TomFoutzADR 504-237-3183 International Mergers & Acquisitions John M. Duck Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 International Trade & Finance Law

William H. Hines Jones Walker 504-582-8000 J. Marshall Page III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Richard P. Wolfe Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Scott T. Zander Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Labor & Employment Law

Greg Guidry Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart 504-648-3840

Michael S. Mitchell Fisher Phillips 504-522-3303

Christine M. White Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Edward F. Harold Fisher Phillips 504-522-3303

Christopher E. Moore Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart 504-648-3840

Rachel Wendt Wisdom Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Thomas P. Hubert Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Ellis B. Murov Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

David J. Halpern Kean Miller 504-585-3050

Joseph R. Hugg Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454

Stephen G.A. Myers Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Karen T. Holzenthal Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Foster P. Nash Degan, Blanchard & Nash 504-529-3333

David A. Marcello Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

H. Mark Adams Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Steven Hymowitz Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart 504-648-3840

M. Nan Alessandra Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Clyde H. Jacob III Coats Rose 504-299-3070

Maura Z. Pelleteri Pugh Accardo 504-799-4500

Stephen P. Beiser McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

Tracy E. Kern Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Keith M. Pyburn Jr. Fisher Phillips 504-522-3303

Magdalen Blessey Bickford McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

S. Mark Klyza The Kullman Firm 504-524-4162

William H. Reinhardt, Jr. Blue Williams 504-831-4091

Kim M. Boyle Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Kathryn M. Knight Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

H. Michael Bush Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Amelia Williams Koch Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Louis L. Robein, Jr. Robein, Urann, Spencer, Picard & Cangemi 504-885-9994

Walter W. Christy Coats Rose 504-299-3070 Donna Phillips Currault Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Susan F. Desmond Jackson Lewis 504-208-1755 Anthony M. DiLeo Anthony M. DiLeo 504-274-0087 Brooke Duncan III Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Leslie W. Ehret Frilot 504-599-8000 George D. Fagan Leake & Andersson 504-585-7500 Monique Gougisha Doucette Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart 504-648-3840 Steven F. Griffith, Jr. Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

86 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

I. Harold Koretzky Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800 Leslie A. Lanusse Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Frederic Theodore LeClercq Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Sidney F. Lewis V Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Julie D. Livaudais Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Mark N. Mallery Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart 504-648-3840

Elizabeth Roussel Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Scott D. Schneider Fisher Phillips 504-522-3303 Timothy H. Scott Fisher Phillips 504-522-3303

Land Use & Zoning Law

Deborah J. Moench Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Marie A. Moore Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Richard P. Richter Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Howard E. Sinor, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Legal Malpractice Law

Charles F. Seemann III Jackson Lewis 504-208-1755

Robert B. Acomb, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Howard Shapiro Proskauer Rose 504-310-4088

W. Paul Andersson Leake & Andersson 504-585-7500

G. Phillip Shuler III Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

James A. Brown Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Robert F. Spencer, Jr. The Kullman Firm 504-524-4162

Roy C. Cheatwood Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

René E. Thorne Jackson Lewis 504-208-1755

Ernest R. Malone, Jr. The Kullman Firm 504-524-4162

Michael T. Tusa, Jr. Sutton, Alker & Rather 985-727-7501

Eve B. Masinter Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454

Susanne U. Veters McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

Thomas J. McGoey II Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

David M. Whitaker Kean Miller 504-585-3050

David Daly Frilot 504-599-8000 Gus A. Fritchie III Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 Daniel Lund Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

B e s t L aw y e r s Ernest L. O’Bannon Bienvenu, Foster, Ryan & O’Bannon 504-322-1375 C. Lawrence Orlansky Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Richard C. Stanley Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 William E. Wright, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Leisure & Hospitality Law Michael R. Schneider Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Litigation - Regulatory Enforcement (SEC, Telecom, Energy) Edward Hart Bergin Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Robert B. Bieck, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Nancy Scott Degan Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions Barbara L. Arras Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 John T. Balhoff II Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Kay Baxter Cosmich, Simmons & Brown 504-262-0040

Scott E. Delacroix Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Mary S. Johnson Johnson Gray McNamara 985-246-6544

Maura Z. Pelleteri Pugh Accardo 504-799-4500

Roland M. Vandenweghe, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Mark C. Dodart Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Gladstone N. Jones III Jones, Swanson, Huddell & Garrison 504-523-2500

Michael R. Phillips Kean Miller 504-585-3050

David M. Whitaker Kean Miller 504-585-3050

Charles M. Pisano Roedel Parsons Koch Blache Balhoff & McCollister 504-566-1801

Forrest Ren Wilkes Cosmich, Simmons & Brown 504-262-0040

Brian P. Quirk Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Charles B. Wilmore Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Ernest L. Edwards, Jr. Ernest L. Edwards Jr., Attorney at Law 504-450-4226 Robert S. Emmett Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Madeleine Fischer Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Darryl J. Foster Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Susan B. Kohn Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn 504-569-2030 Keith A. Kornman Degan, Blanchard & Nash 504-529-3333 Allen J. Krouse III Frilot 504-599-8000

James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Kent A. Lambert Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

William B. Gaudet Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Francis V. Liantonio, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

David E. Redmann, Jr. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Rachel Wendt Wisdom Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Jeffrey E. Richardson Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Mary Ellen Roy Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

James H. Roussel Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Medical Malpractice Law

Isaac H. Ryan Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Media Law

Kurt S. Blankenship Blue Williams 504-831-4091 C. Wm. Bradley, Jr. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

M. H. Gertler Gertler Law Firm 504-581-6411

Jill T. Losch Johnson Gray McNamara 985-246-6544

Alan H. Goodman Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454

Richard E. Sarver Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

Lynn Luker Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580

Seth A. Schmeeckle Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990

Chris Massenburg Manion Gaynor & Manning 504-535-2880

Ronald J. Sholes Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Richard S. Crisler Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Gerald E. Meunier Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer 504-522-2304

Robert I. Siegel Gieger, Laborde & Laperouse 504-561-0400

Guy C. Curry Curry & Friend 504-524-8556

Tim Gray Forman Watkins & Krutz 504-799-4383 James C. Gulotta, Jr. Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 William C. Harrison, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Russ M. Herman Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Carmelite M. Bertaut Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Stephen J. Herman Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

C. Wm. Bradley, Jr. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Warren Horn Heller, Draper, Patrick, Horn & Dabney 504-299-3300

Christopher T. Chocheles Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

William H. Howard III Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Timothy F. Daniels Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 Leonard A. Davis Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

David S. Kelly Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Kerry J. Miller Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Chad J. Mollere Johnson Gray McNamara 504-525-4649 Kim E. Moore Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Benjamin Slater III Akerman 504-586-1241 Lea Ann Smith Butler Snow 504-299-7700 Martin A. Stern Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 A. Wendel Stout III Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

John F. Olinde Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Max Swetman Manion Gaynor & Manning 504-535-2880

Anthony D. Irpino Irpino, Alvin & Hawkins 504-525-1500

James K. Ordeneaux Plauché Maselli Parkerson 504-582-1142

Patrick A. Talley, Jr. Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

James B. Irwin Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Dwight C. Paulsen III Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Quentin F. Urquhart, Jr. Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Joy Goldberg Braun Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel 504-582-1500

Robert J. David Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer 504-522-2304 Monica A. Frois Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Charles F. Gay, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Guice A. Giambrone III Blue Williams 504-831-4091 Susan E. Henning Curry & Friend 504-524-8556

bizneworleans.com / 87

B e s t L aw y e r s James C. Klick Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Scott T. Whittaker Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Lawrence S. Kullman Lewis, Kullman, Sterbcow & Abramson 504-588-1500

Karl J. Zimmermann Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

Danté V. Maraldo Blue Williams 504-831-4091

Mining Law

Jeffrey A. Mitchell The Cochran Firm Metairie 504-309-5000 Stephen M. Pizzo Blue Williams 504-831-4091 E. Paige Sensenbrenner Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Peter E. Sperling Frilot 504-599-8000 Harry T. Widmann Harry T. Widmann & Associates 504-834-2799 Mergers & Acquisitions Law Ricardo A. Aguilar McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 Robert B. Bieck, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Joseph L. Caverly Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Scott D. Chenevert Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Mark A. Cunningham Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Louis Y. Fishman Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Mark A. Fullmer Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Alan H. Goodman Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454 Curtis R. Hearn Jones Walker 504-582-8000 William N. Norton Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Leon J. Reymond III Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

John Y. Pearce Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Municipal Law William D. Aaron, Jr. Aaron & Gianna 504-569-1800 David A. Marcello Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 James R. Swanson Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Natural Resources Law Gene W. Lafitte Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Charles D. Marshall, Jr. Milling Benson Woodward 504-569-7000 John Y. Pearce Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Non-Profit / Charities Law Steven I. Klein Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Joel A. Mendler Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 Max Nathan, Jr. Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel 504-582-1500 Carole Cukell Neff Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel 504-582-1500 Jerome J. Reso, Jr. Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

88 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Leon H. Rittenberg III Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

Joe B. Norman Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Scott A. O’Connor Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

Kenneth A. Weiss McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

David L. Patrón Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Oil and Gas Law

John Y. Pearce Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

M. Hampton Carver Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800 Katharine R. Colletta Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 M. Taylor Darden Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800 Nancy Scott Degan Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Ernest L. Edwards, Jr. Ernest L. Edwards Jr., Attorney at Law 504-450-4226 Harold J. Flanagan Flanagan Partners 504-569-0235 C. Peck Hayne, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Aimee W. Hebert Kelly Hart & Hallman 504-343-7768 Jonathan A. Hunter Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Gene W. Lafitte Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Charles D. Marshall, Jr. Milling Benson Woodward 504-569-7000 Robert B. McNeal Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Cynthia A. Nicholson Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Robert B. Nolan Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Loulan J. Pitre, Jr. Kelly Hart & Hallman 504-343-7768 Edward B. Poitevent II Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Carl D. Rosenblum Jones Walker 504-582-8000 James H. Roussel Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Gerald F. Slattery, Jr. Slattery, Marino & Roberts 504-585-7800 Charles R. Talley Kean Miller 504-585-3050

John T. Balhoff II Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Adrianne L. Baumgartner Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson 504-581-3838 Laurence E. Best Best Law Firm 504-523-2378 David F. Bienvenu Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn 504-569-2030 Darnell Bludworth Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Mark N. Bodin McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 Frederick R. Bott Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Charles C. Bourque Jr. St. Martin & Bourque 985-876-3891 C. Wm. Bradley, Jr. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Bertrand M. Cass, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Patrick A. Talley, Jr. Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Kathleen K. Charvet Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith 504-525-6802

Adam Zuckerman Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Christopher T. Chocheles Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Personal Injury Litigation

Stanley J. Cohn Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990

Robert B. Acomb, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Ryan Acomb Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson 504-581-3838 W. Raley Alford III Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580 Michael R. Allweiss Lowe, Stein, Hoffman, Allweiss & Hauver 504-581-2450

Thomas Louis Colletta, Jr. Akerman 504-586-1241 Martha Young Curtis Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Timothy F. Daniels Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

John G. Alsobrook Ostendorf, Tate, Barnett & Tagtmeyer 504-527-0700

Robert J. David Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer 504-522-2304

W. Paul Andersson Leake & Andersson 504-585-7500

Sidney W. Degan III Degan, Blanchard & Nash 504-529-3333

bizneworleans.com / 89

B e s t L aw y e r s Stevan C. Dittman Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer 504-522-2304 Ewell E. Eagan, Jr. Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

Mark P. Glago Glago Law Firm 504-599-8666 John Jerry Glas Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 William C. Harrison, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Lawrence S. Kullman Lewis, Kullman, Sterbcow & Abramson 504-588-1500

Douglas J. Moore Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Edwin C. Laizer Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Stephen B. Murray, Sr. Murray Law Firm 504-525-8100

Frank E. Lamothe III Lamothe Law Firm 504-704-1414

Stephen G.A. Myers Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Richard B. Eason II Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Don K. Haycraft Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Charles E. Leche Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Dow Michael Edwards Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Fred L. Herman Fred Herman Law Firm 504-541-9034

Wayne J. Lee Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Russ M. Herman Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

David W. Leefe Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Stephen J. Herman Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Jill T. Losch Johnson Gray McNamara 985-246-6544

Peter L. Hilbert, Jr. Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Ryan O. Luminais Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

S. Gene Fendler Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Debra J. Fischman Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Joshua S. Force Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Darryl J. Foster Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Gus A. Fritchie III Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 William B. Gaudet Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Charles F. Gay, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Terry Christovich Gay Christovich & Kearney 504-561-5700 Thomas A. Gennusa II Gennusa, Piacun, & Ruli 504-455-1224 Louis L. Gertler Gertler Law Firm 504-581-6411 M. H. Gertler Gertler Law Firm 504-581-6411

Grady S. Hurley Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Anthony D. Irpino Irpino, Alvin & Hawkins 504-525-1500 James B. Irwin Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 Mary S. Johnson Johnson Gray McNamara 985-246-6544

Daniel Lund Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Janet L. MacDonell Janet L. MacDonell 985-867-9971 Thomas J. Madigan Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Walter P. Maestri Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

C. Gordon Johnson, Jr. Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson 504-581-3838

S. Suzanne Mahoney Johnson Gray McNamara 504-525-4649

George B. Jurgens III King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800

Kathleen A. Manning McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

Brian D. Katz Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Nancy J. Marshall Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

David S. Kelly Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Richard M. Martin, Jr. Lamothe Law Firm 504-704-1414

Robert E. Kerrigan, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Joseph I. Giarrusso III Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Susan B. Kohn Simon, Peragine, Smith & Redfearn 504-569-2030

Soren E. Gisleson Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892

Patricia A. Krebs King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800

90 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Joseph Maselli, Jr. Plauché Maselli Parkerson 504-582-1142 Kevin M. McGlone Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Gerald E. Meunier Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer 504-522-2304

Robert B. Nolan Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Colvin Norwood, Jr. McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 Ernest L. O’Bannon Bienvenu, Foster, Ryan & O’Bannon 504-322-1375

Scott C. Seiler Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Ronald J. Sholes Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Benjamin Slater III Akerman 504-586-1241 Mark C. Surprenant Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Quentin F. Urquhart, Jr. Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 Rodney P. Vincent Plotkin, Vincent & Jaffe 504-267-6191

James K. Ordeneaux Plauché Maselli Parkerson 504-582-1142

Irving J. Warshauer Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer 504-522-2304

Erin Fury Parkinson McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

Lawrence D. Wiedemann Wiedemann Law Firm 985-785-7788

Dwight C. Paulsen III Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Charles B. Wilmore Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Louis L. Plotkin Plotkin, Vincent & Jaffe 504-267-6191 David E. Redmann, Jr. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Edward J. Rice, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Jeffrey E. Richardson Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Deborah B. Rouen Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Isaac H. Ryan Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Kent B. Ryan Miller Law Firm 504-684-5044 Amanda Russo Schenck Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 William B. Schwartz Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 Charles F. Seemann, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Phillip A. Wittmann Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Marc J. Yellin Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Product Liability Litigation Michael H. Abraham Forman Watkins & Krutz 504-799-4383 Francis P. Accardo Pugh Accardo 504-799-4500 Judy Y. Barrasso Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 Kay Baxter Cosmich, Simmons & Brown 504-262-0040 Carmelite M. Bertaut Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 C. Wm. Bradley, Jr. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Joy Goldberg Braun Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel 504-582-1500

B e s t L aw y e r s Camala E. Capodice Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 David L. Carrigee Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 Charles A. Cerise, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Steven W. Copley Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111 Bruce A. Cranner Talley, Anthony, Hughes & Knight 985-624-5010 Richard S. Crisler Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Timothy F. Daniels Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 Scott E. Delacroix Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Kathleen F. Drew Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Richard B. Eason II Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Dow Michael Edwards Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 Robert S. Emmett Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Madeleine Fischer Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Darryl J. Foster Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Charles F. Gay, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Alan H. Goodman Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454 Stephen J. Herman Herman Herman & Katz 504-581-4892 James B. Irwin Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 David S. Kelly Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Kenneth M. Klemm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Amelia Williams Koch Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Dwight C. Paulsen III Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300

Quentin F. Urquhart, Jr. Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Louis L. Plotkin Plotkin, Vincent & Jaffe 504-267-6191

Rodney P. Vincent Plotkin, Vincent & Jaffe 504-267-6191

Brian P. Quirk Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Professional Malpractice Law

David E. Redmann, Jr. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Edward J. Rice, Jr. Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Peter J. Rotolo Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Edwin C. Laizer Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Deborah B. Rouen Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Arthur W. Landry Arthur W. Landry and Jeanne Andry Landry 504-581-4334

Elizabeth Haecker Ryan Coats Rose 504-299-3070

Janet L. MacDonell Janet L. MacDonell 985-867-9971

Isaac H. Ryan Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Kathleen A. Manning McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

Richard E. Sarver Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

Nancy J. Marshall Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

Scott C. Seiler Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Joseph Maselli, Jr. Plauché Maselli Parkerson 504-582-1142

Stanton E. Shuler, Jr. Leake & Andersson 504-585-7500

Joseph L. McReynolds Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

James R. Silverstein Kean Miller 504-585-3050

Kim E. Moore Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

John W. Sinnott Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

Robert B. Nolan Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Colvin Norwood, Jr. McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200 John F. Olinde Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Terry Christovich Gay Christovich & Kearney 504-561-5700

David W. O’Quinn Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100

M. H. Gertler Gertler Law Firm 504-581-6411

G. Bruce Parkerson Plauché Maselli Parkerson 504-582-1142

Benjamin Slater III Akerman 504-586-1241 Norman C. Sullivan, Jr. Fowler Rodriguez 504-523-2600 Mark C. Surprenant Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Max Swetman Manion Gaynor & Manning 504-535-2880 Brent A. Talbot Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

C. Wm. Bradley, Jr. Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Terrence L. Brennan Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 James A. Brown Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Roy C. Cheatwood Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Richard G. Duplantier, Jr. Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith 504-525-6802 Gus A. Fritchie III Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 James M. Garner Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Amelia Williams Koch Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Nancy J. Marshall Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141 Donald E. McKay, Jr. Leake & Andersson 504-585-7500 Elizabeth Haecker Ryan Coats Rose 504-299-3070 Danny G. Shaw Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 985-819-8400 Edward W. Trapolin Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 William E. Wright, Jr. Deutsch Kerrigan 504-581-5141

William H. Hines Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Public Finance Law Susan Weeks Foley & Judell 504-568-1249 David M. Wolf Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Railroad Law Robert B. Acomb, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Alissa J. Allison Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Blake G. Arata, Jr. Rome, Arata, Baxley & Stelly 504-521-7946 Thomas Louis Colletta, Jr. Akerman 504-586-1241 Timothy F. Daniels Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 Dow Michael Edwards Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore 504-310-2100 Harry Simms Hardin III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 William H. Howard III Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 David S. Kelly Bradley Murchison Kelly & Shea 504-596-6300 Joseph M. Miller Davis, Saunders, Miller & Oden Law Firm 985-612-3070 C. Perrin Rome III Rome, Arata, Baxley & Stelly 504-521-7946 Benjamin B. Saunders Davis, Saunders, Miller & Oden Law Firm 985-612-3070

Project Finance Law

Benjamin Slater III Akerman 504-586-1241

E. Howell Crosby Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Brent A. Talbot Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

bizneworleans.com / 91

B e s t L aw y e r s Patrick A. Talley, Jr. Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Alan H. Goodman Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454

Real Estate Law Marguerite L. Adams Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

A. Gregory Grimsal Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

Lee R. Adler Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Harry Simms Hardin III Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Ricardo A. Aguilar McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

William H. Hines Jones Walker 504-582-8000

G. Wogan Bernard Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Karen T. Holzenthal Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Roy E. Blossman Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

Paul C. Kitziger Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

James L. Breaux Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Steven I. Klein Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Elwood F. Cahill, Jr. Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Neal J. Kling Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Philip deV. Claverie, Sr. Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Robert A. Kutcher Wagar Richard Kutcher Tygier & Luminais 504-830-3838

Philip Claverie Jr. Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 R. Keith Colvin Jones Walker 504-582-8000 James R. Conway III James R Conway III, Attorney at Law 504-838-0093 E. Howell Crosby Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Victoria M. de Lisle Locke Lord 504-558-5100 Gary J. Elkins Elkins 504-529-3600 Lillian E. Eyrich Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199 Joshua S. Force Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Philip A. Franco Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

Conrad Meyer IV Chehardy, Sherman, Williams, Murray, Recile, Stakelum & Hayes 504-217-2006 Alvin C. Miester III Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Deborah J. Moench Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Marie A. Moore Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Chad P. Morrow Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Randy Opotowsky Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199 Louis S. Quinn, Jr. Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Anne E. Raymond Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Leon J. Reymond, Jr. Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Charles A. Landry Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252

Richard P. Richter Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

William H. Langenstein III Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

Megan C. Riess Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252

Rose McCabe LeBreton Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin & Hubbard 504-568-1990 F. Rivers Lelong, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Jon F. Leyens, Jr. Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 A. Kelton Longwell Coats Rose 504-299-3070

George Denegre, Jr. Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Susan G. Talley Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Louis Y. Fishman Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252

Robert Paul Thibeaux Carver, Darden, Koretzky, Tessier, Finn, Blossman & Areaux 504-585-3800

George C. Freeman III Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700

Peter S. Title Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel 504-582-1500 Nicole S. Tygier Wagar Richard Kutcher Tygier & Luminais 504-830-3838 Susan M. Tyler Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Sabrina C. Vickers Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Emile A. Wagner III Law Offices of Emile A. Wagner, III 504-250-0895 Edward Dirk Wegmann Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Scott T. Whittaker Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Sterling Scott Willis Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252

Mark A. Fullmer Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Carl C. Hanemann Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Curtis R. Hearn Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Stephen H. Kupperman Barrasso Usdin Kupperman Freeman & Sarver 504-589-9700 Lance C McCardle Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Kenneth J. Najder Jones Walker 504-582-8000 C. Lawrence Orlansky Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Kirk Reasonover Reasonover & Associates 504-526-2921

Securities / Capital Markets Law

Richard C. Stanley Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580

Michael R. Schneider Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

John C. Anjier Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

James R. Swanson Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252

Steven C. Serio Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252

Mark R. Beebe Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

John D. Werner Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252

Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

Thomas M. Benjamin Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson 504-584-5454

Richard P. Wolfe Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Robert B. Bieck, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Securitization & Structured Finance Law

Philip B. Sherman Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000

David A. Martinez Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199

Richard C. Stanley Stanley, Reuter, Ross, Thornton & Alford 504-523-1580

Heather Begneaud McGowan Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

Robert M. Steeg Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199

R. Lewis McHenry Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Charles L. Stern, Jr. Steeg Law Firm 504-582-1199

92 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

James A. Stuckey Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

Roy C. Cheatwood Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 Scott D. Chenevert Fishman Haygood 504-586-5252 Nancy Scott Degan Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Lee R. Adler Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Leopold Z. Sher Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Marion Welborn Weinstock Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

B e s t L aw y e r s Tax Law Jesse R. Adams III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Robert S. Angelico Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 William M. Backstrom, Jr. Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Hilton S. Bell Milling Benson Woodward 504-569-7000 Timothy P. Brechtel Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Susan J. Burkenstock Elkins 504-529-3600

Cheryl Mollere Kornick Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

John J. Weiler Weiler & Rees 504-524-2944

Caroline D. Lafourcade Gordon, Arata, Montgomery, Barnett, McCollam, Duplantis & Eagan 504-582-1111

Kenneth A. Weiss McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

Donald H. McDaniel Perez, McDaniel, Faust & Adams 504-309-3848 Mandy Mendoza Gagliardi Chaffe McCall 504-585-7000 Max Nathan, Jr. Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel 504-582-1500

Andre B. Burvant Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Robert L. Perez Perez, McDaniel, Faust & Adams 504-309-3848

Jaye A. Calhoun Kean Miller 504-585-3050

Rudolph R. Ramelli Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Susan K. Chambers Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Jerome J. Reso, Jr. Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

John W. Colbert Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 J. Grant Coleman King, Krebs, & Jurgens 504-582-3800 Paul D. Cordes Jr. Guarisco, Cordes & Lala 504-587-7007 Gary J. Elkins Elkins 504-529-3600 Mark S. Embree Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 James C. Exnicios Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979 Michael E. Guarisco Guarisco, Cordes & Lala 504-587-7007 James K. Irvin Milling Benson Woodward 504-569-7000 Jonathan R. Katz Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Steven I. Klein Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100

F. Kelleher Riess Hickey & Riess, Attorneys at Law 504-525-1120 Richard J. Roth III Roth Law Firm 504-525-7792 John A. Rouchell Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 David R. Sherman Chehardy, Sherman, Williams, Murray, Recile, Stakelum & Hayes 504-217-2006 Mark S. Stein Lowe, Stein, Hoffman, Allweiss & Hauver 504-581-2450 Matthew A. Treuting Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 Alex P. Trostorff Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Paul H. Waldman Paul H. Waldman, Attorney at Law 504-220-2576 Edward Dirk Wegmann Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Karl J. Zimmermann Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900 Transportation Law Christopher O. Davis Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Max Nathan, Jr. Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel 504-582-1500 Carole Cukell Neff Sessions, Fishman, Nathan & Israel 504-582-1500 Robert L. Perez Perez, McDaniel, Faust & Adams 504-309-3848 Laura Walker Plunkett Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200

John E. Galloway Galloway, Johnson, Tompkins, Burr & Smith 504-525-6802

Jerome J. Reso, Jr. Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

Kenneth M. Klemm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200

Patrick K. Reso Chehardy, Sherman, Williams, Murray, Recile, Stakelum & Hayes 985-269-7220

Benjamin Slater III Akerman 504-586-1241

F. Kelleher Riess Hickey & Riess, Attorneys at Law 504-525-1120

Trusts and Estates

Leon H. Rittenberg III Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

Hirschel T. Abbott, Jr. Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Marguerite L. Adams Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

John A. Rouchell Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

James A. Brown Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Edward Dirk Wegmann Jones Walker 504-582-8000

David F. Edwards Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Kenneth A. Weiss McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

Mark S. Embree Adams & Reese 504-581-3234

John D. Wogan Liskow & Lewis 504-581-7979

Miriam Wogan Henry Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Steven I. Klein Sher Garner Cahill Richter Klein & Hilbert 504-299-2100 Joel A. Mendler Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer 504-569-2900

William N. Norton Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz 504-566-5200 J. Marshall Page III Jones Walker 504-582-8000 Scott T. Whittaker Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Workers’ Compensation Law Richard B. Eason II Adams & Reese 504-581-3234 Donald E. McKay, Jr. Leake & Andersson 504-585-7500

Brianne Rome Rome Law LLC 504-432-9367

Ricardo A. Aguilar McGlinchey Stafford 504-586-1200

Deborah C. Faust Perez, McDaniel, Faust & Adams 504-309-3848

Curtis R. Hearn Jones Walker 504-582-8000

Utilities Law Noel J. Darce Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Alan C. Wolf Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311 Venture Capital Law Joseph L. Caverly Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann 504-581-3200 Mark A. Fullmer Phelps Dunbar 504-566-1311

bizneworleans.com / 93

94 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Southe a st louisiana businesses in full color

from the lens GREAT WORKSPACES / WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT? / MAKING A MATCH / ON THE JOB

The cottage that is home to Mosquito Supper Club restaraunt in Uptown is also shared by a baker, a retail cookware shop and, in an adjacent building, a photographer’s studio.

From The Lens great work space s

Creative Collective Four female business owners share success in an Uptown Victorian cottage

by Melanie Warner Spencer photos by Sara Essex Bradley

Tucked away on a quiet residential

street, three blocks off of St. Charles Avenue, a charming, yellow, circa-1898 Victorian house with white trim bustles with activity.

Breads and pastries are being expertly crafted from scratch. The door on the left side of the house is unlocked; revealing kitchenware, bakeware and gourmet goods being tweaked into artful arrangements. Meanwhile, Chef Melissa Martin prepares for the evening’s guests.

While it may sound like a scene straight out of a Kate Chopin short story, it’s actually the story of a modern-day bakery, retail space and restaurant.

In 2016, Chef Martin moved her popular Cajun brunch and supper club — The Mosquito Supper Club — from the French Quarter to a house in Uptown New Orleans. It was a last-minute save when the company unexpectedly lost its original space. With bookings scheduled through the end of the year, Martin had to act fast, so she took a friend up on a long-ago offer. It was to lease the approximately 1,700-square-foot, already commercially zoned house the friend owned at 3824 Dryades St. After operating her farm-to-table restaurant in the space alone for a year, Martin invited Christina Balzebre, owner of Levee Baking Co., and Betsy Lindell, owner of Seasoned — a secondhand retail cookware shop — to begin operating their businesses out of the house. The result is a female-centric culinary collective that feels at once contemporary and like a throwback to an earlier era.

“It’s so hard to run small businesses in this city and you don’t always want investors,” says Martin. “So many people who are so talented end up leaving their craft.”

96 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

Chef Melissa Martin started the club as a popup in the Bywater in 2014 when she was transitioning out of a job at Café Hope. She soon leased a space in the French Quarter, but after losing the lease unexpectedly, moved the restaurant to 3824 Dryades in 2016.

“We get to collaborate and have a lot of Cindy Cocke and conversations about Sandy Blum opened food trends or food their second spa, history and we learn Shine Spa in Mida lot from each other,” City, in 2014. The pair says Levee Baking worked with StudioCo. Owner and Baker, WTA on the design, Christina Balzebre, about which is based on sharing the space with the theme of fire, Martin. “It’s so important to coincide with the to believe in people in earth elements conthis business and I’m so cept of their spas. grateful that we get to share a space and help each other out.”

bizneworleans.com / 97

“The glitz and glam was already gone by the time we were a permanent restaurant with a liquor license,” says Martin. “It evolves and it changes. The excitement wore away and the reality of keeping it relevant and making it work took over. We are still evolving. What the future holds is whatever we want.”

98 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

This collective mindset has resulted in a transformation of the bright, breezy Victorian house from a pleasant residential space for the owner’s mother into a bakery, retail shop and two-room restaurant with a petite, yet powerful commercial kitchen, outdoor area for cocktails, mingling or events and a soon-to-launch weatherpermitting al fresco oyster bar, as well as — most recently — studio space in an adjacent, onsite building for photographer Sara Essex Bradley. (Disclosure, Bradley is a contract photographer for Biz New Orleans and regularly contributes to this

feature). The space also serves as a catalyst for creativity and collaboration.

“I knew Christina was extremely talented and I wanted to draw from her energy and learn from her,” says Martin. “We are planning to start a brunch together.”

The first “Brunch at the Club” was on Jan. 21. Martin is also planning some special surprises during Carnival Season.

The Club will be open for breakfast and lunch Feb. 2 through Feb. 11. It will be a Mosquito and Levee collaboration.

She says Seasoned was a natural fit for use of the other available rooms, though she

A recently acquired liquor license has enabled Martin to offer a variety of natural wines from sustainable, mall wine makers, as well as their favorite liquors, such as mescal and bourbon.

Martin has plans for an outdoor, weather permitting oyster bar and a collaborative brunch between Martin and Balzebre launched on Jan. 21.

jokes it is tempting to shop the inventory daily. Lindell’s former location was on Broad Street in Mid-City, with a barber shop upstairs and a Brazilian Capoeira studio next store. She says she was glad to move to a space close to other culinary businesses.

“What I didn’t anticipate with the move was how much exchange there would be between the businesses,” says Lindell. “I share a physical space with Melissa and Christina but they also occupy my mind. I am striving to make my business better alongside them. I see their hopes for the

bizneworleans.com / 99

“We are a Cajun tasting restaurant,” says Martin.

“The whole philosophy was to celebrate fishers and crabbers and do it like my Grandma’s on Sunday. To have that experience of the Sunday supper.”

100 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

At a Glance

Mosquito Supper Club or “The Club” Address:3824 Dryades St. Move In: 2016 Architect: Arianna Rinderknecht Furnishings: Farm tables by Matthew Holdren Square footage: Approximately 1,700

space turn into realities. They are both doers in the truest sense of the word.”

Seasoned is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, closed on Wednesday, and open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Through the week, Balzebre bakes for distribution at Congregation Coffee, Mammoth Espresso and Cherry Espresso, and frequents various farmers markets, but on Saturdays the Club is converted into a popup where anyone can buy pastries, breads and coffee, and either eat in, take it to the back porch or yard, or carry out. You can also nibble and sip while shopping at Seasoned for wooden spoons, jam, a cast iron Dutch oven or, if Levee’s goods inspire you, a banneton basket to test your bread baking skills at home.

“What’s really great is to see the space change,” says Martin. “It’s a shape shifter. I leave here Friday night and come in on Saturday and it’s a totally different space. It’s so homey and smells like baked goods. It’s exciting to see it used in a different way.”

On Saturdays, the farm tables — built by Matthew Holdren — are topped with flowers in pitchers and glass tumblers from Seasoned, then finished with paper towel holders. A black and white sign with “Bakery” in bold lettering is placed in the front room.

Morning light floods the space and there is always a line out the door.

Betsy Lindell, owner of Seasoned, which buys, sells and trades secondhand cookware, as well as locally made goods, says she didn’t realize how much exchange there would be between her shop and the other businesses when she first moved into the space.

Photographer Sara Essex Bradley moved into one of the buildings on the property in 2017 for use as her studio.

When Bradley’s latest book, “Dog Décor: Canines Living Large,” was released in July 2017, the space transformed yet again into the perfect spot for a book launch party and signing. In the yard, guests mingled by the bar and enjoyed freshly shucked oysters at the oyster bar while meandering in and out of Bradley’s studio or ambling inside the main house for the signing.

The concept of a restaurant only being open Thursday, Friday and Saturday seems a little foreign to many, and Martin says one of the biggest challenges is quelling the idea that it isn’t a permanent restaurant or that she lives in the house. The “Club” does bear the decorative elements of a home, with rustic, residential-style hutches, tables and accessories, but the masterfully prepared, gourmet Cajun food and ever-evolving changes — such as the formerly BYOBonly establishment acquiring a liquor license (patrons can still to bring their own, for a corkage fee) — are helping Martin correct misperceptions.

“My ‘show’ is about Cajun life,” says Martin.

“Dispelling myths of what it was like growing up in Terrebonne Parish and the coastal region. I make it very clear that it’s my version of Cajun. There are things on my Cajun table that would be on another Cajun table. It’s not really a job, it’s a lifestyle.” n

Biggest Challenge: “[The] biggest challenge is keeping up with all the details that make this old home so magnificent,” says Chef Melissa Martin. “We put our commercial kitchen in the original kitchen, [where] I used to drink coffee with my friend Sarah. It was the room that needed the most work, so it seemed appropriate to use it. We were sad that we had to build a wall across one of the [kitchen] windows in order to pass code. We also installed a 10K handicap lift to pass code. We want to be handicap accessible, that is so important to us, but the options for commercial accessibility are expensive. It was more expensive than our hood and ansul system.”

Standout Feature: The plaster walls and arches of the ceiling indicative of circa-1898 Victorian architecture.

bizneworleans.com / 101

From The Lens why didn’t i think of that?

Tip of the Hat Colby Hebert, a.k.a. The Cajun Hatter, is introducing New Orleans to his version of “Swamp Chic.”

by Ashley McLellan photos by romero & romero

Designer Colby Hebert wears many hats…

literally. Hebert is an actor, businessman, designer and, most passionately, a hatmaker.

Hebert’s business originally got its start as Colby Hebert Chapeaux, a little store front in his hometown of New Iberia. Hebert moved the business to New Orleans in October 2017, landing on Magazine Street as The Cajun Hatter.

102 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

“I’ve been interested in hats for as long as I can remember,” he said. “I’ve been into fashion and costumes all my life, and I’ve always tried to find ways to express the character in me through my fashion. Hats were always an easy go-to. A hat can set you apart, but in a subtle and elegant way.”

Hebert entered the hatmaking industry in 2015 after flipping an acting career for design and

transforming the phrase “Made on the Bayou” into an actual trade.

“After trying my hand at acting, I ended up finding my way into the costume side of the film industry,” Hebert said. “There, for several years I developed my interest and knack for fashion while quickly becoming associated with hats. Later, while watching a YouTube video of a hatmaker, it just

Hatmaker Colby Hebert moved his chapeau boutique, The Cajun Hatter, from New Iberia to New Orleans in October 2017, with the goal of carrying on his handcrafted tradition on the city’s famed Magazine Street. “There were no other hatmakers [excluding milliners] in Louisiana with this traditional skill that I could learn from,” he said. “This has made my job much more difficult, but it’s been worth every minute.”

Fashion Forward

Men’s Shopping Is On the Rise According to a 2016 poll by fashion public relations firm Boutique @Ogilvy, on the whole, men spend an average of $85 per month on clothing and accessories, as opposed to $75 per month by women. Men also spend more time shopping, at an average of three hours per week, with women spending two-and a-half.

The trend has been in play for several years, with men outspending women in the U.S. and in Europe and sales continuing to rise.

This rise in the menswear business and spending may be attributed to several factors, including: Menswear costs more to manufacture; More availability of men’s accessories; The growth of online shopping; Relaxation of office attire rules; Increased interest in grooming, and finally, Men make more than women on average, and therefore have more to spend.

bizneworleans.com / 103

hit me like a lightening bolt that this was something that I would love doing. It just made sense. I could design fashion and express myself and my culture through a medium that I was already passionate about. So the rest is history.”

Hebert is careful to classify his work as a “hatmaker,” rather than a milliner, a designation that implies something much more formal than his designs. “‘Millinery’ is something that I don’t tend to associate myself with: It’s more specifically the making of hats (usually for women) through methods that are quite different from what I do,” he said.

“They are usually very formal hats for specific events for example, and employ very different methods. The blocking and shaping of unisex hats intended for everyday use is usually simply referred to as “hatmaking,” which would make me a hatmaker, or hatter, or...Cajun Hatter.”

Hebert’s styles are specifically designed to appeal to both men and women, and are both for casual and formal occasions.

“My hats are for everyone. I mean really,” he said. “One of the most essential aspects of the nature of my brand aesthetic is versatility.

My hats are, in essence, formal and elegant things that have been made a bit more casual and relaxed with some added character. It’s totally as fine to wear a hat with jeans, for example, as it is to wear a sports jacket with jeans. They fit in every situation.”

104 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

With an increase in attention to fashion detail, a more casual working attire and social media status updates on style via Instagram and Facebook, hats are in line and on trend for both male and female buyers. Hebert’s business model embraces the trend and runs with it.

“My hats are unisex. Let me be clear that the kind of hats that I am making are

“About five years ago, there may have been 30 hatmakers left in the country. Now there are about 200 or so.”

Colby Hebert

what would traditionally be considered ‘men’s dress and western hats.’ However, it so happens that fashion has become immensely more casual than the era during which these styles of hats were considered more masculine in nature,” he said. “The kind of hats that women wore in that same era are far too formal for today’s everyday wear. As such, this kind of hat is the most appropriate style for either

According to Hebert, his unique designs meet the hallmarks of both style and function.

“I do not consider a hat an accessory in the same sense as bracelets, rings and necklaces — no more than you would consider a belt or shoes an accessory,” he said.

“A hat serves very specific functional purposes, and for generations was considered an essential to a wardrobe for both men and women; something we seem to have lost sight of.”

gender to incorporate into their fashion.

My clients literally are all over the map in regards to gender, age, heritage, etc. In the nearly two-year period that I’ve been making hats, I have equally served men, women, young and old, though if I’m being very specific, I have more female clients.”

Hebert sees the hat trend not as something on the horizon, but as an essential part of an accessory wardrobe that is current across the country. He says New Orleans, and the hatmaking industry here, is simply playing catch-up to fashion centers such as New York, Miami and Los Angeles.

“Hats are not coming back, hats are back. But as usual, the South is behind,” he said. “Every state out West, and especially California, has seen a huge resurgence in hat wearing, and therefore hatmaking — in New York it’s the same, as well as Miami.

Los Angeles and New York City each have at least a dozen or more hatmakers, all thriving despite the competition. About five years ago, there may have been 30 hatmakers left in the country. Now there are about 200 or so.”

While Hebert may have originally been inspired by film sets, his creations are more works of art than costumes. Inspired by life in Louisiana, the Cajun Hatter’s style embraces local culture with a nod to Old World tradition and craftsmanship.

“So much inspires my work,” he said. “I find inspiration in every corner. However, being born in New Iberia, I am so prideful of my Cajun culture, and this inspires my work more than anything else. My ancestors came from France, a very elegant, dignified, and prideful nation. Then, after decades of an attempt to settle in ‘Acadie’ in Canada, they were drug through the mud, burned, beat, bruised and kicked out. Through their persistence they eventually reached and settled in the beautiful prairie land of Southwestern Louisiana. My hats tell this very story. They are elegantly crafted works of art that are then distressed, aged, and burned, which imparts a life, soul and history of its own into each design. I suppose at the end of the day, that makes me a storyteller, much like many of my ancestors.”

Each hat is made by hand at Hebert’s Magazine Street shop, and most are custom, made to order. He says his materials are sourced locally when possible and are sustainably harvested.

“All of the materials that I use are the same materials that have been used for the past several hundred years,” he said.

“We use 100 percent fur felts that are sourced here in America. Beaver fur is the preferred and most popular as it is the highest quality, longest lasting and most durable option. It’s also sustainably harvested. Other options include rabbit fur, for a more economical price, and mink for a more exotic and luxury option.”

It’s Hebert’s attention to detail that sets his creations apart.

“Being that most of my work is custom, my customers are a huge part of the inspiration. For each hat, I basically create something that is a reflection of that very individual through my vision and interpretation,” he said. “I absolutely do see myself as carrying on a special tradition. Like I’ve mentioned, hatmaking has been an endangered craft and through incredibly hard work and persistence I am doing my part to change that. For the record, there were no other hatmakers (not milliners) in Louisiana with this traditional skill that I could learn from.

This has made my job much more difficult, but it’s been worth every minute.”

A new line of designs debuted in January of this year, all of which reference the cultural atmosphere that continues to inspire Hebert.

“I am releasing a line of ‘brand icons’ that are styles exhibiting every color, shape and style possible, while each design will be tied to a specific South Louisiana cultural concept,” he said. “Styles such as ‘Voodoo Queen,’ ‘Magnolia,’ ‘Streetcar’ and ‘Poboy,’ for example. After this, I am considering working toward the release of a full unisex clothing line that follows the same brand aesthetic.”

Prices for Cajun Hatter creations depend on the type of material used, time to make and design of the piece, with starting prices ranging from $300 to $1,800.

“Every single hat is made start-to-finish, right here on 4516 Magazine Street,” Hebert is proud to state. “When I was located in New Iberia, I used to say ‘Handmade on the Bayou,’ but now I suppose we can say ‘Handmade on the River’…[it’s] what I call ‘swamp-chic.’

New Orleans is not just a hat city, it is THE hat city.” n

Chic Shops

Topping It All Off In addition to The Cajun Hatter, there are a variety of hatmakers and milliners throughout the city, including: Fleur de Paris is an upscale women’s hat boutique at 523 Royal Street, (504) 525-1900.

Goorin Bros.

Hat Shop is a women’s and men’s national hat shop with stores at 709 Royal St., (504) 523-4287, and 2127 Magazine St., (504) 522-1890.

Meyer the Hatter is a historic hat shop with styles for men and women at 120 St. Charles Avenue, (504) 525-1048.

Shushan’s French Quarter Haberdashery features a variety of hats and Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest shirts, located in the French Quarter at 536 St. Peter, (504) 586-1188.

bizneworleans.com / 105

From The Lens making a match: busine sse s and nonprofits

Riding can also benefit those with autism. wife drive 85 miles from Port Allen to pick up “The rhythmic movements of horses also help their daughter, Anna, from Magnolia Community children and adults with autism by allowing the Services, an organization that provides support brain to take a break from self-stimulating motions to adults with intellectual and developmental such as rocking,” she said. “This allows individuals disabilities. They then drive another 20 miles to open their minds to new topics and increases to the Greater New Orleans Therapeutic Riding concentration and patience.”

“It’s our favorite trip,” said Kira Zoe Radtke Center (GNOTRC) in Laplace.

“We’ve been going there since it started, so maybe Friedrich, whose son Aidan was born premature 15 years or so,” said LeBlanc. “Anna was afraid of at 24 weeks and spent seven months in a neonatal animals like dogs and cats, but since foolin’ around intensive-care unit. He now has cerebral palsy and with the horses she’s not afraid of anything and retinopathy of prematurity, a condition in which the growth of the eyes is stopped and causes the she’ll ride any horse Anita puts her on.”

Anita Hartzell-Hefler is the executive director of retinas to detach. “Aidan always knows where GNOTRC and, along with her equine staff — which he’s going and he gets so excited. And when he includes: Bambi, Jade, Blu, Music, Meaux-jeaux, comes home, he’s calm and tired. He’s peaceful.

Leroy, Polly, Brownie, Sam and Olivia “This therapy helps him maintain — she improves the quality of life for his balance and we know he is in a safe her many clients. environment,” she added. “It’s also a “We offer customized horseback social time for him because he loves riding programs to children and adults interacting with all the volunteers.” with a range of cognitive and physical Aidan has virtually no verbal skills, disabilities,” she said, “including those so he uses a communication device. with Down syndrome, those who According to his mother, when asked have suffered from trauma or abuse, if he had a good time at the center he or have had a stroke or brain injury.” repeatedly and enthusiastically hits Hartzell-Hefler always loved horses his high five button. but her life was changed when she Aidan rides on Bambi — the center’s said she witnessed an equine therapy star, who has a lot in common with organization perform for the first time. many of the clientele.

“I couldn’t put the faces of the “When [Bambi] came she had to riders out of my mind,” she said. “So learn to trust and learn what she needed to do,” said Hartzell-Hefler, I began volunteering at a center and then I just started learning everything “but one day it just seemed as though

by Pamela Marquis photos by cheryl gerber about this field.” she took a deep breath and said, ‘Oh, this is what I’m supposed to do.’ Now She eventually became a certified therapist, then received an advanced certification she’s the foundation of the program.” and went on to form GNOTRC in 1993.

The cost of a ride is $25 — a price that has not Therapeutic horseback riding has a centuries-old increased since the organization’s debut in 1993, history. In ancient Greece, it was used to help even though it now costs more than $80 to hold a rehabilitate wounded soldiers. During World class. Nobody is ever turned away for lack of funds.

War I in England, therapeutic riding was also GNOTRC has two part-time staff; volunteers used to treat injured soldiers. In the mid-20th do the rest of the work. Some lead the horses, century, it was used as an effective therapy for other walk next to the riders providing physical those overcoming polio. Currently there are 700 support, while others help groom the horses and accredited riding centers open in the United States. clean up after them.

How does therapeutic riding work?

The volunteers hail from all over but Hartzell“A horse’s movement requires riders to use Hefler said the business community has truly the same muscles as those used for walking,” stepped up with scores of volunteers who make Hartzell-Hefler explained. “When people are a big difference in the success of the program. unable to walk on their own, riding a horse will “The Greater New Orleans Therapeutic Riding develop their core muscles and improve balance, Center is a huge asset to have in our community,” posture and strength.” said David Fennelly, chairman of Associated Every Tuesday, Dantin LeBlanc and his

Hooves That Heal

The Greater New Orleans Therapeutic Riding Center in Laplace offers a great opportunity to support children and adults with disabilities.

106 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

A Good Match

FOR COMPANIES WHO… Are looking to get out into the country a bit and work around horses and children, as well as companies with construction or drainage abilities.

Therapists, saddle makers and feed stores are also encouraged.

Get Involved: Provide volunteers to help out around the ranch or work with riders • Sponsor a fundraising event • Sponsor riders and horses • Support the associated cost to maintain and improve the GNOTC stables • Sponsor a trailer • Help improve drainage • Create or sponsor custom saddles or vaulting surcingles (leather strap used to stabilize a rider’s weight) • Help with lighting, treats, feed and hay Ongoing Partnerships: Among others, GNOTRC’s partners include: Associated Terminals, Shell Pipeline, Dow Chemical Company, Valero St Charles Refinery and the United Way. Critical Need! GNOTRC has recently rescued a stranded herd of Paso Fino horses, however the organization has found itself completely overwhelmed both in time and effort to care for them.

They are in need of $2,000 in donations, immediately, to fund this very important rescue mission.

Anita Hartzell-Hefler, executive director of GNOTRC

bizneworleans.com / 107

making a difference

SUCCESS OF SERVICES

35 to 40

clients ride each month, with some of those riding once a week.

many hundreds of children served by GNOTRC since its inception.

Terminals, a cargo handling company out volunteer outside of the committee when of Arabi. “The difference that the center we contact them. Valero is very adamant makes in the lives of so many people is about community presence and support incredible, not only for the individuals for nonprofits.” that it directly serves, but their families, As a volunteer at GNOTRC, Associated the volunteers, the staff of the center, and Terminals employee Laura Simmons has all of us that have witnessed the amazing learned that a little of her time can make benefit of therapeutic riding.” a big difference.

Dow Chemical Company also regularly “Helping around the barn was therasends teams to volunteer at the farm peutic to me, knowing that my time was and Shell Pipeline usually going to a good cause,” she said. coordinates a project as part “It brought me pure joy to see of its team training, where the smiles on the faces of those DID YOU KNOW? employees from all over the that go there for therapy. When Lt. Gov. Nungesser world are gathered for specialthey are on the horse and riding is a supporter of ized training. you can see the happiness on this therapy. In fact, their faces and that is priceless.” “[Dow] has had us on their next to his ranch in list every two years for the last Port Sulphur, where he raises elk and six years,” said Hartzell-Hefler.

Success Stories cattle, he created “Another company that has a Aidan has cerebral palsy. He gets the Pointe Celeste volunteer committee is Valero Botox shots to calm the activity Therapeutic Riding St. Charles Refinery. Whenever in his brain and the therapy he Center. we need help, we contact the receives at GNOTRC extends “I believe in committee. But there are those benefits. “He meets so the power of horseback,” he said. several employees who will many people, adults, young

108 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

people and teens,” says his mother. They all know him and are so happy to see him.” Aidan rides Bambi but really loves Festus the donkey, who the family calls the Shrek donkey.

Anna was born with developmental disabilities and a deformed hip. Riding has helped her with her posture and her balance. She can’t wait to go every week and gets very disappointed if she has to cancel because of rain or cold. Riding has helped her get over her fear of animals and she’ll ride any horse Anita puts her on.

Brian is 8 years old. He was born with Spina bifida and is paralyzed from the knees down. His parents were told he might never walk. He’s been riding for almost six years now. “Since starting he’s been able to use his walker more and his balance is much better,” says his mother, Gwen Morelo. Sometimes Brian can even walk without his “sticks,” which is what he calls his crutches. “I like the horses a lot and talking to all the people,” he says. n

“The Greater New Orleans Therapeutic Riding Center is a huge asset to have in our community,” said David Fennelly, chairman of Associated Terminals, a cargo handling company out of Arabi. “The difference that the center makes in the lives of so many people is incredible, not only for the individuals that it directly serves, but their families, the volunteers, the staff of the center, and all of us that have witnessed the amazing benefit of therapeutic riding.”

THE BASICS

Greater New Orleans Theraputic riding center Mission: Dedicated to promoting equine activities for the disabled and providing individuals with physical, mental and emotional disabilities with the opportunity to enhance the quality of their lives through equine-oriented activities in a safe, professional and progressive environment.

Website: gnotrc.com Location: 152 Shadowbrook Ln., Laplace Annual Budget: $92,000 Veterinarian bills make up at least one-third of GNOTRC’s budget, the rest goes to feed and hay and a small amount goes to staff.

Major Fundraising Event: April 20 Harley for Horses. The Sunday before The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, this event features a motorcycle run, live music, raffle and an auction.

Fall Date T.B.D. Plop Drop. With a steep vet bill looming, GNOTRC needed some quick money so they came up with the wildly popular fundraising event, Plop Drop. “It was a quick, down and dirty way to make some money. The first year we sold out of tickets in three days,” says Anita Hefler, GNOTRC’s executive director. For this event the arena is divided into 400 segments and each square sells for $10. Twice during the event two “ploppers” are turned loose, and wherever they “drop” their “plop” the owner of the ticket for that square wins $1,000.

Nov 22 Christmas in the Crevasse – A Holiday Hayride. Christmas in the Crevasse is a 40-minute hayride through five acres of farmland with more than 80 stunning light displays and a telling of the Cajun Night Before Christmas.

It starts on Thanksgiving Day. Admission is $3 for children ages 2 and under and $5 for ages 3 and up.

bizneworleans.com / 109

PUBLISHER’S NOTICE: All real estate advertised herein is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Ace and the Louisiana Open Housing Act, which make it illegal to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. For more information, call the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office at 1-800-273-5718.

110 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

bizneworleans.com / 111

From The Lens ON THE JOB

How the Sausage is Made Photo by Jenny Peterson

In 2015, Charlie’s Sausage farm and

smokehouse in Springfield, Louisiana, became the first slaughterhouse in the state to be licensed to process wild boar. Ever since, the farm has been

112 / Biz New Orleans / february 2018

crafting wild boar and pork smoked sausages made with a Cajun recipe and smoked in a real, hardwood fire smokehouse. To further help with the destruction wild boar cause to forests, five

percent of the net profits from Charlie’s sausages go to longleaf pine forest restoration in the South. n CharliesSausage.com