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Editor’s Note
Happily spent a morning with New Orleans’ tallest residents (see pg. 104).
A Tall Order A
s we close out our first full year of Biz New Orleans, we naturally started to think about what this year has meant to the business community of southeast Louisiana. In short, it’s meant growth — in virtually every industry. The port, the airport, the restaurants, commercial construction, residential sales, the healthcare explosion — everywhere you look we are growing. As ground broke on the Yuhuang Chemical plant this past September in St. James Parish, we even welcomed, for the first time, a Chinese company to Louisiana. While it was relatively easy to look over the past year and note the top 10 stories that really shaped business in our region, ranking them was not so simple. With so many industries represented, how do you rank one above another? What I think we can all agree on, though, is that this has been an incredible year for business, and all signs point that it’s only going to get better. We were excited this month, in particular, to speak with JEDCO’s Executive Director, Jerry Bologna, who shared with us the thinking behind the parish’s newest iteration of the EDGE plan. Everyone knows that the first step toward achieving a goal is making a solid, workable plan and it’s going to be exciting to see this one come to fruition. Finally, as the holidays approach, you may find yourself with people on your gift list that are difficult to buy for or family in town that need entertaining. In that case, I can’t recommend enough that you consider purchasing tickets to experience Escape My Room (pg. 96), one of the latest escape rooms to open in New Orleans. Some of the staff members and I took the challenge this past summer and every one of us felt it was one of the most unique and entertaining things we’d ever done. I’m proud to say we made it out with six minutes to spare. Can you beat our time? I wish you a wonderful holiday season and we’ll see you in the new year! Happy reading.
Kimberley@BizNewOrleans.com 4
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decemBER 2015 | volume 2 | issue 3
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 Robert Edgecombe, Steven Ellis, Suzanne Ferrara, Rebecca Friedman, Carolyn Heneghan, Pamela Marquis, Dale Pinney, Chris Price, Peter Reichard, Kim Roberts, Jennifer Gibson Schecter, David Lee Simmons, Keith Twitchell, Melanie Warner Spencer, Bonnie Warren advertising Vice President of Sales Colleen Monaghan Sales Manager Maegan O’Brien Maegan@BizNewOrleans.com (504) 830-7219 Account Executive Caitlin Sistrunk Caitlin@BizNewOrleans.com (504) 830-7252 Account Executive Courtney Andrée Courtney@bizneworleans.com (504) 830-7225 PRODUCTION Production/Web Manager Staci McCarty Production Designers Ali Sullivan, Monique DiPietro, Traffic Coordinator Jessica DeBold 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 Subscriptions Assistant Mallary Matherne
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
84
96
40
Features
From the Lens
40 Top 10 News Stories from 2015
84 Great Offices
Biz New Orleans takes a look at the top
Adams and Reese Senior Partner in
stories that shaped the business climate
Charge, E. Paige Sensenbrenner.
of the region over this past year.
96 Why Didn’t I Think of That? Escape My Room
104 Behind the Scenes Audubon Zoo
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December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
On the Cover LCMC Health CEO and interim UMC CEO, Gregory C. Feirn. Photo by Greg Miles
Contents
30 90 20 Columns
20 NOLA By the Numbers
How does our work commute compare?
22 Dining Biz
Culinary superstars have big plans for 2016.
24 Tourism Biz
NOLA ChristmasFest returns.
26 Sports Biz
Perspectives
28 Film Biz
54 Dining & Entertainment
18 Calendar
58 Education
36 Biz Bits
A tribute to Peyton Manning
Introducing IATSE Local 478.
30 Entrepreneur Biz
Tips for moving out of the incubator
and into the world
Local restaurants plan for a holiday boost.
A peek at how local high schools are preparing students for college
32 Biz Etiquette
62 Real Estate & Construction
34 Tech Biz
66 Guest Viewpoint
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News
What not to wear.
To app or not to app: That is the question.
December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
Commercial and residential hot spots.
Passwords: A few helpful tips.
Upcoming events not to miss
Industry news
90 Biz Person of the Month
JEDCO’s Executive Director, Jerry Bologna
102 Around Town – Events
Industry gatherings
BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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Publisher’s Note
Welcome Home ’Tis the season – time to celebrate the past year, connect with friends and family, and reunite with people as many travel home for the holidays. Earlier this year my youngest daughter, who is a fourth-year architecture student in the five-year masters program at Tulane University, took advantage of Tulane’s study abroad program at the Pantheon Institute in Rome, Italy. Our family has always been home for the holidays, so this is our first time to experience what it is like to have that anticipation of family coming home for Christmas. She will return home this month and we could not be more excited. My wife and I had the opportunity to visit her in September but this is the longest stretch we have ever been away from her, or any of our children, and we are so glad to have her home. Skype and FaceTime are great communication tools, but a real hug is something technology can never replace. So during this Christmas and holiday season, celebrate your year, gather with friends and family, and embrace those you love. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.
Todd Matherne
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December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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Meet the Sales Staff
Colleen Monaghan Vice President of Sales (504) 830-7215 Colleen@BizNewOrleans.com
Maegan O’Brien Sales Manager (504) 830-7219 Maegan@BizNewOrleans.com
Caitlin Sistrunk Account Executive (504) 830-7252 Caitlin@BizNewOrleans.com
Courtney Andrée Account Executive (504) 830-7225 Courtney@BizNewOrleans.com
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Calendar Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Friday, December 11, 2015
SBA InnovateHER Business Challenge Local Pitch Competition 6 to 8 p.m. Landing Zone 625 Celeste Street, New Orleans LZNola.org
New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce Biz to Biz Breakfast and Trade Fair Featuring Clifton Taulbert, business consultant, entrepreneur and author 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Hyatt Regency New Orleans NORBChamber.org
December 9-11, 2015
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Corcoran Consulting and Coaching First Annual Leadership Summit (real estate leaders) Harrah’s New Orleans Hotel CorcoranCoaching.com
Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce Capital Region 101 – learn about the area 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. East Baton Rouge Parish Library BRAC.org
Thursday, December 10, 2015 Thursday, December 17, 2015 ABWA Crescent City Connections Monthly Luncheon “Sazerac: The Official Cocktail of the City of New Orleans” Featuring Ann R. Tuennerman, founder of Tales of the Cocktail 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ralph Brennan’s Heritage Grill ABWANewOrleans.org
Thursday, December 10, 2015 Jefferson Chamber of Commerce Christmas Business Card Exchange 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The home of Mike Nicoll JeffersonChamber.org
AMA New Orleans presents “Louisiana’s She Suite” – a panel discussion of local women leaders 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse 525 Fulton Street, New Orleans AMANewOrleans.com
Friday, December 18, 2015 New Orleans Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Hyatt Regency New Orleans NewOrleansChamber.org
Tuesday, January 5, 2016 French Quarter Business Association’s Annual Installation & Awards Dinner 6 to 9 p.m. Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans FQBA.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 | NOLA By The Numbers
Getting There is Half the Work A perspective on commuting in the New Orleans area
L Robert Edgecombe is
an urban planner and consultant at GCR Inc. He advises a wide range of clients on market conditions, recovery strategies, and demographic and economic trends.
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ove them or hate them, our commutes hold sway over a large part of our daily routines. Many of us know, down to the minute, how long it takes us to get to work, or what time we have to leave home to avoid a traffic snarl. And we know the sinking feeling that comes when all that stands between us and home is a slow-moving and seemingly endless sea of tail lights. As commutes in the United States go, though, ours in the New Orleans area area are pretty ordinary. The average journey to work in the metro area is just over 25 minutes, quite comparable to the nationwide average of 26 minutes. We don’t breeze to work like they do in Oklahoma City — which, at 21 minutes, has the shortest average commute in the nation — but neither do we travel the average 40 minutes each way that New Yorkers do. Like most Americans, 79 percent of workers in the New Orleans
December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
area commute alone in their own vehicles, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014 American Community Survey. Another 10 percent utilize carpools or vanpools, and about 3 percent utilize public transportation. (The remainder either work from home, walk, or bike—or, I suppose, trek in a way too obscure to register with the census.) And while those who commute alone or carpool get to work in about 25 minutes, it takes the average straphanger about 41 minutes. What’s interesting is that even though these average commutes haven’t changed much in the last 10 years — the average journey to work in the metro area was 25 minutes in 2005 as well — the locations of our jobs have, at least by one measure, become more geographically diffuse. In 2004, 53 percent of workers lived in the same parish in which they worked; by 2014 this number had declined to 46 percent.
In 2013 — the most recent data available — 45 percent of jobs within Orleans Parish were performed by parish residents, compared to 54 percent in 2004. In 2004, 46 percent of people working in Downtown New Orleans came from outside Orleans Parish; by 2013, this proportion had risen to 56 percent. Although our population and employment levels are still lower than they were before Katrina, a greater share of our regional workers are zigzagging the region to get to work and then home again. Many of these workers, of course, experience obdurate traffic congestion along major gateways. According to the Federal Highway Administration, an average of over 97,600 vehicles travel through Jefferson Parish on Interstate 10 every day, and about 159,000 cross the Crescent City Connection. Approximately 40,000 vehicles cross the Causeway daily, and nearly 94,000 cross the high rise on Interstate 10 in eastern New Orleans. By comparison, about 160,000 vehicles ride on Interstate 40 between Durham and Raleigh, North Carolina, and 122,700 travel Interstate 64 near downtown Richmond, Virginia — two major arteries in metro areas roughly the size of ours. It could, of course, be much worse. As many as 379,000 vehicles traverse Interstate 85 near downtown Atlanta every day, and 324,000 on Interstate 10 near downtown Los Angeles. Roughly a quarter million vehicles each day cross the Potomac River into and from Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, however, statistics don’t provide much comfort when you’re wringing your hands during a standstill on the spillway. Commutes can be frustrating, but they are also reflective of the relative economic vitality which forms the basis for every major metropolitan area, particularly in the United States. They are an inevitable side effect of living in a place where many people want to be. As the economist Anthony Downs wrote, the morning and afternoon traffic you endure “is the balancing mechanism that makes it possible for Americans to pursue goals they value, such as working while others do…and having many choices of places to live and work.” n
U.S. Census Bureau 2014 American Community Survey | U.S. Census Bureau Longitudinal-Employer Household Dynamics Program U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration | University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute Anthony Downs, “Why Traffic Congestion is Here to Stay…and Will Get Worse.” Access, Fall 2004.
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Columns | Dining Biz The oldest building on Canal Street — 509 Canal — will go from fast food to fine fare with the opening of Creole House.
Setting the Table for 2016 A look at what lies ahead.
W
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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hat a roller-coaster ride 2015 has been. A massive collection of new restaurants arrived. A few opened, only to fold within months. The great Paul Prudhomme passed on to that great kitchen in the sky. Patrons were robbed at gunpoint at Uptown establishments. Heck, a restaurateur even got in trouble for shooting a possum. It’s hard to say with confidence what 2016 will hold for the restaurant business. It will be hard to match the drama of 2015, but we will certainly see another fresh batch of restaurants. In fact, some of the biggest names in New Orleans cuisine will be opening new venues. Here are a few notables. Meril — 424 Girod. Emeril Lagasse is opening new doors in the Warehouse District. Not far from his famed eponymous
December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
restaurant, Emeril’s new place will be located within the new 425 Notre Dame condominium development. Meril will be the celebrity chef’s fourth New Orleans restaurant in his storied 25 years as a restaurant owner, with NOLA and Delmonico rounding out the quartet. Ted Brennan’s Decatur Restaurant — 309 Decatur. It seems like there’s always another Brennan restaurant in the offing. Teddy Brennan’s ambitious project for a forlorn Decatur Street building is expected to feature Chef Lazone Randolph, reuniting the team from Brennan’s before it was acquired and rebooted by Teddy’s cousin Ralph. Trinity — 1117 Decatur. Down the street from Ted Brennan’s project, another renovation underway will yield Trinity, envisioned as a neighborhood restaurant under Chef
Scott Maki, an Emeril’s alumnus. Italian fans will remember the location as the former Maximo’s, which closed in 2015 after a quarter-century run. Creole House — 509 Canal. For as long as I can remember, the oldest building on Canal Street has been occupied by a fast-food restaurant. The latest resident was Arby’s. Located just up Canal from the Custom House, this historic treasure has been crying out for classier treatment. Creole House will come from the same team that runs Bombay Club and Broussard’s, so some kind of upgrade appears imminent. Rosa Mezcal — 1814 Magazine. While the “Mexication” of the local restaurant scene seems to have hit a critical mass, Rosa Mezcal hopes there is still room for another entry. From the same team that brought Habaneros to Covington, Rosa Mezcal bills itself as an authentic purveyor of “urban” Mexican cuisine. Unnamed restaurant — 825 Rosedale. Susan Spicer has a penchant for putting her restaurants in unexpected places. Part of Bayona’s charm is its low-key Dauphine Street location. Mondo brought fine dining to a humble Lakeview commercial spot. (Years ago, it was a little pizza parlor where the neighborhood kids went to play the arcade game Centipede.) But the latest location takes the cake: a nondescript old police station in the middle of a neighborhood at the cemeteries end of Lakeview. n Photo Cheryl Gerber
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Columns | Tourism Biz Returning for its third year, NOLA ChristmasFest will take over the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center from December 18 to 27 in an effort to boost tourism and spending. Tickets range from $5 to $20, depending on the level of participation. Children 2 and under are free.
Hang Out the Holly NOLA ChristmasFest returns with new offerings this holiday season.
N Jennifer Gibson Schecter was
once a tourist in New Orleans herself and is now proud to call NOLA home. Prior to New Orleans, she wrote for publications in the Midwest and New York City. She advises travelers to ask their cab/pedicab/ gondola driver for their favorite restaurant and taking a chance.
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ew Orleans celebrates the holidays unlike any other city. We may not have snow falling gracefully from the sky, but the powdered sugar on our beignets is a tasty (and warmer) substitute. Added to the menu of festivities for locals and visitors alike is NOLA ChristmasFest, returning for its third year. The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will kick off its festival on Friday, Dec. 18. The familyoriented holiday event will wrap on Sunday, Dec. 27, giving locals and visiting families 10 days to celebrate the Christmas spirit. That holiday spirit is a perfect draw for tourist spending and it played a role in the creation of the event. According to Matthew Willard, the convention center’s
December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
representative at Schulkens Communications, “NOLA ChristmasFest was created by the convention center with the mission to increase demand for hotel rooms, restaurant covers and retail spending during a period that has been traditionally slow for tourism. “Our goal is to position New Orleans as one of the top holiday-themed cities in the nation to visit during the Christmas season,” Willard continues, “and to encourage visitors and locals alike to celebrate Christmas in a family-friendly environment where they can create magical memories.” NOLA ChristmasFest will take place inside Hall B at the convention center and will be open from noon to 8 p.m. An exciting new element this year is the indoor ice skating
rink. It will also include a walk-through maze, themed inf latables, and carnival rides such as the Kringle Carousel, Winter Whirl and Snowy Summit Climbing Wall. NOLA ChristmasFest visitors will have the opportunity to take photos with Santa and several of his friends. For those celebrating Christmas in New Orleans, this year’s festivities will continue on Christmas Eve from noon to 5 p.m. and on Christmas Day from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Convention Center Boulevard will also once again be draped in holiday décor and mesmerizing lights, synchronized to traditional and contemporary Christmas music. Because the event is still in its infancy, there aren’t any numbers yet regarding the economic impact it has on the city, but the increased interest this year is encouraging. “The indoor ice skating rink and carnival rides, together with the fact that we’ll be open on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, should make a big impact on the event and the overall appeal of New Orleans as a holiday destination,” Willard says. Local businesses and organizations can take part in the festival by creating one of the corporate trees that will be on display. The deadline for sponsoring a corporate tree is Dec. 12, and more information can be found on the sponsor tab of NOLAChristmasFest.com. n Photo courtesy of NOLA Christmas Fest
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Columns | Sports Biz
Manning His Post Peyton Manning’s retirement will mark the end of an era.
I 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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got my first speeding ticket just a few weeks after getting my driver’s license. I was doing 75 in a 50 when the blue lights caught me. As I rolled down my window, the blinding light of a TV camera illuminated the night and the officer asked me to step out of the car. Buford T. Justice and the crew from “COPS” must have been expecting a driver that was high on something good. And, truth is, I was. He ordered me to the front of the car. “Where you been tonight, son?” I was nervous. It was the first time I had been stopped by the police. I had to tell the truth. “We’ve just left the Newman football game, sir. Peyton Manning had a phenomenal game and we’re just jacked up about it.” “You ain’t been drinkin’ or nothin’?”
December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
“Oh, no sir. Just a football game tonight.” With a groan of disgust from behind the lens, the light clicked off and a videographer and his boom microphone operator returned to the cruiser. I got a ticket, but I also had a great story. It was the first of many I’d have following Manning’s career from prep to college to professional ball. Three years later, in the fall of my sophomore year at Ole Miss, the Rebels faced off against Peyton’s Tennessee Volunteers in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis. Of his mom, dad, and two brothers, Peyton was the only Manning to not attend Ole Miss. They were all in attendance that cool, fall mid-South Thursday night for the game nationally televised by ESPN. It was the first time that Peyton faced the “family school.” Probation limited the number
of scholarship players on Ole Miss’ roster, and the No. 8 ranked Vols crushed the Rebs with an outstanding performance. I hate to see my team lose, but thought if they had to lose to anyone, at least it was Peyton. Walking out of the stadium, I ran into Cooper Manning, who sat next to me in a math class the previous spring. He said he was headed to Tennessee’s locker room to meet up with his family and asked if I wanted to join him. Of course I jumped at the opportunity. I got the chance to meet and talk with my childhood hero, former Rebel and Saint quarterback Archie, as well as Olivia and Eli as we waited for the players to come out of the locker room. Soon enough, there was Peyton, hugging his mom, dad and brothers, and taking time to greet the throng of supporters hailing their hero. It was an amazing moment— to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what would become the “first family of football.” (Thanks to Silky Sullivan and his Divers my memory is a bit shaky, but I think I recall seeing the Mannings later that night on Beale Street. Work hard, play hard. Right?) Years later, when my beloved Saints marched into their first Super Bowl, who else did they face but Manning’s Indianapolis Colts? I remember going into the two weeks leading up to the game with that similar feeling that if the underdog Saints couldn’t quite measure up, at least it was Peyton who would win it. As we know, I didn’t need to fret. I was proud for my Saints, but felt sorry Manning had to lose, too. As the 2015 season winds down, it’s becoming apparent that this might be the last few weeks we’ll get to see Peyton Manning, now 39, as the field general we’ve known or the majority of his life. I hope he stays in football in some capacity. His knowledge of the game and competitive fire would make him a natural to lead players as a coach. But he may opt to follow in his father’s career footsteps once again. It would be fantastic to hear his perspective on NFL games, but even better, I’d love to hear his Southern drawl providing commentary on SEC games in coming years. That option would give him more time with his wife and two children. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a third Manning generation on the gridiron to root for soon enough. n Photo Associated Press
BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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Columns | Film Biz
Meet IATSE Local 478 For craftspeople in the film industry, they’re a must-join.
I 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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n last month’s column I spoke about how the recent tax incentive bill, HB 829 is something that is meant to, and does, excite local filmmakers. But the film industry is so much more than producers, directors and writers. We also boast a local workforce of crew members that grows stronger every year. “In 2002, when the tax incentives were implemented, we had about 200 members,” says Phil LoCicero, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 478, a union specifically for what he calls “the crafters behind the camera,” including positions like grip, props, electrical, set dressing and wardrobe. “This year we have about 1,300 members across Louisiana and Southern Mississippi.” LoCicero is, by trade, a
December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
set painter. Born and raised in New Orleans, he began working in the film industry when, “if we had three to five sizeable films shooting here in a year we were really lucky.” LoCicero joined IATSE Local 478 in 1989 and has served as president since 1994. “Our purpose is to protect these professionals,” LoCicero says. “We help them secure contracts, receive benefits and fair wages and promote their interests within the industry.” LoCicero says that without provisions in place, it would be easy for 16 hours to go by without a worker receiving a break or a proper meal. “Producers can be disorganized sometimes, or maybe they just have a more creative mind that is busy with other things. We’re never trying to be unfair in any way, we just want to make sure
nobody is worked to death,” he says. With such a drastic increase in membership over the past decade, LoCicero says that more demands are naturally placed on the union, whose Mid-City office includes six full time employees and up to two part-time workers as needed. Most recently, in addition to working with individual members, the union spent, a considerable amount of effort, along with studio owners and the Louisiana Film Entertainment Association (LFEA) fighting against incentive caps. “Those days are gone now,” he says. “But while it will never be like it was, we’re really looking forward to the next governor and getting the incentive tweaked.” LoCicero says he’s certain whoever the new governor is, that person will call for a special session with state representatives and he’s hoping the result will be good news for the industry. “We’ve really seen a slowdown with the uncertainty now in the incentive program,” he says. “They’re not even paying out incentives this year.” LoCicero notes that while HB 829 was designed to promote local projects, they too depend on the incentives. “A lot of smaller productions borrow money to get their film made,” he says. “That means they need to get those tax credits back as soon as possible to pay off their loan. I haven’t yet seen any local filmmaker take advantage of those incentives yet.” The IATSE Local 478 also contributes to film schools and festivals throughout the region in an effort to support the continued growth of the local workforce. “We also have our own training like OSHA training geared specifically toward the entertainment industry, forklift training, rigging courses and craft advancement training,” he says. But by far the biggest focus at this point in time is on getting changes made to HB 829. Aiming to speak with one voice, the industry, LoCicero says, will be pushing to increase the cap on the front end. “We just want to see the business come back,” he says, “hopefully to the same levels we’ve been enjoying.” n Photo courtesy of IATSE Local 478
BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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Columns | Entrepreneur Biz
You’ve Hatched – Now What? A few tips for the journey out of the incubator and into the world.
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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n recent years, New Orleans has developed multiple incubator resources to help new ideas start down the path to becoming successful businesses. Hundreds of new enterprises have been launched, and in every imaginable field of endeavor. However, so many steps lie between concept and success, and the incubators, by design, only assist with the first few. So what does a freshly hatched entrepreneur do next? “You have to focus on the core,” says Kevin Wilkins, founder and managing director of trepwise, an impact consulting firm. “Like a house, you have to build your foundation before you add the second story.” A veteran of the financial
December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
services industry in Boston, which included founding and selling his own business, Wilkins moved south five years ago, when his wife, who is originally from New Orleans, was offered a job at Tulane. Since his arrival, he has taught in the A.B. Freeman School of Business at Tulane and served as entrepreneur-in-residence and then chief operating officer at the Idea Village. Wilkins was intrigued by the entrepreneurial climate in the region but soon realized there was a void in support services for companies that were beginning to establish themselves, or, as he calls it, “That transition from Post-It notes to online communications.”
“You get to the point where you need a CFO or COO but can’t yet afford it,” Wilkins says. “You’ve launched the business and now you need the processes, systems and more sophisticated expertise in place to support its growth.” As examples of these systems, Wilkins cited financial models, management systems and structures, brand management, performance management models, accountability structures, and longerrange budgets. All of this and more take on greater imperative as a new business begins to staff up. “Hiring your first person is a big commitment,” Wilkins says. “You need the processes, but you also need a value system, an internal culture that will help you manage growth.” In fact, he says, managing failure can actually be easier than growth – with failure you lick your wounds, learn your lessons, and move on to what’s next. Managing growth and success means staying true to your core vision and principles while adapting to new circumstances (and frequently new pressures). To that end, Wilkins recommends establishing clear sequencing and priorities, embodied in a system of metrics and triggers. “As you start to gain traction, you have to move forward, but at the pace that is right for you,” he says. “I’ve seen many companies struggle because they grew too fast.” Wilkins founded a firm called trepwise two years ago to assist businesses with these transitions; the firm also works with nonprofit organizations that are expanding their reach and services. “For any client, we try to meet them where they are and go with them to the next level,” he explains. “You are the expert on your company. If we can marry your content with our content, things will go well.” In a nutshell, says Wilkins, “As companies mature, we help spark that maturity.” Leaving the collegiality and relative security of the incubator environment can be scary; the risks, challenges and commitments are significantly greater. So too are the rewards. Every successful entrepreneur has to take those next steps, and they are certainly easier to navigate with a roadmap in hand. n Illustration Jrcasas
BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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Columns | Biz Etiquette
What Not To Wear Demystifying the rules of appropriate work attire
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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n the “Casual Friday” episode of NBC’s “The Office,” the clumsy and socially inappropriate character Meredith (Kate Flannery) wears a short dress with no undergarments and repeatedly exposes herself to her coworkers throughout the day. The shock and revulsion of the other characters each time Meredith moves, and the various ways in which she reveals herself, is a consistent joke throughout the episode. While a sight gag in a TV show can be comical, dressing inappropriately at work or for work-related functions, such as networking events and holiday parties, is no joke. Most people are, of course, self-aware and informed enough to know not to go as far as Meredith, but even lesser appearance-related infractions can have a negative impact on workplace perceptions. In the 2013 National Professionalism Survey
December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
Workplace Report by York College of Pennsylvania, a total of 80.6 percent of the respondents gave a rating of 4 (39.7 percent) or 5 (40.9 percent) — with 1 representing “no impact” and 5 representing “great impact” — indicating the importance of appearance. Categories included hygiene, attire, facial piercings, inappropriate footwear, visible tattoos and unnatural hair color. Consistent with previous findings, as the respondents’ ages increased, so did their perceived impact of appearance. The younger the respondent, the less likely they were to consider appearance a detriment to the perception of their ability. This gap in opinion highlights the need for companies and managers to educate individuals before they enter the workplace, to make the dress code and workplace culture precise and well known to prospective employees, and to gently and tactfully revisit
and enforce it as needed. Unfortunately, dress codes can be ambiguous at best at many companies, especially since the advent and rise of casual Friday or the business casual workplace. It’s important for interviewees and current employees to do their homework and discern what their particular company considers appropriate for the office. In some industries (think creative trades and some tech startups and dot-coms) it’s acceptable and even encouraged, for example, to don jeans, T-shirts and a pair of Chuck Taylors, but for those in a more conservative corporate atmosphere, suits are still de rigueur. Casual at one office might mean dress pants and a buttondown shirt, and at another it could translate to shorts and flip-flops. A good rule for most office employees is to err on the side of conservative and avoid anything too casual, too tight, too low or too short. The adage to “dress for the job you want,” also comes in handy, especially for those looking to move up in their company. It’s also important to take into account how fashion forward your company culture is and act accordingly. Fourinch platform heels, high-sheen cloth or fabric with sequins or glimmer, garments with avant-garde tailoring and the like could come off as too trendy or reminiscent of evening attire and viewed as inappropriate in some workplaces. But that doesn’t mean you can’t mix it up. For example, wearing a classic blazer over a shimmery top is a good way to tone the shimmer down for the office. But remember, one bold item is usually enough for work hours. Because it’s not always well-defined even in a written dress code, asking your supervisor, someone in human resources or a trusted colleague what’s considered acceptable is a great way to get a grasp on the best attire for employees at your company and in your position. Whatever you do, don’t take fashion cues — or really any cues — from Meredith. Ask questions, pay attention to what your managers wear and put your own personal stamp on it. If after all of that, you come to the conclusion that the dress code is too stifling for your free spirit and sense of style, perhaps it’s time to rethink more than just your wardrobe. n Photo Thinkstock
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Columns | Tech Biz
There’s an app for that But should you use it?
T Steven Ellis
has spent the last 16 years working at the intersection of business and technology for Bellwether Technology in New Orleans, where he serves as the company’s vice president.
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hese days everyone is well aware of the proliferation of apps and websites to help with seemingly every aspect of life. From booking a restaurant or car, to streaming audiobooks, to helping my second-grader practice multiplication tables, to brewing beer (my latest hobby), it seems like everything I do involves some sort of app or website. And I don’t even include myself among the many people whose social interaction involves things technological. I’m not bemoaning the existence of iWhatevers in dayto-day life (other than at the dinner table). A helpful app is a good thing. It is frequently more efficient and more fun than the old way, whatever that was, and it usually doesn’t cost much, if anything. So as we all become accustomed to using apps in our personal lives, it makes perfect sense to explore how the same types of
December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
apps and websites can help us at work, right? Yes, but. First, the good news. There are definitely inexpensive, single-purpose apps that have meaningful business value. At my office, we rely heavily on eFolder Anchor for syncing and sharing files, Trello for managing projects, Weekdone for managing objectives, Duo for two-factor authentication, and Prezi for creating presentations. I encourage you to evaluate these and other apps – in the long run, ignoring them will just invite employees to go rogue and do it on their own – but before you start, there are a few things to keep in mind. One of my first concerns as a business manager is protecting the security and privacy of our information. The thought of employees installing the free version of some file-sharing app and syncing work files in a personal account is a
frightening one, and I see it happen all the time in other companies. It’s not necessarily that I don’t trust the cloud or that I think someone from the app vendor would steal our data; it’s that the app usually copies everything on every computer on which it’s installed, and as devices and computers come and go, our data would inevitably end up somewhere it doesn’t belong. I also pay close attention to productivity in our business. The whole idea behind most business apps is to save time. One of the dangers with adopting apps is that they’re so easy and inexpensive to try, that people waste more time than they save by searching for, trying out, and halfway implementing several apps for every task at hand. The tendency is to look for the perfect solution, but you’re not often going to get everything you want for $5 a month. On a similar note, there’s no point bothering with a new app when the software you already have is perfectly fine for the job. The latest features always look good in demos and often seem useful, but by first defining and always focusing on what you’re trying to accomplish, you may often find that they’re just not necessary. Or on the f lip side, new feature releases in commonly used software can make some single-purpose apps obsolete. We spend a lot of money at my company on a cloud-based business-intelligence application, and the day is fast approaching that Microsoft Excel with Power BI will easily replace it at no additional cost. So what are the keys to successfully realizing the real benefits that apps have to offer? First, take the time to implement an organized process for defining the objectives and evaluating options for each app. Then, as long as that process takes into account each app’s ability to secure data, the amount of effort involved in evaluating vs. the expected benefit, and the up-to-date capabilities of your existing software, you’ll be ready to make the leap. n Photo Thinkstock
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Biz Bits - Industry News Around town Nearly 70 percent of graduates in the Greater New Orleans region have reported increasing their revenues just six months after graduating, and almost 50 percent have reported creating new jobs in the same period.
- Carla Coury, executive director of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program at Delgado Community College.) On October 26, the program graduated another 90 entrepreneurs, bringing the total of Greater New Orleans graduates to over 400.
Bensons donate $20 Million to Ochsner Cancer Institute On November 10, Ochsner Health System received the largest gift in the history of the organization — $20 million from New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owners Gayle and Tom Benson. The money will be used to expand the Gayle and Tom Benson Cancer Center in order to make it one of the leading comprehensive destinations for cancer care in the region.
NOLA Tech leaders go to Ireland Technology leaders from Greater New Orleans traveled to Dublin, Ireland, in early November to participate in the Web Summit, the largest technology conference in Europe. Twenty-seven representatives from local tech, digital media, startups and economic development organizations used the trip to promote New Orleans as a hotbed of entrepreneurism and to attract attendees to New Orleans for Collision, the fastest-growing technology conference in the country — planned for April 2016.
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Recent Louisiana Rankings: n No. 4 in the Country for Business Climate According to Site Selection magazine’s 2015 Top State Business Climate Rankings. It is the state’s sixth consecutive Top 10 ranking. Just six years ago, Louisiana ranked No. 25.
n Most in Need of Improvement – Energy Efficiency According to The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Louisiana ranked this year among the five lowestscoring states in efficiency along with Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
Recent Openings
JPMorgan Chase Gives $125,000 Grant to Propeller During a visit to business incubator Propeller on November 10, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet was joined by JPMorgan Chase & Co., who presented the organization with a $125,000 grant. The grant is earmarked to fund work by Propeller’s Accelerator programs aimed at creating a thriving water industry within New Orleans.
Tulane University Tulane University’s new Mississippi Coast Campus opened on October 26. The eco-friendly campus features a 14,961-square-foot building with an academic area twice the size of the previous campus destroyed during Hurricane Katrina, and includes two PC labs and a Mac computer lab. The campus is designed to serve 500 evening and weekend students and 500 additional daytime students.
Coming Soon Denka Performance Elastomers of Japan has announced the creation of a new corporate headquarters at the company’s St. John the Baptist Parish site, where it has acquired DuPont’s Neoprene synthetic rubber business. The project will create 16 direct and 81 new indirect jobs. Florida Marine, LLC broke ground on a major expansion to its Mandeville offices on October 23, creating space for an additional 40 positions. The expansion will add 27,500 square feet to the company’s current operations, bringing the total office space to more than 55,000 square feet. Pin Oak Terminals broke ground on a petroleum liquids storage terminal in St. John the Baptist Parish on October 21. The facility will be located along the east bank of the Mississippi River at Mount Airy, near the St. John/St. James parish line, and will create 70 on-site and 81 indirect jobs. Operations are expected to begin in late 2016. Video game company inXile Entertainment is establishing a video game development studio in New Orleans. The company’s first expansion outside its headquarters in Newport Beach, California, the studio is expected to create 50 direct and 64 indirect jobs over the next five years. Syngas Energy Holdings will begin construction in the second quarter of 2016 on a methanol plant in St. James Parish. Located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, 10 miles south of the Sunshine Bridge, the plant is expected to create 86 direct and 508 new indirect jobs, in addition to more than 800 construction jobs. Completion is expected at the end of 2018.
Build-A-Bear Build-A-Bear celebrated its return to Lakeside Mall in Metairie on October 28 with the opening of its latest Build-A-Bear Workshop. The new store is the eighth of its kind to open across the country following a brand refresh that the company began in July of this year. The rebrand includes a new logo, updated storefront, an extra large stuffing machine and an “Inspiration Wall” featuring different trends and fashions tied to pop culture.
We’d love to include your business-related news in next month’s Biz Bits. Please email details to Editorial@BizNewOrleans.com. BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
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TOP1o Business Stories in 2015
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University Medical Center Raises the Region’s Healthcare Game B y Reb e c c a Fr ie dm a n I P ho t gr a phy b y Benja min Bens chneider
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hough the sparkling new $1.1 billion University Medical Center is a far cry from its predecessors — which include the former Charity Hospital, University Hospital and the Interim Hospital of Louisiana — their legacy is visible from the first step into the building. From the 2,000-pound bronze case seal embedded in the f loor of the hospital’s atrium — an exact replica of the one in the f loor of Charity’s lobby — to the golden murals depicting the figures adorning the outside of Charity Hospital’s iconic art deco facade, the nod to history is clear. But that’s about where the similarities end. Unlike its most recent predecessor, the Interim Hospital of Louisiana, which was never intended as a permanent home for city’s ‘charity’ care, the new UMC is 1.6 million square feet of world-class medical technology, architecture, and even artwork. And the
34 acres between Tulane Avenue and Canal Street on which it sits are projected to serve as a catalyst for development in the neighborhood, bringing more than 28,000 square feet of retail space as well as health care workers, patients and visitors to support those businesses. Real estate in the area has also seen a bump with the hospital’s opening. Developers and real estate professionals alike have observed rising prices for home sales as well as rentals, with an increasing number of health care workers seeking housing near the BioMedical district. This trend is expected to continue as UMC expands its labor force in the coming months. The facility houses 446 beds, including 60 for mental health patients, and is the region’s only Level 1 trauma center. With medical professionals from LSU and Tulane, it serves as the state’s leading teaching hospital, training the next generation of doctors, nurses, and medical staff, many of whom will remain in the area at the conclusion of their training. LCMC Health, which manages UMC in addition to several other area hospitals, believes that these features, combined with the state-of-the-art facility, will increase UMC’s competitive advantage over other regional providers in attracting a greater proportion of paying patients – a segment that is critical to sustaining the hospital’s financial strength. UMC is contractually bound by the state to continue providing care to indigent patients, and maintains that service as a core part of its mission, but without adding more insured patients to its mix, the hospital’s financial future is a bit more uncertain, given the ongoing challenge of securing funding from the state. If all goes according to plan, however, the hospital’s leadership believes that UMC can become a true destination health center, rivaling those in Birmingham and Houston to attract patients from across the South seeking high-quality care. With the $1 billion VA hospital next door slated for completion in 2016, the long-held dream of a thriving BioMedical district in New Orleans could at last become a reality, revitalizing both our local healthcare sector as well as a long-neglected downtown neighborhood. n BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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The BP Settlement : Spreading Money Like Oil B y Kei t h Tw i t chell
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ust as it was difficult to quantify the amount of oil spilled in the Deepwater Horizon disaster on April 20, 2010 — 3.19 million gallons is the most recent estimate — more than five years later, the numbers are finally coming in for the settlements. They include: n $6.8 billion to the state of Louisiana n $45 million to the city of New Orleans n $53.1 million to Jefferson Parish n $10 billion (approximately) to businesses and individuals across the Gulf South
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The payments are part of an $18.7 billion mass settlement the oil giant reached with five states on July 2, 2015. So how will it impact regional businesses? The first factor is how the money is spent. “We will be under a microscope,” said Greg Rusovich, chair of the Business Council of New Orleans and the River Region. “It is critical to spend it with fiscal integrity and with water management in mind.” Assuming a large portion does go to coastal restoration and water management, this creates enormous opportunities for the businesses that provide the design, engineering, construction, and eventually maintenance of these projects. Coupled with other new efforts related to water management, this could be the genesis of an entire economic sector. There is another vital reason to go this route, observed Michael Hecht, CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc. “The most important impact of the settlement is that it gives Louisiana a major opportunity to stabilize the coast, which is a prerequisite for the future viability of the regional business community.” There are problems, however. The first is that the funding simply comes too late to save many businesses. Further, as Guy Williams, president of Gulf Coast Bank, pointed out, “The spill has made it harder for many small businesses to compete in the Gulf region because they can’t satisfy all the new regulations.” n
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Crude Reality : Oil Prices Plummeted B y Chr is P r ic e
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ith gasoline prices as low as $1.67 a gallon in New Orleans at the end of October, drivers were smiling when they pulled up to the pump. But their glee is offset by distress in the local oilfield industry and government leaders who rely on the commodity to fill coffers and deliver on budgets. In the past year, crude oil prices have dropped 46.5 percent, from around $80 a barrel to $42.80. In the same 12-month period, local gas prices dropped 33 percent from an average of $2.85 to $1.91, according to louisianagasprices. com, a website with real-time oil and local gas prices. Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, said 73 active oil and natural gas drilling sites across the state were operational in 2015, compared to 110 last year at this time. Only seven on-shore drilling sites are working in south Louisiana, compared to 13 last year. That reduction has caused the New Orleans area to lose as many as 8,800 jobs in oilfield support services and construction this year, according to The Louisiana Workforce Commission. Low prices have already caused layoffs in the oilfields and could impact other industries, including health care and higher education. About 13 percent of the state’s revenue is tied to oil and gas industry taxes, Briggs said. Without that income, services have to be cut. “Every time the cost of a barrel of oil drops a dollar, it’s equivalent to about $12 million dripping out of the state budget,” he said. The forecast for improvement is murky at best. Fourthquarter gas prices are generally lower because winter-blend gasoline is cheaper to produce than summer blend. In addition, OPEC has not been keen to increase prices as an economic slowdown in China has limited demand for fuel and the pending deal with Iran to stop nuclear weapons development would allow a glut of Persian oil to enter the world market, further increasing supply. n
Airport Expansion B y Reb e c c a Fr ie dm a n
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ore international carriers, increased direct flights and added flight connectivity are just some of the economic drivers behind the $826 million Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport development. A three-story, 650,000-square-foot, worldclass terminal budgeted at $650 million and scheduled to open in May 2018 will be constructed on the north side of the airport close
A Thriving Port B y P a mela M a r quis
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his October marked the first anniversary of the return of Chiquita Banana to the Port of New Orleans after four decades. “This has been a great boom to the port, both in terms of the inbound cargo of bananas to our port, but also the outbound cargo of paper and supplies back to South America,” said Matt Gresham, director of external affairs. After more than 10 years of back-and-forth negotiations, the port and Louisiana economic-development officials succeeded in their bid to win back Chiquita from the Port of Gulfport in Mississippi. The proposal included: $11.3 million to offset the company’s costs over the next 10 years, $2.2 million for a ripening facility and another $2 million offered by the port for infrastructure improvements such as refrigerator-container electrical connections. The $11 million is performance-based on the amount of cargo Chiquita actually brings to New Orleans. According to port officials, the return of Chiquita gives the local economy a major
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to Interstate 10. The new terminal will include two concourses, 30 gates and a consolidated security (?) checkpoint. In addition to 13,000 construction jobs, the project is expected to have a $1.7 billion dollar impact from construction and an annual $3.2 billion economic impact on tourism. Existing concourses A and B will be torn down, as well as part of concourse C, to make way for businesses that need to locate near the airport. “A well-designed and functioning airport is essentially a shopping mall with airplanes,” says Michael Hecht, president of Greater New Orleans, Inc. “You want to drive as much non-
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boost. In addition to bringing almost 350 fulltime, high-paying jobs, the move is expected to have an impact on the port of about $485 million over the first 10 years of activity. Also, beginning in April 2016, Carnival Cruise Line will offer long weekend cruises on Carnival Triumph, which will set sail from New Orleans, headed to Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico. This expands capacity on the company’s four- and five-day short-cruise program from New Orleans by 34 percent. “We hear again and again that when people choose to use New Orleans for their
airline revenue as possible, including retail, to reduce the burden on airlines themselves.” The goal is to lower fees charged to airlines, which in turn would lure more domestic and international flights to New Orleans. “One of the most important factors is the ability to increase international travel to New Orleans,” adds Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne. “International visitation increased by 26 percent during my time as lieutenant governor, and there’s potential for even greater growth.” Efforts are underway to bring additional international flights to New Orleans. While Copa Airlines began offering nonstop service to Panama on June 24, Hecht says talks continue with British Airways and Air France to start direct service to London and Paris. Adding to the airport’s new efficiency plans are seamless connections between concourses and 2,000 parking spaces. The overall development plan includes an $87 million flyover to improve access from the interstate, a $72 million dollar power plant, and $17 million for an on-site hotel. “The key is to try to make New Orleans more attractive as a potential hub for airlines in the ever-changing world of air travel,” says Dardenne. “Any improvements to an aging facility is going to make this city more attractive to travelers.” n
cruises they get two vacations in one,” says Don Allee, the port’s director of cruise and tourism. “They get all that is New Orleans: the food, culture and music, and then they get to embark on a blue water cruise.” Allee says that New Orleans is one of the fastest-growing cruise markets in the country and that he expects to see continued increases to that segment of the port’s business. That’s good news — according to Allee, last year 1 million passengers cruised out of New Orleans. n
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6 Yuhuang Chemical is Moving In
B y P a mela M a r quis
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ore than a year ago, St. James Parish learned that one of China’s leading chemical companies, Shandong Yuhuang Chemical, and its newly formed Yuhuang Chemical Inc. (YCI), would build a $1.85 billion methanol complex in the parish. The move marks the first major direct investment in Louisiana by a mainland Chinese company. “We had an official groundbreaking on September 18 in St. James Parish,” said 46
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Charles Goebel, plant manager, Louisiana operations, Yuhuang Chemical Inc. “We were honored to host Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, as well as Consul General Li Qiangmin for this event.” The three-phase project will begin in earnest with the construction of a methanol plant next to the Plains All-American Pipeline terminal beginning in 2016. Operations will begin there two years later. Yuhuang Chemical holds an option to buy more than 1,100 acres to build on in the future. In the next phases, the company plans to build a second methanol plant and a methanol derivatives plant. The two methanol plants will have a combined annual capacity of 3 million metric tons of methanol. “To date, we have used several Louisiana
left to right: Charlie Yao, CEO of Yuhuang Chemical Inc.; Jay Dardenne, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana; and Jinshu Wang, Chairman of YCI Parent Company, Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co. Ltd.
firms to help us with our early project development activities; these firms include regulatory consultants, engineering firms, surveying firms and legal assistance,” Goebel said. “YCI has engaged with Amec Foster Wheeler for the EPC portion of our project. Amec Foster Wheeler is in the process of building their local vendor list in the execution of construction, which includes businesses and services from St. James Parish and the state of Louisiana.” In addition, YCI, along with its partners Amec Foster Wheeler and Air Liquide, will Photo Courtesy of Yuhuang Chemical
host a vendor information session in the first quarter of 2016 to provide information to St. James Parish and Louisiana businesses interested in joining them in the execution of this project.
The Proposal to Yuhuang The state offered Yuhuang Chemical an incentive package that included $9.5 million to be paid over five years beginning in 2017 to offset infrastructure costs of the project; and $1.75 million to be paid over 10 years to partially defray the costs of necessary riverfront access and development. The project expects to create 400 new direct jobs, with an average annual salary of $85,000 plus benefits. In addition, Louisiana Economic Development (LED) estimates the project will result in 2,365 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 2,700 new jobs in the southeast region of Louisiana and surrounding areas of the state. St. James Parish President Timmy Roussel said he’s excited for what the jobs will mean to locals. “I come from industry,” he said. “I worked for more than 40 years at various plants, and it afforded me a great style of life, one where I could afford a lot of things for my family. Having Yuhuang here means those living in St. James will have those same opportunities.” Photo Courtesy of Yuhuang Chemical
Goebel praised Louisiana for its support of the move. “The state of Louisiana and the Louisiana Department of Economic Development have been wonderful partners since the beginning,” he said. “Working with us to determine the optimal site for our mega project, the incentive package they offered, were all factors in our location decision. In addition, the local St. James Parish community leaders and government have been open and welcoming to us.”
Hiring YCI has already begun hiring. The company hopes employment will reach 200 by 2017 and 400 six years later. “We’ve encountered the same challenge as everyone else during this economic renaissance — the shortage of skilled labor,” said Goebel. “We have been working with LED and other community organizations to engineer solutions.”
How Cultures Blend In August of last year, St. James Parish embraced YCI and its Chinese heritage by unanimously passing a resolution allowing Roussel to sign a letter of intent formalizing ties between the parish and Dongming County government. Dongming County, a
region of nearly 700,000 people, is located in Shandong province in northeastern China about 400 miles south of the country’s capital, Beijing. Notably, the city of Heze in Shandong is headquarters of Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co. Goebel said there are a lot of similarities between the two cultures: “Louisiana culture is about food, family, faith, and football,” he said. “Chinese culture also ref lects deep traditions involving family, faith and food. We don’t ref lect on our differences but instead seek to learn different approaches to commonalities. Both cultures share the same high work ethic, so we have come together as a high-powered team to execute our project.”
About Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co. Ltd. Shandong Yuhuang Chemical (Group) Co. Ltd. (SYC) is a China-based petrochemical group of companies with total fixed assets of $5 billion, 2013 sales over $4 billion and more than 5,600 employees. The company ranks No. 456 among the leading 500 Chinese companies and No. 24 among China’s top 25 chemical companies. Shandong Yuhuang produces and markets a range of chemicals, including propylene, isobutene, butadiene, isoprene, styrene, toluene and others.
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More Methanol for St. James In mid-October of this year, Syngas Energy Holdings, LLC located in Channelview, Tex., announced it will invest $360 million to build and operate a grassroots methanol production plant, also in St. James Parish, on a 130acre tract of land with access to the Port of South Louisiana. The proposed plant will have a production capacity of 500,000 tons/year. Syngas Energy Holdings will buy the property from NuStar Energy LP, San Antonio, which operates a nearby 11-million-barrel crude oil terminal and logistics complex that provides storage and shipping capabilities for specialty liquids such as methanol at that site. NuStar’s St. James complex will provide rail and barge transportation services for the proposed methanol plant, and Syngas Energy plans to also build additional on-site storage capacity at the plant to enable product shipments by truck. According to officials, details such as permit approvals and a final investment decision have yet to be completed, but Syngas Energy expects to begin construction on the project during second quarter of 2016. In addition, the company plans to start hiring additional senior management for the project in the first quarter of 2016, with broad hiring of operators and other plant 48
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functions due to begin during in the third quarter of 2017. To secure the project, the state of Louisiana offered a competitive incentive package that included the comprehensive solutions of LED FastStart - the state workforce development program. The company also is expected to utilize the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.
A Louisiana-China Economic Forum To further explore the new and continuing union between Louisiana and China, and the increasing importance of the Chinese market for Louisiana, on November 20 the Confucius Institute of Xavier University hosted the firstever Louisiana-China economic forum to analyze the overall business and investment environment in the state. “As an academic unit, the Xavier Confucius Institute aims to provide a platform of discussions among government officials, business leaders, and the academic community on the current state of economic exchanges with China,” said Yu Jiang, director of the institute. “This communication of different perspectives and ideas will help us better understand where we are and how we could improve in drawing external investment, supporting business operations, and creating jobs. The forum explored three themes: contex-
Yuhuang employees at the groundbreaking ceremony in St. James Parish on September 18.
tual, operational and job opportunities and workforce preparations; focus on the overall investment environment in Louisiana; and how Louisiana competes with other states for these valuable industries. Other topics included potential jobs that exchanges with China will bring, and the skill set students should acquire in preparation for such jobs. The institute aims to contribute to regional economic development by enhancing its students’ international competency and providing first-class Chinese-language education on the Xavier campus and at local K-12 schools. “Because of a fine balance of manufacturing work and environmental protection, the establishment of the Yuhuang Chemical complex in Louisiana could create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs, and contribute great benefits to regional economic development,” Jiang said. “We are really blessed to have so many opportunities, and that makes it a good thing,” said Roussell. “We have been very fortunate to have those companies making methanol locate here. With a 35 percent procurement rate for all these industries in our parish, we are going to have a lot of good things to offer our residents and businesses.” n Photo Courtesy of Yuhuang Chemical
Film Tax Incentive Cap B y K im S ingle t a r y
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ince Louisiana first began offering tax incentives to the film industry in 2002, production in the state has been steadily growing, eventually earning the state the nickname of “Hollywood South.” In 2013, Louisiana surpassed California as the “film production capital of the world” — frequently drawing big budget films and gaining notoriety as the backdrop for Oscar-winning productions including “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “12 Years a Slave.” Thirteen years into the boom, Hollywood South took its first big hit this year with the passage on June 19 of HB 829. The bill placed the first cap on tax incentives, and one that was much lower than anticipated: $180 million. Considering that during the most recent fiscal year ending June 2015, Louisiana issued $308 million in credits, the industry was understandably concerned. While it’s too early to gauge all the effects of the bill, estimates are that while the state may see a decline in large studio projects — which have included big budget action flicks like “Jurassic World,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” and “Fantastic Four” — smaller independent projects will likely increase. In the August issue of Biz New Orleans, Leonard Alsfeld, president and CEO of FBT Film, the largest film credit broker in Louisiana, said the cap may prove good for the industry. “Sixty percent of the credits issued in the last five years were to the
8 Alon Shaya
The Restaurant Boom B y D av id L e e S immons
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he post-Katrina restaurant boom was a bit of a delayed explosion — say, around 2010 — but it continued in rare form this year with a massive number of restaurant openings that dwarfed the closings (both in quantity and quality). As New Orleans marked the 10th anniversary of the devastating hurricane, a new restaurant opened practically each week, and we’re not just talking about the mom-and-pop shops like Big Cheesy, either. The year saw the much-anticipated opening of both Alon Shaya’s
Photo Courtesy of Shaya
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big studios: Paramount, Disney, MGM,” he said. “I think that with the cap, those $100 million-plus movies probably won’t be coming back in the next three years, but I don’t read that as a bad thing. Those studios import so much of their work that local workers are often given the lower level jobs, not the high paid jobs we want.” HB 829 actually provides greater incentives for local workers and projects, including an additional 15 percent credit if a film if a Louisiana company owns or options the project’s copyright for a year, and an additional 15 percent for the use of Louisiana music. The bill also lowers the minimum amount that smaller local filmmakers have to spend on a film to qualify for credits from $300,000 to just $50,000. n
solo namesake effort, the Israeli restaurant Shaya, as well as “Top Chef” contestant Nina Compton’s Compere Lapin. Neither diners nor critics were disappointed: Shaya received rave reviews from local critics, and Esquire iced it by naming it the “Best New Restaurant in America.” Compere Lapin, which also benefited from a rock-star drinks team of bar manager Ricky Gomez, Abigail Gullo and Zac Augustin, drew similar praise and remains a tough reservation to get. There also were notable openings by such familiar names as Justin Devillier (Balise), John Besh (Willa Jean) and Adolfo Garcia (Primitivo), as well as the massive St. Roch Market. Where, or when, will it end? Not anytime soon, especially considering that, as Biz New Orleans’ Peter Reichard recently noted, restaurant sales have eclipsed grocery sales for the first time ever. It says something that a sudden rash of brazen robberies — at Patois, Café Atchafalaya and Monkey Hill Bar — hasn’t prevented diners from going out. “We don’t think it’s reached a saturation point,” said Erica Burns, communications director for the Louisiana Restaurant Association, who called 2015 one of the best of the post-Katrina years. “Some will succeed and some won’t. More restaurants opening doesn’t take away from others (already open). We are of a mind there’s room for all kinds of restaurants. It gives people a choice.” While openings far overshadowed closings — which included the loss of two popular barbecue joints, NOLA Smokehouse and Squeal BBQ — there were different kinds of losses in a city that loves its restaurant history. This year saw the loss of Brennan patriarch Dick Brennan Sr., soul and Creole food legend Willie Mae Seaton, and of course, the godfather of Cajun cuisine, Paul Prudhomme. Their restaurants live on, but the city’s spirit dampened just a little with their passing. n BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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Federal Historic Tax Credit Continues to Shape Downtown B y D av id L e e S immons
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he transformation of New Orleans’ Downtown continued with a vengeance in 2015 as a steady stream of older, often historic buildings received major makeovers — thanks to the federal historic rehabilitation tax credit program. The Saenger Theatre, Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, and an endless stream of Downtown condos, hotels and mixed-use residential complexes —were all bolstered by a 20-percent tax credit offered on rehabilitation costs to income-producing buildings that are on the National Register of Historic Places or are contributing members to a National Register Historic District. The tax credit program is administered
through a joint effort between the National Park Service and Internal Revenue Service. To qualify, rehabilitation expenses must amount to greater than the value of the building, must be completed according to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and must be retained for five years. According to some estimates, the Downtown population has doubled since Katrina, with occupancy at nearly 100 percent. Just a few of the recent residential projects include the Kailas conversion of the 19-story Canal Bank & Trust Building at 210 Baronne St. to the Four Winds residence (which still houses First NBC Bank at the bottom), and the 29-story skyscraper at 225 Baronne St. (once the home of Boeing back in the 1960s), which now hosts an Aloft Hotel and The Strand apartments — courtesy of HRI Properties. Also there’s the conversion of the old 1926 Triangle Building at 833 Howard Ave. by de la Tour Holdings into The Howard, an upscale residential spot. When will it end? No time soon, apparently. The new year could see Ley Line Development’s makeover of two old commercial buildings into the Catahoula Hotel on Union Street. There’s also the anticipated (and controversial) building of condos where the historic Woolworth Building once sat at the
9 corner of Canal and Rampart streets. There are others planned for 2016, but all eyes are on the planned redevelopment of the towering World Trade Center overlooking the Mississippi River into a Four Seasons hotel, though that might not see completion until 2018. n Photo Cheryl Gerber
Attorney Randy Smith, who represents the estranged family members of Tom Benson, reads a previous ruling from a Texas judge outside of Civil District Court in New Orleans on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2015.
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Benson’s daughter, Renee LeBlanc, who was to receive a 60 percent interest in the family businesses, and her children, Ryan LeBlanc and Rita Benson LeBlanc, who were to receive 20 percent each, filed suit to challenge the change of plans, saying Benson’s age and illness prevent him from properly running his business empire. There is a lot of money on the table, and there’s the potential for a lot more to be made in the coming years. According to Forbes magazine, the Saints rank 23rd out of 32 NFL franchises with an estimated value of $1.52 billion, 36 percent higher than a year ago. Meanwhile, the Pelicans rank 28th out of 30 NBA teams with a value of $650 million, a 55 percent increase from the previous year. Forbes says the average NFL team is worth $1.97 billion, 38 percent more than last year, while the average NBA team is worth $1.1 billion, 74 percent more than last year. That increase was the biggest oneyear gain since the magazine began valuing teams in the four major U.S. sports leagues in 1998. With the possibility of two NFL teams moving to Los Angeles, the B y Chr is P r ic e second-largest media market in the country, league owners stand to fter a decade-plus of grooming his granddaughter, Rita Benson benefit substantially from the upcoming contract to broadcast games LeBlanc, to take over ownership of the New Orleans Saints and New that the league will negotiate with networks. Orleans Pelicans, Tom Benson called an audible and announced in Pelicans star Anthony Davis is expected to become the best basketJanuary his intent to hand over the franchises to his wife of 10 years, ball player on the planet within the next few years. He is garnering Gayle Benson. global attention, which provides the Pels further opportunities for With an estimated combined value of $2.17 billion, the change in growth and profit. plans for the franchises split the family — with sides lining up in oppoThe issue is still in court, and neither side is talking publicly. But whichsition to litigate the teams’ future. ever side recovers possession of the teams will walk away with a big win. n
Dynastic Dilemma: The Benson Family Feud
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Perspectives A closer look at hot topics in three southeast Louisiana industries
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& Entertainment
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62 Real Estate
& Construction BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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Perspectives | Dining & Entertainment
Messina’s Catering & Events out of Kenner takes in approximately 15 to 21 percent of its revenue during the holidays.
Season’s Eatings A taste of New Orleans’ holiday dining and entertainment business By Pamela Marquis
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ew Orleans is no stranger to festivities, and the holidays are just one of many times of the year the city chooses to celebrate extravagantly. Restaurants, entertainment venues and catering companies providing for office and other holiday parties find this time of year to be one of the busiest, if not the busiest season, even with stretches like Carnival and spring festivals taken into account. Seeing how some local businesses operate and boost revenue around the holidays offers a glimpse into the landscape of dining and entertainment in New Orleans at this festive time of year.
Year-round Preparations As soon as one holiday season comes to a close, Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group almost immediately starts year-round preparations for the next year’s holidays. For some, visiting a Brennan’s restaurant during the holidays is a long-standing tradition, so the restaurant group automatically holds dates for those parties. Then they send out 54
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confirmations to those parties’ organizers as early as February. The majority of private party bookings come through in late summer. To drive revenue, Brennan’s restaurants focus on holiday parties, which are often big ticket affairs, and specialized holiday menus, such as a three-course chef’s choice menu in place of the traditional a la carte. These menus may feature ingredients like truffles, which may not appear on the usual menu. To maximize their ability to host more private parties, Brennan’s restaurants will use every square inch of their properties, which means events may be held even in the restaurants’ bars, Williamson says. “We’re still always keeping the concept in mind and knowing the people who come to Brennan’s or Ralph’s on the Park – they have an affinity for the place and the food, so you can’t stray too far from that,” said Executive Vice President, Charlee Williamson. “You want to still deliver the Ralph’s or Brennan’s they know, but you just try to elevate it on this special day.” Photo Courtesy of Messina’s Catering & Events
Restaurants Revel in Reveillon Reveillon dinners are a tradition for New Orleans restaurants around the holidays and may be served on Christmas Eve or New Year’s Eve, or in the weeks leading up to both holidays. From the French word for “awakening,” Reveillon dinners were traditionally hosted after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and on New Year’s Eve and were an opportunity for families and friends to celebrate the holidays together. Keen on respecting local traditions and serving those who would prefer not to cook their own holiday meals, New Orleans restaurants adopted this beloved holiday custom. They now use the opportunity to showcase their chefs, usually with a set three- or four-course meal served on certain days and times. Local restaurants have created a wide range of Reveillon menus, ranging from traditional holiday fare to the restaurant’s signature dishes. They often charge a premium for the special meal. House of Blues introduces seasonal dishes and cocktails to its restaurant menus, and its weekly Sunday Gospel Brunch features traditional holiday tunes to celebrate the season.
As of November, Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group had already booked as many events for the 2015 holiday season as they had at the same time last year.
Flexibility and Diversification Messina’s Catering & Events was founded out of Messina’s restaurant in Kenner, established over 30 years ago, and the company now spends its holiday season catering dozens of private parties and events in a variety of locations. The business rakes in about 15 to 21 percent of its annual revenue during the holidays. Diversification is one key to Messina’s success, according to co-founder Stacey Messina, as the company works off-site for many events while also hosting events at its own venues, like Messina’s at the Terminal at the Lakefront Airport. “We diversify ourselves to where we are very flexible,” said Messina. “There are many venues where we can cater, and that helps drive our business – where we’re not just one catering venue, not just selling these three holiday menus. With our flexibility, we’re able to service more clients.” That flexibility extends not only to operations but also to the
catered menus themselves. Messina’s customizes each event’s menu based on a client’s food preferences, what restaurants they patronize, and any other factors that might influence a client’s expectations for an event. “The way we operate, it’s not just emailing a menu,” said Messina. “We really like to talk to the client and get as much information as we can about what they expect, so we have a happy client in the end. Word of mouth is the best advertising.” Messina said that more clients now consider themselves knowledgeable about what good food is and expect restaurant-quality dishes served at catered events. Menus have moved beyond traditional Louisiana and Creole dishes and now include Asian, Vietnamese and fusion items as well as tapas bars, farm-to-table appetizers and healthier options. These menus help Messina’s stand out amidst increasing competition from not only other catering companies, but also grocery stores that are opening their own catering departments.
Cooking Up Holiday Cheer Group events, seasonal parties, private classes and large family gatherings always drives revenue for the New Orleans School of Cooking, but during this time of year it intensifies. During the holidays, the school sees an average of seven classes per day and sometimes upward of 10 or 11. The holidays are a prosperous time for the school, but the busy season actually begins in October. And this year, Christmas came early—classes were already thoroughly booked starting in September. Retail manager Becky Hebert said strategic marketing that involves participating in local events and approaching hotel BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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concierges helps get the school’s name out. “I have lots of families and large groups come in who want to do something different and get out of the house for a bit,” said Hebert. “So they will book their own private classes to come in and do the demonstration, then go out and enjoy a day in the Quarter after that.” In the demonstration classes, the school doesn’t tend to get into holiday-specific menus, choosing instead to keep to its roots with tutorials on jambalaya, chicken and sausage gumbo, and bananas Foster. But for private events, sometimes different recipes will come into play, where the school may throw in some more seasonal dishes, such as pumpkin bread budding. In addition to demonstrations and private parties, the school’s retail store sells custom gift baskets and gift certificates to people who want to give the gift of New Orleans cooking for the holiday season. What makes these cooking classes desirable for groups and gift-givers is often the New Orleans touch that can be heard, tasted, smelled and felt throughout what Hebert calls “very personal experiences.” Many of the chefs are not just masters of their cooking craft but also licensed tour guides who inject history, culture and, most importantly, laughter into each demonstration and private party. Hebert feels this is why so many people, locals and visitors alike, return again and again, particularly during the holidays.
Sticking With What Works Over the holidays, locals and visitors considering a trip to House of Blues can expect to find some holiday preparations, such as decorations in the Foundation Room or Christmas lights in the Voodoo Garden. But mainly, the venue likes to stick to what it does best during any other busy season, such as Carnival or festival season, according to Promotions and Marketing Manager, Ashley Sutton. That’s not to say the holiday cheer is by any means lost on House of Blues, as the venue introduces seasonal dishes and cocktails to its restaurant menus, and the weekly Sunday Gospel Brunch features traditional holiday tunes. House of Blues also participates in a handful of charitable contributions, such as this year’s Babes in Toyland for Foundation Room members, who will be encouraged to bring toy donations for Toys for Tots. But beyond that, House of Blues knows what works during all of the busiest times of year and tends to implement the same plans. “We try to keep it as traditional as possible because holidays can be overkill with starting [holiday] music right after Halloween,” said Sutton. “Other than that, it’s really no different than any other time we’re getting ready for a festive season.” Where revenue-driving holiday tactics do come in for House of Blues is in marketing itself as both a venue for holiday events and depicting “the overall experience of coming to House of Blues as a present,” said Sutton. Whether that means giving concert tickets to a music lover or a gift card for House of Blues’ restaurants or retail store, highlighting the overarching experience the venue offers is where this multifaceted entertainment venue sows its holiday successes. “December is definitely one of our better months not just because of the traffic, but also because of the holiday parties and concerts,” said Sutton. “We are a venue where you can bring the whole family and enjoy various parts of our business, not just the music.” The holidays are an important time of year for New Orleans businesses, particularly the restaurants, venues and catering companies that put on the holiday events and serve the holiday foods that locals and visitors come here to experience. It may not be Mardi Gras, but the holidays are still a strong revenue producer, as even the winter air can’t keep people away from this celebration-friendly city. n 56
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Seasonal Holiday Menus Attract Festive Taste Buds An estimated one-third of consumers say they seek out seasonal menus when the holidays roll around, which is why many restaurants, venues and catering companies adopt seasonal offerings — from appetizers to desserts and cocktails. Around this time of year, “holiday” flavors like pumpkin, cranberry, cinnamon and nutmeg adorn many dishes. Sometimes holiday menus aren’t just about certain flavors but also eating a more lavish meal in celebration. For some restaurants and private parties, that could mean offering a more expensive four-course meal instead of a traditional three-course meal, or setting up a tapas bar instead of a carving station at a catered event. Holiday splurges often also come in the form of dish selection, such as springing for filet mignon instead of just chicken.
Bubbling Revenue: Alcohol Fuels Holiday Sales According to the American Beverage Licensees, the estimated economic impact of the alcoholic beverage industry was more than $245 billion in 2014. The Adams Liquor Handbook found that while sales of spirits from January through November average 7.9 percent of the annual total, in December, that number rises to 12.7 percent. As a result, alcohol sales are often critical for driving revenue at restaurants, entertainment venues and catering companies over the holidays. A survey of Ralph Brennan’s restaurants’ sales managers found that hosts are requesting more tray-passed cocktails at the door, which Executive Vice President, Charlee Williamson, believes is a sign of a robust event where hosts tend to splurge to set the tone from the moment guests arrive. Businesses may also choose to offer seasonal cocktails that pique the interest of guests looking to add some holiday cheer to their glass.
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Perspectives | Education
The Next Generation A look at how local high schools are preparing Louisiana’s future workforce for college. By Kim Roberts
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ew Orleans natives know that where you went to high school can be equally as important as where you attended college. Who hasn’t been asked during a job interview about their high school affiliation? In the competitive world of high school admissions, there are many factors to consider when choosing a high school. One of the main factors is how does a high school prepare its students for a higher education and life after high school? We prepare our boys to succeed beyond high school and to lead
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productive and meaningful lives,” says Pierre DeGruy, director of communications for Jesuit High School. “In addition to being a college preparatory school, we want to bring forth the young man that God created. We want them to be compassionate, know right from wrong and be a man for others, as well as academically prepared. Our curriculum and courses are structured to develop disciplined habits, to stimulate critical thinking and to develop the skills necessary for the expression of that thinking.” The International High School of New Orleans, St. Martin’s
Photo Thinkstock
Episcopal School, Brother Martin High School, St. Mary’s Dominican High School, Jesuit High School, Archbishop Rummel High School, Archbishop Chapelle High School and Mount Carmel Academy each begin preparing their students early for college, starting in eighth and ninth grades, and each of these schools offer college preparatory classes and honors or AP (advanced placement) classes. “Preparation for college at our school begins upon acceptance into Mount Carmel,” says the school’s principal, Beth Ann Simno. “Incoming students participate in the Cub-Connection program to become familiar with the campus and learn about study skills, time management and leadership skills. From the first day of eighth grade to the last day of senior year, students are challenged to excel in academics and to explore their interests in co-curricular programs. Preparation for college is essential, but the greatest preparation students receive is not only learning how to be educated to make a living, but also and most importantly, learning how to live a good life in service to others.”
“Beginning in the ninth grade, students are invited to consult with the college counselor during the class registration process. College counseling intensifies in the junior year with family meetings and the college search process.” -Rob Norton, director of marketing and communications at St. Martin’s Episcopal School Archbishop Chapelle High School’s director of communications, Rachel Fryer, says that Chapelle students start preparing for college in eighth and ninth grade. “Students take algebra I, English I, and world geography that count towards their TOPS and college GPA,” she says. “Chapelle is unique because every student is not required to start at the same level; each student’s schedule is attuned to her individual needs.” In order to be eligible to be admitted into college these days, all students are required to complete certain classes. These classes include: at least four English courses, including English I – IV; four math courses, including algebra I and II, geometry, and advanced math; four science courses, including physical science, biology, chemistry and either environmental science or physics; four social studies courses, including world history, American history, civics/free enterprise, and either another a world history or U.S. history or government and politics class; at least two years of a consecutive foreign language, either French, Spanish or Latin; and at least one credit of a fine arts or performance art class, which includes band, chorus, studio art, or fine arts survey. Another essential component to successfully preparing students for higher education is making sure they have the tools they need to take the ACT and SAT standardized tests, which are required for admittance into every college. Each of the mentioned high schools either builds standardized test preparation into their daily curriculum or offers prep classes during or after school or on weekends. BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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“We offer after-school courses for the PSAT and ACT tests,” says Wendy Grubb, St. Mary’s Dominican High School’s chair of the Guidance Department and college advisor. “The faculty also do in-class preparation for the ACT test. Our whole curriculum is focused on college preparation. We offer 11 AP courses as well as 30 honors courses; however, even our regular level courses are college preparatory.” In addition to Dominican High School, Jesuit High School, Archbishop Chapelle, Brother Martin High School and Mount Carmel Academy also offer after-school prep classes in addition to standardized test preparation during the regular school day. Rummel High School and International High School have built test prep activities into daily classes and St. Martin’s Episcopal School offers free test prep courses to all juniors during the day with an independent consultant from Power Courses. “Our students receive daily instruction for college standardized testing,” says Lynette Lopez, enrollment counselor at International High School of New Orleans. “We build ACT prep into the curriculum, and our students take mock ACT tests twice a year.” According to Simno, Mount Carmel Academy schedules eighthgrade students into a half-credit Dynamics of Effective Study class, and sophomores are scheduled into a half-credit test prep class in addition to having the opportunity to participate in a PSAT class. In order to be fully prepared for college, high school students need to take the required classes and standardized tests and learn all they can about any college in which they are interested in order to make an informed decision. This task can be accomplished by 60
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“All grade levels are invited to attend our college fair, which is held during the school day.” -Kelly Wild, college counselor at Brother Martin High School attending college fairs, meeting college representatives at their high schools and visiting college campuses. Dominican High School, Archbishop Chapelle High School, Jesuit High School, Brother Martin High School, Mount Carmel Academy, St. Martin’s Episcopal School and Rummel High School invite individual college representatives to visit their campuses throughout the school year and to meet with interested students. In addition to the on-campus college visits, Jesuit High School and Brother Martin host a college fair at their schools, and the International High School of New Orleans requires students in their junior year to take four class field trips during the year to college campuses across the state. “All grade levels are invited to attend our college fair, which is held during the school day,” says Kelly Wild, college counselor at Brother Martin High School. These colleges that attend are representative of both Louisiana schools and colleges from other Photo Thinkstock
states, both private and public. We usually have between 70 and 80 college representatives at our college fair, and we also have college representatives visit on-campus during the school year.” In addition to college prep classes, Archbishop Rummel High School offers a pre-professional program for students interested in pursuing a college degree in law, engineering and the biomedical industry. “Three years ago we decided to offer freshmen a chance to become acquainted with certain professional fields,” says Travis Olivier, school counselor at Archbishop Rummel High School. “This program lets the boys participate in the early stages of what they will experience in college in the three different fields. Students can take one class in their chosen field each year until graduation. So we have four levels a student can take before he graduates.” Proper counseling is another important factor for students when it comes to college readiness. All of the high schools mentioned have grade-level counselors, as well as counselors that specialize in college preparation and the application process. According to Grubb, Dominican High School believes it is imperative that high school counselors keep abreast of the requirements for colleges as well as scholarship opportunities for their students. Keeping students and parents in the loop about TOPS requirements is also important. “We provide individualized counseling in many areas, including course selection, advisory and college counseling,” says Rob Norton, director of marketing and communications at St. Martin’s Episcopal School. “Beginning in the ninth grade, students are invited to consult with the college counselor during the class registration process. College counseling intensifies in the junior year with family meetings and the college search process.” All of this effort by local schools seems to be paying off. Jesuit High School, Dominican High School, Brother Martin High School, Archbishop Chapelle High School, International High School of New Orleans, and Mount Carmel Academy had a 100 percent college acceptance rate for the class of 2015. St. Martin’s Episcopal School had a 98 percent college acceptance rate — with one student enlisting in the United States Air Force — and Archbishop Rummel High School had a 90 percent college acceptance rate to four-year colleges and 10 percent acceptance rate to two-year colleges. Students from the mentioned high schools have been accepted and attend colleges across the country, from coast to coast, but most of the schools say that the majority of their seniors opt to attend college in-state. “We have students who attend Harvard, USC, Vanderbilt, Fordham, and many other prestigious colleges and universities around the country, but Jesuit High School is the largest feeder high school to LSU in the entire state,” DeGruy says. “Our boys are prepared for any level of higher education.” In Orleans Parish, the percentage of high school graduates enrolling in college in 2014 was 72 percent. Statewide, Louisiana saw a 6 percent improvement in college enrollment rates out of high school over 2013, representing an all-time high for the state. “The numbers are positive but not surprising,” says State Superintendent John White on the Louisiana Department of Education website. “We have raised expectations through more challenging standards, the ACT, Advanced Placement, dual enrollment courses, and Jump Start. Our state should heed these results: we cannot afford to go backwards.” n
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Perspectives | Real Estate & Construction
Hot Spots The state of commercial and residential construction in NOLA By Pamela Marquis
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n 2014, real estate construction, including both residential and commercial, comprised $1.0656 trillion, or 6.1 percent, of the nation’s economic output as measured by Gross Domestic Product. Here in New Orleans, real estate continues to make steady and significant contributions to our local economy with an improving housing market and exciting commercial projects and developments. “The real estate outlook continues to gain momentum and promises strong growth throughout 2015 to at least as far out as 2018,” says Billy Burk with Burk Brokerage and Burk Property Investments. Commercial Hot Spots - South Market District in the CBD “Looking back at last year, one of the most exciting projects has been the South Market development, as it’s really brought new life and 62
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vitality to that part of the CBD,” says William Hoffman, senior vice president for corporate planning and development with Woodward Design + Build. “It’s really expanded the residential footprint.” The Domain Companies, a local development company first launched in New York by two Tulane University graduates — Matthew Schwartz and Chris Papamichael — is the developer of the South Market District. Domain specializes in large-scale, mixed-use development in partnership with municipalities. The company has been involved in more than 3,500 housing units and 250,000 square feet of retail space in markets large and small around the country. Here in New Orleans, they partnered with Woodward Design+ Build, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, Humpheys & Partners, and Terremark Partners on the South Market project. Photo Jeffery Johnston
LEFT PAGE: “Looking back at last year, one of the most exciting projects has been the South Market development, as it’s really brought new life and vitality to that part of the CBD,” says William Hoffman, senior vice president for corporate planning and development with Woodward Design + Build. Shown here is the district’s new luxury apartment building, The Paramount at South Market. ABOVE: The much-anticipated University Medical Center opened its doors August 1 and currently employs 2,000 full-time workers.
The development encompasses a five-block area at the intersection of the Warehouse/Arts District, Central Business District, Medical District, and Sports/Entertainment District. South Market District is a mixed-use, transit-oriented development combining luxury apartments with shops, cafes and restaurants, and exciting entertainment venues. When complete, 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. BioMedical Corridor New Orleans’ biomedical corridor encompasses 1,500 acres and is estimated to have a $3.3 billion local economic impact. This summer the new University Medical Center New Orleans, the anchor of the biomedical corridor, officially opened its doors to patients at 2000 Canal St. The state-of-the-art facility spans 2.3 million square feet and offers 446 in-patient hospital beds. It also employs 2,000 full-time workers. “The opening of University Medical Center is exciting with all it offers the area,” says Rachel Wulff, real estate agent and host of the WGSO-AM radio show “Real Estate Rundown. “This is good for residential real restate because doctors, nurses and medical staff will need housing.” Hotels are Hopping Another economic boost from the biomedical corridor comes from properties bought and developed to support the needs of the hospital, such as hotels. In fact, there has been a hotel boom all around the city recently. “We are going to continue to see a growth in hotel development in 2016 and construction going on in the Downtown area,” says Hoffman. “This has been going on for a couple of years, and I see it continuing for a few more years.” Photo Benjamin Benschneider
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Two Marriotts, One Building NewcrestImage, a Texas-based hotel development and management company, recently purchased and is planning to convert a 13-story tower located on 1600 Canal St. into a 105-room TownePlace Suites by Marriott and a 78-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott. It will be the first building in the country to combine the two hotel brands. The hotels will share amenities, including a single lobby and registration desk, breakfast area and indoor bar. NewcrestImage is also building an 8,000-square-foot rooftop garden with an outdoor bar, exercise room and laundry facility for guests of both hotels to use. NewcrestImage is no stranger to the hotel market in New Orleans. In 2013, it bought the city’s historic Cotton Exchange Building and invested $12 million into converting it into an AC Hotel by Marriott. Jung Hotel Another big project for the city is the development of the former Jung Hotel. Developer Joseph Jaeger is leading a $13 million project to redevelop the 17-story building located on the riverside corner of Canal and LaSalle streets. Plans include a multiuse facility, which will feature 175 luxury apartments and 145 hotel suites. There are also plans for 50,000 square feet of retail, meeting rooms and event space and a 484space parking garage. Completion is projected for fall 2016. Also contributing to the project are John C. Williams Architects, Trahan Architects and the McDonnel Group as general contractor.
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LEFT: The World Trade Center will become a Four Seasons Hotel and condominiums. RIGHT: Uptown, the Lower Garden District, CBD and Warehouse District are all currently commanding residential prices of over $200 per-square-foot.
World Trade Center to Become Four Seasons Hotel The iconic building at 2 Canal St. once known as the World Trade Center will become a Four Seasons Hotel and condominiums. It is also expected to bring more than 1,600 construction jobs and 450 permanent jobs to the area. The development team made up of Carpenter & Co. and Woodward Interests plan a 350-room Four Seasons with 76 hotel-serviced condos. Their design also adds two wings to the sides of the building. A visitor center will also be included on the site. “New Orleans: History at the Conf luence of Cultures,” will be developed with guidance from Henry Louis Gates Jr., a Harvard University professor of African-American studies, and Tulane University history professor Lawrence Powell. According to the developers, the attraction will be a digital, immersive experience. Residential Real Estate Wade Ragas, a leading expert in the real estate industry here in New Orleans and throughout the country, provides housingmarket analyses for the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors that focuses on data by ZIP code. His most recent analysis of data from the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors and Gulf South Real Estate Information Network shows that the New Orleans residential real estate market has more than rebounded 10 years after Katrina. Photos Cheryl Gerber and Thinkstock
“For example, one of the things our most recent report looked at was the housing market, and it showed that that market has fully recovered in levels of housing prices and sales volume,” Ragas says. “Just for example, the metro New Orleans average prices have risen from $102 per foot before Katrina to $121 per foot or by 18.6 percent. So the average price of a house in the metro area in 2005 was around $196,000, and now it’s around $234.000.” Ragas’ reports’ latest figures also show that the market has improved in the desirable neighborhoods spanning the Warehouse District, Lower Garden District, Uptown and the French Quarter, which now average well over $200 per square foot for single-family homes. There was also double-digit percentage growth in eastern New Orleans, a footprint that includes the recently reopened New Orleans East Hospital. The Garden District remains an inf luential neighborhood, where the average home price is approximately $1,080,935. Uptown saw an average price-per-square-foot rise to $240 from $223, making it the most expensive neighborhood for single-family homes in New Orleans last year. According to Kevin Ivens, real estate developer and investor with Buckstone Investment Group, “Finding a house, particularly in Uptown, has become a challenging task. Due to the recent cultural shift, more emphasis is placed on who’s living where. The demand is high and the inventory is limited. There are just not that many high-end renovated properties available.” Millennials Some experts believe that the people coming close to their retirement periods will drive much of the real estate sold in 2016, and millennials are predicted to account for 65 percent of the homebuyers. “New Orleans is experiencing a renaissance of new business startups and diversified commerce that is being coined as a ‘brain gain’ for our region,” says Burk. “Investors would be wise to focus on millennials, whose preference in real estate falls primarily in urban areas featuring views or near water. This gives the New Orleans area a significant advantage over other U.S. cities.” Another thing to consider, according to Ivens, is that the National Association of Home Builders shows that the average home nowadays is 10 percent smaller than the new home five years ago — about 2,200 square feet. An eco-friendly home with plumbing and energy-efficient windows and a smaller carbon footprint is preferred by downsizing boomers and millennial buyers. Advice for Buyers Burk believes that with low interest rates and real estate markets on the rise, now is the time to borrow. “Homebuyers should buy big and buy now,” he says. “Investors and retirement planners should focus on new construction, remodels in the short term, and urban multifamily for the long term.” Many, like Wulff, who along with her husband in the past eight years has renovated 19 properties, believe the residential real estate business will continue to climb. “It’s an exciting time for New Orleans,” she said. “There are more educational opportunities and options for families with public and charter schools. It’s affordable to raise a family in New Orleans. And we see history and hope on every street we walk down. It’s a feast for your eyes.” In both commercial and residential real estate Ragas says there’s no end of growth in sight. “I’m not seeing any kind of bubble phenomenon here,” he says. “Even though we’re in our sixth or seventh year of expansion, I’m not seeing anything that looks like a bubble.” n BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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Guest Viewpoint
Passwords are Like Seat Belts They can help protect you, but only if you use them correctly. Dale Pinney is president of Olaf Solutions. A Microsoft Certified Professional and a small business specialist, he has been assisting small and medium sized businesses with their technology needs for over 28 years.
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very day we get in our cars and fasten our seat belts. Why? Because we know our odds of getting hurt are lower with them than without them. We know that seat belts won’t protect us in every kind of accident, but we still dutifully fasten them every time. Every day we also use passwords — mostly without a second thought. Our only fear around them is that we will forget them, so we make them easy to remember. As a result, however, we leave ourselves open to someone breaking into our accounts. In an effort to try and protect us from ourselves, websites and programs have begun requiring more and more complex passwords — passwords are rated based on how many years it is estimated it would take for a hacker to break. Many will reject common passwords or those with your name in them. According to Microsoft, the average user needs 32 passwords. It’s clear that it is more important than ever to have passwords you can remember without having to write them down somewhere that could be easy for someone else to access. First, even President Obama last February admitted that his password was once “password” so you are not alone if you’ve aimed for simplicity. But despite the experts wanting complex passwords – the more complex a password is, the more it is actually less secure because it might be written somewhere. Most techs know that when a password is needed at a user’s Photo Thinkstock
computer, the first thing to do is look around. The password is usually written down somewhere in plain view. Don’t do this. Secondly, avoid the common passwords. This year the password “password” was actually unseated by “123456” as the most used password. You also want to avoid using your birthday or a spouse, pet or child’s name. Most of that information is readily available on the Internet (think social media) and is a popular go-to for would be hackers. The next important thing to avoid is using the same password for different sites. The majority of passwords are obtained by server hackings and the majority of Internet logins are your email address. This means that if someone hacks a server and gets your password and email address, all they have to do is try them on different sites. If you have shared your password across sites and one is hacked, you have now become a victim. So what should you do? For years we have been advocates of using phrases that have nothing to do with the user. Add to the mix a number and a capital letter, and the password will qualify for any site. For example “carsGo2fast” would take 16.82 million centuries to brute force attack but is easy to remember and use. As compared with “$Tga3KQ” which would take 22.44 centuries to hack, but is hard to type and very hard to remember, which means it is likely to be written down somewhere. Now I said to avoid using the same password for different sites, but that does not mean they can’t be similar. Think about the sites that you use. For social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, if hackers got your password, you would likely suffer few adverse effects — except maybe explaining to your mom the post that they put on your site. However, your login for your bank, for example, is obviously much more critical to protect. The easiest way to facilitate this is to use variations of the phrase for each site. For example, using the password above, on Facebook and other social sites I would use “fastcars” : It’s easy to remember and put in your phone, yet still has a 6.91 years rating. For the first financial Institution you could use “CarsGo2Fast”, then “carsgo2Fast” on the next one and so on. The passwords are the same but also unique. Remember, make your phrase unrelated to you. Look out the window and see “3greenTrees” or pick something on your desk like “2bigApile”. Now that you can remember your passwords, it is actually a good idea to have a location for all of your passwords and login data written down — just not anywhere easily accessible. Generally I recommend not to store them on or near the computer. There are a number of password locker programs that you can use to secure your passwords. These include some for your phone and others for your computer, as well as some that are online and can be accessed from anywhere. Personally, I would avoid those, because if that server got hacked, all of your information would be vulnerable. Having well-secured passwords cannot protect you from every evil that is out there on the Internet, no more than a seat belt can protect you from every accident. However, won’t you feel more secure after taking the time to clean up your passwords? Just think, then you won’t have to admit that your password was “password” and you forgot to fasten your seat belt! n
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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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L U X U R Y
R E A L
E S T A T E
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Great Offices
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The Verdict Is In
By Bonnie Warren Photography by Cheryl Gerber
E. Paige Sensenbrenner, senior partner in charge of Adams and Reese, shows us how the firm’s New Orleans office is the perfect blend of function with a bit of flair.
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erched high above the New Orleans skyline at 701 Poydras St., the law firm of Adams and Reese occupies four floors of One Shell Square, with the main reception area and most of the conference rooms on the 45th floor. Almost every space offers sweeping views of the Mississippi River as it winds through several parishes. “We moved to One Shell Square in 1973, shortly after the iconic building was completed,” says E. Paige Sensenbrenner, senior partner in charge. “The central location is still the right fit for our firm.” Founded in 1951, the firm traces its roots to St. Clair Adams Sr., a New Orleans district attorney from 1908 to 1912. St. Clair Adams Jr. and W. Ford Reese joined the practice in 1943. Today, 300 attorneys and advisors practice multidisciplinary law at Adams and Reese,
which includes 16 offices in 15 markets around the southern United States and Washington, D.C. “It’s a long time for the Adams and Reese names to be associated with a successful law practice,” Sensenbrenner notes. “Expansion outside New Orleans began in 1984, and the firm continued its regional growth to Baton Rouge, Mobile, Washington, D.C., and Houston, securing the firm’s strategic vision as a pre-eminent law firm in the Gulf South region,” he says. “Adams and Reese moved into Jackson with a merger in 1996 with a total of 155 attorneys at that time. Then further targeted growth added our Birmingham office, two offices in Nashville and another in Memphis. Expansion into Florida began in 2009 with the addition of five Florida offices including Sarasota,
LEFT: The two-story reception area features a marble-clad reception desk. ABOVE: The reception area on the 45th floor is furnished with comfortable leather seating.
St. Petersburg, Tampa, Tallahassee and Jacksonville. Our most recent move was into South Carolina, adding our Columbia office.” Designed in the International style by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the 51-story skyscraper has maintained its leadership for prime office space throughout its 43-year existence. The steel core building with a concrete perimeter is actually clad in Italian travertine (limestone) and bronze glass. While there was some concern over the years regarding the limestone’s integrity during severe weather such as tropical systems, Hurricane Katrina proved the fears invalid when the building only suffered minimal damage. Today the firm occupies 85,186 square feet on four floors — 43, 44, 45 and 46, with three of the floors having undergone major
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renovations in the past few years. Three of the floors have a new look. “We began renovations on the 43rd and 44th floors in 2013,” Sensenbrenner says. “Included in the 44th-floor changes is the new state-of-the-art Thomas G. O’Brien Media Center. The facility, along with our other media centers throughout the firm, is significant to our regional presence and communications.” Renovations to the 45th floor began in 2014. “We like to note that our offices throughout our regional footprint are all handsome with common elements, yet they each have a special touch of local flavor from their respective market,” Sensenbrenner says. Sensenbrenner’s tenure with the firm began in 1987, after he graduated from Loyola College of Law. He also holds a nursing degree from Charity School of Nursing. Sensenbrenner’s medical background served him well when he initially established his practice in medical malpractice defense. “Over the years, my litigation practice has evolved to include pharmaceutical and medical device products liability, pharmaceutical pricing claims, insurance fraud, toxic torts, and 86
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accounting malpractice/fraud,” he says. “Many of these claims involved class actions and complex litigation.” He also defended a parish government in a class action alleging property damage resulting from levee failures in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and he is lead trial counsel for a major energy company in cases alleging radiation exposure. His practice also includes government relations and health care. Sensenbrenner has drafted legislation for health care entities, insurance companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers, and testified before legislative committees. He also serves as outside general counsel for the Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency and the Louisiana Cancer Research Center. It is interesting to note that his unpretentious office doesn’t occupy a corner of the building or have any special features. “It’s functional and that’s what really matters,” he says. With a heavy court schedule, Sensenbrenner didn’t have time to clear his desk or move the boxes of files that covered most of the floor. “Just step over the boxes and stacks of paper on the floor,” he adds as he points to the stacks.
“This all represents the hard work on a case we just completed. I’ll clean up next week.” He doesn’t find it strange that his office is a modest size. “All I need is a desk, chair, computer and telephone,” he says. Sensenbrenner does have one uncluttered table. It sits in front of a large window that overlooks the city’s skyline and the Mississippi River, where he proudly keeps family photographs of his wife, Judge Madeleine Landrieu of the State of Louisiana Court of Appeal, Fourth Circuit, and his four daughters – Erica, 22, Hannah, 21, Alexandra, 19, and Olivia, 15. . Sensenbrenner met his wife in law school and they have been married for 25 years. “It has been an interesting experience to be a part of Verna and Moon Landrieu’s wonderful family, with 37 grandchildren that includes my four daughters.” Erica is in law school at Loyola University, Hannah and Alexandra attend Louisiana State University, and Olivia is a student at Ursuline Academy. Born in Eunice, where his grandmother (Henrietta Bordelon Tyson) spoke French as her primary language, Sensenbrenner recalls how she would have her friends over
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for afternoon coffee and they would sit in the parlor and speak only French. A “good ol’ Louisiana boy,” Sensenbrenner says his favorite hobbies are hunting and fishing. “I share a hunting camp called Fowl Play in Gueydan with my best friends with last names that include Duplechin, Courville, Tauzin, and Cazayoux. It’s where we hunt duck and geese on about 400 acres.” Sensenbrenner says he’s proud of Adams and Reese’s focus on giving back. In fact, following a proposal by the firm’s New Orleans partners, Martin Stern, Jeff Richardson and Ron Sholes — working together with retired Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Harry T. Lemmon on a project for Louisiana Appleseed — this year the Louisiana Supreme Court made a move to encourage pro bono work statewide. “Effective May 1, 2015, and for the first time in the state of Louisiana, every lawyer who does pro bono work will receive up to three hours of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit each year, under an order signed by Chief Justice Bernette J. Johnson of the Louisiana Supreme Court,” he explains. “The pro bono legal services provided under this
rule will have a positive effect on many in need across our state, as well as credit for the attorneys handling these cases.” Sensenbrenner says his firm also participates in various community events. “They bring our people closer to one another by providing community opportunities that might not exist in the course of regular business,” he says. “Our corporate philanthropy program, HUGS (Hope, Understanding, Giving, Support) was founded in 1988 by our partner Mark Surprenant. Through HUGS, over 100 organizations across our regional footprint have benefited from our employees’ volunteerism.” Adams and Reese attorneys each strive to perform a minimum of 20 hours of pro bono work annually. They serve the indigent, who cannot afford legal representation and work with state and local bar associations on projects through the firm’s pro bono program, CA&RE (Caring Adams and Reese Employees). “We were proud to be listed in the AmLaw 200 firms and in the top 100 pro bono firms in the country for services delivered to our community,” Sensenbrenner says. “We feel that it is fine to give money to a
1: E. Paige Sensenbrenner, senior partner in charge of Adams and Reese LLC, stands next to a window in his office on the 45th floor of One Shell Square overlooking the Mississippi River and the New Orleans skyline. 2: An expansive conference room provides seating for large groups. The view encompasses the bridge over the Mississippi River and the skyline toward the West Bank. 3: The Adams and Reese offices have been located in 51-story One Shell Square at 701 Poydras St. since 1973, shortly after the building was completed. Today the firm occupies a total of 85,186 square feet across four floors.
worthwhile cause, but it is important to give of your service and your time.” How does Sensenbrenner see the future of the firm? “Adams and Reese historically has been a progressive and innovative firm and we look toward the future on the same course,” he says. “Our strength, stability, regionalization and our diversified legal practice has helped us meet past challenges ranging from natural disasters to economic downturns. Our strategic business plan has proven to be a successful, effective business model. The future definitely looks bright for the firm.” n
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Q&A - Biz Person of the Month
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A New Blueprint for Growth Jerry Bologna, executive director of JEDCO, discusses how Jefferson EDGE 2020 will herald the parish’s next wave of economic development. By Rebecca Friedman - Photos by Cheryl Gerber
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he Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission (JEDCO) has spent nearly three decades helping attract and develop businesses in the region, with much of that work based on a series of strategic plans called the Jefferson EDGE. Over the past 15 years, Jefferson EDGE has served as a roadmap for the area’s development — a shared vision responsible for, among other things, the development of the 500-acre Churchill Technology & Business Park in Avondale. With most of its previous goals achieved, the newest iteration of the plan, Jefferson EDGE 2020, has just been released. JEDCO’s Executive Director, Jerry Bologna, shares what he considers to be the area’s most exciting economic opportunities under the plan and what it will take to capture them. BIZ: Tell us a bit about the evolution of Jefferson EDGE and its impact to date.
Jerry Bologna: The Jefferson EDGE strategic planning process started back in 1999. The original EDGE plan was adopted by the Parish Council in 2000 as a fiveyear economic development strategic plan for the parish, but some of the things that came out of that original plan include land development, especially here on the Westbank. So we certainly have our park, Churchill Technology & Business Park, to point to as a success. We have updated that plan about every five years. Some of the most tangible successes coming out of the Jefferson EDGE include the beautification efforts throughout the parish, the real strategic focus on our public education system in Jefferson, and the redevelopment of Fat City. There were no shortage of other plans to look at the redevelopment of Fat City, but I think Jefferson EDGE really brought focus and helped marshal the resources and bring the appropriate parties together.
Bologna says that some of Jefferson Parish’s biggest challenges are a low commercial and residential housing stock and issues with workforce development. All are priorities for JEDCO. BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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BIZ: Jefferson EDGE 2020 identifies five “industry clusters” as key areas of focus: food, beverage, fishing and seafood; water transportation, distribution and logistics; health care; IT systems and products; and water, coastal and environmental Industries. Why those areas?
JB: One reason we arrived at those five is that they tend to be traded clusters — meaning they bring in outside dollars or produce products that are sold outside of the market. So it’s not just a recirculation of the dollars in our community, but something that brings new dollars in. Some of them are clusters where we already enjoy pretty good success but still have a lot of room for growth, and some are totally new ventures for us. For example, the water, coastal and environmental industries — that is a burgeoning area where we think we will see our greatest growth over the next 15 years. A lot of that is attributed to the coastal restoration effort, the BP dollars that will flow through to our community from the RESTORE Act. On the other end of the spectrum, you have industries like food, beverage, fishing and seafood — that’s an industry that we’ve 92
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always enjoyed success with but where we see great growth potential. New Orleans has always been known for its cuisine, but Jefferson has always had a stronghold on the food-manufacturing side. And we can point to major international brands like Zatarain’s and Paul Prudhomme Magic Seasoning Blends as companies that have great success here in Jefferson. But we also have startups that show great potential, like The Jambalaya Girl and Cook Me Somethin’ Mister, so we’re attempting to grow that industry by bringing more of our entrepreneurial ventures to market. We also chose our clusters taking into account what the New Orleans Business Alliance was focusing on, so we picked up on some clusters where they might be weak and didn’t choose others we feel they are better suited to handle. So there is cooperation on that front. BIZ: What makes you optimistic that these goals are achievable?
JB: On food and beverage, we already are seeing successes, so we feel very confident that that’s going to continue. For the coastal restoration efforts, we
Counted among the successes of past EDGE plans is the 500-acre Churchill Technology & Business Park in Avondale.
intend to put some of the practices that we learned through Hurricane Katrina into practice, and we feel confident about opportunities to get our local firms involved in that process. On the health care and destination health care side, we have already seen successes, and now with the hospital corridor coming online in New Orleans, there’s even more focus on that industry and more possibilities to attract people to this region for health care. So in some of those industries, we are already seeing signs of growth — our role is going to be to help augment that and push it along. BIZ: What are some of the biggest challenges facing business expansion and development in Jefferson today?
JB: I think a couple of the challenges are going to include addressing our building stock in Jefferson. That goes for both our commercial building stock as well as our housing stock and our ability to attract the
A Peek at the Plan Just a few of the priorities established for Jefferson Parish under Jefferson EDGE 2020 include: n Create an “Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence” at Delgado’s Avondale Campus by renovating and expanding the campus’ existing facility to be used for workforce development, along with the renovation and expansion of Delgado’s Blair Campus; n Planning and development of the Fairfield area on the Westbank of the Mississippi River of Jefferson Parish; n Reuse/redevelop industrial corridors, including the Harvey Canal, HuntingtonIngalls Shipyard and in Old Jefferson;
workforce into Jefferson Parish. We enjoy the largest population in the region, but we need to make sure we give people a reason to continue to choose Jefferson as their home. Workforce development is going to continue to be a challenge. There is so much synergy in this area and growth on the job front — we need to make sure we continue to train our people to be able to fill those positions. We enjoy a close relationship with Delgado. They plan to construct both their River City campus and their Advanced Manufacturing Center of Excellence out here in the Churchill Park. We think those will go a long way in satisfying some of the workforce needs, mainly the maritime related trades and the advanced manufacturing trades, which is where we see so much of our job growth. The state of Louisiana has over $30 billion worth of industrial projects up and down the river and all throughout the southern part of the state announced, so it’s imperative that we provide that type of training to fill those jobs. That’s why we thought it was so important to foster that relationship with Delgado. BIZ: Is JEDCO looking to attract smallscale entrepreneurs as well as established corporations?
JB: We have examples of assisting companies across that spectrum – from our largest employer, Ochsner, to the one-person entrepreneurial venture. And we have certainly put a larger focus on entrepreneurship. We’ve done that throughout our history with the operation of our JEDCO incubator, but now with the JEDCO challenge, we’re bringing additional focus to our entrepreneurial ventures. Jefferson is largely a community of 94
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small businesses. While we do have those major businesses, the vast majority of our businesses are the small 5-10 person companies. And our focus with those businesses is to not only retain them but to help them see their growth potential here in Jefferson. So our role is to bring the resources and tools to help them grow their businesses here, whether that’s financing, tax incentives, or site selection – whatever it may be.
n Infrastructure improvement to allow for the phase II expansion of the Churchill Technology & Business Park, and the creation of Delgado’s River City Campus within the park; n
Establishment of wetlands mitigation banks;
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Enhancements to Rivertown;
n Development of Laketown, to include mixeduse developments; and n Improvements to the Westwego Riverboat Landing designed to support a riverboat cruise line.
The complete Jefferson EDGE 2020 plan is available at Jedco.org.
BIZ: For businesses choosing a location, what makes Jefferson a top pick?
JB: I think when businesses choose Jefferson, they see a very proactive business climate, a proactive government that is helpful to business. They find a trained, highly skilled workforce. The taxes and insurances are low, and the crime rate is low. Those are certainly advantages. BIZ: What do you consider keys to the success and longevity of Jefferson EDGE?
JB: One thing that has helped us successfully carry out this plan in the past is that we’ve always carried an implementation matrix through the five years. For all the implementation items and action items that come out of this plan, we actually develop a scorecard. We have it monitored by a third party – it’s not just us – and that way, we can gauge our successes and see what we’ve accomplished and where we still need work. That’s what we will be doing again with this plan, constantly monitoring it so it doesn’t become a plan that sits on the shelf in someone’s office. It’s a living document, and we had it adopted by the Parish Council, so it becomes the official strategic plan of the parish.
We also had over 150 stakeholders participate in the planning process. That included groups of business leaders from various industries, elected officials from throughout the parish and the civic community. All of them participated so that we were able to achieve widespread buy-in and input in the plan. I think it’s important in a parish as diverse as ours to get as much input as possible. BIZ: What would success look like for Jefferson in 2020?
JB: In five years, I would hope we’re seeing successes in those clusters that we point to – job creation, wealth creation, and increased tax revenues for the parish. Specifically, we’d love to be able to point back to a successful adaptive reuse of the Avondale shipyard, and the development of the Fairfield area on the Westbank. I think that’s going to be a focus and a potential success to say we are able to attract first-class developments to the Fairfield area, and that Jefferson Parish is seeing a resurgence in people finding an attractive community in which to live and raise their families. n
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Why Didn’t I Think of That? | Creative Businesses Taking Hold in Southeast Louisiana
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Escape from the
Young entrepreneur Andrew Preble is capitalizing on an alternative entertainment trend just hitting New Orleans.
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By Kim Singletary
ou and six of your friends or family enter a small room. There are no windows, and all around you are old, strange items sprawling from floor to ceiling. The door shuts. The timer starts. You now have exactly one hour to work together to solve a series of puzzles in order to unlock the door. If this sounds like fun to you, you are certainly not alone. The escape room concept, first made popular in Japan in 2007, spread to the U.S. in 2012 and has been gaining popularity ever since. “In Budapest there’s around 160 of them, I think,” says 30-yearold Abita Springs native Andrew Preble. “In Toronto I think there’s maybe close to 80.” About a year and a half ago, Preble read about escape rooms in a New York Times article that talked about how the rooms were inspired by Japanese video games with a similar concept. “I had played some of these games, like ‘The Room,’ and I was intrigued by the idea of creating a physical version that you could play with different people at the same time,” he says. After visiting a collection of rooms, Preble says he was convinced it was something he could do. One year later, in June of this year, he opened “Escape My Room,” an experience that he says takes a New Orleans spin on the concept. Since his room opened on an vacant floor of the U.S. Postal Service building on Loyola Avenue, Preble’s business has drawn a steady stream of about 1,000 customers a month — each paying $28 to be locked away. Now, less than six months in business, Preble is already planning an expansion to a larger location near the intersection of Tchoupitoulas and Girod streets. Expansion is critical since once patrons experience his room, they aren’t allowed to return. “Obviously we want to have return customers, so the goal is to eventually have five or six rooms operating at the same time,” Preble says. “And to constantly be switching them out for new ones, maybe every two or four months.”
30-year-old Abita Springs native Andrew Preble’s “Escape My Room” is a live puzzle where patrons are locked in a room and have one hour to solve the clues and escape. His one room opened in June and has since been drawing approximately 1,000 customers a month. BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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Creating the Puzzle
Preble is a unique man from a unique family. His father, artist John Preble, is the owner of the Abita Mystery House, a collection of oddities billed as “Louisiana’s most eccentric attraction.” This same fascination with the oddly fantastic is on display at Escape My Room, with everything from Franken-animals to real antiques blending together to create a creepy, possessed, old French Quarter mansion feel. “I’m lucky because with my family and the people I know knew I’d be able to build the props I wanted cheaply,” Preble says. “It’s always been about telling a story, though. I had been to other escape rooms, and it seemed that either the puzzles were good but there was no real story to tie them together, or there was a good story, but the puzzles were bad and the room just looked bad.” Determined to give his escape room a true New Orleans feel, Preble began by creating the story. “It’s all about a family called the DeLaportes, whom I created with inspiration from real New Orleans families and events,” Preble explains. The current escape room starts the story with the idea that the reclusive Odette DeLaporte, the last remaining heir to the DeLaporte fortune, has requested the visitors’ help to find a missing treasure. To do so, participants must find and then solve a series of clues hidden around the room within various artifacts, both real and created. “It took me about six months to figure out the whole thing,” Preble says. “How one clue would lead to the next by way of telling real New Orleans stories. It’s all about families, because that’s so much a part of our culture here.” While the room itself is kept secret, the entry parlor provides a hint at the strange and amazing artifacts and creations visitors will encounter inside.
Bringing it to Life
“Not long after I had the idea, I started looking for space,” Preble says. “It was challenging because this is not your typical retail venture. I wanted something old, that was centrally located and definitely had room for expansion.” The post office building on Loyola, between Girod and Julia streets, fit the bill, and the mostly empty building came with the perk of cheap rent. Preble says he underestimated how long it would take to ink the deal. “We started with sending the proposal in July of last year and didn’t sign the lease until November.” Build out took about three months. Escape My Room was ready to test in May 2015. “We brought in everyone — friends, family, random strangers — and had them play the game and then made adjustments as needed,” he says. “We did that for about a month. Initially I made it too hard, so that had to be fixed. There are literally a million moving parts that come together, and so I’m still in there making tweaks sometimes.” With a new group of up to seven players entering the room every hour and a half, Preble had the added challenge of creating a totally immersive experience that could easily be reset for the next group in about 5 minutes. “It has to be durable. If you call for someone to rip up a paper, you know you’re going to have to go in and clean all of that up afterwards and then keep providing more papers.” The result of Preble’s efforts and tweaks is a puzzle that’s difficult, but not impossible. “I’d say about 30 percent of the groups solve it,” he says. “And I think that’s pretty good. The important thing is always that everyone had fun.” To ensure they do, the room features hidden cameras and microphones so that the attendant on duty can monitor the experience. If a group seems to be getting too frustrated or stuck on something, the attendant will relay a helpful bit of advice from Mrs. DeLaporte to get them back on track.
Daily Operations
Escape My Room is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. “In the daytime we get a lot of corporate team-building groups,” Preble says. “In the evenings and on weekends, it’s a mix of locals and tourists. We get a lot of families and some birthday parties.” Preble’s staff consists of about five part-time attendants who are paid hourly and an assistant curator who he says is “pretty much full-time.”
Marketing
By its nature, Escape My Room appeals to younger consumers looking for a new form of diversion. So it makes sense that Preble relies heavily on social media. Whenever a group is finished, the attendant on duty takes a picture of them holding either a giant “We Escaped!” or “So Close!” sign. “That pic goes on our Facebook page, and we invite everyone to like us and share the pic on their pages as well,” Preble says. “We also ask people to write about us on TripAdvisor to help draw the tourists.” To reach out-of-town guests, Preble says he’s also had meetings with the local hotel concierge association.
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Challenges
There are some inherent challenges with the escape room concept. In addition to the return business aspect, there is the fact that while limiting the size of the participating group is necessary to ensure there aren’t “too many cooks in the kitchen” and everyone feels like they are participating, it also limits the amount of hourly income the business takes in. “The answer to that is obviously to have multiple rooms going at one time,” Preble says. “Maybe even have two of the same room operating at once.” Expansion and constant reinvention is key, he says, to the business’s future success. “That’s why I’m so excited about this move. We’re hoping to be in and opening up our second escape room, the Jazz Parlor, sometime in December and just grow from there.”
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Competition
Escape My Room is not the only escape room game in town. Clue Carré (a play on Vieux Carré), located in the Central Business District, has five operating escape rooms, and the Mystere Epic New Orleans Escape Room experience opened in November at the Mortuary Haunted Mansion. Mystere invites up to 12 participants at a time to partake in one of five escape rooms. “I’m a big believer that the more quality escape rooms in this city, the better it is for everyone,” Preble says. “There’s a huge market for this, and once someone has tried one, they’re bound to go looking for others. That’s good for us all.” n 4
Top 3 photos: Visitors to Abita Springs’ Abita Mystery House may find some
of Escape My Room’s creations familiar. The Mystery House is owned by Preble’s father, artist John Preble.
4: Capitalizing on the power of social media, a photo is taken of every group that attempts the room, holding a sign that says either “We escaped!” or “So close!” depending on whether the group made it out before the hour was up. Attendees are encouraged to like the company’s page and share their photo with others. 100
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Events ACG Louisiana 5th Annual Taste of New Orleans
Jefferson Chamber of Commerce: State of Jefferson
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
The Roosevelt Hotel New Orleans
Crowne Plaza New Orleans Airport Hotel
Gretchen B. Perkins, partner with Huron Capital Partners, served as keynote speaker for this one day conference designed for business professionals interested in deal making, corporate growth and access to capital.
The Jefferson Chamber’s State of Jefferson address celebrated outgoing Chamber President John Young, who spoke about recent wins for the region, including Dyno Nobel’s $850 million ammonia plant, and investments by Smoothie King and Zatarain’s.
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1. Albert Alexander, Alex Wendling and Leon Rittenberg III 2. Gretchen Perkins 3. Edward Bukaty, Barbra Barnett and Stephanie Fels 102
December 2015 BizNewOrleans.com
1. Mike Hoss and Todd Murphy 2. John Young 3. Rita Jaycox, Tim Paulin and Jane Rauch Photos by Cheryl Gerber and Jeff Strout
Port of New Orleans’ State of the Port Luncheon
ABWA Crescent City Connections Monthly Luncheon
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Marriott New Orleans Downtown at Convention Center
Ralph Brennan’s Heritage Grill
President and CEO of the Port of New Orleans, Gary LaGrange, announced at the annual State of the Port luncheon that the port had officially surpassed the half-million mark for 20-foot-equivalent units handled in a 12 month period.
Entitled “The New Orleans Film Industry: How can you get a piece of the pie?” November’s ABWA luncheon welcomed members of the Louisiana film industry for a panel discussion.
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1. Brandy Christian, Donna Lemm and Jeff Penton 2. Gary Lagrange 3. David De Latte, Brian DeLatte and Arnold Baker Photos by Cheryl Gerber
1. Carol Bidault, Carroll Morton and Susan Brennan 2. Kelli Bingham 3. Christi Felder, Jamie Poche and Donna Accardo BizNewOrleans.com December 2015
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Behind the Scenes
100 Pounds a Day! That’s how much grain the Audubon Zoo’s four male giraffes can consume together in just one day. The annual food budget for the zoo’s more than 1,400 creatures tops over $450,000. While that represents a lot of fruit, vegetables and grains, it is only about 2 percent of the overall operating budget (Audubon Zoo and Audubon Park combined have an annual operating budget of just under $26 million).
104 2015 BizNewOrleans.com PhotoDecember by Jeff Johnston