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Editor’s Note
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n the wake of the seventh annual New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (March 20-27 – hope you didn’t miss it), it seems extra fitting to celebrate Chef Emeril Lagasse’s exciting milestone. Not only because the restaurant that started it all – Emeril’s New Orleans - celebrated its silver anniversary during NOEW on March 26, but because Lagasse is such a celebrated example of the New Orleans entrepreneurial spirit – that desire to take what you know and “kick it up a notch.”
I got my start in the publishing world thanks to an entrepreneur in California who took a chance as a young man from Ireland and created a publishing company focused on trade magazines covering the local residential homebuilding industry. Peninsula Publishing celebrates its 25th anniversary this year as well. When I started there were two magazines – they now have seven. While I loved writing about the booming residential industry of California in the ’90s, what really attracted me to Biz New Orleans was the chance to write about a region where not just one, but every industry is booming. As I sat at the opening festivities of FilmWorks New Orleans last month, GNO, Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht talked about how diversified this city has become – noting the burgeoning film industry, tech industry and expanding medical and tourism industries. I have to say, after experiencing the residential industry downturn in California and how much it negatively impacted the state, I can say from experience how important it is not to put all your eggs in one basket (happy Easter!) My Southern California days behind me (except for the inevitable summer trip, when 70-degree weather becomes too big of a draw) I am honored now to call New Orleans my home and am completely in love with where I live – Uptown, just off Carrollton Avenue. Speaking of booming! This corridor is exploding in a big way. If you want to learn how, make sure to pick up the April issue of New Orleans Magazine. I’m proud to have bylined an article all about it. By the time this comes out, we will be well into working on the May issue – all I can share is it will take a bit of a unique, and timely, spin on local entrepreneurism. As always, continue to send story ideas, events and news items. I promise we look through every one.
Happy reading!
Kimberley Singletary
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APRIL 2015 | volume 1 | issue 7
Publisher Todd Matherne Editorial Editor-in-chief Errol Laborde Managing Editor Kimberley Singletary Art Director Antoine Passelac Photographer Cheryl Gerber Web Editor Kelly Massicot Assoc. Multimedia News Editor Leslie T. Snadowsky Contributors Carolyn Heneghan, Pamela Marquis, Jason Perry, Chris Price, Margaret Quilter, Sarah Ravits, Peter Reichard, Judi Russell, Jennifer Gibson Schecter, Leslie T. Snadowsky, Melanie Spencer, Keith Twitchell, Bonnie Warren advertising Vice President of Sales Colleen Monaghan Sales Manager Maegan O’Brien Maegan@BizNewOrleans.com (504) 830-7219 Account Executives Melissa Rehage Quijano Melissa@BizNewOrleans.com (504) 830-7225 Caitlin Sistrunk Caitlin@BizNewOrleans.com (504) 830-7252 PRODUCTION Production/Web Manager Staci McCarty Production Designers Monique DiPietro, Ali Sullivan Traffic Manager Erin Duhe administration Chief Executive Officer Todd Matherne President Alan Campell Executive Vice President Errol Laborde Vice President of Sales Colleen Monaghan Director of Marketing & Events Cheryl Lemoine Administrative Assistant Denise Dean Distribution Manager John Holzer Subscriptions Manager Sara Kelemencky
110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005 (504) 828-1380 Biz New Orleans is published monthly by Renaissance Publishing, LLC, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005; (504) 828-1380. Subscription rate: one year $24.95, two year $39.95, three year $49.95 — foreign rates vary call for pricing. Postage paid at Metairie, LA, and additional mailing entry offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Biz New Orleans, 110 Veterans Blvd., Suite 123, Metairie, LA 70005. Copyright 2015 Biz New Orleans. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. The trademark Biz New Orleans is registered. Biz New Orleans is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photos and artwork, even if accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. The opinions expressed in Biz New Orleans are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the magazine or owner. 6
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Contents
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36
Features
From the Lens
36 Emeril’s Celebrates 25 Years
72 Great Offices
44 The New Airport
82 Why Didn’t I Think of That?
50 The Jazz Fest Bump
88 Behind the Scenes
Emeril’s New Orleans - where it all began
MSY Aviation Director Iftikhar Ahmad discusses the new North Terminal
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How becoming a Jazz Fest vendor boosted three local businesses
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Robert Merrick, CEO of Latter & Blum companies
Local entrepreneur’s roof coating business is helping businesses go green by going white
Crystal Hot Sauce
On the Cover Emeril’s New Orleans - the first Emeril’s restaurant - celebrated its 25th anniversary March 26. Pictured here is Emeril’s shrimp boil with a remoulade vinaigrette. Photo by Jeff Johnston.
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Contents
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66
Columns
Perspectives
News
18 Dining Biz
56 Food & Wine
16 Calendar
20 Tourism Biz
60 Tips from the Pros
32 Biz Bits
The art of the signature dish
Bullet’s Sports bar is a tourist hot spot
22 Sports Biz
New Orleans Zephyrs hope for a playoff team
24 Film Biz
The sad state of women in Hollywood South
26 Entrepreneur Biz
A peek at the new Delgado
Entrepreneurship Center
28 Biz Etiquette
How to do business with Southerners
30 Tech Biz
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Privacy vs. technology
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Restaurants and business meetings: a symbiotic relationship
How to protect your wine collection
62 Legal
Tips to make next year’s tax season better
Upcoming events not to miss
Industry news
76 Biz Person of the Month
Q&A with Marci Schramm, executive director of French Quarter Festivals, Inc.
66 Real Estate & Construction 86 Around Town – Events
Commerical construction around town
Industry gatherings
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Publisher’s Note
Membership Has Its Privileges
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f you know me well, you know that I am a member of many different organizations. Currently my highest honor is serving as chairman of the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, which just hosted its annual gala at the Saints training facility. Great job to Todd Murphy and his staff for hosting a spectacular event. I also love being a member of the Louisiana chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) - a global organization with more than 10,000 members worldwide that focuses on the growth of its businesses. Its members also help each other with personal development. One of the many things we focus on at the local level is working with entrepreneurs via our Accelerator Program. This program, launched in New Orleans and now in EO chapters nationwide, is designed to catapult an entrepreneur’s business from $250,000 in annual revenue to more than $1 million. Last month we held a graduation event to celebrate five businesses that met this goal. If you know the following people, please congratulate them on their success. n
Charlie Davis of Liquid Ventures
Josh Goodson of Tiger Shredding & Recycling, LLC
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Matt Lundy of REI Promos
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Chad Olivier, CFP of The Olivier Group, LLC
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Dustin Puryear of Puryear IT, LLC
If you would like to know more about the Jefferson Chamber or the Louisiana chapter of EO, drop me a note at Todd@BizNewOrleans.com. I would be happy to discuss it with you. Todd Matherne 12
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Meet the Sales Staff Colleen Monaghan Vice President of Sales Colleen Monaghan is a seventh-generation New Orleanian and member of the Mayflower Society, who loves her city with a passion. She is a UNO alum who has more than 30 years of experience in both publishing and the nonprofit sector. Colleen enjoys art collecting, traveling the world and living life to its fullest. She has been known to organize fabulous events, both for herself and many charities in the New Orleans and San Francisco areas. You can reach Colleen at (504) 830-7215 or Colleen@BizNewOrleans.com.
Maegan O’Brien Sales Manager, Biz New Orleans Maegan O’Brien was born in New Orleans and raised on the Northshore in Mandeville, La. She graduated from Louisiana State University in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in finance, but marketing and advertising are her true callings. She currently lives in Old Metairie and loves traveling, wining and dining, and spending time with family and great friends. You can reach Maegan at (504) 830-7219 or Maegan@BizNewOrleans.com.
Melissa Rehage Quijano Account Executive, Biz New Orleans Melissa Rehage Quijano was born and raised in New Orleans. She graduated from St. Mary’s Dominican, attended both LSU and UNO, and received a paralegal degree in 1996. She worked for 10 years as a paralegal in various law firms in New Orleans and then operated her own successful wedding photography business for 11 years. In addition to being on the Biz New Orleans team, she enjoys spending time with her two teenage children, cooking, the beach, 30A, laughing with friends, dancing every day and music. She has a love for shoes and lipstick. Her heart and soul is her children and everything New Orleans. You can reach Melissa at (504) 830-7225 or Melissa@BizNewOrleans.com.
Caitlin Sistrunk Account Executive, Biz New Orleans Caitlin Sistrunk was born in New Orleans and raised in Covington, La. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. While attending LSU, Caitlin fell in love with both marketing and advertising. She is ecstatic to begin her career as a sales associate with our new magazine. Caitlin loves painting, hanging with friends and cooking. You can reach Caitlin at (504) 830-7252 or Caitlin@BizNewOrleans.com. 14
April 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
Calendar Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Planning for Voluntary and Involuntary Changes in Your Business Ownership Presented by Baker Donelson 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. 201 St. Charles Ave., Ste. 3600 bakerdonelson.com
Tuesday, April 7, 2015 ACG Monthly Meeting 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. The Roosevelt Hotel 130 Roosevelt Way, New Orleans acg.org
Thursday, April 9, 2015 ABWA Crescent City Connections Monthly Luncheon featuring Brian Grefferius, of Sandler Sales - using your personality type to increase sales. 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Heritage Grill by Ralph Brennan 111 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie abwaneworleans.org
Happy Birthday City of New Orleans! Friday, May 8, 2015 Westbank Governor’s Luncheon 11 a.m. The Four Columns 3711 Westbank Expressway, Harvey adamsb@legis.la.gov
Tuesday, May 12, 2015 8th Annual ACG Louisiana Awards
April 10-12, 2015 Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana 11075 Nicolle Blvd., Avondale gpofnola.com
6 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. dinner The Roosevelt Hotel 130 Roosevelt Way, New Orleans acg.org
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
April 19-21, 2015 2015 Super Region Canvas: A Benchmarking Workshop Greater Phoenix and Tucson Regions srccanvas.com
Jefferson Chamber of Commerce Day at the Legislature 8:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. State Capitol, Ellender Room, Baton Rouge Jeffersonchamber.org
Wednesday, April 29, 2015 Prosper Jefferson Seminar Series: Marketing-Social Media 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. Jefferson Parish East Bank Regional Library Jefferson Room 4747 West Napoleon Ave., Metairie jeffersonchamber.org
We’d love to include your business-related event in next month’s calendar. Please email details to Editorial@BizNewOrleans.com.
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Columns | Dining Biz Antoine’s Oysters Rockefeller - a signature dish with plenty of green named for J.D. Rockefeller.
Making Your Mark Lessons to be learned from New Orleans signature dishes
B Peter Reichard is a native New Orleanian who has written about the life and times of the city for more than 20 years, including as a former newspaper editor and business journalist.
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runing’s was one of New Orleans’ longest-lived restaurants, but it was also one of its most mortally vulnerable. It was born in 1859, when West End was a resort getaway for New Orleanians seeking a cool breeze. Located on the lake outside the flood protection system, it survived one hurricane after another, but Katrina brought it to its knees for the last time. How did it last so long? Well, it had a picturesque location and generally excellent food, but it also had a signature dish, one that people talked about and kept coming back for: the whole flounder stuffed with crab meat. Restaurateurs can learn a lot from the signature dishes that have stood time’s test in the Crescent City’s demanding gastronomical environment. Here are a few of those lessons.
Name it after someone, then light it on fire. As with the Parisian dessert Crepes Suzette, Brennan’s named its signature dessert after a customer and set it aflame. Few people remember who Foster was, but anyone who knows New Orleans, knows Bananas Foster. Use local ingredients. It’s no accident that several of the signature dishes mentioned here involve oysters. Without question, the most legendary of these is Antoine’s Oysters Rockefeller. Invented during the regime of Antoine’s son, Jules Alciatore, the rich, money-green dish was named after the richest man of the time, J.D. Rockefeller. Bring it from the old country. At Crescent City Steak House, steak sizzling in butter is not just a signature dish; it is the dish. In the 1930s, not long after arriving here from Croatia, John
Vojkovich opened his Broad Street restaurant. He was only 26, but he knew how to cook a Croatian steak. Today, the Croatian way of cooking steaks is the New Orleans way. Make it memorable. As at Antoine’s, at Drago’s the founder’s son produced the signature dish. Drago Cvitanovich’s boy Tommy cooked up the first batch of charbroiled oysters in the early 1990s, putting yet another Croatian family restaurant at the center of New Orleans’ culinary life. Wrap it in bacon. Galatoire’s boasts several signature dishes. I’ll never forget the first time, as a child, I had the turtle soup. But oysters en brochette is the Galatoire’s dish tasted ’round the world, wrapping rich Creole flavors around the quintessential New Orleans ingredient. Give it an evocative (if inaccurate) name. Pascal’s Manale is old enough to have been my late grandfather’s favorite restaurant when he was a young man. Now more than a century old, it made it this far in part on the strength of its signature dish, barbecue shrimp. As anyone who has tried them knows, they’re not barbecued at all. Put a twist on a standby. Casamento’s is one of the city’s premier oyster houses, so naturally it serves an oyster sandwich. But unlike a typical French bread poor-boy, Casamento’s oyster loaf has delicately fried bivalves between two thick slices of toast. There’s a reason the Casamento family has been at it for nearly 100 years now. Choose a forsaken ingredient, and stick with it. Tujague’s beef brisket with horseradish sounds humble enough, but they’ve kept it alive for decades. Tujague’s wouldn’t be Tujague’s without it. Have a good back story. Another kind of signature item comes from the bar, and New Orleans has too many signature drinks to cover here. But one yields a good lesson for all signature items – a history. At the Sazerac Bar, the Ramos Gin Fizz became the standby of regular patron and Louisiana political boss Huey P. Long. He lived upstairs in the Roosevelt Hotel and could whip up the drink himself. By the force of Huey Long’s personality, it became the signature drink of a bar that was named for yet another New Orleans cocktail. n Photo courtesy of Antoine’s Restaurant
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Columns | Tourism Biz Rollin J. Garcia, a.k.a. “Bullets,” founded the bar 16 years ago.
Finding Authenticity Tourists are flocking to the 7th Ward’s Bullet’s Sports Bar.
H Margaret Quilter is an Australian expat whose tales of adventures abroad have been published in international magazines. Check out her weekly blog, “Tourism Biz” at BizNewOrleans. com.
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idden away in the 7th Ward is a neighborhood bar that has become one of New Orleans’ top-rated sports bars, attracting tourists from all over the world. Bullet’s Sports Bar captures the essence of New Orleans culture – genuine Southern hospitality, delicious food, and regular features of homegrown talent. “When people come they are very shocked about the hospitality that we have,” says Rollin J. Garcia, a.k.a. “Bullets,” owner of Bullet’s Sports Bar. “Whether you are somebody that is from out of town, or somebody that lives here and we don’t really know you, I will greet you and shake your hand and tell you that I am thankful that you came because we are kind of off the grid.” Thanks to rave reviews on
sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp, word has spread that this small corner bar, which maxes out at about 60 people, serves as the Tuesday night home of one of New Orleans’ favorite musicians – Kermit Ruffins. “Kermit was scheduled to play the night of Hurricane Katrina but he didn’t get started until after, so he has been performing every Tuesday night for the past nine years,” Garcia says. “Kermit is a natural draw - he really brings the tourists in. We had a couple of tourists before the storm, but after Katrina it really took off.” Business at Bullet’s has also received a bump thanks to New Orleans’ “Follow Your Nola” campaign, which encourages visitors to explore the city’s unique and varied neighborhoods. The fact that the bar was featured in the popular HBO series “Treme” hasn’t hurt.
Bullet’s doesn’t charge a cover, except on Tuesday nights, when $10 per person gets you in to see Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers. Even with an increase in tourists, prices have remained the same $3 buys a bottle of domestic beer. During the evening, two or three food trucks typically park out front. “I don’t charge anything for the food trucks,” Garcia says. “I just let them come and sell what they sell - everybody has got to make a living, you know.” Garcia admits, however, that keeping prices down comes at a cost. “It is a struggle to keep the doors open – we don’t make a lot when all is said and done,” he says. “I just want to leave my mark. I love this neighborhood. I grew up in the area, and both of my sons live here.” Garcia, who entered the business 16 years ago, is the heart and soul of the bar. At the age of 18, he earned his nickname “Bullets” when he walked into the middle of an armed robbery at a local grocery store and wound up getting shot in the arm and the stomach. Asked about safety issues around the neighborhood, Garcia says they have “the normal stuff, like all bars do,” but because their music mainly attracts an older crowd, they don’t see much trouble. “I will ask a person where they have parked and if they aren’t parked down the street or in the lot then we will walk them to their car,” he says. “I have had a lot of people tell me that they have never had a bar owner walk them to their car before.” n Bullet’s Weekly Lineup: Mondays: regulars play dominos Tuesdays: Kermit Ruffins and the Barbeque Swingers Wednesdays: open line-dancing classes Thursdays: Neisha Ruffins & Zero Gravity Fridays: the Original Pinettes Brass Band Sundays: five live R&B bands rotate every week. Bullet’s Sports Bar, 2441 A.P. Tureaud Ave. Open 7 days a week from 7 a.m. Music from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Photo by Cheryl Gerber
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Columns | Sports Biz
Hey Batter Batter Triple-A Zephyrs hope to exit their slump with a home-run season
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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.
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ith two top-tier professional sports franchises in town and a crowd of talented collegiate baseball programs within a short drive, the New Orleans Zephyrs - now entering their 22nd season - face steep competition for the local sports entertainment dollar. Team officials report sponsorships are down compared to previous years, and say the team is making 200 to 300 calls a day to prospective business partners and fans, hoping to draw in cash and fill seats. But Mike Schline, entering his 10th season as the Zephyrs’ general manager, is hopeful that this season’s potentially playoffcaliber ball club and earlier weekday starting times will draw increased attention to “the Shrine on Airline.” The Zephyrs are going into their seventh year as the Miami Marlins’ triple-A affiliate. It was
a busy offseason for the Marlins, who made a lot of deals for minor-league players capable of being called up to the majors at a moment’s notice should the need arise. “We’re hoping for a playoff team,” Schline says. “We have a roster of mostly brand new guys – vets, free agents – who are what we call four-A talent. They’re really, really good at the Triple-A level, but haven’t quite found success at the major league level just yet. We’re going to produce wins. We’ll just have to see what happens in July and August.” Schline’s referring, of course, to the period when the Marlins can call up minor league players to the big leagues, potentially plucking the best talent from and crushing its Triple-A team. To date, 44 Zephyrs players have gone on to play for the Marlins. “That’s always the challenge in Triple-A baseball,” Schline says.
Management of Triple-A teams seek to draw fans and sponsors to the ballpark with specials and promotions. “We pack the place when we have the right promotion, like ‘Star Wars’ Night,” Schline says, “but when you see 800 people in a 10,000-seat ballpark when we don’t have anything going on, like a giveaway, concerts or fireworks, that can be frustrating.” Over the team’s more than two decades in New Orleans, the Zephyrs have marketed themselves, and their $26 million suburban stadium, as the safe, affordable, family entertainment option in town. “We have one of only 30 triple-A teams in the country,” Schline says. “We’ve got a good product, and people enjoy it. We just hear too many people saying they love coming to Zephyr games, but when asked how many they came to last season, they say they haven’t been in three or four years.” In an effort to spur attendance, this year the team will start weekday games an hour earlier - at 6 p.m. “We’re hoping this will bring people to the ballpark directly from the office and will also help families get their kids home and in bed earlier,” Schline says. Sponsorships remain crucial. “We don’t have a large season-ticket base, so our sponsors are our bread and butter,” Schline explains. “We’re a solid option for businesses looking for exposure, since instead of having the same 8,000 people in the same seat for every game, we’re getting 8,000 different people in those seats for every game and putting a lot of eyes in front of advertisements.” The value is clearly there for the Zs, but the question remains, will the support be? The New Orleans Zephyrs open their 2015 season with an eight-game home stand, beginning Thursday, April 9 at 7 p.m. against the Omaha Storm Chasers. n Photo courtesy of New Orleans Zephyrs
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Columns | Film Biz # Top 15 Billed Actors that were women
FILM
BUDGET
Beautiful Creatures
$40 million
10
GI Joe
$125 million
2
12 Years a Slave
$22 million
3
2 Guns
$61 million
1
Broken City
$35 million
5
Enders Game
$110 million
3
Escape Plan
$40 million
2
The Butler
$30 million
3
Now You See Me
$75 million
5
Olympus Has Fallen
$70 million
3
Parker
$31 million
3
Snitch
$25 million
5
*Texas Chainsaw 3D
$20 million
3
Oldboy
$30 million
5
Of the 14 biggest movies filmed in Louisiana and released in 2013, only one featured an actress in the top billed role. On average, only three of the 15 top billed roles were held by women. Source: Film L.A. Inc. 2013 Feature Film Production Report. Films were made by the six major studios and five of the biggest independent studios.
Where Are All the Women? They make up half the population, but barely over 20 percent of film roles. What happened to art mimicking life?
P Kimberley Singletary is the
managing editor of Biz New Orleans magazine. A 20-year Southern California veteran, she has been surrounded by the film industry for most of her life and is thrilled to be covering its emersion in her newly adopted home.
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atricia Arquette’s recent call for wage equality and equal rights for women in America during her Oscar acceptance speech was a call for action to which you’d think nobody could find fault. But people did. Among the complaints was the view of, what are these super rich women doing calling for equal pay? These big-time Hollywood actresses make millions, what are they complaining about? The thing is, women in Hollywood actually have more to complain about than many. While the common rallying cry has been that a woman makes approximately 77 cents on the dollar for doing the same job as a man, in Hollywood, that number dropped to approximately 40 cents on the dollar for top actresses in 2013. The recent Sony hack revealed a lot more than snarky comments from executives; it brought to glaring light a few startling examples of inequality in Tinseltown. The one that really got me was that
of Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth, co-stars of “The Huntsman” – due out next year. Through the hacks it came out that Theron was being paid less than Hemsworth. When word got out, Theron, an Oscar-winning actress with 20 years of experience, demanded to be paid equal to Heron, an actor with half the experience and no Oscar. To me, she would have been justified in asking for more, but in Hollywood, anything close to equality is understandably considered a win. Here in Hollywood South, stuntwoman Leigh Hennessey says that while the pay gap is real, her big focus is on the limited roles and types of roles available to women. “When you look at the number of big Hollywood movies where you have a strong female protagonist, it’s ridiculously low,” she says. (Something to think about next time you head to the movies or pop in your favorite flick - especially an action movie.)
“The only place in the industry where you see a lot of women is in wardrobe, hair and makeup,” Hennessey says. Of course less roles for women means less demand for stuntwomen. “In the 1990s, SAG (Screen Actors Guild) kept record of who worked on films, including their gender, age and race,” she says. “When they started, women made up about 20 percent of the stunt roles. Ten years ago, that number had dropped to 15 percent. Then they stopped keeping a record.” Hennessey’s frustration with the inequality led her to create the Louisiana Stuntwomen’s Initiative (LSWI) last fall. According to the website, stuntwomensinitiative. org., women currently represent 23.5 percent of acting roles in American films. That number drops to 15 percent for stuntwomen. The website is packed with sobering statistics. Through LSWI, Hennessey and others are working with local production companies to encourage and aid them in hiring more women through the use of a comprehensive database of local professionals. If they don’t have what a producer wants, LSWI promises to “search all of Louisiana to find the right woman.” Of course it’s understandable that if men are the ones making the movies, men are the ones in them. According to a study by San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television & Film, only 9 percent of the top 250 domestic grossing films of 2012 were directed by women. (Of the locally filmed movies listed above, not a single was directed by a woman). In other behind-the-scenes roles, women held only 18 percent of the jobs – a whopping 1 percent increase since 1998. If Hennessey has her way, Hollywood South will be where you see the tide turn toward more equal representation for women. “If every industry treated women the way we do, that’s essentially half the population not contributing to the economy,” she says. “This is very much an economic issue.” n
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Columns | Entrepreneur Biz
Construction recently finished at H. Giles Martin Hall home of the new Delgado Entrepreneurship Center.
Graduating New Businesses Delgado Entrepreneurship Center aims to provide some much-needed support.
I 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 macrobusiness levels.
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f you’ve passed by Delgado Community College’s City Park campus in the past year, you have probably wondered about the new building emerging front and center. It’s the Delgado Entrepreneurship Center, and it opened last month during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week with the goal of providing academic and practical training to people looking to launch a business. “We have nearly 20,000 students here learning trades, from welding to cosmetology to accounting,” says Elizabeth Duett, entrepreneurship director for Delgado. “Every one of them should be opening their own business.” The new center, which was built with federal funds after Hurricane Katrina, includes classrooms, labs, digital media facilities, and a conference center with state-of-the-art
technology. In addition, the Louisiana Small Business Development Center plans to open an office in the Entrepreneurship Center, and the City of New Orleans will have a branch of its Office of Supplier Diversity there. Qualified students will be able to obtain city DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) certification - a designation that ensures a business can compete for federally funded transportation-related programs - by the time they complete the program. Classes in the center will include entrepreneurial finance, business plans and other topics related to starting a business. Additional seminars will cover subjects like writing contracts, franchising and social media. Students will now be able to get an Entrepreneurship Certificate as part of their Delgado degrees.
Additional professional certifications, from HVAC to day care, are also available in the center. “We really see this as a small business incubator,” Duett says. “We want students to come out of the program ready to launch.” The Center will have a strong focus on experiential learning – “connecting academic learning to the real world” as Duett puts it – and include the Delgado student marketplace, where budding entrepreneurs will be able to sell their products and services to fellow students. This provides a low-risk opportunity for students to test-market their ideas, as well as marketing strategies. Some of the center’s facilities and services may eventually be open to the community as well. However, with its inherent pipeline of students, Duett anticipates that the entrepreneurship program will fill rapidly from within Delgado. In addition to preparing students to be entrepreneurs, Duett feels the program can “help students understand what they want to do with their lives. I’d love to see every one of our graduates go out and start their own business!” n Photo courtesy of Delgado Community College
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Columns | Biz Etiquette
Southern Charm A few things you need to know about doing business with Southerners.
I Melanie Warner Spencer is editor of
New Orleans Bride Magazine. Her writing has appeared in the Austin American-Statesman, the Houston Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune and Reuters. Spencer’s ever-expanding library of etiquette books is rivaled only by her everready stash of blank thank-you notes. Submit business etiquette questions to Melanie@ MyNewOrleans.com.
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t’s no secret that things are done a little differently in the South – and this is especially true when it comes to etiquette. Manners and pleasantries still matter greatly here, both in personal dealings and in business. As such, in order to succeed in business, it’s wise for visitors and new transplants to make an effort to learn the language and culture of the natives. In an effort to provide some guidance on this front, I recently conducted an informal poll of fellow Southerners, asking them what advice they would give regarding doing business in the South. The following tips were created from their responses. Get used to hearing and saying “please” and “thank you.” This goes for face-to-face, email, print, or any other correspondence. Politeness is so important in the South that bypassing these niceties is considered a slight and could
hinder your business dealings. “Saying please and thank you and having a firm handshake are all important to me,” says Dean Adams, who lives in Austin, Texas. “Also, make eye contact with me while we’re speaking. If you don’t, I’ll think you’re not being honest with me. And don’t mistake my being polite or nice for weakness.” Be prepared – pad your schedule. Whether a meeting is held in the boardroom or the back room of Antoine’s, business will probably not begin as soon as everyone arrives. Expect participants to socialize for at least 15 to 20 minutes, if not longer, before discussing the business at hand. “I was once told by an old Southern gentleman that a minimum of five minutes of social conversation should take place before ever mentioning business,” says Kentuckian Jason Hodge. “He said it gave you time to ‘sniff out’ the other’s character.”
Meetings are unlikely to start on time. “Show up 15 minutes past the scheduled start time,” advises New Orleans native Donny Hyde. “’cause every New Orleanian will!” I have noticed this to frequently be true, but not always, so instead of arriving late, I’d advise to plan accordingly - maybe use the time to read or catch up on emails on your smartphone. Watch those assumptions. In addition to being careful not to view politeness as a sign of weakness, nonSoutherners are warned not to assume that those that speak slowly or use stereotypical Southern slang - like “fixin’” - are in any way less intelligent or capable. You underestimate us to your own detriment, my friends. Don’t be afraid to clarify. Southern accents can be strong, so remember it’s always better to be clear about what a person said than muddle through and potentially agree to something to which you are uncertain. This is a two-way street. Your Southern business associate may not understand your accent. If handled with kindness and humor, a potentially bad situation can instead become a funny anecdote. Speaking of anecdotes, polish up your storytelling skills. Southerners love to hear a good yarn (translation: story) as much as they love spinning one. Speaking of which, have I told you the one about my daddy pulling a shotgun on the census taker? Have some advice for doing business in the South or with Southerners (or a great yarn?) Email me at Melanie@ MyNewOrleans.Com. n Illustration by Jane Sanders
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Columns | Technology
Somebody’s Watching Me Yes, they are.
T Jason Perry is the director of the Drupal Practice for Fig Leaf Software. You can see where he’s tweeting from at @jasonmperry.
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his is not only the title to a popular ’80s song, but an increasing reality. As smartphones become more ubiquitous in our daily lives, we are increasingly being watched - for good and bad. These days almost any device you pick up includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) chip, or tethers to a device that does. Using them, we are constantly tracked as we go about our daily lives. Our phones, for example, are now capable of targeting messages based on our location, offering suggestions on when to leave for a meeting, and even updating traffic data in real time. This doesn’t just happen. The developers of the applications running on our phones need to amass troves of data to power this functionality. They need to track where we are, the time it takes for us to move by foot, public transit, or car from location to location, and in some cases be able to share this information with various third-party tools.
It’s not just about following individuals: This Mardi Gras, many krewes embedded GPS chips in f loats to track real-time progress. Using apps like the Mardi Gras parade trackers, anyone can keep up with the parade as it makes its way along the route. On a day-to-day basis, the Regional Transit Authority and other transit systems, also include GPS sensors on buses and streetcars. For the RTA, this allows mobile apps like the beta mobile RTA app to tell a rider when the next bus or streetcar will arrive. Many cities have expanded this tech to show realtime updates at select bus stops as well. One of the newest tracking technologies rolling out across the nation is a special beacon. Beacons (also known as iBeacons) are small bluetooth devices that connect or detect users when they get near a beacon. Using these devices, a restaurant or store can track when people
enter and offer ads based on shopping history and where that person is in a store. The department store Macy’s became the largest installer of beacon technology in a retail format last fall with the installation of over 4,000 devices. Walk in or near a store with the application loaded, and the app will keep tabs on you, pushing offers and customized recommendations to you as you shop. Many of the Smithsonian museums have similar programs in the works. Some of the early plans include prompts for additional information as you come close to or enter an exhibit. The idea is to augment the museum’goers’ experience with additional facts, multimedia, or links to content relative to an exhibit. Insurance companies are also jumping on the tracking bandwagon. A few years ago, Progressive Insurance began offering a small device that plugs into any car, promising potentially cheaper insurance in exchange for tracking your driving habits for a few months. Did you speed? Brake too hard? Are you parking where you said you do? How many miles do you drive a day? Of course, tracking also comes at a cost, and that cost is privacy. Last fall many people were upset to find that Uber employees could easily access information about customer ride histories. The company has since pledged to improve its privacy practices, citing rapid growth as an issue. Even taking a photo can include metadata called EXIF. On cameras or phones with a connected GPS chip, this means the location of the photo is stored. Yes, you’re reading this correctly. All those home photos you share could include personal data such as your home address. Luckily, many social networks remove this data, but a quick text to a friend may include more information than you realize. True, the increasing number of ways to track may have tangible benefits, both personally and commercially, but what are we really giving up? n Illustration by Thinkstock
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Biz Bits - Industry News Around town
“From my perspective, both at Woodward and at GNO, Inc., the greatest challenge, and the greatest opportunity, is workforce development.” GNO Inc. 2015 Chairman William Hoffman, senior vice president of corporate planning and development for Woodward Design+Build, speaking during GNO, Inc.’s Annual Meeting on March 12.
Over 9.5 Million Tourists in 2014 New Orleans’ tourism industry saw a 2.6 percent increase in 2014 as the city welcomed 9.52 million visitors. Tourism spending amounted to $6.81 billion for the year – the highest amount in the city’s history and an increase over 2013 of 5.3 percent. According to the 2014 New Orleans Area Visitor Profile study, the increase broke down as follows: n Lodging – up 5.9 percent n Entertainment – up 11.2 percent n Shopping – up 5.7 percent n Restaurants - up 2.9 percent n Bars and nightclubs – up 3.9 percent 2014 Tourist Age Breakdown: Age 65+ - 14 percent (largest percentage in 6 years) Age 50-64 - 36 percent Age 35-49 - 28.1 percent Age 25-34 - 16.7 percent
Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Gala Honors two Local Professionals On Thursday, April 16, Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business – Levy Rosenblum Institute will host the 2015 Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Gala at the Audubon Tea Room. The by-invitation-only event will include the presentation of two awards to local business professionals. The Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year award honoree is James E. Maurin of commercial real estate company Stirling Properties. Chef John Besh, of the Besh Foundation, will receive the award for Tulane Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year.
Small Business Looking for a Loan? Small businesses around the nation can now be matched with a Small Business Association (SBA) lender by filling out a free, simple, 20-question online form. Businesses can connect with lenders within 48 hours through the SBA’s new online tool, LINC (Leveraging Information and Networks to access Capital). “If you have a bankable business idea backed by good credit and sound financial planning, the SBA wants to streamline the process for you to get the capital you need,” says SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet. For more information, visit sba.gov/tools/linc.
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FilmWorks New Orleans One of the region’s largest film production studios officially opened March 11. Located in New Orleans East at 3501 Jourdan Road, FilmWorks New Orleans offers 37 acres of flexible indoor and outdoor space, including a 20,000-square-foot stage, 406,000-square-foot back lot, two floors of 92,000 square feet each, extra storage and warehouse space, and acres of usable green space.
Hilton riverside ranked among top hotels for meetings Hilton New Orleans Riverside (2 Poydras St.) was named one of the “Top 100 Meeting Hotels” by Cvent (a cloud-based enterprise event-management platform). Ranked No. 22 on the list based on popularity, the hotel is now the top-ranked hotel in Louisiana. ARIA Resort and Casino in Las Vegas took the top spot in the rankings. Hilton New Orleans Riverside offers over 140,000 square feet of flexible meeting spaces and recently boosted its Wi-Fi capabilities to provide 10 times its previous capacity.
Recent Openings
Desire Oyster Bar Following a renovation, the Royal Sonesta New Orleans celebrated the reopening of Desire Oyster Bar at the hotel’s 300 Bourbon St. location on March 12. The restaurant is known for its shrimp and grits, New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp and award-winning Creole gumbo.
Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza
Little Pnuts Toy Shoppe
The nation’s leading build-your-own pizza restaurant will open its first Louisiana location in The Paramount at South Market District (611 O’Keefe Ave.) on Thursday, April 9. The opening starts with a “Free Pizza Day” on Friday, April 10.
Eco-friendly toy store Little Pnuts opened its doors March 7 at 209 Harrison Ave. in Lakeview. Formerly solely a subscription-based business, Little Pnuts, run by Melissa Beese, offers sustainable, nonbattery-operated toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers geared toward reaching a child’s developmental milestones. BizNewOrleans.com April 2015
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The Essence of Emeril In honor of his 25th year in business, celebrity chef and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse returns to New Orleans to celebrate the restaurant that launched his multimillion-dollar culinary empire.
By Leslie T. Snadowsky
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Photo by Jeff Johnston
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hef Emeril Lagasse has done a lot in the past two and a half decades - become a world-renowned chef, TV star, best-selling author, prolific businessman, celebrated humanitarian and even an animated alligator in Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog.” But when this Creole-cooking superstar longs to get back to his culinary roots and “feel the love,” all he has to do is return to the spot that started it all – a former pharmacy warehouse at 800 Tchoupitoulas St., that, since opening as Emeril’s New Orleans in 1990, has served an estimated 2.7 million customers. “Emeril’s New Orleans is really what put me on the map,” says Lagasse of his restaurant, known for its BAM!-tastic interpretations of appetizing Creole classics. “It’s been an amazing journey for the last 25 years, not only with gastronomy and wine, but with the people and service and what we are as a restaurant.” Savoring its silver anniversary on Thursday, March 26, 2015, Emeril’s marked the milestone with weekly throwback menus, including a time-honored dish that literally helped open the doors at Emeril’s – Quail Milton, named after influential New 38
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Orleans City Councilman James Milton Singleton, who aided the permitting process to open the eatery. The culmination of the celebration was a trio of six-course dinners hosted by Chef de Cuisine David Slater, General Manager Kevin Delaune and Lagasse himself. “3 Nights with Emeril” shone the spotlight on the continued bold innovation at Emeril’s with surprise selections showcasing the future of the “New New Orleans” cookery.
First You Make A Roux Delaune says Emeril’s cooked up its own singular recipe for success from the start – an artful mix of passion, consistency and local support. “Targeting our locals,” says Delaune. “That’s one thing we’ve done great over 25 years. Making them customers and doing whatever it takes to get them back - providing them with an exceptional experience every time they come in.” Emeril attended Johnson and Wales University’s College of Culinary Arts and honed his craft in French cuisine in Paris and Lyon, France, later working in New York,
Chef Emeril Lagasse poses at his flagship restaurant, Emeril’s New Orleans, with Ray Gumpert, sommelier, Chef David Slater, chef de cuisine since 2008, and Kevin Delaune, general manager.
Boston and Philadelphia. He succeeded Chef Paul Prudhomme at New Orleans’ famed Commander’s Palace in 1982, working for the Brennan family of restaurateurs until striking out on his own in 1989. At that time, New Orleans’ Warehouse District included few galleries, and even fewer streetlights, but when Lagasse found the perfect property on the corner of Julia and Tchoupitoulas streets, he knew it was where he wanted to spice things up. “I had found the space,” Lagasse says, “but didn’t have the financial capability until I sold most of what I had. I wrote up a business plan and finally went to one of the most conservative financial institutions, [which] said they would give me the money. At this time no new restaurants had opened for about six to eight years because of the oil and gas economy, so the fact that they would lend me the money, given the economy and state of the Warehouse District at this time, was a double risk.” Photo by Sara Essex Bradley
Determined to redefine New Orleans cuisine while paying homage to traditional Louisiana flavors, Lagasse debuted his white tablecloth endeavor on March 26, 1990. His only goal was to satisfy the sophisticated palates of New Orleanians in a festive, unpretentious setting. If he could do that, he says, he knew his kitchen would prosper. Success was immediate. The same year it opened, Emeril’s New Orleans was named Esquire Magazine’s Restaurant of the Year.
Lagasse the Leader Delaune has been with Lagasse since the beginning, first working at Emeril’s in 1990 as a server, and working his way to general manager in 2004. He credits Lagasse for being a consummate chef and the best businessman he’s ever known. “What I’ve learned is how to operate one of the nation’s finest restaurants under the tutelage of an icon,” Delaune says. “Stepping out of the shadows of Commander’s Palace, we didn’t want to forget where we came from but we certainly wanted to create our own identity. Emeril did that. From him, I learned how to keep everyone motivated and focused on who we are and remembering who we were.” Delaune says the restaurant’s local success helped Lagasse, and when his celebrity status kicked in it took Emeril’s to another level. The success of Emeril’s led Lagasse to open NOLA, located in the French Quarter, just two years later and a restaurant in Las Photo by Cheryl Gerber
Vegas [Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House in the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino] shortly following. “From there, the momentum just kept moving,” Delaune says. And then television came calling. “I was one of the first people hired for the Food Network,” he says. “It was really something to be part of growing that network from the ground up and seeing what it is today. Television is a powerful thing, and it really escalated my career. Combined with the success of the restaurants, the brand really evolved.” Lagasse still sizzles as the food correspondent for ABC’s “Good Morning America,” and he’s stirred things up on more than 2,000 episodes on the Food Network, the Cooking Channel, Bravo’s “Top Chef: New Orleans” and TNT’s “On the Menu.” In 2008, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia acquired the assets related to Lagasse’s media and merchandising business, including TV programming, cookbooks, the Emerils.com website, and his licensed kitchen and food products, for a reported $45 million in cash and $5 million in stock.
Peppering The Gumbo Lagasse is also the best-selling author of 18 tantalizing cookbooks, including “Emeril’s New New Orleans Cooking,” (1993) which introduced his gutsy take on contemporary Creole cuisine. “This ‘New New Orleans’ cooking phase
Emeril’s New Orleans’ max capacity is 249 diners. A staff of approximately 100 serves between 200 and 400 patrons daily.
began by never disrespecting the traditions of the city or the state,” Lagasse says, “but by adding ingredients and techniques from other cultures that I felt were really contributing – Creole, Spanish, African-American and French with a little Italian and a little German. I began to add Southwest and Vietnamese flavors, too.” Lagasse says Emeril’s began as a “from scratch” operation where everything was homemade - from the Worcestershire sauce to the ice creams. He believes in being connected to the land and sea and says it was important from the start to find the best local Louisiana farmers and fishermen to supply pedigree products from which he could create exciting eating experiences his customers would remember. “We sourced mostly locally but also with American products in general. This was the beginning of artisanal farmers, from cheeses to beers, and I began experimenting with these products too,” Lagasse says. “The main thing about this approach, and why I stuck with it so long, is that it evokes the memory of my childhood, and I thought that’s how we should do it and that’s how it should be. Twenty-five years later this is still how we’re running our restaurant.” Emeril’s Chef de Cuisine David Slater says
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he’s really embraced Lagasse’s “New New Orleans” cuisine. “It’s given me a great canvas to work from,” he says. “I use Emeril’s technique and style and add some modern spins to it, keeping it fresh and keeping it present. Chef [Emeril] has a passion that is contagious, so cooking with him is always a treat, and I’m always inspired.” Much has changed in 25 years, including Lagasse’s workload: He now juggles the demands of 12 restaurants, his merchandise brand and the Emeril Lagasse Foundation. On top of that, he says, he’s dealing with changes in the marketplace. “Overall, the dining habits of consumers have changed,” he says. “People used to come in for long dinners with a severalcourse experience, whereas today that’s not so much the case. On top of that, there are more restaurants in New Orleans than ever. It’s motivation for us to always strive to become better and stay current while maintaining the high standards of our food and service.” Lagasse is currently working on his 19th cookbook, “Essential Emeril.” It will feature his Top 100 recipes of all time and is slated 40
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LEFT: Known for “kickin’ it up a notch,” Lagasse has put his own spin on contemporary Creole cuisine. RIGHT: Wine is a significant feature at Emeril’s New Orleans. The restaurant’s collection of approximately 13,000 wines has been recognized among the top in the world for 14 years.
While New Orleans will always be home, the Emeril’s culinary empire has spread far and fast in 25 years. Emeril’s New Orleans (1990) NOLA Restaurant (1992) n Emeril’s New Orleans Fish House (Las Vegas, 1995) n Emeril’s Delmonico (New Orleans, 1998) n Delmonico Steakhouse (Las Vegas, 1999) n Emeril’s Orlando (1999) n Emeril’s Tchoup Chop (Orlando, 2003) n Table 10 (Las Vegas, 2008) n Lagasse’s Stadium (Las Vegas, 2009) n Emeril’s Chop House (Bethlehem, Penn., 2009) n Burgers and More by Emeril (Bethlehem, Penn., 2009) n Emeril’s Italian Table (Bethlehem, Penn., 2011) n E2 Emeril’s Eatery (Charlotte, N.C., 2012) n
for release this October.
Stirring The Pot Lagasse’s restaurant company, Emeril’s Homebase, located at 829 St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans, houses restaurant operations, a culinary test kitchen for cookbook and recipe development, and a boutique store for signature products. Eric Linquest, President and COO of Emeril’s Homebase, says to stay on top you need to remain ahead of the curve, know your customer and adapt to their needs. “Being able to do that has led us to where we are today,” he says. “There isn’t any unique formula for pricing our menus other than wanting to give our guests a quality experience and overall value for their dollar when they patronize our restaurant.” Emeril’s New Orleans Barbecue Shrimp is one of the defining dishes of Emeril’s “New
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For 25th anniversary recipes, visit: Emerils.com/tags/emerils-25th-anniversary
Photos by Cheryl Gerber
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“The fact we were able to establish the Emeril Lagasse Foundation is one of my biggest personal joys, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the success of my flagship restaurant,” Lagasse says. The foundation has supported an organic garden and healthy school meals program called The Edible Schoolyard at Samuel J. Green Charter Elementary School since 2006.
Schoolyard New Orleans; an accessible learning kitchen for special needs students at St. Michael Special School; a four-year culinary arts program for high school students with a master-apprentice curriculum at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts; the Emeril Lagasse Foundation Hospitality Center at Café Reconcile; and hospitality training for at-risk youth at Liberty’s Kitchen. To date, the Foundation has distributed more than $6 million in grants benefiting children’s charities in New Orleans, Las Vegas and along the Gulf Coast. Lagasse received the 2013 Humanitarian of the Year by the James Beard Foundation for his philanthropic efforts to further the culinary arts in America.
Still Kickin’ New Orleans” cuisine, Linquest says, and has proved to be the restaurant’s most popular plate. Approximately 375,000 have been served, an average of 41 a day for 25 years. Emeril’s has also sold more than 2.8 million slices of its creamy, dreamy Banana Cream Pie with graham cracker crust, caramel sauce and chocolate shavings. Selling at a current $8 a pop, that’s over $22 million in sales in just pie. Tony Lott, who started as a busboy at Emeril’s when it opened, is now the director of operations at Emeril’s Homebase. He says many restaurants open and grow slowly into niches, adjusting to who and what they want to become along the way. Not so with Emeril’s. “Emeril knew his vision and was able to put the whole package together from the beginning,” says Lott. “When we first opened, we were one of the only modern New Orleans restaurants. Now there are so many incredibly talented chefs and restaurateurs in this city, so it’s a lot more competitive.” Delaune says the main objective is to stay foremost on their customers’ minds and make guests feel Lagasse’s presence in the restaurant. “I’d like to think, at least, that we have made some sort of culinary impact,” Lagasse says. “I look around at the amazing talent in this city and all the great chefs. I’m honored 42
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that many have come through the kitchen at Emeril’s. It’s exciting to see how the dining scene has changed.” Lagasse says Emeril’s is always evolving, including the addition of a new mixologist tasked with creating cocktails to add to the restaurant’s list of 13,000 wines - named one of the greatest wine lists in the world for 14 years running by Wine Spectator magazine. Chef Slater also recently introduced “Omagasse.” A new take on the Japanese “Omakase,” the chef-inspired multi course dinner experience is served at the restaurant’s food bar. “It’s never about going to work,” Lagasse says. “It’s about being around a team that has the same passion and vision of where you’re trying to go.”
Serving It Up “The fact we were able to establish the Emeril Lagasse Foundation is one of my biggest personal joys, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the success of my flagship restaurant,” he says. “I feel fortunate to have been able to create the Foundation back in 2002 to support children’s educational programs that inspire and mentor young people through the culinary arts.” Projects funded by the Foundation include an outdoor classroom, gardens, a fresh foods cafeteria and teaching kitchen at Edible
While Emeril’s has built a strong international fan base and developed a foundation for benevolence, it has also proven itself a beacon of Southern-style resolve and resilience. “Before Hurricane Katrina, Emeril’s was at an all-time high,” Lagasse says. “The restaurant was iconic, and people from all over the world were coming to New Orleans to visit the restaurant. After Katrina, we came back to a new playing field and certainly had lost some of that great momentum we had. It was a struggle on multiple levels. Without the loyalty of our customers, the support from the restaurant industry and the City of New Orleans, we wouldn’t be here today, and we’re forever thankful for that.” Lagasse says it was inspiring to see the culinary scene rally following Katrina, leading to what he estimates was a 30 percent increase in the number of local restaurants. Undeterred by the competition, Lagasse says he took the opportunity to make Emeril’s even better. “My greatest accomplishment would have to be this milestone,” Lagasse says of Emeril’s anniversary. “I’m humbled and thankful to the City of New Orleans and to all the customers who have come through our doors. Being open for 25 years is a pretty astounding thing, and it’s hard to believe that time has gone by.” n
Photos by Cheryl Gerber
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Photo by Cheryl Gerber
Rolling Out the $650 Million Welcome Mat A closer look at America’s fastest- growing airport with the man behind MSY - Aviation Director Iftikhar Ahmad By margaret quilter
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pril is going to be a busy month for the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Last year’s Jazz & Heritage Festival boasted attendance figures of approximately 435,000, and as of midMarch, the New Orleans Airport was already reporting a 9.5 percent increase in airport traffic around the festival over last year. Festival or not, on any given day, up to 20,000 passengers make their way through the airport – and that number is set to rise under the continued leadership of the airport’s Aviation Director, Iftikhar Ahmad. Ahmad stepped into the role five years ago when the airport was trying to bounce back from a lull post-Hurricane Katrina. Under his leadership, the airport has since surpassed pre-storm 2004 figures. In 2013, the airport was named the fastest growing in the United States in terms of passenger traffic by Airline Weekly. Within the past five years, nine airlines have been added, along with 19 non-stop destinations. Now, with the new $650 million North Terminal project due to break ground late in the summer of this year, Ahmad expects an increase in both passengers and nonstop service to both national and international destinations. The new terminal should increase the airport’s impact on the regional
economy by approximately 21 percent by the year 2023. “Airports are a community asset,” says Ahmad. “Our mission is to connect our city to the rest of the world in a meaningful way.”
A NATURAL FIT Growing up in Pakistan, Ahmad attended high school in Cyprus, before moving to the United States to attend Oklahoma State University, where he completed a bachelor’s and master’s in civil engineering. “I am actually a licensed engineer in the state of Texas – I used to manage design and construction activities for the Houston airport system when we had about $8 billion of work going on,” Ahmad says. Changing course, Ahmad switched to the operation side of airports, moving from Houston to Nashville, Tenn., and then to Dayton, Ohio, before securing his current position at the New Orleans Airport. “There was an attraction here yo the challenges of the job,” Ahmad says. “I have proven to myself that it was the right decision to come in and do some hard work on behalf of our community.”
GET THE WHITE GLOVES Having spent so much time in airports, Ahmad admits without hesitation that his pet
peeve is lack of airport cleanliness. “Customers deserve respect, and it really speaks to your community and city if you land at an airport and it is not clean – it really forms a bad impression on incoming traffic,” he says. To ensure the airport retains a high level of cleanliness, operations personnel take photos of all parts of the terminal, including bathrooms, every eight hours. Ahmad explains the photos ensure that if anything is out of place, his team can immediately work to get things back in order.
THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING Proclaimed by New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu to be “the most transformative project for New Orleans since the Superdome,” the 650,000-square-foot North Terminal project is currently in the construction document phase - the final step before construction begins late this summer. It’s on track to be fully operational by May 2018 - just in time for the city’s 300th anniversary. “It is going to be open architecture style,” says Ahmad of the new terminal. “It will give a very good first impression of Louisiana and New Orleans to the passengers and visitors coming from around the world to our region.” One of the key features of the new terminal will be the security checkpoint. While the existing terminals have security in front
Iftikhar Ahmad, director of aviation at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. BizNewOrleans.com April 2015
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of each concourse, the North Terminal will have one consolidated checkpoint. This means that during peak traffic times, passengers will be able to flow quickly through 17 lanes instead of four. Other features of the North Terminal will include a tripling of airport restroom facilities, the addition of two aircraft taxi lanes to reduce wait times for planes trying to get to their gate, and a $17 million on-site, state-of-the-art hotel. Passengers will also benefit from an increase in destinations and non-stop flights made possible by the additional terminal. “One of the reasons why we wanted to do the North Terminal project was to cut costs for the airlines here in New Orleans,” says Ahmad. “When we cut costs for the airlines, they become more profitable, and people will do more of what makes them profitable, so we will get more services out of New Orleans to other cities.”
AN ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE A recent study (commissioned by the New Orleans Aviation Board and conducted by local economist and former chancellor of the University of New Orleans Dr. Timothy Ryan and The Mumphrey Group of New Orleans) revealed that in 2013, the airport had a total 46
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The North Terminal will break ground late this summer, with a completion date scheduled for May 2018. Passengers will experience drastically quicker security checkpoint lines, a tripling of airport restroom facilities, and additional destinations and nonstop flights.
economic impact on Greater New Orleans of $5.3 billion. The airport supports approximately 53,300 jobs. Construction of the new terminal will create 13,500 construction-related jobs and have a one-time economic impact of $1.8 billion. Following its completion, the airport’s total economic impact is expected to grow to more than $6.3 billion, with job projections exceeding 64,400.
WHO’S FOOTING THE BILL? Before the 2013 Super Bowl came to New Orleans, the airport spent $300 million on renovations to existing terminals. The sources that feed all of this debt vary. In March, the airport sold General Airport Revenue Bonds (GARBs) in order to secure approximately $486 million. They will also rely on federal and state funding programs and airport revenue that come from both non-airline and airline sources
The Award for Busiest Airline Goes To… Currently, 14 airlines provide service to 46 nonstop destinations out of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Southwest Airlines accounts for just over 40 percent of commercial traffic, followed by a virtual three-way-tie for second place between Delta Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines /US Airways- each accounting for approximately 20 percent.
at the airport. Take away the airport’s annual operating budget of $79 million a year from the total revenue, which hovers around $113 million, and the airport is left with some loose change to defray the cost of the new terminal. “Right now our top priority is to get this terminal built,” says Ahmad. “We need to build it so that it looks and feels like a world-class facility, but that’s not enough either - we have to do it on time and on budget.” Rendering courtesy of Crescent City Aviation Team
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HOW DOES MSY MEASURE UP? Pre-Hurricane Katrina, the airport ranked 40 in the top 100 U.S. airports (ranked by total number of departing passengers and cargo). In 2006, the ranking dropped to No. 56. In 2013 (the most recent ranking) New Orleans was up to No. 37. To date, the airport currently has 14 airlines providing service to 46 nonstop destinations, including three international destinations. The biggest markets for flying into New Orleans are Houston and Atlanta. “The size of the airport is a reflection of the city and the region it serves,” says Ahmad. “We handle 80 percent of Louisiana’s overall passengers, so we are the biggest airport in this state – but it is not just about the sheer number of people; it is also about how many Fortune 500 companies and businesses we have.” Ahmad continues to explain how the type of traffic an airport attracts can make a big financial difference. “New York, for example, has a tremendous amount of business traffic that makes the airlines very profitable,” says Ahmad. “Business traffic is not sensitive to the ticket prices - they will buy their ticket a day or two before and pay a lot more, and the airlines really enjoy those revenues.” 48
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Following the new terminal’s completion, MSY’s total economic impact is expected to grow to more than $6.3 billion, with job projections exceeding 64,400.
New Orleans, on the other hand, relies heavily on leisure travel, a market that is sensitive to ticket pricing. According to the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, 46 percent of visitors to the city arrived by plane in 2013 - estimating that the airport influences about $2.8 billion in direct spending.
SPREADING THE WORD As the airport continues to gain momentum, Ahmad believes the city still needs to invest more in marketing. “Las Vegas, which is a very high leisure market, spent $120 million on marketing just a few years ago,” he says. “If I am not mistaken, we were spending $4 million.” Last year French Quarter and Downtown hotels imposed a self-assessment to fund marketing – an initiative that Ahmad says the city needs more of. “We are gaining ground left and right,” he says. “This community has a really bright future, and we as a city and a region need to invest more in marketing so that more people will come and visit us from around the country and the world.” n
What’s In a Name? Originally a U.S. government air base, commercial service to New Orleans airport began in 1946 when it was known as Moisant Field, in honor of aviation pioneer John Bevins Moisant. A nod to the airport’s history, the three-letter identifier (MSY) stands for Moisant Stock Yards. In August 2001, New Orleans International Airport became Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in honor of the famous native-born musician’s 100th birthday.
Did you know? For three days during the evacuation of Hurricane Katrina, MSY was the busiest airport in the world. n 88.4 million - pounds of air freight and mail that passed through the airport in 2014 (67.6 percent came through Federal Express). n 9,785,394 – number of domestic and international passengers through the airport in 2014 n The city of Kenner benefits from over 7,000 jobs and $32.8 million in annual tax revenues created by the airport.
Rendering courtesy of Crescent City Aviation Team
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Food, Photography and Flair A look at three local businesses who owe it all to Jazz Fest. by Sarah Ravits
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he New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival has long been an outlet for exposing the international community to the art, food and music that characterizes and evolves with the city since the festival first appeared in Congo Square in 1970. Now the second-most popular event in Louisiana after Carnival, the festival is also an economic boon for the city - estimated to draw almost $300 million annually, according to the nonprofit side of the festival, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. In addition to elevating the careers of the thousands of musicians who take the stage each year, the festival has played an equally instrumental role in shaping the futures of several of its local vendors.
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Photo courtesy of Vaucresson’s Sausage Co.
A Family Sausage Legacy Take, for example, Vaucresson’s Sausage Co. Founded in 1899, the business has played a crucial role in Jazz Fest since its first year. “My grandfather [Robert L. Vaucresson] was a butcher,” explains Vance Vaucresson, current president of the company. “He opened up a stall at the St. Bernard Market, which is now Circle Food Store.” A few years before the first fest, Robert L. Vaucresson’s son, Robert “Sonny” Vaucresson, opened Vaucresson’s Cafe Creole with Larry Borenstein. The Bourbon Street cafe was popular for about a decade before the bar scene took over the area in the ’70s. “We were one of the first restaurants in the French Quarter to really showcase Creole cooking from the Creoles of color perspective.” During an early conversation about Jazz Fest, Allan Jaffe of Preservation Hall, Borenstein and Jazz Fest founder George Wein asked Sonny Vaucresson if he’d be
Photo by Frank Relle
interested in selling food there. He obliged, and Vaucresson’s Sausage has been a mainstay ever since. Forty-five years later, the sausage legacy continues at Jazz Fest: Vaucresson says his family’s company sells thousands of pounds of sausage over the seven-day festival. Vaucresson says the food at Jazz Fest is every bit of a draw as the music. “Food took a backseat in the beginning, but now it’s right up there,” he says, noting the festival’s “Food Olympics” in 1976, which attracted journalists from The New York Times and other large media outlets. “The fest exposed our products to locals outside of the 7th Ward neighborhood, and also to international fans and to people who come here every year.” But it’s not just the cuisine that has gained widespread acclaim at Jazz Fest. The arts and crafts areas are an equally important cultural draw.
Local photographer Frank Relle was accepted as a Jazz Fest vendor in 2005. His “Nightscapes” series won over judges, giving birth to his career.
Waiter to World-Traveling Artist Frank Relle, a photographer who has sold his work at Jazz Fest since 2005, says that as a f ledgling photographer before he was selected as a vendor he made ends meet by working as a waiter. “Jazz Fest created my career,” he says. “The first place I ever showed my work was at Jazz Fest, five months before Hurricane Katrina. I applied to be a vendor with only five photographs in my portfolio.” Though it was seemingly a long shot, Relle’s theatrical, dramatic portraits of New Orleans at night struck a chord with festival staff, who voted to give him a chance. “I realized I needed more than five photographs to go out there,” he says, noting that he spent the next few months creating the first 15 photographs in his “Nightscapes’ collection. BizNewOrleans.com April 2015
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Relle sold enough photographs that first year to quit waiting tables and pursue his passion full-time. He now remains based in the area but travels internationally for work. According to Relle, Jazz Fest offers something very valuable to local vendors - a concentrated market of people with an interest in local culture in one place for one period of time. “There are New Orleans lovers all over the United States who appreciate photographs depicting New Orleans culture, but it’s only during Jazz Fest that they are all in New Orleans,” he says.
Healing Wares Another vendor, now going into her third year at Jazz Fest, with an unexpected – and healing – success story is Stephany Lyman, who sells her wares in the Contemporary Crafts area. When her sister passed away three years ago, Lyman pursued a therapeutic hobby to help her grieving process. That hobby eventually became “Side Kicks,” a business where she sells purses made from recycled cowboy boots, wingtip shoes, belts and
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Side Kicks offers purses made from recycled cowboy boots, wingtip shoes and belts. Stephany Lyman’s work went from a hobby to a second career thanks to Jazz Fest.
other accoutrements with local f lair. “It was my way of literally putting one foot in front of the other,” she says. At the time, Lyman had recently retired from a longtime teaching career as an English professor at the University of New Orleans, and though it wasn’t intended to become her second career, the craft booth at Jazz Fest changed her trajectory. “The Contemporary Crafts [area] at Jazz Fest made this venture into more than an outlet for healing,” she says. “Besides being incredibly validating, Jazz Fest exposes artists to people from all over, from tourists and music enthusiasts to collectors and shop owners, and thus affords plenty of opportunity to exhibit elsewhere or sell one’s work in shops beyond New Orleans.” Vaucresson echoes the sentiment: “It’s a pleasure to be associated with a groundbreaking entity,” he says. “We owe our business to Jazz Fest.” n
Did You Know? Responsible for much more than just its namesake, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is also the force behind free community events, including: n
Crescent City Blues & BBQ
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Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Fest
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Congo Square New World Rhythms
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Treme Creole Gumbo Festival
The foundation also bolsters after-school music and arts education, in-school education and cultural documentation. One of its latest milestones was the 2014 opening of The George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center, at 1225 N. Rampart St. A tribute to the pioneering festival producers, the former funeral home building was updated to feature seven classrooms, music labs and high-tech audio and video recording capabilities. The center is open year-round for a variety of educational and cultural programs open to the community.
Photos courtesy of Stephany Lyman
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Perspectives A closer look at hot topics in three southeast Louisiana industries
56 Food & Wine
62 Legal
66 Real Estate &
Construction
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Perspectives | Food & Wine
Private events make up 42 percent of the revenue stream for Ralph’s on the Park.
Let’s Get Together Both restaurants and business organizations benefit from “steady dates.” By Judi Russell
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f it’s Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., you can count on finding Jude Heath at Andrea’s Restaurant. Heath belongs to the New Orleans Wealth in Networking chapter of Business Networking International (BNI), and the club’s 50-plus members meet every Tuesday morning at Andrea’s to enjoy a hot breakfast, to chat and to carry out business. Hosting standing breakfast, lunch and dinner meetings is smart business for restaurants like Andrea’s. It gives the eateries both a steady source of income and a way to spread the word about their food. For their part, organizations benefit from the continuity that comes from holding their meetings at the same place each week or month. There’s no worrying about whether the host restaurant has enough chairs or suitable AV equipment, and they can count on members enjoying the food. Heath said his group wanted to meet at a white tablecloth restaurant that could provide a full breakfast for members and their
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guests. “You need something more than a cafeteria,” he says. He says his club likes working with Andrea’s because it is locally owned. “Dealing with a large, national chain restaurant can be a little more complicated,” he says. Wealth in Networking prefers breakfast meetings so members can go straight to work. “Lunch meetings chop up the day,” Heath adds. According to Tia Sommerville, sales director and general manager for Andrea’s, the restaurant has a fair number of regular groups, thanks surely in part to the fact that its five private rooms can open to a grand ballroom, giving Andrea’s the ability to accommodate groups from 30 to 350-400. Of course space and ambience are important, but since this is New Orleans, most groups put a high premium on what’s on the plates. “We’re known for our fish,” Sommerville says. “We make our pasta fresh in-house.”
Photo Courtesy of Ralph’s on the Park
“Dealing with a large, national chain restaurant can be a little more complicated,” says Jude Heath, a member of the New Orleans Wealth in Networking chapter of Business Networking International. The group meets monthly at Andrea’s Restaurant.
Ralph’s on the Park At Ralph’s on the Park, private events make up 42 percent of the revenue stream, according to General Manager David Hart. For that reason, Ralph’s has separate private dining menus and a dedicated events staff. Most of the private events held at the restaurant are one-time affairs, but some groups do have standing dates, Hart says. Parties and meetings are usually held upstairs, where the restaurant has several rooms. Hart attributes Ralph’s popularity to a number of factors, including its convenient location, beautiful City Park views and varied cuisine. Ordinary “banquet food” might fly in some cities, but local diners expect to dine well, whether at a club meeting or a wedding reception. The Corporate Connection – Executive Connections chapter of BNI has met at Ralph’s on the Park every Wednesday at 8 a.m. for four years. Holly McCollum, president of the chapter, says members like being able to invite guests to a well-known restaurant like Ralph’s for their weekly meetings. “The restaurant always provides an elegant breakfast,” McCollum says. Criollo at the Hotel Monteleone According to Kent Wasmuth, director of sales and marketing at Photo courtesy of Andrea’s Restaurant
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Hotel Monteleone, hosting a standing group is an effective way for restaurants to market themselves to business people. The Monteleone’s Criollo restaurant features a main dining room that seats 70, as well as two private dining rooms that seat 18 and 16. Wasmuth notes Criollo’s open-air kitchen, expansive windows and farm-to-table cuisine are all part of what makes it an ideal place for business lunches. Accommodating guests’ preferences is all in a day’s work for a hotel, Wasmuth says, so catering to a private party’s wishes is never a problem. Criollo menus emphasize Louisiana foods, and change seasonally. Ralph Brennan’s Heritage Grill Business people usually don’t have time to linger over lunch, so clubs have to pick a restaurant that can get their members in and out efficiently. That’s one reason the local chapter of the American Business Women’s Association holds its monthly lunches at Ralph Brennan’s Heritage Grill. “They do a phenomenal job,” says ABWA President-elect Rachel Nunez. “They know our schedule.” Members can select from a choice of entrees when they register online, and vegetarian dishes and salads are available. Nunez says the food comes out quickly as each program begins, and desserts and coffee are usually served before the speaker is finished, so by 1 p.m. members are ready to head back to work. According to Melissa Ursin, director of catering and sales with Ralph Brennan Catering, a great meeting restaurant is stocked with more than just good food and efficient staff. “Heritage Grill is an easy fit for meetings because it is well supplied with all the audio-visual equipment a group could need,” she says. The restaurant also has plenty of parking, both covered and surface, and is easy to reach from the CBD or Metairie. 58
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1: Criollo at the Hotel Monteleone offers a main dining room that seats 70, as well as two private dining rooms that seat 18 and 16. 2: The New Orleans chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosts its monthly luncheon at Ralph Brennan’s Heritage Grill. 3: The Roosevelt Hotel’s Blue Room hosts most events for the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Louisiana.
Ursin says on the restaurant’s side of things, building relationships with clubs is a way to fill space at a time that might normally be slow. Club members impressed by their weekly or monthly lunches are also more likely to book dinners, showers, and other events at the restaurant. The Roosevelt Hotel’s Blue Room The Association for Corporate Growth Louisiana (ACG), a resource group for professionals in mergers and acquisitions, has held its monthly lunches at the Blue Room in The Roosevelt Hotel for two years. “We like having it at a hotel rather than a restaurant,” says Executive Director Christie Andras-Royster. ACG’s meetings run from 11 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m. To save time, the group has the salad and dessert pre-plated, and beverages are already in place when members arrive. “The hotel always has a gluten-free and vegetarian option available,” Andras-Royster says, adding that members like the Downtown location since many work at Place St. Charles or other CBD buildings. The opulence of the Blue Room is a big draw, too. “The room is so magnificent,” she says. “It adds an elegance to the luncheon.” Formerly a popular supper club, the Blue Room is available for private parties, including meetings, weddings and all types of corporate events, says Sebastian Stutz, director of operations at The Roosevelt, noting that the hotel’s size and experience mean it can handle just about any request. n photo courtesy of Criollo
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Photos courtesy of Ralph Brennan’s Heritage Grill (top) and The Roosevelt Hotel (bottom)
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Tips From the Pros
Personal Wine Collections: What you need to know to protect your investment By Betsy clement, gillis ellis baker
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f you’re relying on your basic homowners policy to cover your wine collection, you need to read the fine print. Many policies have exclusions that will lead to a denial of coverage for things like spoilage, loss caused by extreme temperatures, dampness or dryness, or loss that is the result of a power outage. Anyone with a decent wine collection should think about fully protecting their investment by insuring it on a collections policy. The following are some tips when insuring.
Know the benefits of a collections policy. Unlike with a homeowners policy, a collections policy is “all risk,” meaning your wine collection is covered for almost every claim scenario. n Collections policies have no deductible. You are covered for a loss from the first dollar. n Coverage extends worldwide, so whether your wine is in a home cellar, a storage facility or warehouse, or in transit, it’s protected.
There are two ways to insure under a collections policy. Individually schedule: For those highervalue bottles, you’ll want to specifically list n
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each bottle with a description and appraised value. If you have a loss, the carrier will pay out that scheduled value. n Blanket coverage: Uses one lump sum to protect your collection on a blanket basis. This is a great choice if you are regularly growing your collection but may forget to report new acquisitions to your agent. Just know your policy’s per-bottle limit.
Involve your carrier in your collection. n Many high-end carriers offer risk management services for no additional fee. Specialists on staff can answer your storage or transportation questions. Some will even visit your home or storage facility to evaluate the conditions and make suggestions to improve them. The carrier Chubb, for example, uses thermal imaging to identify areas of temperature fluctuation that could be harmful to your wines.
What’s in a name? n This city’s oppressive humidity won’t ruin just your hair - it can also cause mold to grow on bottles or labels. n If your wine cellar floods, the wines may survive, but the labels may not. An illegible label could diminish, or even eradicate, that
bottle’s value. The purpose of a collections policy is to insure not just the wine itself, but the wine’s value. So, no label, no problem - if you’re properly insured.
Final sips : n Most companies only require appraisals for bottles valued over $10,000. But appraisals are a good idea for all collections so you know its actual value. n Keep an accurate inventory and don’t forget to report any significant acquisitions to your agent right away. Though many carriers will give you a grace period for reporting, you don’t want to miss that window. n Don’t forget to also insure your storage space. Control systems, or anything else you install in your home to help with wine storage, should be insured under your homeowners policy. n If you value your wine collection, make sure you pick an insurance agent who does, too. You want someone who understands the best available coverages and represents the carriers that can provide them.
Cheers! n
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Perspectives | Legal
Next Year Will Be Better What individuals and small businesses can do now to make next year’s tax season less taxing By Judi Russell
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f you had to scramble (or are still scrambling) to get your 2014 tax return filed on time, give yourself a break and start right now to take steps to make next year’s filing run smoothly. “Be proactive,” says Michelle Archambault, a CPA and senior tax manager at Hannis T. Bourgeois LLC. “Get some kind of personal finance software. If you keep
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up monthly, at the end of the year you don’t have all this paperwork to go through.” Keeping organized, easily accessible records is one way to make tax season less onerous. Another is to keep in touch with your tax preparer during the year. “Don’t wait until April to talk taxes,” says Matt Miller, a tax lawyer at Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer who says business
owners need to think ahead. “By touching base early, you have time to take financially advantageous steps, such as making charitable gifts in a manner that will give you the best deductions. You can discuss whether buying machinery or equipment will allow you to take depreciation deductions, or figure out how to best offset your capital gains.”
Photo Thinkstock
Miller also reminds self-employed clients to keep tabs on their estimated tax payments. “Make sure you are current,” he says. Other tips include: n If you have unreimbursed mileage, document your auto expenses as you go. Don’t try to re-create a log. n Investigate whether paying year-end bonuses can lower your small business income. n For older clients, make sure you are taking the required mandatory distributions from your IRA.
“Keep documents that reflect income you received and expenditures you’ve made.”
-Rob Wollfarth, tax lawyer with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. It’s especially important to get in touch with your tax preparer if your year included a significant life event, such as marriage, divorce or the birth of a child. These events trigger tax consequences you need to address in a timely manner. “The earlier we get the information, the more opportunity we have to do something to get the deduction,” Archambault says. Take a good look at your withholding, too, says Rob Wollfarth, a tax lawyer with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. Getting a refund from the IRS isn’t the good news TV ads make it out to be. Instead, it means you’ve given the government an interest-free loan for an entire year. “Clients are often uncertain about which documents to keep and which to pitch,” Wollfarth says. His advice? “Keep documents that ref lect income you received and expenditures you’ve made.” On the income side, watch your mail for appropriate W2s and 1099s. On the expense side, you should have receipts and invoices. “It’s particularly important if you sold property,” he says, so you can show the property’s original cost and what you sold it for. If you have income from international sources (such as foreign accounts), Wollfarth says to pay attention to the additional reporting requirements placed on these accounts. Failure to do so can trigger significant penalties. “Money that goes for taxes can’t be saved for retirement,” says Emmett Dupas, a wealth management advisor with Northwestern Mutual. He recommends making sure you are putting the maximum allowed into any retirement plans you have, such as 401(k)s or Photo courtesy Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC
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IRAs. “A company’s qualified plan is an easy way for employees to save, while reducing taxable income,” he says. Only payroll deductions can go into these retirement accounts, Dupas points out. For those fortunate enough to inherit a good sum of money, he advises using it for living expenses, and then upping your payroll deduction to put that same amount of money away. The limit for 2015 is $18,000; those 50 and older are permitted an additional $6,000 for “catch up.” It’s difficult to qualify for medical expense deductions, says Greg Booth, a certified public accountant with Postlethwaite & Netterville. Unreimbursed medical expenses have to exceed a threshold of between 7.5 percent and 10 percent of annual income – a number that’s usually hard to hit. Deductions for child care are easier to come by, he says, thanks to the child independent care credit on the federal income tax return. The credit can be taken if both parents are working and there is no income limit.
What lies ahead Actions by Congress have made planning for 2015 taxes tricky, says Christian Weiler, a tax lawyer with Weiler & Rees. In late December 2014, a lame-duck Congress extended a whole raft of tax deductions ret64
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roactive back to January of that year. These included some 50 individual and business tax deductions and credits. Will these expire at the end of this year, or will Congress extend them again, retroactive to January 2015? Weiler says that not knowing the answer to this question can make it almost impossible to plan well. “I don’t think anything is going to change,” he says. “I presume it will be extended once again.” The situation is even more complicated, he says, because many times policies the government wants to implement are pushed through in the form of tax savings or tax credits. He points to the Earned Income Tax Credit as an example. “It’s a great program with lots of benefits to people who need it, but very difficult for the IRS to administer,” he says. The onus is on the preparer to determine whether a client is eligible for the credit. Plus, the credit itself isn’t really a refund, in that it’s not necessarily a return of money paid in taxes. The IRS is also charged with monitoring the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, referred to as “ObamaCare,” and taxpayers need to make sure they are in compliance with the law. Booth says he’d like to see Congress pass some corporate tax reform. The United States
“It’s a great program with lots of benefits to people who need it, but very difficult for the IRS to administer,” says tax lawyer Christian Weiler of the Earned Income Tax Credit.
has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, he says, and there is some bipartisan support to lower the corporate tax rate but expand the number of companies affected by it. “That would include getting rid of some specific deductions and credits that target specific industries,” he says. Even though there is often a lot of rhetoric about “taxing the rich,” experts doubt the highest tax rate will jump much higher. Right now it’s 39.6 percent, which can climb to between 44 and 45 percent when you add in the self-employment tax. “I don’t see that going any higher anytime soon,” Booth says. Another reform people clamor for is making tax filing less complicated. Again, experts doubt this improvement will ever happen. CPA Archambault says that when she entered the profession, the so-called Simplification Act came out. “Actually,” she says, “it made things a lot more complicated, and the complexity has just kept growing.” She says it’s the reason so many taxpayers have to turn to people like her to make sure they are paying their fair share and not a penny more. n Photo Thinkstock
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Perspectives | Real Estate & Construction
Caption
New Orleans: A Work in Progress Commercial construction in the city is booming. By PAMELA marquis
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eems like everywhere you look in the New Orleans area these days you see backhoe loaders, huge excavators and rolling scaffold towers. Nationally, the American Institute of Architects predicts that commercial construction spending will increase 8 percent in 2015. As the economy continues to stabilize, non-residential construction will continue to grow, stimulated by declining office and retail vacancies, as well as growing commercial property values. Led by the hotel and retail project categories, the commercial sector expects to see the biggest gains in construction spending, with demand for institutional projects increasing
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at a more moderate level. Richard Tyler, construction practice chair of New Orleans law firm Jones Walker, says the city is seeing significant activity in commercial construction, “especially in the construction of multi-family housing and associated amenities, particularly in the CBD (Central Business District), such as the Domain Companies’ South Market District development. Outside of New Orleans, there are numerous significant projects involving heavy manufacturing and the petrochemical industry.” Following is a look at the latest projects from local commercial construction companies.
The McDonnel Group This Louisiana-based general contractor, located in Metairie, specializes in groundup new construction, additions, interior and exterior renovations and remodeling services. Currently, The McDonnel Group boasts annual revenue in excess of $100 million. The company’s most notable project is the work they are doing on what was previously known as the Jung Hotel. Once the largest and grandest hotel in the Southern United States, the site is now undergoing a massive redevelopment. The Jung Hotel will soon consist of 338 residential apartments, an extended-stay hotel, ground-f loor commercial space and a
Photo courtesy of CM Combs
CM Combs Construction recently completed the Andrew Higgins Bridge, which connects the pavilion and theater museums at the National WWII Museum with a sky bridge over Andrew Higgins Blvd.
large parking garage. Its grand opening is planned to coincide with the opening of the new University Medical Center and the Veterans Affairs Hospital of New Orleans. It’s intended to attract medical students and medical staff of the nearby BioMedical District, another major boom in commercial construction. Other projects by McDonnel include Jefferson Parish Data Center, Paul Dunbar Elementary School and Lake Forest Elementary. Next up are a few redevelopment projects: World Trade Center and Plaza Tower. Chase Marshall Architects Nick Marshall is the design director for Chase Marshall Architects and the son of a fireman. As such, he says he finds it very satisfying that his firm designs fire stations across Louisiana, from Violet to Arabi. “It’s great working with the various municipalities and designing functioning buildings for our state’s firefighters and first responders,” Marshall says. Other projects by Chase Marshall include Price House, NOLA Residential Project and the Entergy office in Chalmette. CM Combs Construction CM Combs specializes in commercial and custom residential construction in Southeast Louisiana, often working with public entities such as the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the Louisiana Stadium and the Exposition District. Recently, they finished work at the National W WII Museum, completing the Andrew Higgins BizNewOrleans.com April 2015
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TOP: Chase Marshall Architects has been busy designing fire stations across Louisiana, like this one - Fire Station 11 in Yscloskey. BOTTOM: New Orleans is experiencing a surge in construction, especially with multi-family housing.
Bridge, which connects the pavilion and theater museums with a sky bridge over Andrew Higgins Boulevard. Other recent projects include: enhancements at Zephyr Stadium, Verdad Real Estate’s New Orleans headquarters on Camp St., the renovation of the St. Tammany Parish public defender’s office and the renovation of old Whitney Building in Slidell. Next up: a medical complex and an art museum in Covington. Hot spots for commercial construction Marshall says he feels it is very positive that Greater New Orleans is moving away from the use of federal assistance money and beginning to generate its own revenues for commercial construction. “We are coming alive again,” he says. “I also think it is important that we are renovating our historic theaters. These renovations will bring more commerce into the area.” Chris Combs, owner of CM Combs Construction, is excited about the area’s expanding entertainment industry and thinks one of the hottest spots for commercial construction right now is in Uptown New Orleans. But many other contractors view the area’s hot spot as South Market District, which they feel is responsible for transforming New Orleans’ historic downtown. South Market encompasses a five-block area at the intersection of the Warehouse District, Central Business District, medical district and sports/entertainment district. It is a mixed-use, transit-oriented development combining luxury apartments with shops, cafes and restaurants and entertainment venues. The district will include more than 700 new luxury apartments, 200,000 square feet of retail space - including a 40,000 square-foot, full-service gourmet grocer - and 1,300 garage parking spaces. Marshall agrees South Market is hot. “But we are also waiting to see what will happen along Tulane Ave,” he says. “That area is going to boom very soon.” Spurring development along is BioDistrict New Orleans, which encompasses 1,500 acres spanning the Downtown and MidCity areas of New Orleans. The project is estimated to cost more than $3 billion for construction, create 3,600 construction jobs 68
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Photo courtesy of Chase Marshall Architects and Thinkstock
and offer 11.6 million square feet in new commercial space. This project alone is estimated to have a $3.3 billion local economic impact. Building in New Orleans Brian Katz, a partner with the law firm Herman, Herman & Katz, notes several challenges commercial constructors face when designing for and building in New Orleans, the largest of which he says is handling the city’s humidity. “The biggest problem I have encountered after the completion of a building is moisture intrusion,” he says. “A building in New Orleans must be designed and constructed with moisture intrusion as its biggest concern. A building that can be built most anywhere else will not work here and litigation will result if this issue is not properly addressed.” Allan McDonnel, president of the McDonnel Group, agrees that building in New Orleans presents specific problems. “Annual rainfall, soils conditions, limited labor market and limited talent pool compared to larger markets are all real challenges,” he says. But McDonnel also sees some real advan-
tages in doing business in the city. “There’s a fairly good base of subcontractors, not a lot of large contractors to drive fees down, and good building officials are real advantages,” he says. Legal Issues There are various legal issues and requirements, such as licensing, liens, prompt payment, and anti-indemnity statute, that are unique to the construction industry. “The key is advising the client at the front-end about the various risk elements and giving them guidance on how to manage them,” Tyler says. “I really don’t do much on the front end,” says Katz. “What I try to do is spend time on negotiating the construction and design contracts and making sure they have laid the groundwork to get the building they want built. It is very expensive to litigate over a construction or design dispute.” looking ahead Even with all the challenges and legal issues, the future of commercial construction in New Orleans is especially bright. Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc., shares his thoughts.
“Commercial construction is strong in New Orleans right now,” he says. “From exciting new projects like South Market, to adaptive reuses, like the World Trade Center (made possible by historic tax credits). New Orleans is seeing more construction than any time since the ’80s. The bottom line is the New Orleans market is very good and getting even better.” n
Commercial Permit Jump Boosts St. Tammany Economy In the fourth quarter of 2014, commercial building permits rose in St. Tammany Parish by nearly 30 percent. “Though the first six months of 2014 were slower than we like to see, a positive surge in the second half of the year significantly impacted our economy,” says Brenda Bertus, CEO of the St. Tammany Economic Development Foundation (STEDF). Permit growth for the year ended at 10.4 percent, surpassing the economic expansion of the parish, which increased by 2.5 percent.
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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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Great Offices
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All His Ducks In a Row Robert Merrick, CEO of Latter & Blum Companies, showcases his private hobbies and collections in his own bit of real estate. By Bonnie Warren | Photography by Cheryl Gerber
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obert Merrick’s office has all the characteristics of a handsome man cave – comfy leather furniture, shelves filled with hand-carved duck decoys, favorite photos of him catching big fish and a TV. His is a quiet space outside of the normal traffic pattern of the busy headquarters of Latter & Blum Companies on Notre Dame Street in the Warehouse District. “I like the quietness of my office tucked in the back corner of the building we renovated after our previous headquarters was damaged in Hurricane Katrina,” says the CEO of the largest full-service real estate brokerage in the Gulf South.
While it has a laid back air, Merrick says his den-like office, and the adjoining conference table in the next room, have been the scene of some large deals. “This office is conducive to getting the job done,” says the New Orleans native who recently celebrated his 70th birthday. “There is an intimate feeling here that makes for a pleasant business atmosphere.” Looking around, you will see printed signs of the companies that make up Latter & Blum today. “We are the leader in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Lake Charles, and Central Louisiana,” he says, calling out all the names of the company’s affiliates. Latter & Blum Companies employs
approximately 2,000 workers - 60 percent of which, Merrick says, have been with the company 10 years or longer. When pressed further to talk about a great deal that was consummated in his office, Merrick pulls his chair closer and tells how he created a multi-million-dollar windfall without investing a dime of his own money through a once-in-a-lifetime land swap. When pushed to provide details, he smiles and says, “It’s a secret.” Merrick sits at his desk, stacked with pending business deals, then turns around and points to the table behind him, to his gallery of family photos. “I have four daughters and 10
LEFT: Robert Merrick, CEO of Latter & Blum Companies, at the large table in his office where he views maps of upcoming projects. TOP: The sitting room in Merrick’s office is a quiet space in a corner of the first floor that lies out of the normal traffic pattern of the busy headquarters of Latter & Blum Companies. It features shelves showcasing Merrick’s collection of hand-carved duck decoys made by Louisiana craftsmen.
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grandchildren and there are photographs of all of them somewhere in my photo collection,” he says. Not a neat-nick by any stretch of the imagination, the wall along the floor of one side of the room is stacked with photos that haven’t yet made it to the gallery, such as his portrait by noted New Orleans artist Newt Reynolds, a gift from his sister Patricia Brinson, next to framed awards for philanthropic donations. Merrick seems to have a special affinity for a chair the University of New Orleans (UNO) gave him after he endowed the Robert W. Merrick/Latter & Blum, Inc./ Realtors Endowed Chair in Real Estate to the University 10 years ago. “It’s a pretty classy chair,” he says, standing behind the chair with a gold emblem on the front and a plaque denoting his endowment on the back. “It isn’t anything fancy, but it is a nice thank you reminder of my gift.” It isn’t surprising that UNO awarded Merrick an honorary doctorate last year, not only in honor of his financial contributions, but also for his service for chairing the business school‘s advisory board and the university’s board of trustees. With a little prodding, Merrick offers up a quick list of charities that have benefited from his generosity - Junior Achievement, United Way for the Greater New Orleans Area, the American Red Cross, Boy Scouts of America, and St. Martin’s School and
Tulane University, where he was educated. Certificates of appreciation and other awards for giving are spread throughout his office. But there is one honor of which he is particularly proud. “I am grateful to have my name on the American Red Cross Monument in Washington, DC,” he says. “It is an honor only bestowed on the top 25 individual contributors in the country who have donated $1 million or more to the American Red Cross.” Merrick doesn’t want to leave the subject of his charitable giving before mentioning one aspect of his giving that is near and dear to his heart. “There is nothing I am more proud of than our commitment to the higher education of the children of our employees and associates,” he says. “We have granted 330 scholarships, valued at almost a half a million dollars since 1991.” It is easy to see why a busy executive such as Merrick needs a quiet place to work. “I love everything about this office,” he says. “Coming to work here is a pleasure and I am usually in my office by 7:30 a.m. each day.” Then he lowers his voice like he is sharing a secret as he adds, “But I do slip away on Friday afternoons during hunting season.” One of Merrick’s favorite sports is hunting wild turkeys near his farm in Poplaville, Mississippi. He also prides himself in being quite the fly-fisherman, pointing to several framed photos taken with his prize catches around the office.
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1: Merrick’s spacious office features a large table for viewing plans and maps, with corner tables behind his desk. 2: The new stairway in the headquarters of Latter & Blum Companies demonstrates the building’s contemporary flair. 3: The reception area of Merrick’s office features traditional furnishings. 4: A large courtyard on the first floor of the building features a decorative fountain 5: The chair given to Merrick by the University of New Orleans after he endowed the Robert W. Merrick/ Latter & Blum, Inc/Realtors Endowed Chair in Real Estate to the University.
the collector “I credit Charles Frank with introducing me to the joys of collecting duck decoys,” Merrick says. “He was an authority on the carving and painting of the decoys and he passed along his passion for collecting to me.” The shelves in the sitting room of Merrick’s office were designed especially to display his impressive collection of hand-carved decoys, and he is quick to tell you that he is a member of the Louisiana Wildfowl Carvers and Collectors Guild. When asked to single out his favorite duck decoy, he answers simply, “I like all of them.” n
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Q&A - Biz Person of the Month
Doing the French Quarter Fest Hustle
French Quarter Festivals, Inc. Executive Director Marci Schramm says the festival brought $251 million to New Orleans last year.
Executive Director Marci Schramm provides a peek into the “organized insanity” behind the largest free music festival in the South. By Carolyn Heneghan - Photos by Cheryl gerber
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reated in 1984 as a way to bring residents back to the French Quarter following the World’s Fair, the French Quarter Festival (FQF) has grown from a free neighborhood shindig to the largest showcase of Louisiana music on the planet. Last year attendance numbers reached over 732,000 – representing an almost even split of locals and domestic and international visitors. FQF is one of three events run by the nonprofit organization French
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Quarter Festivals, Inc. (FQFI), which also runs Satchmo SummerFest (celebrating 15 years this year) and Christmas New Orleans Style, (celebrating 31 years this year). In early March, FQFI Executive Director Marci Schramm took a breather from her busy schedule to give Biz New Orleans an inside look at one of the Crescent City’s favorite events, held this year April 9-12.
Biz New Orleans: What’s the story behind the founding of FQF?
Marci Schramm: FQF was founded in 1984, when Mayor [Ernest] “Dutch” Morial was responding to the business owners in the French Quarter who were complaining heavily that the street and sidewalk repairs for the World’s Fair were killing their business. The streets and sidewalks were so torn up that people couldn’t get to the businesses and they were suffering. So the mayor said, “Let’s throw a party and get the locals back to the French Quarter.” So that was the first year of French Quarter Festival. It was only meant to be a one-year event, but it was so well-received that now we’re in our 32nd year.
“What they’re not paying at the gate with a ticket price, they’re spending in the restaurants, the bars, the gift shops, the antique shops and the hotels, and so there’s just this massive impact.” Biz: How do you think FQF organizers first hoped the festival would impact local businesses?
MS: One of the driving goals was that it would have a significant economic impact on the neighborhood, and it certainly has. We hear all the time from our neighbors throughout the French Quarter that it is the best weekend of the year for them. When you put on an event like ours, which is such a large-scale event that’s free and open to the public, people don’t just come, they spend a lot of money. What they’re not paying at the gate with a ticket price, they’re spending in the restaurants, the bars, the gift shops, the antique shops and the hotels, and so there’s just this massive impact. In recent years, maybe the last four or five years, we’ve ranked only behind Mardi Gras for the largest economic impact to the city $251 million last year for just FQF. Biz: Even surpassing Jazz Fest?
MS: Yeah. I think the difference is they’re in somewhat of a gated community. They’re at the Fairgrounds - fenced in. People buy a ticket, they go in, and they spend their day doing Jazz Fest. They’re staying within the food booths, and the merchandise tents. It’s
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not a neighborhood. The commerce is staying all in one place as opposed to spreading out. The fact that we’re producing this massive event in this neighborhood, it just impacts every business. With FQF, people are running the streets all day and all night doing things, which is a different scenario. We don’t go around saying FQF is better; we’re just different. Biz: What kinds of planning goes into making sure that FQF is successful?
MS: One of the really special things about FQF is that while so many festivals happen out in a big field - whether that’s Marconi Meadows, or the Fairgrounds, or places like that - we are working in a living, breathing neighborhood. It’s not easy. It’s really hard to do what we do because the logistics are so crazy. There’s traffic. There’s people who live here. There’s access issues. So we have to go to extraordinary measures to make it safe, make it legal, be cognizant of the neighbors and the neighborhood, and make sure they can still live and function. Biz: What kind of impact does FQF have on restaurants?
MS: They kind of brag and complain at the same time that it’s so much business, it’s real78
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ly hard to handle. We were just sitting down with a food vendor last week who told us that last year he made around $80,000, which is significant for a $4 or $6 portion of food. That’s a lot of money in four days’ time. Biz: Who are some of the biggest sponsors this year, and what do they contribute?
MS: The hardest thing about producing a free festival is paying for it. It is so expensive to produce this festival, and we have zero dollars coming in at the gate. Our sponsors are our lifeline. They allow us to do what we do. The reason FQF has grown so much is really due to three companies: Chevron, Capital One Bank and Abita Brewing Co. Biz: What kinds of activities happen in your offices in the weeks leading up to the event?
MS: We’re really busy year-round, but we start working on FQF in September, and then in January it gets really busy, and then once Mardi Gras is over, it’s like all hell has broken loose. All of us have been working seven days a week since January, and there’s always too much to do and not enough time to do it. It’s organized insanity. Sponsorships are all being finalized right now. We’re getting the official schedule in place, not only the printed piece, but the iPhone and Android app. And then there’s
“The hardest thing about producing a free festival is paying for it...Our sponsors are our lifeline,” Schramm says.
the music schedule. We’re finishing the musician contracting right now. The marketing and PR is going full-force. The merchandise has started coming in, including pallets of poster tubes. We’ve got artists in here signing and numbering posters. Since Mardi Gras, we’ve had big sit-down meetings with the police department and fire department. Today we were at City Hall. We do a big presentation for department heads from all the major city agencies that are impacted by the event. We meet with EMS, Tulane nurses who run our first-aid booths. We have our volunteer program with over 2,000 volunteers, so there’s lots of recruiting going on right now with volunteers and getting ready for volunteer orientations. It’s a lot. People have no idea how much works goes into a festival [laughs]. We all love it, but it’s really intense. As a nonprofit too, we’re not rich, so we have to be really thrifty, and we count on lots of people to help us and do us favors and lots of in-kind support.
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Biz: What do you think is the biggest appeal for attendees? What keeps them coming back in record numbers each year?
MS: It’s three things. First, the musical showcase is unbelievable. There’s no other way to get exposed to this much amazing local music. The second thing is the food. People argue all the time about what’s better, the food or the music. The restaurants never cease to outdo themselves. A lot of times its the owner of the restaurant that’s serving you. It’s just part of that thing that makes New Orleans so special. Finally, it’s that we’re in the French Quarter. We are so fortunate as an organization to produce this thing in this neighborhood, because the neighborhood is what makes it extra special. Nowhere else in the world could you experience what you experience at FQF because it is the French Quarter. It’s America’s most European city. 80
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Biz: What is your favorite and/or most rewarding part of putting on FQF?
MS: Every single year, it’s morning time, we’re opening the festival, it’s really stressful. Everything’s going wrong, all the electricity’s blowing or some crazy thing like that, and people will be constantly stopping me on the golf cart to tell me how much they love the festival and say thank you. And that, every single year, makes me stop in my tracks and go, “Ok, we’re gonna get through it. It’s gonna be great. Smile.” [laughs] There’s this outpouring of love for the festival, which I will never, ever take for granted. n
Last year’s attendance numbers reached over 732,000 for the free event.
FQF By the Numbers 2,000+ Community volunteers who make FQF possible
23 Stages showcasing every genre of music
1,600 Musicians
60+ Local restaurants that make up the festival’s “World’s Largest Jazz Brunch”
12 Countries represented by FQF attendees
$18.6 million State and tax revenue created by the event in 2014
Greg Abry, Abry Brothers Nicolas Bazan, LSU Neuroscience Center John Blancher, Rock-N-Bowl Yvonne Blount, Antoine’s Philip Brooks, Brooks Investments, Inc. William Burk, Burk Property Investments Joseph C. Canizaro, Chairman, First Bank and Trust, Founder Ralph Capitelli, Capitelli and Wicker Law Firm Joseph Carrere, Merlin Candies, Inc. Emmett Chapital, Chapital Cardiology Clinic LLC, Past President Mason Couvillon, Dardis Couvillon & Associates John Dardis, Dardis Couvillon & Associates Brandt Dufrene, First National Bank, USA Bill Ellsworth, Ellsworth, LeBlanc, & Ellsworth George Fowler, Fowler Rodriguez Frank France, Kehoe-France, Inc., Director David Gallo, Gallo Mechanical Contractors William Hines, Jones, Walker Steven Hubbell, Stokes & Hubbell Capital Mgt., Inc. Dan Jacob, N.O. Medical Mission Jack Jensen, TCI Trucking & Warehousing Services Ronald Karcher, Ronald L. Karcher Construction Co. Thomas Kitchen, Stewart Enterprise Victor Kurzweg, Consolidated Companies Mel Lagarde, HCA Delta Div. James Lewis, Landis Construction CO, LLC James LaPorte, Ericksen, Krentel & LaPorte, LLP, Vice President Robert Lupo, Lupo Enterprises Todd Matherne, Renaissance Publishing Robert Menard, P.A. Menard Inc.
Larry Merington, Stewart Enterprise, Membership Chair David Mutter, Doerr Furniture Jane Nalty, Director Michael Nolan, Fifth District Savings and Loan Assn. Larry Oney, Risk Technology Institute/ Hammerman & Gainer Inc. A.J. Palermo, Canteen Corp. James Pellerin, Pellerin Milnor Claiborne Perrilliat, Packard Truck Lines, Inc. Leon PochĂŠ, Riomar Agencies, Inc., Program Chair Peter Quirk, Walk Haydel & Associates, Inc., Director Louis Rodriguez, TCI Packaging Stanton Salathe, Salathe Oil Company, Director Jack Scariano, Scariano Brothers Dominick Sciortino, St. Bernard Drugs, Inc., President Henry Shane, Favrot and Shane Co., Inc. M. Gordon Stevens, New Orleans Steamboat Co. Frank Stewart, Stewart Capital, LLC Matthew Ungarino, Ungarino and Eckert, LLC Michael Vales, Vales Management, Inc. Scott Whittaker, Stone Pigman Joseph Wink, Wink, Incorporated/Universal Consolidated Services Robert Wooderson, Gibbs Construction
Chaplains: Monsignor Andrew Taormina Very Reverend Joseph Doyle Very Reverend Neal McDermott
Join these Catholic leaders and their spouses each month for Mass, dinner and a great Catholic speaker.
Why Didn’t I Think of That? | Creative Businesses Taking Hold in Southeast Louisiana
Put a Coat On – It’s Hot Out There GreenStar Coatings’ unique roof coating is saving businesses money and helping the environment. By Jennifer Gibson Schecter
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Photos courtesy of GreenStar Coating (left) and Cheryl Gerber (right)
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n the dead of summer, which would you rather wear – a white shirt or a black shirt? The white right? Because it’s common knowledge that black absorbs more heat than any other color. So why would it make sense for roofs, especially in high-heat areas like subtropical New Orleans, to be black? It doesn’t, and New Orleans native David Lamouranne is out to prove it, and cool the city, one rooftop at a time. Since 2006, Lamouranne’s company, GreenStar Coatings, has been repairing and retrofitting metal and flat roofs of area
businesses with white, waterproof fluid membranes he calls Cool Roof coatings. The company offers a variety of coatings, depending on the needs of the project, including acrylic, asphalt and elastomeric. His coatings are not only 60 to 90 percent more reflective than typical roofs, they’re also acid-rain resistant, low-VOC, and the coating expands and contracts with the roof – eliminating the likelihood of leaks. Less expensive to install than a new roof, Cool Roofs also reduce roofing temperatures by up to 65 degrees, which means they
significantly lower energy costs for businesses year after year. GreenStar Coatings has already covered nearly 1 million square feet of commercial rooftops in New Orleans using Cool Roof coatings – including Entergy’s hangar at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and The Howlin’ Wolf music venue and pub. Lamouranne says he aims to achieve 10 million square feet of completed roofs in the next three to five years. In addition to lowering energy costs, Cool Roofs offer more comfortable working con-
New Orleans native David Lamouranne began coating commercial roofs with his Cool Roof coating in 2006. The company has since covered approximately 1 million square feet of rooftops.
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ditions and increased productivity for their employees, along with cleaner air for the entire city. The 1 million square feet of roofing already treated just in New Orleans amounts to an offset of over 7.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. And then there’s the reduced waste – the Cool Roof coating is applied right over an existing roof, which means no messy teardown or trips to the landfill.
“Initially, my company name used my initials,” Lamouranne says, “but the name wasn’t big enough. We were doing eco-friendly work and I wanted the name to reflect that. I combined Energy Star® and “green” to create GreenStar Coatings.”
Making the Leap
Competition
Lamouranne has long been an advocate for sustainability and green methods. When he was hired by McDonald’s to paint almost all of the interiors and exteriors of the restaurants in the South, he chose eco-friendly products. While working there, Lamouranne was inspired to learn how to convert used deep-fryer oil into fuel. While in the process of developing an engine that ran on the deep-fryer fuel that was strong enough to power an entire McDonald’s facility, his investor passed away. While looking for ways to reduce the HVAC load on his generator, however, Lamouranne discovered the roof coatings. “I started to realize I was making a bigger impact on both the energy bills and the environment with this option than I could making fuel,” he says. “All while stopping
Lamouranne says that most companies who reach out to him are looking to replace their entire roofs, and while traditional roofing companies would do just that, his company actually repairs and retrofits the roof, saving the customer thousands of dollars from the start. He notes that there is currently one other local company of like capacity that provides a similar product, but says he is confident that his customer service and excellent crew keep him above the competition.
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critical water leaks from entering commercial facilities.”
The Name
Marketing To date, GreenStar Coatings has found success mainly through word of mouth. “We’ve had tremendous referrals,” Lamouranne says. He recently produced a new brochure and took an innovative approach to creating his
GreenStar’s Cool Roof coating can be applied right over an existing roof. By lowering roof temperatures up to 65 degrees, it cuts energy costs for local businesses.
mailing list. “I used Google Earth,” he says, “and I pinpointed the bad roofs, which you can tell by their red color from the rust. I then changed to ‘Street View’ to get the company’s name and I mailed them a brochure. I have also started to use ‘One Roof For Life’ as our motto.”
Newest Project GreenStar Coatings is about to install a roof on a local Sherwin Williams store. “You know you’re doing something right when the largest paint manufacturer on Earth, Sherwin-Williams, chooses us to coat their commercial roof,” he says.
Overhead GreenStar Coatings has kept overhead at a minimum through a non-exclusive arrangement with a local general contractor. In exchange for serving as the company’s solutions provider - allowing them to offer their clients with aging roofs a very cost-effective option - GreenStar is able to use their office facilities as a base location. Photos courtesy of GreenStar Coatings
fact that he hasn’t had any staff turnover in the past three years and credits “making sure the job sites are fun and celebrating as a team after the job is complete. The crew also gets personal satisfaction from working with green products and a green company,” he says. Lamouranne also employs two part-time staff members to oversee research and development, and marketing and public relations.
Revenue According to Lamouranne, traditional roofers charge an average of $9-$13 per square foot, while his company charges $3 per square foot. In the last three years alone, GreenStar reached $2.3 million in gross sales.
Staying Organized A thermal mapping showing the heat difference between a GreenStar roof and a typical asphalt commercial roof.
“This type of a win-win arrangement is open to any construction company where GreenStar Coatings is their solutions provider,” Lamouranne says. While Lamouranne is typically hands-on with each job, he also has a dedicated crew of four full-time installers. He takes pride in the
Lamouranne doesn’t employ an assistant; instead he relies on staying connected to business matters via his iPhone and through “manila folders and more manila folders” to keep paperwork in order.
Biggest Challenges Most companies think their leaking roofs and persistent heating and cooling issues require brand new roofs, but Lamouranne says that isn’t the case. “My biggest challenge is creating awareness for the Cool Roof coating product itself,”
he says. “Most companies don’t have to replace their roofs and I would say only 1 in 20 actually need to do so. My product repairs damage and resurfaces existing metal, asphalt or flat roofs for a fraction of the cost of a replacement.”
Plans for the Future GreenStar Coatings is in talks to coat another hangar at Louis Armstrong International Airport, as well as a project with Atlantic Aviation at a private airport in Virginia. The company also has a prospective alliance with a solar energy company that uses dual-sided solar panels. The idea is that the Cool Roof will complement the solar panels while making them more efficient. Lamouranne also shared that the solar industry is developing liquid solar cells. He anticipates that in eight to 10 years his company “will be poised to partner with a product as a clean substrate for the liquid solar cells to be applied to.” “I’m making a difference,” he says, “and I love what I do.” n
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Events Hispanic Chamber Of Commerce of New Orleans Business Luncheon
AMA New Orleans Southshore Luncheon
February 24, 2015
Cafe Reconcile
February 26, 2015
JW Marriott Hotel on Canal Street Keynote speaker Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Norman emphasized his support for the Hispanic community at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s quarterly business luncheon.
Kirsty D. Nunez, president and chief research strategist for Q2 Insights, spoke at the American Marketing Association New Orleans’ Southshore Luncheon. Her speech was entitled, “Market research: why use it and how to get the most out of it.”
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1. Dr. Vinicio Madrigal, Rufino Saavedra, Newell Norman, Pedro Ruiz and David Doss 2. Sheriff Newell Norman 3. Martha Castillo, Deysi Munoz, Thelma Ceballos-Meyers and Mayra Pineda 86
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1. Chip Catanese, Morgan Gordon and Matt Wang 2. Evette Joyce 3. McDaniel Wyatt, Elizabeth Reiner and Xavier Alvarez Photos by Cheryl Gerber
New Orleans Chamber of Commerce First Quarter Luncheon
GNO, Inc. Annual Luncheon
March 6, 2015
Hyatt Regency New Orleans
March 12, 2015
Sheraton New Orleans The keynote speaker for this event was Stephen Waguespack, president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) - the largest advocacy group in Louisiana - representing more than 2,500 business members.
President and CEO Michael Hecht spoke to attendees about “The New Normal� - the status of the city as it approaches the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
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1. Justin Augustine, Suchitra Satpathi, Chris Mussett and Courtney Baker 2. Stephen Waguespack 3. Sakari Morrison, Walter Leger Jr., Maggie Woodruff and Wayne Fontana Photos by Cheryl Gerber
1. Charlie Yao, Bradley Murchison and Alvin St. Pierre Jr. 2. Michael Hecht 3. Lisa Scollo, Brian Atchison and Rachel Shields
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Behind the Scenes
Crystal Hot Sauce
Crystal Hot Sauce is still produced by family-owned company Baumer Foods, 92 years after Alvin Baumer bought a fruit syrup company on Tchoupitoulas Street. Included in the purchase was a recipe for Crystal Pure Louisiana Hot Sauce. The rest, as they say, was history. Baumer Foods now offers 11 different sauces, all of which are produced and bottled under one roof - the company’s 196,000-square-foot factory in Reserve, La. Here, workers bottle 2,000 cases of sauce a day, four days a week. CrystalHotSauce.com. 88
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