Biz New Orleans June 2022 by Renaissance Publishing

B I Z N E W ORLE A N S

THE PANDEMIC AFTER THE PANDEMIC

JUNE 2022

NO RTHS HO RE IS S UE

AM Y Y BAR Z ABAL

MENTAL HE ALTH E XPANSIONS

St. Tammany’s proposed density moratorium had the Northshore HBA seeing red

GO FIGHT WIN! Amy Ybarzabal , Northshore HBA Executive Officer

BIZ NE WOR LE ANS.COM

JUNE 2022

MENTAL HEALTH DEMANDS ARE DRIVING EXPANSIONS P. 38

BusinessSaving Tech Local leaders share must-haves P. 22 RV Adventuring This Summer? Check out this new app. P. 58

ANNUAL NORTHSHORE ISSUE

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JUNE EVERY ISSUE

PERSPECTIVES

VOLUME 08 ISSUE 09

FROM THE LENS 58 WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT? RV reservation app Spot2Nite eliminates the hassles in finding the perfect place to park your vacation

04 EDITOR’S NOTE 05 ON THE WEB 06 PUBLISHER’S NOTE 07 WORD ON THE STREET

64 NEW ORLEANS 500 Chris Combs, owner of C M Combs Construction

HEALTHCARE Ranked Louisiana’s top spots to retire, Covington and Mandeville continue to work to meet demand for retirement communities.

IN THE BIZ 12 DINING Downtown Hotels provide the perfect setting to cool off in style. 14 TOURISM When will the airport’s I-10 flyover ramps be a reality and what will they look like? I’ve got the answers. 16 SPORTS Big changes in the Sun Belt Conference 18 ENTREPRENEUR Early versions of lunch counters and Silicon Valley were present 2,000 years ago.

22 TECHNOLOGY

Local execs share the technology they’re using to help improve business 24 INSURANCE What’s happening to flood insurance rates? What should homeowners be doing? Local experts weigh in. 30 GUEST As the healthcare industry continues to grow north of the lake, its success offers lessons that can be applied to overall development on the Northshore.

GREAT WORKSPACES

Among the top five largest title companies in Louisiana, Fleur de Lis Law & Title created its new Covington office with dual focuses on collaboration and celebration.

The Pandemic After the Pandemic

Known since the 1950s for mental health care, The Northshore is now battling with a need unlike anything ever seen.

A Fight for Survival

That’s how members of the Northshore HBA felt about their opposition to the proposed residential building moratorium in St. Tammany Parish.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Publisher Todd Matherne EDITORIAL Managing Editor Kimberley Singletary Art Director Sarah George Digital Media Editor Kelly Massicot Associate News Editor Rich Collins

Heading Up North

’m up on the Northshore every week to visit my mom in Mandeville. We have a standing date where I get to hang with her, she gets to hang with her youngest granddaughter, and we both get to enjoy a lunch out and about. Sometimes we also take a walk along the lake — other times it’s the Tammany Trace. We may grab a lunch out on the back porch of The Chimes and see if we can catch a glimpse of a goat, or maybe wander downtown Covington and window shop. A few times we’ve met my dad (who runs the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville — the only maritime museum in the state) for lunch at the nearby Abita Roasting Co., where we can sit by the water and watch the boats. No matter what we do, it feels peaceful, tranquil. It’s been eight years since my parents moved to the Northshore (following us here from Nebraska) and I have always enjoyed my trips across the lake. I feel more relaxed up there. There’s only one hiccup: the traffic. Interstate 12 — man if you hit that at the wrong time (which is a lot more likely now than eight years ago) you might as well settle in and find a good podcast (I recommend BizTalks!) I’ve learned how to take surface streets to get around some of it, but even those can get crazy, and I’m not even around during peak times! I’ve lived in a few big cities that had major traffic issues — including Seattle and San Diego — and both were cases of the population growing much faster than infrastructure could keep up. The difference, I think, is that you expect it in a big city. On the Northshore,

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Perspective Writer Drew Hawkins Contributors John Donahue, Ashley McLellan, Chris Price, Jennifer Gibson Schecter, Melanie Warner Spencer, Poppy Tooker, Keith Twitchell ADVERTISING Sales Manager Caitlin Sistrunk (504) 830-7252 Caitlin@BizNewOrleans.com Senior Account Executive Jessica Jaycox (504) 830-7255 JessicaJ@BizNewOrleans.com

where you’re surrounded by trees, not buildings, most of the time, it doesn’t seem right. But the Northshore is growing — and growing fast, with St. Tammany the secondfastest growing parish in the state. In last year’s inaugural Northshore issue (when St. Tammany was the fourth-fastest growing parish) I had a great conversation with Chris Masingill — CEO of St. Tammany Corporation, the parish’s economic development organization — and we talked about the “balancing act” that the Northshore is facing between continuing to grow and doing it in a way that preserves the quality of life that draws people to the area. In this, our second-ever Northshore issue of Biz New Orleans magazine, I was honored to have spoken with Amy Ybarzabal about how the Northshore HBA fits into this “balancing act.” She, and so many of the 700-plus members she represents, believes the Northshore is very capable of finding the balance they seek. The key is to work together and remember that everyone wants the same thing: a balanced, healthy, thriving region. As always, thanks for reading,

Senior Account Executive Meghan Schmitt (504) 830-7246 Meghan@BizNewOrleans.com

RENAISSANCE PUBLISHING MARKETING Coordinator Abbie Whatley PRODUCTION Manager Rosa Balaguer Arostegui Senior Designer Meghan Rooney CIRCULATION Subscriptions Jessica Armand Distribution John Holzer ADMINISTRATION Office Manager Mallary Wolfe VP of Sales and Marketing Kate Henry Chief Executive Officer Todd Matherne For subscriptions, call (504) 830-7231

2021 Gold Magazine Design Gold Best Explanatory Journalism Gold Feature Design Silver Best Feature Bronze Best Use of Multimedia 2020 Silver Best Recurring Feature 2019 Gold Best Recurring Feature Gold Best Explanatory Journalism 2018 Gold Most Improved Publication Silver Best Recurring Feature 2017 Silver Best Recurring Feature Bronze Best Daily Email 2016 Bronze Best Feature Layout

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KIMBERLEY SINGLETARY Managing Editor Kimberley@BizNewOrleans.com

Biz New Orleans is published monthly by Renaissance Publishing, LLC, 110 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005; (504) 828-1380. Subscription rate: three year $49.95, no foreign subscriptions. Postage paid at Metairie, LA, and additional mailing entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Biz New Orleans, 110 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. Copyright 2022 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.

ON THE WEB BIZNEWORLEANS.COM

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BIZ TALKS PODCAST

“I’m not a chef. I’m just a cook who likes to eat. When I’m in my kitchen, I’m at peace.”

EPISODE 101

MAD About Nails — Morgan Dixon

Morgan Dixon is a nail artist, entrepreneur and social media star whose incredible creations have made her studio, MAD Nails, (named for her initials) THE top nail salon in the region and even grabbed the attention of Hollywood. This week Dixon shares the details on an exciting new expansion.

EPISODE 100

Jazz Fest Gelato a Labor of Love

“

”

It helped us tremendously as managers. We learned the systems, the culture and the importance of hospitality. It’s been 12 years and it was a good run.

Lon Nichols, speaking about his experience running three Pinkberry stores in New Orleans in addition to owning Felipe’s Mexican Taqueria. The group’s agreement with Pinkberry will expire in September with no plans to renew.

Loy Madrigal, proprietor of Cebu Litson restaurant

Carmelo Turillo is an educator, entrepreneur, lecturer at Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business and the co-owner of Francofonte Catering, which has operated a gelato tent at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival for more than a decade. Turillo shares how his role as a professor informs his entrepreneurial pursuits.

BI Z N E WO RL E AN S.COM

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

SALES TEAM

No Summer Slowdown Here!

his month I want to focus on a few shout-outs and congratulations. First, congratulations to Jerry Bologna and JEDCO — especially the finance team — on the ribbon cutting event and opening of their new finance center, a great compliment to Churchill Technology & Business Park. This asset is open and ready to help your business, so visit JEDCO. org for more information. While on JEDCO’s website, make sure you check out the Prosper Jefferson seminars — a collaboration with the Jefferson Chamber. This month’s seminars focus on advertising and online marketing. If you attend Prosper Jefferson on June 29, you can end your day with the New Orleans Chamber at The Sazerac House at a Chamber After 5 event. Register and learn more at NewOrleansChamber.org. Back to the Jefferson Chamber, congratulations to the Jefferson Leadership class of 2022 as they finish this year’s program. Our very own Ashley McLellan, editor of New Orleans Magazine, is a graduate this year and we are very proud. The chamber is now accepting applications for the class of 2023. You can apply online at JeffersonChamber.org. Moving over to the Northshore, St. Tammany Chamber has its Business After Hours at the Northshore Food Bank on June 9. Learn more and register at StTammanyChamber.org. Over in St. Bernard, the chamber there has a membership open house at Round 2 Reloaded on June 6 where attendees can visit with

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members, staff and the board. Registration is at StBernardChamber.org. As you can see, even in the heat of the summer, business doesn’t take a break. In fact, our regional economic development organization, GNO, Inc., is traveling this month to Rhode Island for a visit to Block Island Wind Farm. This three-day trip includes visits to innovation hubs and conversations with wind and renewable companies. The idea is to bring back best practices so that one day we can create an offshore wind farm right off the coast of Louisiana. I wrap up my column with a note about our New Orleans 500. The 2023 edition, produced by our nationally award-winning Biz team, is under way and next year’s list looks even better than the first. If you have a last-minute recommendation for an influential, involved and inspiring executive time is of the essence — the list is closing soon. Visit BizNewOrleans. com and click on BIZ 500 for more details and to access the nomination form. Enjoy your summer, and I hope to see you at a business event soon.

Caitlin Sistrunk Sales Manager (504) 830-7252 Caitlin@BizNewOrleans.com

Jessica Jaycox Senior Account Executive (504) 830-7255 JessicaJ@BizNewOrleans.com

Meghan Schmitt

TODD MATHERNE CEO and Publisher Renaissance Publishing

Senior Account Executive (504) 830-7246 Meghan@BizNewOrleans.com

WORD ON THE STREET NEW ORLEANS 500 SURVEY

NEWS FROM THE TOP Each month, we ask the top business professionals featured in the New Orleans 500 to weigh in on issues impacting the New Orleans business community. Have an idea for a survey question for the New Orleans 500? Email rich@bizneworleans.com.

“It impacts international business investors in particular,” said Webb. “We’re very concerned about our maritime industry.” When it comes to real estate, few have as much to manage as much as the team leading the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, which has more than a million-square-feet of exhibition space and claims the country’s “largest contiguous-space exhibit hall.” Michael Sawaya, the facility’s president and general manager, said utilities costs are an obvious problem, but recent investments in infrastructure are helping mitigate negative effects. “Our 3-million-square-foot facility is the largest in Orleans Parish, and utility costs are our second highest expense after salaries and benefits,” he said. “In order to reduce usage and net costs, we have adopted progressive, leading-edge sustainability practices, and have made long-term capital investments aimed at reducing usage O’Hara said business travel is and costs.” especially important to the city Some business owners are For more thoughts because it’s responsible for the solving the extra cost of utilities from local business majority of weekday visitors. by downsizing. Lana Joseph-Ford, leaders on this topic, “We need it to complement CEO of High Level Speech & visit BizNewOrleans. the tourism traffic and keep a com/500 and scroll Hearing Center, is one example. down to the latest steady flow of business across the “We decided to consolidate New Orleans 500 industry,” he said. locations and focus on our mobile Survey. On a bigger scale, international community outreach program trade and transportation executives to mitigate operational costs,” headquartered in New Orleans said she said. “Although it took some they are also noticing negative effects of rising getting used to, it has proven to be a cost-effienergy costs. cient strategy for us ... We decided not to renew Both Jack Jensen of TCI Trucking and Ed our lease agreement and we’ve now adopted Webb, CEO of the World Trade Center New mobile, work-from-home and virtual appointOrleans, cited increased shipping costs as a ment strategies to reduce costs and ensure that problem. our company remains profitable.” T

PAYING THE PRICE

Increased energy costs challenge area businesses BY RICH COLLINS

hirty percent of the New Orleans executives who responded to this month’s New Orleans 500 email survey said increased energy costs are creating problems for their businesses. “A lot of our business is in transportation. This includes VIP transfers using sedans and SUVs along with group shuttles using motor coaches and ‘mini coaches,’” said Jeff O’Hara, owner of PRA Business Events. “Anyone walking the streets of New Orleans will know how common a sight all of these vehicles are on our streets, shuttling visitors around town.” O’Hara said that the recent jump in gas prices has had a significant impact on the cost to operate these vehicles and he’s had to pass that along to clients. “This results in some difficult conversations at times, but I will say that in most cases people have been understanding,” he said. “However, coupled with rising costs on everything from airfare to food, there is concern that the increased cost will cause companies to scale back on their events. This trickles down to every level of the hospitality industry in New Orleans. You tend to think about hotels and big venues, but bus drivers, restaurant servers, hotel housekeepers and [others] all feel it when events are scaled back.”

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PH OTO C O U R T E SY N O P S I H OT E L

IN THE BIZ

TOURISM

SPORTS

ENTREPRENEUR

When will the airport’s I-10 flyover ramps be a reality and what will they look like? I’ve got the answers.

Big changes in the Sun Belt Conference

Early versions of lunch counters and Silicon Valley can be found 2,000 years ago.

DINING

Downtown Hotels provide the perfect setting to cool off in style.

IN THE BIZ DINING

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.

Come On In, the Water’s Fine Downtown Hotels provide the perfect setting to cool off in style. BY POPPY TOOKER

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I L LU S T R AT I O N BY PADDY MILLS

re you ready to take the plunge? This summer brings ample opportunities for locals eager for a relaxing day of swim and sun. There’s a New Orleans neighborhood spot with a vibe suited for you, no matter your taste. Once only available for hotel guests, many of the city’s best pools offer day passes complete with access to drinking, dining and partying fun.

For those seeking opulence and elegance, no Alto bar is a favorite hangout, with daily happy need to look farther than the Windsor Court hours from 5 to 8 p.m. Hotel. Day passes for the 65-foot saltwater pool Nearby on Baronne Street, the new Virgin are offered for $60. The Waterman Poolside Bar Hotel’s Pool Club offers $25 day passes for serves finely crafted cocktails and a carefully non-hotel guests Monday through Thursday. curated selection of wine and beer. From sandWhile the pool is reserved for hotel guests on wiches to salads, Jamaican blackened wings weekends, everyone is welcome for their pooland Mexican street corn, there’s something to side soirees featuring seasonal libations and satiate everyone. live music from big names like Boyfriend. Chef Venture into the French Quarter for a day Alex Harrell’s fare elevates the rooftop pool poolside at the W on Chartres Street. Passes experience as well. begin at $45 with slightly higher weekend rates. On St. Charles Avenue, the Chloe Hotel SoBou — the W’s restaurant and bar operated by welcomes guests to their lush, garden pool the Commander’s Palace family — offers diverse setting with the feel of a private Uptown home. dishes from cracklin’ crusted boudin to duckBetween 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., visitors can take a and-sweet-potato beignets and a cochon de lait cooling dip and enjoy refreshing cocktails and Cuban. SoBou’s bar chefs craft some of the city’s light bites poolside, like the signature shrimp best cocktails. For an unforgettable experience, étouffee dumplings. come for Sunday’s “Legs and Eggs” burlesque Just a few miles away geographically, but brunch and stay to linger at the pool. Spend $30 a world apart philosophically, is the Drifter with SoBou and on-site parking is free. Hotel, an unconventional, retro motel whose In the Central Business District, there’s a reputation has been largely built on its pool lot happening at the NOPSI Hotel pool. While scene. Open to “Day Trippers” and “Moon day passes and cabana rentals are available, this Dippers,” two-hour swim sessions are offered glamorous rooftop site hosts weekend evening between 10:30 a.m. – 8 p.m. for as little as $5. events. Shake your bikini-clad booty at “Friday Day passes and annual memberships are also Night Heights,” with rotating DJ’s spinning dance available. The Pool Bar serves fresh frozen tunes. Cool down at “Saturday Sessions” with live cocktails and Japanese beers and sake. With up jazz music or indulge in the “Stereo Sunday” pool to 65 guests at a time in the clothing optional parties featuring throwback tunes from the ’80s pool, the scene here can get wild. and ’90s. NOPSI’s Above The Grid rooftop bar New Orleans’ oldest pay-to-play-by-the-day includes signature cocktails, with food available public pool is the famed Country Club in the from the Public Service restaurant. Tickets for Bywater. For over 40 years, the historic raised these special events are just $30. Creole home has provided an oasis for letting it After an $80-million investment in the all hang out. Open seven days a week from 10 Warehouse District, the Ace Hotel’s Alto a.m. to 11 p.m., amenities include a large salthas been making waves since its water pool, a hot tub and sauna opening in 2016. From the beginhouse. Weekdays, the cabananing, the Ace welcomed locals style pool bar hosts happy hour Catch Poppy to its rooftop pool daily from 10 from 4 to 7 p.m. Tooker on her radio a.m. till 10 p.m. with a $30 pass. Come on out! The water’s fine show, “Louisiana Sunsets are celebrated on Saturand there’s lots of “only in New Eats!” Saturdays days from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. with Orleans-style” pool fun to be had at 3 p.m. and DJ sets and Sunday’s “Sessions in this summer. T Mondays at 8 p.m. on WWNO 89.9 FM. The Sun” beginning at 3 p.m. The

IN THE BIZ TOURISM

JENNIFER GIBSON SCHECTER was once a tourist in New Orleans herself and is now proud to call NOLA home.

Let’s Fly Over Already! When will the airport’s I-10 flyover ramps be a reality and what will they look like? I’ve got the answers. BY JENNIFER GIBSON SCHECTER

O 14

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of the Loyola/I-10 Interchange construction site and introduced me to a few of the people working hard to bring the project to completion. They are, I assure you, working hard. Infrastructure takes years of advance planning before any of the construction can start. So, when the new North Terminal at MSY was announced in 2015, design of the corresponding I-10 interchange improvements began. To move primary access to the airport to Loyola Drive, DOTD had to plan for phased improvements that included buying 20 parcels of land, demolition of existing buildings, lane widening, creating Louisiana’s first Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI), and building new flyover ramps from I-10 directly to the airport’s new Terminal Drive, which will alleviate traffic. In January 2018, Federal Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles (GARVEE Bonds) were announced for the project, and DOTD began design-build procurement. The interim improvements wrapped in May 2019, and construction on the permanent changes began. In addition to the DDI and flyover ramps, the improvements include 12-foot shoulders on I-10, auxiliary lanes between Williams Boulevard and Loyola Drive, sidewalks on Veterans Boulevard and Loyola Drive to improve pedestrian access, and lighting of the roadways.

I L LU S T R AT I O N BY PADDY MILLS

n a beautiful spring day in April, I had the pleasure of sitting in my car on Veterans Boulevard for three hours and 15 minutes… without moving. My family had just flown into New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport, and we were trying to head home. Apparently, a truck carrying scrap metal had overturned at the intersection of Loyola Drive and Veterans Boulevard, completely blocking traffic into and out of the airport and surrounding area. We were trapped. So, we made the best of things. Being New Orleanians, we had a random assortment of Mardi Gras throws in the trunk, so we played frisbee and football. Since the Easter Bunny had serendipitously delivered sidewalk chalk in my son’s basket, we drew on the street, too. We were grateful we were just trying to go home, and not trying to get to the airport and potentially missing flights. Still, I had a lot of time to sit and seethe and wonder when that darn I-10 flyover ramp at Loyola Drive would be complete. Thankfully, I now have an answer — “Soon.” Well, “early 2023” to be (slightly) more specific. On a different beautiful spring day in May, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) Critical Projects Manager Tim Nickel hosted me for a site visit

The airport and I-10 access there create a gateway for visitors to our region, so an aesthetic design approach was required, which is not typical for DOTD projects. Stantec — an international design and engineering firm — was selected to design the project, including the structures and the landscaping. Gilchrist Construction Company — a Louisiana-based infrastructure company — is the contractor. The piers, or pillars that support the flyover roadway, will feature an “airstream” motif and incorporate “Louisiana grey” and a shade of blue that is still being determined. The noise barriers will also have a curved and textured detail on them. A Lake Charles-based company will be manufacturing them. The street lighting on the flyover ramps will use LED bulbs that are programable to change color. The City of New Orleans, which is responsible for the airport, can change the colors to coincide with special events and holidays, another aspect of the design that is particular to this DOTD project. Louisiana’s first Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) is planned to open this month at the intersection of Veterans and Loyola. This infrastructure is intended to alleviate wait times and traffic at intersections that experience a high volume of left turns. DOTD is creating an explanatory video to help the public learn how to use the DDI – and a video is absolutely needed. DDIs require drivers to cross into what instinctively feels like the wrong side of the road. Look for more information to be posted at dotd.la.gov. Staffing shortages and supply chain disruptions have complicated things, as is happening across many construction projects in the country right now. But every day, the Loyola/I-10 Interchange construction that began years ago is progressing, and a major milestone in opening the DDI is imminent. Barring major weather events, escalating wars, COVID-19 outbreaks and the apocalypse, Mardi Gras travelers in 2023 should be riding smoothly on the flyover ramps, which will likely be lit up in purple, green and gold. T

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IN THE BIZ SPORTS

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.

Sun Belt Shining Bright

Addition of USM, ODU lifts conference’s prestige BY CHRIS PRICE

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fanbases of our 14 members — is now stronger and much better positioned than it has ever been,” he said. “The compelling matchups of our regional rivalries, our already strong foundation, and the addition of four schools will make the 2022 football season one of the most anticipated in the history of the Sun Belt.” The SBC’s 14 teams will be split into two divisions — SBC East and SBC West — with seven teams apiece. “Our presidents and chancellors have expressed confidence in Sun Belt leadership and our member configuration amid national realignment conversations,” Dr. Kelly Damphousse, Arkansas State chancellor and chair of the Sun Belt Executive Committee, said when James Madison joined the conference. “The recent additions of Marshall, Southern Miss and Old Dominion to the SBC aligned perfectly with our strategic goal of only adding schools that improved our conference’s competitiveness …. The Sun Belt CEOs believe that JMU likewise mirrors our conference’s athletics and academic missions, while also capitalizing on regionality goals.” After finishing 16th in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll and 17th in the USA Today Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, spirits are still high in Lafayette, but this will be a season of change. UL enjoyed a 13-win season for the first time in program history last year. That helped former head coach Billy Napier land the top job at Florida. Head Coach Michael Desormeaux, a former UL quarterback who led the team in the New Orleans Bowl, hopes he can keep the Cajuns cooking. “I am a Ragin’ Cajun through and through, so to get this unbelievable opportunity is humbling, to say the least,” Desormeaux said at his hiring. “This program has been built on relationships… I am most excited that I get to stay and continue this journey with these men in that locker room. They are a very talented and special group.” T

I L LU S T R AT I O N BY PADDY MILLS

ike its names suggests, the Sun Belt Conference (SBC)— headquartered at the Caesars Superdome — stretches from Norfolk, Virginia, to San Marcos, Texas. Its members currently include Appalachian State; Arkansas – Little Rock; Arkansas State; Coastal Carolina; Georgia Southern; Georgia State; Louisiana; Louisiana - Monroe; South Alabama; Texas - Arlington; Texas State;

and Troy. However, the SBC will look mighty different when fall sports kick off later this year. The Sun Belt sponsors 17 NCAA sports, but the emergence of the league’s football programs has it quickly rising in national prestige, and it’s bringing in new members. Within a five-day span in late October, the conference announced the addition of Southern Mississippi, Marshall and Old Dominion — joining no later than July 1, 2023. James Madison, currently of the Colonial Athletic Association Conference, will also be joining at the same time. Leaving the SBC’s ranks are Arkansas – Little Rock and Texas - Arlington — two schools without football programs. “We’re really excited,” said SBC Commissioner Keith Gill. “We feel like the conference is improving year over year. We led the BCS in bowl win percentage the last three years. We are continuing to improve and get better, and I think a lot of people are starting to recognize that.” The SBC enjoyed a remarkable 2021 football season, which culminated with Louisiana winning the Sun Belt Conference championship over Appalachian State in front of a championship-game record 31,014 fans in Lafayette. The Ragin’ Cajuns were joined by three other SBC teams in the postseason. The conference, founded in 1976, moved to the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and has been growing since. During the 2020 season, the conference saw an eye-popping 135% increase in TV viewership, with seven of its games surpassing 1 million viewers. With those numbers — and three new teams coming to the table — the Sun Belt will have some major bargaining chips when it comes time to sign new broadcast deals. Much of the conference’s growth and success can be attributed to Gill, the first African-American person to become commissioner of a NCAA FBS conference. Upon taking the job in March 2019, he said his priorities were to boost the league’s competitive success across all sports and to improve its national profile. “The Sun Belt Conference — with our successful football programs and the passionate

IN THE BIZ ENTREPRENEUR

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.

Ancient Entrepreneurism — Italian Style

its excesses, and Pompeii was no exception. The large brothel near the center of town features numerous erotic frescoes, and in a creative entrepreneurial touch, stones imbedded in the streets nearby feature carved male phalluses pointing the way to the establishment. Also in Early versions of lunch counters and Silicon the vice category, there were about 85 bars in the city by one count. Valley can be found 2,000 years ago. From the standpoint of entrepreneurism, though, Herculaneum is considerably more interesting. It was a smaller, wealthier town, BY KEITH T WITCHELL with a population of about 5,000 at the time of the eruption. And evidence suggests that it was also a place of technological research and experimentation — possibly the Silicon Valley of the Roman Empire. While both cities had heated baths, some sites in Herculaneum contain more advanced plumbing, possibly including hot running water that reached upper floors of buildings. Similarly, mechanical structures elsewhere have been interpreted by some archeologists as being rudimentary elevators. Most remarkable of all, there is evidence to century, it provided a remarkable look at life, any people are familiar with suggest that Roman engineers in Herculaneum and business, in ancient times. Pompeii — the Roman city may have been on the verge of harnessing steam Streets in the commercial areas of the city near modern-day Naples, power. Remember that it was around the year show vibrant entrepreneurism. All kinds Italy, that was buried by the 1700 that the first steam-powered devices were of shops sold everything you find in similar enormous eruption of Mt. invented, a gap of 16 centuries. In this sense, it corridors today, from clothing to pottery, Vesuvius in 79 AD. Less is possible that the eruption of Vesuvius saved cooking wares to household goods. Workshops well-known is the nearby humankind. Consider that this was a civilizaproduced leather, glass, farming implements, to w n o f H e r c u l a n e u m , tion that pitted gladiators in mortal combat, building materials and more. Markets similar buried at the same time. and watched animals devour humans as forms to today’s grocery stores sold produce, spices, Both offer fascinating examples of entrepreof entertainment. Its armies conquered vast meat and seafood. neurism in ancient times — with a few equally territories while frequently engaging in largeParticularly interesting are the restaurants, fascinating differences between them. scale slaughter. Adding steam power to this mix which numbered over 100. The majority of At the time Vesuvius erupted in October, it is actually a rather frightening thought. them were something like what we might call a was a prosperous city of approximately 20,000 Basically, though, the busilunch counter. There were actual inhabitants. While the clouds of hot ash and nessmen and entrepreneurs of counters, at which patrons sat pyroclastic flows eventually buried the area to 2,000 years ago were very much on stools. Some of them have a depth of 15 to 20 feet, enough time elapsed like their counterparts today: round depressions at each dining between the beginning of the eruption and the Keith working to make a living, looking position, possibly an innovation major impacts on the city that all but about Twitchell’s blog, “Neighborhood for advances to give them that designed to hold hot coals under 1,150 residents were able to escape. Biz,” appears competitive edge — and somethe serving dishes, keeping food Buried in this volcanic ash, Pompeii every Thursday on times, employing some very warm while people ate. remained largely untouched for 1,700 years. BizNewOrleans.com. creative marketing strategies. T The Roman empire is known for When serious excavation began in the mid-19th

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I L LU S T R AT I O N BY PADDY MILLS

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PERSPECTIVES

HEALTHCARE 20 TECHNOLOGY

Local execs share the technology, they’re using to help improve business

24 INSURANCE

What’s happening to flood insurance rates? What should homeowners be doing? Local experts weigh in.

26 GUEST

As the healthcare industry continues to grow north of the lake, its success offers lessons that can be applied to overall development on the Northshore.

Ranked Louisiana’s top spots to retire, Covington and Mandeville continue to work to meet demand for retirement communities.

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PERSPECTIVES INSURANCE

Flood Insurance Fiasco What’s happening to rates? What should homeowners be doing? Local experts weigh in. BY DREW HAWKINS

ig changes are coming to flood insurance, and they’ll affect almost everyone in Louisiana. Under FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0, most current NFIP policy holders in the Greater New Orleans area will receive increases to their flood premiums limited to 18% per year until they reach their new actuarial rate. New policies are written at full rate as of October 1, 2021, with most rates increasing dramatically. Maggie Talley, floodplain manager in Jefferson Parish, estimates the average Zone X — areas designated as “moderate flood hazard” — rates in her parish will rise from $572 to $1,988. Talley believes that many NFIP policy holders in X zones in Jefferson Parish may drop flood coverage in the face of increased rates, representing a potential of more than $30 million in lost premiums in Jefferson Parish alone. Additionally, new construction projects written under RR2.0 are seeing flood insurance rates far above 2021 levels which is already having a “dramatic chilling effect on building,” said Dan Mills, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans. “New rates are averaging over $220 per month on properties that were previously less than $50 per month,” Mills said. There are also concerns about the impacts on those with fixed incomes, especially those who participated in FEMA miti-

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gation programs to raise their homes and are legally obligated to participate in perpetuity in the NFIP program or repay FEMA for funds used in the mitigation process. “Some fixed income residents could be priced out of their homes,” Mills said. In New Orleans, where affordable housing is often difficult to access, flood insurance rates, coupled with increasing homeowner policy rates and property taxes, could mean the maximum affordable payment amount for the average salary in the region may be exceeded in escrow before one dollar can be allocated to land or improvement. In other words, the cost of compliance may become too high to qualify for affordable housing in our region. Because FEMA chose to use its authority to adjust rates without publicly vetting the rate changes, many people may not realize how big of a rate increase they may soon be facing. Some may not even be aware of any rate increase. To date, FEMA has only made limited efforts to conduct any sort of public information campaign to ensure taxpayers clearly understand the far-reaching impacts these changes will have on their communities. As such, the burden of informing NFIP participants of these rate changes has rested on one industry: insurance agencies. Risk Rating 2.0 represents the most sweeping change in flood insurance rates and the NFIP in decades and there has been woefully little public outreach by FEMA. Spread the word! T

Keep your flood insurance in force to keep the statutory limit increases per year. Utilize elevation certificates to see if you are entitled to a discount. Review your new declarations pages at renewal to confirm correct replacement cost, square footage, foundation, etc. If your property is your primary residence, make sure the fee you are being charged is $25 and not $250. Double check to see if the questions regarding your appliances and machinery/ equipment are answered correctly. If there is a discrepancy, make sure to contact your agent.

Casey Duplantier, producer at Alpha Insurance Agency

LACEY OSBORNE CEO St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce:

It’s important to stay up to date on all the new changes. We are sharing the information we get in our updates and on social media. GNO, Inc.’s leadership in forming the CSFI — Coalition for Sustainable Flood Insurance — continues to be our main source of information.

DAN MILLS CEO Home Builders Association of Greater New Orleans:

It’s very important to renew your existing policy and avoid any lapse. While existing policies will increase by 18% annually, new policies are written at full rate today... In the past, raising a home could provide predictable premium relief, but it appears these measures have little effect under new rating rules.

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PERSPECTIVES REAL ESTATE+CONSTRUCTION

THE NORTHSHORE IS TOPS FOR RETIREMENT Ranked Louisiana’s top spots to retire, Covington and Mandeville continue to work to meet demand for retirement communities. BY DREW HAWKINS

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DID YOU KNOW? The 29 acres donated by the Al Copeland family for this project is valued at over $7 million, making it the largest gift ever received in the LSU Health Foundation’s 31-years of operation..

LSU Health Foundation announced the development of a stateof-the-art retirement community in Mandeville last August. The project will also include a marina, hotel and health care services.

orothy Gale wasn’t lying when she said, “There’s no place like home.” Having a comfortable and safe place to lie your head at night is a basic human need, but all too often, affordable retirement communities that can provide residents with both a good quality of life and attend to their medical needs, all without breaking the bank, are difficult to access for those in South Louisiana. The need is especially being felt on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, where The LSU Health Foundation estimates more than 10,000 people are retiring every day. In a 2021 study by SmartAsset, Covington and Mandeville grabbed the top two spots in a ranking of “Best Places to Retire in Louisiana.” The study ranked cities by tax burden; medical offices, recreation centers

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and retirement centers per 1,000 people; and the percentage of the city’s population that are seniors (18.6% for Covington and 18.3% for Mandeville). Patrick Descant, partner and vice president of preconstruction services at DonahueFavret, a contractor that’s built multiple retirement communities on the Northshore, said the good news is that the supply of communities is starting to move to meet demand. “Over the last 12 years, there’s been somewhat of a boom of retirement communities on the Northshore that serve independent living, assisted living and memory care, along with skilled nursing facilities as well,” said Descant. “And what these new facilities, the new models and designs that we’ve seen have really honed in on is trying to make the residents feel at home and extremely comfortable, which that lends to a real high quality product.” Among those working to meet demand is the LSU Health Foundation, which last summer announced one of the largest economic development projects to happen on the Northshore: a $150 million private partner investment that aims to bring a state-of-the-art retirement community to Mandeville. The Al Copeland family gifted 29 acres of land to the LSU Health Foundation to build the project. “This partnership with LSU Health Foundation is a long-standing one, and it is my honor to donate this land in our father’s name,” said Al Copeland Jr. at the announcement. The need for this specialized type of housing has also increased as society has become more transient. Many families no longer remain in close proximity to one another across multiple generations. “The oldest of our population find themselves losing their independence at home and needing some help,” said Kerry Milton, chief nursing officer at St. Tammany Health System. “That is where the affordable retirement community is truly needed.” Milton said socialization is really the key for residents of a retirement community, which needs to offer safety, structured schedules, social interactions, healthy activities, exercise, nutritional support, convenient access to healthy food and assisted food preparation, plus staff-hosted events and outings for the residents to stay engaged in daily life activities. To facilitate socialization and create a more homelike environment, Descant said the

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“

What we really need to see in the future is truly affordable retirement and longterm care options. Much education is needed for people who do not yet need these living arrangements to understand their cost and to plan for future needs.

”

Paula Day, assistant vice president of care coordination at St. Tammany Health System

design of modern retirement communities has shifted. Gone are the days of “institutional” style, dull buildings. Today’s facilities are structured with wings that have different colors and decor, so residents feel almost like they live in different “neighborhoods.” “These communities, these neighborhoods, have central communal areas, with furniture and rugs and TVs that meet the needs and really make these residents feel like home when they’re not in their rooms. And we like to incorporate skylights and dormers that bring in natural light to the middle part of the building where the communal areas are. One of the biggest amenities is one of the simplest amenities that you can possibly think of, and that’s natural light, sunlight,” said Descant. While the Northshore does have a wide variety of care settings — from centers for rehabilitation to skilled nursing, long-term acute care and custodial care — there remains a deep need that’s not being filled. “What we really need to see in the future is truly affordable retirement and long-term care options,” said Paula Day, assistant vice president of care coordination at St. Tammany Health System. “Much education is needed for people who do not yet need these living arrangements to understand their cost and to plan for future needs.” According to Caring.com’s 2022 Senior Living Report, the average cost for assisted living in Louisiana is $3,748 per month. And while that’s lower than the national average, it can still be well outside of the budget of many families in the state. What’s more is that many Americans don’t have enough saved for retirement. A 2019 report from the Federal Reserve found that nearly one in every four adult Americans has no retirement savings at all — and this was before the pandemic hit. Estimates say that a 65-year-old resident in Louisiana whose life expectancy aligns with the state average would need to save $914,844 to live out retirement in relative comfort. That’s why industry experts say planning and saving for retirement is key. “It’s important for people to understand how much planning and saving is needed to be ready for retirement, aging and the health conditions that come with it,” said Day. T

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PERSPECTIVE GUEST

JOHN DONAHUE ispresident & CEO of DonahueFavret Contractors, a Mandeville-based general contractor serving the Gulf South. He serves on the board for GNO, Inc., LABI, and is the former chair of Associated Builders and Contractors, Bayou Chapter. He is the former chair and current board member for the Northshore Business Council.

A Prescription for Success

As the health care industry continues to grow north of the lake, its success offers lessons that can be applied to overall development on the Northshore. BY JOHN DONAHUE

sk anyone within the Greater New Orleans region to describe the identity of the Northshore and — depending on the person — you’ll likely be met with a myriad of responses. New Orleans natives often see the Northshore as the sparsely developed land between the city and Baton Rouge. In many circles, St. Tammany Parish isn’t even considered “local,” despite the relative short distance between it and New Orleans. But regardless of opinion, most will recognize that the Northshore is growing, albeit with its own set of challenges. Issues like infrastructure, flooding and traffic oftentimes hinder development, but there is certainly success to be found. Over the last decade, for example, much of the Northshore’s growth, and therefore identity, has been tied to development in its health care sector. “Many don’t realize that the Northshore has become a destination for health care,” said Hiral Patel, chief executive officer at Lakeview Regional Medical Center. “It isn’t always necessary anymore for patients to travel outside of the region for quality, high-end medical services.” The Covington-based hospital has expanded its operations nine times over the last 10 years. In 2016, LRMC grew its emergency department by another 5,000 square feet, and subsequently

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became the first Level 2 trauma center of its kind in St. Tammany Parish. This is just one example. We see even further development in the industry throughout the Northshore. St. Tammany Parish Hospital has undergone major expansions on its campus about every 10 years, including its most recent four-story addition in 2020. Recently, Ochsner opened its new Center for Child Development in a retail shopping center in Mandeville. This is the result of a growing trend we see in the adaptive reuse of former commercial space into clinics to bring medical services closer to the community. And just last year, another major stakeholder – FMOL Health System – announced its expansion in St. Tammany Parish along the I-12 corridor. Looking back, this sustained growth in health care may in fact offer insight into how the Northshore can overcome its broader set of development challenges. What smart growth principles, therefore, can we take away from health care’s success? For LRMC, growth came with thinking beyond the building itself. “Infrastructure,” said Patel. “It isn’t just about building more beds or expanding the campus. Our facilities need to invest in the proper infrastructure in order to keep pace with the complexity of the services and programs we provide.”

Likewise, as the Northshore continues to grow, business owners and residents alike recognize that infrastructure is a challenge we face, not unlike many other communities. As population expands, communities throughout the Northshore must continually invest in the proper infrastructure to keep pace with increasing demand — not just in health care, but for schools and amenities. Another tenet for growth is access to highquality jobs. In terms of employment, healt care represents more than 20,000 jobs in our area, yet we still rely heavily on the Southshore to provide opportunities in other major sectors. Access to a variety of high-quality jobs will become increasingly more important as we consider further diversifying our development opportunities and attracting new business. But perhaps the most important thing to consider when it comes to growth on the Northshore is our ability and desire to build consensus with community leaders. Once again, we can look to the Northshore’s major economic driver for key takeaways in this regard. Leaders from our major healthcare providers and parish representatives recently formed a strategic partnership called “Northshore Healthscape: A Collaborative Enhancing the Pulse of our Regional Healthcare Economy.” Their priorities are familiar ones for any business owner: generate consensus and build capacity, talent and development for the industry within a three-year strategic initiative. Should we, therefore, consider a similar public-private approach to future development on the Northshore and identify opportunities where private enterprise, community members and public officials can have open, honest and respectful communication? In doing so, new opportunities emerge, new perspectives are considered, even new funding sources identified. Our health care sector has proven over time that you can achieve consensus from key stakeholders and community members through smart collaborative development. Simply put, the key to smart growth on the Northshore lies in our ability to bring the right people to the table to tackle these challenges head on. T

I L LU S T R AT I O N BY PADDY MILLS

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A Fight for Survival That’s how members of the Northshore HBA felt about their opposition to the proposed residential building moratorium in St. Tammany Parish. Executive Officer Amy Ybarzabal says the group had no choice but to throw everything they had into the fight, but did it get them what they wanted?

BY KIM SINGLETARY PORTRAITS BY EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN

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In January, St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper proposed a moratorium on rezoning to restrict increasing density for residential development. The moratorium would limit homebuilders throughout St. Tammany Parish to building one unit per acre for a period of six months. 34

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The response from the homebuilding industry was swift and overwhelmingly negative. Leading the charge was the Northshore Home Builders Association (HBA) — formed in 2015 by a merger of the St. Tammany HBA and the Tangipahoa HBA. Homebuilding is the fourth-largest industry in the parish and the Northshore HBA is among the largest HBAs in Louisiana. Both sides of the argument agree on the problem — in this case that the quality of life in St. Tammany is being greatly affected by problems with a lack of infrastructure and flooding caused by the parish’s rapid growth. According to U.S. Census data released in August 2021, St. Tammany Parish was the second-fastest growing parish in the state with a growth rate of 13% over the last decade, behind only St. Bernard Parish’s 21% growth rate. According to the Northshore HBA, however, the answer did not lie in a moratorium, which members feared would crush a homebuilding industry already feeling the effects of supply shortages and further exacerbate the parish’s lack of affordable housing. “I’ve been here almost six years now and I have never had members calling like they’ve called since January, when this was announced,” said Amy Ybarzabal, executive officer at the Northshore HBA. “All day long I had members call and say, ‘What are we going to do about this? Is the HBA doing anything? Do y’all need help doing anything?’ The passion that came from a very real threat was something like

I’ve never seen before, and that was felt by our board and our leadership.” After months of arguments and revisions, the issue was finally concluded on May 5, when the St. Tammany Parish Council voted 14-0 to pass a revised version that “restricts the rezoning of property to allow more than four housing units per acre of land, or to zone such parcels as Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) or Traditional Neighborhood Development Districts (TNDs) for at least three months. Despite being quite different from his original proposal, Parish President Cooper responded that he was, “happy with this ordinance and will sign it into law.” But what about the homebuilding industry? What effect is the final moratorium going to have on hundreds of local businesses? For the answers — and a better understanding of the group doing the fighting — Biz spoke to Ybarzabal the day after the parish council’s vote. Let’s start with what your membership looks like. You’re not just home builders, right? We have two membership types — builder and associate. An associate is anyone that has to do with the homebuilding industry, which could be a mortgage broker, a roofer, a landscape company, anything that’s part of building a home, selling a home, or selling the services or fixtures in a home. Right now we’re right at about 700 members — about 380 associate members and 330 builder members.

Road called Brentwood, where as soon as the houses are going up there, they’re being sold. People also love the area near Brewster Road — there are some smaller little loop developments going up there. There is a lot of open area in Lacombe, which is more the center of the parish and an area that we see a lot of potential for growth.

So, you’re about half and half. We are and, you know, a lot of HBAs around the country are higher on associates than builders —much higher, almost double. So, we think that there’s room to grow our membership. But right now, that’s not a bad ratio to be at. A lot of the members like it. Your website says you’re also one of the largest contributors to charity in the parish. Can you elaborate a bit on that? Sure! One of the projects of the Northshore HBA is the “Raising the Roof for Charity home. For over 25 years, the HBA has built a home and sold raffle tickets for $100. We try to keep the cost as low as possible by getting our members to donate their time and product. A lot a lot of hands that go into building this home. Each year the Raising the Roof Foundation selects who’s going to be our charity partners for that year. Those charities then get the proceeds after the house is raffled off.

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We also have a Northshore HBA Charitable Trust. The trust gets a smaller piece of the Raising the Roof proceeds and uses that throughout the year to make smaller donations. So, over the past 25 years, we’ve given large amounts of money to the Northshore Food Bank, the Children’s Advocacy Center, the Tammany Trace, New Orleans Mission, Habitat for Humanity, as well as a lot of smaller groups too. Really, everywhere you look in St. Tammany there’s a story behind that house — the Hospice House, the Hope House — so much in our community has been made possible by the raffle house. What are the hot spots right now for building on the Northshore? Well, there’s a lot that’s already developed in St. Tammany and out towards Madisonville. A lot of people want to live there. We also have a lot of new developments going in — Robindale is a new one. It’s off Highway 36. And then there’s a new development off of Sharp

What are the benefits of membership in the HBA? Our tagline is “We build better — better homes and better communities.” We provide education to our members — things like the latest up-to-date code revisions and regulations on the national and local level. We provide continuing ed credits to our builders who need that to keep up their licenses. …We’ve got some great builders that are building higher efficiency homes, because they’re getting the latest information from national and from their local HBA. We also provide networking opportunities, which is great especially for our associate members who want a chance to meet with other builders. It’s a forum for connections to be made. The third thing is advocacy. What I like to tell our members is that we know that you have a business to run, and you can go and run your business and rest assured that we’re watching local council agendas. We’re watching things happening on the state level. There’s legislation right now that we’re very involved in, even on the national level… There’s power in numbers. On the advocacy front, the Northshore HBA came out hard against St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper’s proposed building moratorium. How did you feel about the final outcome?

Homebuilding Is Big Business on the Northshore

“St. Tammany already has an affordability crisis. We don’t have enough homes for working class citizens and that proposed change was going to make the problem worse.” Let me say it like this: We do not support moratoriums. We do not think that that is the best course of business — ever. However, we know that sometimes it is a necessary tool of government, as long as it is used properly, which means it is for a specific area and for a specific time. If it is not used like that, then it really becomes taking someone’s land and we protect property rights. In this proposed moratorium that was announced in January, there were a few reasons why we were absolutely against it. One is that it was parish-wide. And certainly, there are areas that are feeling growing pains. We agree that traffic and drainage are issues in parts of the parish, but there are other areas that would welcome some growth. So right off the bat, it was too broad. It did not narrow into a specific area that required it. Council members can impose moratoriums on their own district, and a lot of them do. There are several moratoriums already enacted right now. We feel like if a councilperson knows his or her district and knows there’s a reason why they need to put a temporary pause on something, then they have the right to do it. And that’s really where it belongs. It belongs in that district. The other part that we had issue with is that building one home per acre makes the prospect of that home unaffordable for a developer to go in and develop land…The road still has to be in, the utilities still have to be in, all of the costs are the same, but now you have less lots to divide it among. St. Tammany already has an affordability crisis. We don’t have enough homes for working class citizens and that proposed change was going to make the problem worse.

There was also a timing issue right? T h e o r i g i n a l m o r a to r i u m w a s proposed as six months. Yes, it was going to start at six months, and there are moratoriums that have been on the books in St. Tammany Parish for over 12 years ... Six months was brought up to our industry with the feeling that, “Well, it’s just six months. They can stop building for six months,” but we didn’t really think it was going to be six months. Actually, at a council meeting, Parish President Cooper said that realistically he saw this being two years. There was never any doubt. Everyone knew this was not going to be six months. The approved moratorium is now four units per acre, but it’s still a moratorium. Do you feel like it’s still a win? Absolutely we do. We feel like it was a balanced approach. We feel like the council members heard and understood that it was going to affect not just the builders, but the electricians and the painters and the roofers and everyone that is involved. Sixty different companies participate in building one home, and that was what we set out to try to convince the council members…The St. Tammany Parish government relies heavily on building permits and sales tax revenue, so it wouldn’t have been a great win for them either. The reality is that most of our builders don’t build four homes per acre, they build more like three homes per acre. In that case, is this moratorium really going to have much of an effect? Yes, because the moratorium is on PUDs — planned unit developments

(St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes)

(planned communities of typically single-family homes where homeowners are part of an HOA). We met with many council people one on one and almost everyone said the issue is the PUDs. They feel like they are what’s getting out of control. Our members have said from the very beginning that they understand there needs to be a revision to the PUD ordinance. That’s what we expect is going to happen in the next three months and we are not trying to stop that. We want things that are going to protect our community. The HBA would definitely love to be part of a group that Council Chair Jerry Binder is putting together to rework some of the ordinances to make them make more sense. This definitely is going to fix some of the problems like the infrastructure, the traffic and protecting wetlands.

In 2018 alone there were 2,752 homes built by an industry that supported 7,080 jobs, representing $320 million in compensation and resulting in $25.6 million in sales tax revenue and $4.6 million in annual property taxes

Has this issue brought more attention to the Northshore HBA? Oh yes. We’ve been blessed to have some free advertisement and in interviews with local media. We did hire a PR company to try to help get our message out to the community and to the council people because one of the biggest messages that’s so important that we get out is that we don’t want to build homes that flood. We want the same things that the citizens group wants and that we live here too…We’ve always been willing to be part of the solution. …In the end, this is what our members needed us to do. They needed us to take a stand; they expected us to. And sometimes, taking the position is so important that whether you win or not becomes less important. We needed to fight for our industry here.T

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THE PANDEMIC

AFTER

KNOWN SINCE THE 1950S FOR MENTAL HEALTH CARE, THE NORTHSHORE IS NOW BATTLING WITH A NEED UNLIKE ANYTHING EVER SEEN. BY CHRIS PRICE

C STARTING IN THE 1950S

, if you heard someone was being “sent to Mandeville,” it meant they were receiving mental health care, often involuntary. The term came about with the opening of the Southeast Louisiana Hospital, a mental health facility that grew to treat as many as 2,000 adults, adolescents and children, just east of the rapidly developing Northshore destination. The hospital later gained national media attention when then-governor Earl Long was committed to the facility in 1959. In the last 70 years, St. Tammany Parish’s population has grown more than 880%, from 26,988 in 1950 to 264,570 in 2020. For comparison, in the same period, Orleans Parish’s population decreased 32.7% from 570,445 in 1950 to 383,997 in 2020. With the increase in population, the Northshore has seen a significant increase in the need for medical services and providers, especially following Hurricane Ida, as well as the annual threat of massive hurricanes hitting the region and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Meeting the growing mental health demands of the area is a major concern. “We have seen a skyrocketing need for mental health services,” said Tanmay Mathur, CEO of Covington Behavioral Health, the largest inpatient mental health hospital on the Northshore. Over the last four years, the hospital has grown from 60 to 100 beds. “The reason for that growth is to meet the need,” he said. “As we’ve grown, we’ve added service lines. We treat adult mental health, adult substance abuse, and offer adolescent mental health services. We also added a specialty service line for veterans and first responders who are dealing with PTSD, trauma and, oftentimes, the combination of substance abuse.” Mathur said three drivers cause people to experience anxiety, depression, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts — social isolation, financial insecurity or uncertainty about the future.

“Usually just one of these can be a trigger, but the pandemic has caused a perfect storm where you’re having all three of these things happening at once. It’s now causing what I’m calling ‘the pandemic after the pandemic.’ Then, last August, Hurricane Ida hit, and that drove anxiety and depression, people without their homes, without shelter and not knowing how that’s going to be resolved, financial insecurity, substance abuse. It certainly takes a toll on people’s mental health.” Nick Richard, the executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) – St. Tammany, warns the aftereffects of the storm on mental health haven’t fully manifested yet. “There’s this clock that starts ticking after major natural disasters like hurricanes, and it’s usually anywhere from 24 to 26 months immediately after that we see an increase in suicide,” Richard said. “We started tracking data locally, in St. Tammany. If you look at Gustav, Isaac, Katrina, the floods that we had in 2016 — like clockwork, every single time, immediately two years following that, the average increase in suicide was 41%. Some of them were as high as 46%. What worries me is the combination of the storm and the pandemic. It’s like the clock’s ticking with diesel on the fire because we don’t know how pandemics affect people long term mentally because we’ve never dealt with them. We’ve never had anything this large scale.” Richard said people considering suicide do so because they feel like they have no other option, that nobody cares, and that others would be better off without them. “We have to jump out ahead and try not only to educate people but direct them into the most appropriate place for care prior to them getting to that point of wanting to take their life,” he said. “To not only help people not feel that way, but to educate their loved ones on how to identify those things and reach them prior to that.” Susan Bonnett Bourgeois, president and CEO of the Northshore Community Foundation — which works to unite human and financial resources to enhance the quality of life in St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington, and St. Tammany parishes — said the storm and the pandemic have been life-altering

HEALTHIER NORTHSHORE UPDATE

CELEBRATING TWO YEARS THIS FALL, THE PROGRAM HAS UNITED HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS AND BUSINESSES TOWARD A COMMON GOAL. 40

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for the whole community. Suicide prevention is a growing area of focus for the foundation. “I am not a mental health professional, but with repeated exposure to many (small) traumas your brain has a PTSD reaction just like it’s had major trauma,” Bourgeois said. “We’ve been through many traumas — from natural disasters to the pandemic, going all the way back to oil spills and Katrina. There’s just this constant drumbeat. We have made it our goal to make sure we disrupt that pattern of suicides. We’re not going to wait until 20 to 24 months after, sit back and say we are having a mental health crisis and watch the same statistic play out.”

A GENERATION IN DANGER

In December, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory to outline the pandemic’s unprecedented impacts and highlight the urgent need to address the nation’s mental health crisis in youth.

In September 2020, St. Tammany Health System and Ochsner Health partnered with more than 50 of the Northshore’s leaders in the healthcare, community, civic and government sectors to form Healthier Northshore. The advisory body is focused on improving the overall health of residents in St. Tammany, our state’s healthiest parish, and neighboring Washington, rated the least healthy parish. J U NE 2 2

“Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread. Even before the pandemic, an alarming number of young people struggled with feelings of helplessness, depression, and thoughts of suicide — and rates have increased over the past decade,” Murthy wrote. “The COVID-19 pandemic further altered their experiences at home, school, and in the community, and the effect on their mental health has been devastating.” Richard agreed, saying young people, from 12 years old to college age, are hardwired to be autonomous from their parents and socialize with their peers. “That’s a part of our healthy development as teenagers,” he said. “Two things the pandemic did was remove our ability to go anywhere and do what you want and be around peers. This is how we learn how to be adults. There are going to be long-standing issues that we have to recognize — increased depression rates, suicidal thinking, anxiety and all these types of things — so much so that the surgeon

Healthier Northshore aims to educate residents on the value of preventive care, promote early detection and connect residents to available community resources for treatment. Co-chaired by Joan Coffman, president & CEO of St. Tammany Health System in Covington; and Tim Riddell, M.D., medical director of Ochsner Health’s Northshore Region; the idea for Healthier Northshore was

sparked by Ochsner’s ” 40 by 30” initiative, which aims to lift Louisiana’s national health ranking to No. 40 by 2030. Coffman said medical experts now agree that social determinants, like health behaviors and socio-economic factors, are responsible for 80% of health outcomes. “We know that the effort to raise the overall level of health — not healthcare, but health —

general actually issued a report. I don’t think there’s ever been a surgeon general’s report on mental health like that. We’re hearing a lot more about it. We’re seeing that here. That’s something I don’t anticipate going away anytime soon.” Mary Burckell, St. Tammany’s Health and Human Services director, serves as the liaison between parish government and social service agencies within the community. She said that the fact that one of the only ways young people could meet with their peers during the pandemic was through social media has had a negative impact. “We’ve seen the studies; we know that social media can be harmful to teens, and that was their only way to connect,” Burckell said. “Social media shows the best of the best. It doesn’t show the ups and downs of everyone’s life, and sometimes we can forget that that’s only what’s being shown. That can be very problematic for making people feel very isolated and alone.”

PARADIGM SHIFT

If there is good news in modern mental health, it’s that treatments have advanced over the decades and associated stigmas are disappearing. People are even more open to care, and society is working to address community needs. “A big reason people don’t reach out for help is because of what others may say or think,” Richard said. “When we decrease that fear — that it’s a negative implication — that alone increases people reaching out.” NAMI St. Tammany works with and trains families of those living with mental illness, as well as law enforcement and emergency medical technicians, to identify when someone is going through a related crisis. Training includes how to deescalate and calm the situation and direct those involved to the most appropriate place for care. “Our government agencies, schools, private hospitals and nonprofit sector have really come together to address mental health as a group and as a community,” Burckell said. “We’ve identified a gap in crisis services in that first responders and emergency rooms have taken over that mental health responsibility. That’s

across specifically St. Tammany and Washington parishes is really going to take a multiorganizational approach from public organizations, governmental entities, healthcare entities and community service organizations all working together to improve that overall health,” Riddell said. “So, the idea of Healthier Northshore is to serve as an avenue for bringing that collaboration together.” Anne Pablovich, community

really not their training or their main purpose, so now we’re looking at how we can take the burden off of those first responders, off of those hospitals. “We have opened a crisis receiving center (on the campus of the former Southeast Louisiana Hospital, which the state closed, and St. Tammany purchased and leases to public and private mental health providers, including Northlake Behavioral Health System) so they don’t have to go to the ER or jail,” she said.

THE GOOD NEWS

Openness to care, along with expanding services on the Northshore, has created a greater sense of hope in the local mental health community. “I see a lot of expansion, a lot more services, a lot more things being done,” Burckell said. “Someone should not have to get in their car and drive across the lake or to Baton Rouge to get mental health services. That’s just not realistic. If you’re trying to hold a full-time job or you’re going to school and you’re trying to get treatment, if you have to add a two-hour drive, it just becomes even more of a hill to climb to get that treatment.” Richard said the advent of tele-psychiatry is breaking down even more barriers. “For years, people struggled on their own and tried to suck it up and figure it out,” he said. “They had the thought that they were not going to walk into somewhere in Covington, Mandeville or Slidell because ‘somebody might see me.’ That’s the beauty of telehealth and using platforms that allow people the convenience of accessing mental health professionals on a phone or computer virtually and privately.” While mental health problems can be life threatening, Richard said there’s plenty to be hopeful about. “Compared to other chronic illnesses, mental health has one of the highest rates of recovery if you can receive appropriate services. We know we can help people with mental health conditions. We know we can help prevent suicide as well. The real problem is that we can’t increase access to services overnight. So, the question becomes how do we get creative?” T

health coordinator at St. Tammany Parish Hospital and the organization’s team leader in the initiative, said it is refreshing to see community leaders in St. Tammany and Washington parishes pull together to make a difference in improving the region’s overall health. “We need some real grassroots efforts to change some of the societal norms here,” she said.W”e’re trying to broaden that reach and gain a little bit

more awareness about the initiative, to reach some new organizations and let people know what we’re about. We’ve created a website – healthiernorthshore. com and started to build a brand identity on social media, pushing some of the events that we’re participating in to expand and broaden our reach.” Susan Bonnett Bourgeois, president and CEO of the Northshore Community Foundation, which works to unite human and

DATA

ST. TAMMANY PARISH MENTAL HEALTH STATISTICS

During the first year of the pandemic, (2020) the number of suicides in St. Tammany Parish remained steady, while drug overdoses continued to increase and calls to 211 (the emergency line for mental health) more than doubled.

SUICIDES 2015-40 2016-36 2017-36 2018-52 2019-47 2020-48

DRUG OVERDOSES 2015-59 2016-63 2017-80 2018-86 2019-111 2020-126

211 CALLS

(Emergency line for mental health) 2015-3,221 2016-3,481 2017-2,942 2018-2,898 2019-3,375 2020-7,205

financial resources to enhance the quality of life in St. Helena, Tangipahoa, Washington and St. Tammany parishes, said “The biggest takeaway I’ve seen is the collaboration that is happening among otherwise competing hospital systems and individual businesses. All the healthcare agencies are coming together with this larger and common purpose which is really positive and very reassuring for better outcomes.” BI Z N E WO RL E AN S.COM

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fantastic cuisine prepared by the community’s Executive Chef, Jacques Saleunand are able to take in breathtaking views over Audubon Park and the Mississippi River. It’s life, well lived. For more information, visit lambethhouse.com or call 504-865-1960. Christwood Christwood is known as the Northshore’s premier Life Plan Community. Independent living residents enjoy a concierge lifestyle on the grounds of a 117-acre campus with convenient access to shopping, dining, entertainment and medical services. Their Assisted Living is a Level 4 Adult Residential Care provider, a unique designation that provides a licensed nurse on site for 24 hours a day and higher than required staffing levels. Recently celebrating its 25th Anniversary, Christwood has served the Gulf Coast and surrounding area with consistent standard-setting care. They continue to build out their offerings, most recently by opening up assisted living, skilled nursing and cognitive memory care for nonresidents on a limited basis. Residents enjoy The Community Center, a 25,000-square foot fitness center featuring a heated indoor pool, full gym, spa and indoor pickleball court that is also open to the greater Northshore community age 55+.

A new service now available to the greater community is At Your Service by Christwood, offering companion services to non-Christwood residents. To learn more, call 985-898-0515. Poydras Home With its ongoing expansion, Poydras Home will soon become Louisiana’s first Green House® Project community— this revolutionary care approach is focused on the fundamental principle that each resident should be the central decision maker in his or her daily life. With this expansion and transformation, Poydras Home will offer two new buildings with three homes each. The Green House model groups a smaller number of residents sharing each house led by a dedicated Care Partner highly trained to make each day meaningful. This smaller community setup within the larger community has the added benefit of limiting COVID exposure. Homes will feature open floor plans and increased access to Poydras Home’s beautiful grounds. Poydras Home’s Historic House will be rebuilt as the Center for Healthy Living, where all residents will enjoy yoga, a therapy gym, a library, meditative space and more. Poydras Home is pleased to be working with Eskew Dumez Ripple architects to ensure the structural changes will be progressive

and rooted in established, aesthetic traditions. For more information on Poydras Home’s services, visit poydrashome.com. Home Care Solutions Home Care Solutions is a locally owned and operated company specializing in compassionate in-home sitting services, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Care as well as Aging Life Care Management™ services to help your elderly loved ones extend their independence at home. “Our mission is to help our clients age in place gracefully while maintaining as much independence as possible,” says Rachel Palmer, Business Development Coordinator. “During the pandemic, many families have been under additional pressure to provide care for an aging loved one—as many of them are also coping with massive changes to their own schedules and lives, we can step in and provide an extra arm of support that provides less risk of exposure than at a retirement community while allowing for continued connection with family.” Caregivers are carefully matched to meet your loved one’s needs and personality, and their familiarity with local resources saves you time and often saves you money while their compassionate understanding of the aging process relieves you of unnecessary distress. For more information, call

504-828-0900 or visit homecareneworleans.com. Hearing Clinic of Greater New Orleans With a mission to provide every patient with the best comprehensive hearing healthcare, the Hearing Clinic of Greater New Orleans (HCGNO) has been serving the community since 2007. Founder Dr. Michele Cramer and licensed audiologist Dr. Stephanie Solórzano utilize the most advanced technology to cater to the hearing needs of their community, from those struggling with hearing loss to musicians seeking to protect their hearing. As an independent clinic, HCGNO prides itself in its unique approach. Providing a variety of inhouse diagnostic services, patients receive their detailed results immediately. In diagnosing the exact type and degree of hearing loss, the doctors at HCGNO determine solutions for each patient’s unique needs. The full-service clinic offers a range of treatment options, including hearing aid and cochlear implant services, as well as custom earplugs and hearing protection. Located conveniently in Uptown New Orleans, call HCGNO 504-3011271 or visit hcgno.com for more information.

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FROM THE LENS

GREAT WORKSPACES

58 WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?

RV reservation app Spot2Nite eliminates the hassles in finding the perfect place to park your vacation

64 NEW ORLEANS 500

Chris Combs, owner of C M Combs Construction

Among the top five largest title companies in Louisiana, Fleur de Lis Law & Title created its new Covington office with dual focuses on collaboration and celebration.

FLEUR DE LIS LAW & TITLE 132 Terra Bella Boulevard, Covington // fdllawandtitle.com Facebook: facebook.com/FDLlawandtitle Instagram: @fdllawandtitle

FROM THE LENS GREAT WORKSPACES

HEAVY WEIGHT TITLE

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Among the top five largest title companies in Louisiana, Fleur de Lis Law & Title created its new Covington office with dual focuses on collaboration and celebration. BY MELANIE WARNER SPENCER

PH OTOS BY SARA ESSEX BRADLEY

n 2021, Fleur de Lis Law & Title opened its new Covington location. Founded in 2011, the company also has offices in Hammond, Amite, Slidell, Uptown New Orleans, Lakeview, Chalmette, Prairieville, Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, Lafayette, and Coushatta and Jackson, Mississippi, and has plans for additional expansion in the coming months. For its modern farmhouse-style Covington offices, Founder and CEO Jeff A. LeSaicherre worked with Coving-

To craft its modern farmhouse-style Covington offices, Founder and CEO Jeff A. LeSaicherre worked with Covington-based Greenleaf Lawson Architects and Southern Interior Solutions.

ton-based Greenleaf Lawson Architects and Southern Interior Solutions. LeSaicherre recently shared the team’s vision, along with a little bit about the company’s culture and goals with Biz New Orleans. What were your (or the design team’s) goals for the design and why?

to come and work/collaborate with us in the space but also inviting and comfortable for the volume of clients that come through for real estate closings. What is the standout feature of the design and why?

We wanted to have a professional space with a bit of an art gallery feel for the events and parties we have in the space. We wanted a clean and modern look but wanted a warm and cozy feel as well since we have other partners in the industry come to work and collaborate there.

Our twin conference rooms have two walls of windows that bring in tons of light, as well as live edge tables and bright art on the walls. There are also bar areas in each conference room where we supply snacks, soft drinks and water, as well as wine, beer and spirits to celebrate the closings.

What was the biggest design challenge and how was it overcome?

How would you describe Fleur de Lis Title Company and its core clientele?

The biggest challenge was creating a space that was inviting to our partners in the industry

Our core clientele are residential lenders and Realtors, along with the clients we serve who are buying and selling property. Our company culture is focused on getting technical work done correctly at volume behind the scenes but also focused on an enjoyable, casual and entertaining experience for those at the closing table. How do you set yourselves apart from companies doing similar work?

Our focus on the client experience is unmatched. We meet weekly to continue to improve our process, which is ever evolving, but we focus considerable time on accommodating, solving issues and making a sometimes-stressful experience fun and enjoyable. Everything from the personality/ behavioral profile of our staff and attorneys, to the process followed on our files, to the experience of sitting at the closing table is continuously examined and improved. How do you promote a positive work atmosphere for staff?

We spend a ton of time on behavioral assessments before we bring anyone in to work for FDL. After finding the right type [of] person to fit our company culture, we team our staff up in a way that is conducive to the style of each person. That approach allows us to build teams of people that get along and work well together. Then, at a leadership level, we live what we preach and remind each other to keep a positive, open mind in an environment where we are continuously bouncing ideas off each other for positive change, as well as

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The team’s vision was to create a modern, but warm and cozy space for meetings with art gallery vibes to lend atmosphere during the company’s many events and gatherings.

QUICK LOOK Date of opening June 2021 Square footage 4,600

Person in Charge Jeff A. LeSaicherre, founder and CEO Architect Greenleaf Lawson Architects Interior Design Southern Interior Solutions Art Southern Interior Solutions

always taking a hard look at what could ‘kill the company.’ We plan around those possibilities. We work hard together but play hard together as well and have events at least monthly across all 13 branches to market for new business but also build camaraderie in our FDL family. What are your biggest challenges?

An industry where volume work is the name of the game lends itself to sometimes moving too fast and not taking the time to treat every file special. Our goal is to keep that in mind so that each of the 500-plus transactions we handle each month are treated as special as they are to the clients.

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What goals are you looking to meet in the next 12 months?

We have begun building our new corporate office in Hammond that will allow us to consolidate three offices so that we can work more efficiently. We will also finish our new office renovation in Slidell. We hope to open at least two more locations in Louisiana. Finally, our main goal for 2022 is to become the largest title company in Louisiana. We are currently one of the top five, but I believe we will attain our goal given that just two or three years ago we were barely in the top 200. We are a different type [of] title company and law firm, and we’ve really tapped into something here with the way we hire, the way we work, and the client focus we keep. T

“Our twin conference rooms have two walls of windows that bring in tons of light, as well as live edge tables and bright art on the walls,” said LeSaicherre.

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FROM THE LENS WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?

ON THE ROAD AGAIN RV reservation app Spot2Nite eliminates the hassles in finding the perfect place to park your vacation BY ASHLEY MCLELLAN

PH OTOS BY EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN

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SPOT2NITE Apple and Google apps app.spot2nite.com // spot2nite.com

ummer vacation time is here, and while the COVID-19 pandemic is abating in many areas, both families and individuals looking to set out on vacation are more often opting to travel via recreational vehicle on the open road, avoiding crowded planes and mass transit options. According to a recent report from GoRVing. com, “RV ownership is at a record high, with 11.2 million households owning an RV in 2021, up 62% over 6.9 million households in 2001 and 26% more than 8.9 million RV-owning households in 2011.”

A June 2020 survey from Ipsos also indicated, “One in four respondents plan to take some kind of RV action in the next 12 months. Specifically, 18% plan to take an RV trip. Another 18% plan to research more RV information online.” Additionally, the survey noted, “Twenty percent of U.S. respondents are more interested in RVs as a recreational travel option, which was the highest of any travel option tested.” With that renewed interest in getting outdoors, along with a change in the basic way people are conducting business (via remote offices and Zoom meetings), interest in camping via recreational vehicles goes well beyond the retirement age crowd, with millennials and Gen Z consumers showing new interest in the option as an alternate travel method. Capitalizing on this trend, a new app called Spot2Nite gives RV and campers an easy way to plan ahead and find the right campground for their vacations, or even remote work, at locations all across the United States. The brainchild of two New Orleanians, Chief Executive Officer Terry Broussard and Chief Operating Officer Sam Bruner, Spot2Nite was dreamed up after the two combined their years of camping, bed-and-breakfast experience, and financial know-how to create a one-stop-spot for recreation seekers looking to make reservations at campgrounds both on the fly or well in advance. “As background, I am a retired Air Force veteran and a four-time RV owner,” Broussard said. “One evening in October 2019, Sam Bruner, my son-in-law [and Spot2Nite’s COO], asked that we go camping. I asked when, to which he replied, ‘Tonight.’ I handed him my phone and said, ‘Here, try to find a spot.’ After realizing how hard it was to locate reservations for campgrounds, we had the ‘aha’ moment and began our journey. We are a great match: I am a camper, and he is the numbers expert, as well as having a family background in the bed-and-breakfast industry.” Before now there has not been a single spot where one could search for camp sites that was updated to reflect current availability. Instead, a camper would have to scroll through multiple different sites, and/or make phone calls in hopes of finding and securing a spot. Spot2Nite also allows users to input the

The Spot2Nite app, created by CEO Terry Broussard (below, right) and COO Sam Bruner, enables travelers to use one centralized system to easily connect with campgrounds throughout North America and make reservations that fit their exact needs.

details of their RV and equipment needs to help ensure the perfect fit. “Spot2Nite is an online travel agent engaged in redefining the campground reservation process for recreational vehicle travelers,” Broussard said. “Our open architecture integration with robust park management systems combines state-of-the-art technology and real-time asset visibility to provide immediate booking of available campground spots to the

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traveler. Through the Spot2Nite mobile app, end users can communicate and book in real-time, avoiding the hassle of antiquated reservation methods. The Spot2Nite platform drives campers to campgrounds, increasing reservations for campground owners and providing a convenient reservation process.” Although conceived pre-pandemic, the launch of Spot2Nite comes at a critical time in the recreational business world, with current statistics indicating an astounding renewed interest in RVing. Spot2Nite is free and available for download on Apple and Google with no subscription required. The app is averaging around 100 downloads per day according to Broussard. Broussard sees these trends reflected in Spot2Nite’s current, and growing, list of clients and users looking for a wide range of recreational activity. “Spot2Nite is ideal for all ages of RV travelers, but especially for those that prefer easy access to

DID YOU KNOW? In 2019, the RV industry had an overall economic impact to the US economy of $114 billion, supporting nearly 600,000 jobs, contributing more than $32 billion in wages and paying over $12 billion in federal, state and local taxes. (RVIA)

Spot2Nite can connect campers to parks in 49 states and Canada, with sites ranging from one to more than 1,000 spots. A nominal booking fee of $3 to $5 per booking allows adventurers to ensure they are seeing real-time availability and booking securely.

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real-time visibility and immediate booking of RV spots. We cater to those that enjoy a wide range of parks from small family-operated campgrounds to very robust RV resorts with amenities such as lazy rivers, boat launches, organized events and more. All amenities are searchable to match your equipment and destination. Availability includes those for tonight as well as future dates based upon campground release of vacancies,” he said. “We are so excited to share that our network is growing every day,” he said. “Presently, our network of connected parks covers 49 states (none in Hawaii) as well as Canada. Park sizes range from one spot to 1,100 spots. We are on our way from 25,000 to hosting over 85,000 RV spots available for immediate booking and the number increases daily.” Booking fees with Spot2Nite are minimal, with a process that will look similar to anyone who has used an online site to make travel arrangements. “Spot2Nite is an OTA (online travel agent) similar to Expedia or Booking.com. Our trav-

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The app is free and available to download on Google and Apple, with no membership required. Discounted booking fees are offered for military veterans, first responders and medical personnel.

FAST FACTS 46 million Americans plan on taking an RV trip in the next 12 months. RV owners responding to a recent survey noted the benefits they see in this type of travel include the ability to: • Control the cleanliness of their environment

• Avoid contact with others and still feel like they were vacationing • Control their own itinerary with no set schedule

• Bring everything they want from home • Travel with pets

Source: RV Owner Demographic Profile Study, released in March 2021 on GoRVing.com

elers pay a small convenience fee that averages $3-$5 per booking and is capped at $20 per trip,” said Broussard. “We also frequently offer booking discounts on our fee. Additionally, many RV parks offer discount bookings, and those flow through to the corresponding memberships in the app. These include military veterans, first-responders, medical personnel, Good Sam, FMCA, etc.” For campgrounds, Broussard said creating an affiliation with Spot2Nite is also a win-win for business. “We do not charge our parks to connect to Spot2Nite,” he said. “To connect to Spot2Nite, RV parks must be using one of our integrated reservation systems. Presently we are connected to five systems: RMS Cloud, Checkfront, NewBook, ResNexus, and Rover Pass. Many more are in the queue as we continue to grow on a near-vertical growth curve in year two of live operation.” Funding and design for Spot2Nite came through personal connections, as well as generous support from the local business start-up community. “After completing our market research into the world of RV park reservation systems in use, we floated the idea to a very close family friend who has had a strong history of app and web development,” he said. “That resulted in the [development of] a minimally viable product for feasibility, and we were off to the races. Funding was primarily through a very close ‘friends and family’ network. We were also warmly welcomed into the NOLA entrepreneur community through participation

in the Idea Village for Tech Start-Ups, which continues to be a huge resource for our team.” The impact of COVID-19 is reflected in the success of Spot2Nite, with future predictions in market statistics continuing to show encouraging signs of growth despite the waning of pandemic precautions. “We started pre-pandemic, and went live during the pandemic and well into the RV craze,” Broussard said. “Industry numbers reflected a spike in RV purchases for family outdoor activities as well as mobile living for health care workers and those requiring isolation from family when exposed. In general, RV travelers are more comfortable with being outdoors and the security of their own cleaning techniques in their personal camper.” When asked what’s next for the app, Broussard points to the exploding market, as well as an expansion of sites and offerings that will continue to reach out to those looking to plan an outdoor experience, with the ease of using an application. “Year two will capitalize on the near-vertical growth curve in both park sign-ups and travel downloads and bookings. Our listings will soon include all camping accommodations, such as cabins, tent spots and yurts. I wanted to add that we are extremely excited to share that we are launching our web version of the app later this week. This will open up the real-time visibility and immediate booking of RV sites to even more travelers across North America and directly complements our mobile platforms.” T

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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.

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DID YOU KNOW? Working on both sides of the lake, C M Combs Construction —in addition to being recognized as a preferred contractor for St. Tammany Parish and the St. Tammany Parish School Board — boasts a portfolio that includes work on the WWII American Spirit Bridge, Orleans Police Station and Baby Cake Stadium.

Who would play you in a movie? Will Ferrell. No one else has the hair. What’s your favorite nonprofit cause? We support Catholic Charities, The New Orleans Mission, CAC Hope House, VOA, and many other charities that provide for the poor, the young and others who are defenseless.

Chris Combs

Owner of C M Combs Construction

If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what would your dream career be? High school history teacher What was your first job? Working in the lumber yard at Poole Lumber Co. during my high school summers What’s the best advice you’ve received? Always be accountable for your actions.

PORTRAIT BY GREG MILES

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Biz New Orleans June 2022

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