A quiet transformation is redefining economic development in Louisiana, as regional organizations assume a more hands-on role in shaping outcomes.
Perhaps no group exemplifies this unique approach better than Greater New Orleans Inc. Under the high-profile leadership of President and CEO Michael Hecht, in just the last year the organization has directed some $70 million in infrastructure projects leading up to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, as well as helped advance Port NOLA’s $1.8 billion Louisiana International Terminal in St. Bernard Parish.
And while the group’s ever-increasing involvement in these “mission-critical projects” is unusual from an economic development perspective, it’s rapidly becoming a necessary part of the game.
“Our industry focus continues to evolve as the world evolves,” Hecht says. “Ultimately, economic development is about creating the conditions where a company wants to risk its capital, or a person wants to raise their family. And when you look at it that way, there’s very little that doesn’t potentially fall under economic development.”
GNO Inc.’s nonpolitical approach to problem solving uniquely equips it to assist with these tasks. Rather than having a committee oversee a project, the organization instead assigns responsibilities to a point person and a “number two,” then fills the remaining gaps with volunteers.
“The committee approach was significantly slowing down the organization,” Hecht says. “We were spending a lot of our time managing committees instead of doing work. It was also diluting our strategy. We moved to a staff-driven, volunteer-supported type of approach, and that works much better.”
Hecht also benefits from his accumulated “relationship capital”—he has served in his current position for nearly two decades. GNO Inc. itself was created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
“There’s a certain level of trust there,” he adds. “We’re bringing to bear the full capabilities of the GNO Inc. staff and board. We make sure that the outside game is working … that means interfacing with the public, driving policy at the state and federal level, making sure that the perception of the project is accurate, etc.
“On one hand, we’re perceived as being competent, but on the other hand we have no formal power, so people are happy to welcome us into their project because all we can do is help. We can’t threaten; we can’t harm. In turn, we become a facilitator.”
He points to the recent passage of House Bill 461 in the Louisiana Legislature—authorizing a public-private partnership for the construction of a toll access road to the new Louisiana International Terminal—as proof that the approach is working.
“For LIT, the most important thing that we’ve done, narrative wise, is shifted the perception to where it’s broadly understood that the project is going to happen,” he says. “Now it’s up to everybody to maximize the benefit and minimize any challenges.”
A Changing Landscape
While GNO Inc.’s approach is an anomaly, it could be a precursor of things to come. Southeast Louisiana’s other regional groups—the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership (formerly the Baton Rouge Area Chamber) and COLAB (formerly the South Louisiana Economic Council) in Thibodaux—are taking proactive stances of their own.
Christy Zeringue, president and CEO of COLAB, says a desire for collaboration across the Bayou Region—Assumption, Lafourche, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes—prompted her group to rebrand itself after the retirement of former leader Vic LaFont.
The name change (COLAB is abbreviated slang for “collaboration”) was born out of a need to reimagine and reinvent the organization.
“Economic development is evolving, and it was time to take a step back and decide that we wanted to put our best face forward,” Zeringue says. “We felt it was important to show that this is a new regional economic development office for the Bayou Region.
“For so long, our region has not been very boastful about the incredible assets that we have here, and we decided it was time to start telling our own story. If you don’t set your own narrative, somebody else is going to set that narrative, and you don’t have control over it.”
The new ideology embraces the region’s legacy industries of oil and gas and shipbuilding while also adopting a broader “all things energy” mentality that brings other businesses into the fold to “cross pollenate” through shared skill sets.
COLAB is also encouraging the development of white-collar jobs by strengthening ties with local institutions such as Nicholls State University
“Those in the workforce with higher educations are leaving,” she says. “We want to highlight that you don’t have to leave the area to have a great life, and we want to make sure that we showcase some of those opportunities.”
Regional collaboration among the Bayou Region parishes is central to COLAB’s approach.
“I feel like that is something that some of the other regional organizations do very well—getting their stakeholders and allies to unite and collaborate,” Zeringue says. “And I feel that is what we need to do.”
As a first step, COLAB began meeting with the various parish presidents to discuss shared challenges, such as workforce needs and population decline. Going a step further, Zeringue reached out to GNO Inc. and the Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership to reinvigorate a collaborative effort begun several years ago.
While they won’t necessarily share leads, the three groups could work together to solve common problems or share best practices that transcend regional boundaries. Workforce development is a particularly common challenge.
“We have a unique opportunity in those three regions,” she says. “What if we can celebrate our uniqueness as a superregion to possibly bring some more meat and potatoes to our plates?”
Similar to GNO Inc.’s approach, COLAB wants to enhance the Bayou Region’s “quality of place” by taking a more active role in the region and state. For one thing, the organization plans to become more legislatively involved to pursue initiatives that could incentivize companies to locate in the region.
“You can have a great site and fantastic tax incentives or other types of workforce incentives,” Zeringue notes, “but if you can’t show a business that they’re going to have a great life here, what’s the point of them coming?”
COLAB is also proactively engaging with existing businesses by discussing the challenges they face, possible plans for expansion, workforce pipeline needs and other high-level issues. The organization shares information about potential state incentives and programs available through the Louisiana Workforce Commission.
“We will soon bring someone on staff as a workforce coordinator,” Zeringue says. “They’re going to visit with these existing industries, then within two weeks they’re going to go back and provide them with a plan of action.”
Zeringue hopes that in the process, businesses will learn to come to COLAB for help, advice and data. “Right now, there are so many silos. Everyone feels like everyone’s playing in their own sandbox,” she adds. “We need to knock down some of these invisible curtains that we have between parishes. We need to be able to all come together.”
A broadening mindset in Baton Rouge
The Greater Baton Rouge Economic Partnership (formerly known as the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, or BRAC) just completed a rebranding of its own, intended to better align the organization’s identity with the work it’s already doing—firmly embracing its expanding regional economic role in attracting new businesses, retaining existing businesses and enhancing economic infrastructure.
The Partnership represents East Baton Rouge Parish and the eight parishes that surround it.
“We realized as a community that business doesn’t operate by parish lines, so we really needed to work together to market the region and attract investment,” says President and CEO Lori Melancon.
Over the last year, the organization has become more intentional about its regional relationships, regularly meeting with parish economic partners. In the process, it’s continually searching for new ways to collaborate, while also sharing details about prospects and leads in a transparent way.
“I don’t believe that’s being done anywhere else in the state,” Melancon says. “We’ve really been intentional about trying to reinvigorate or take that collaboration to the next level so that we are operating seamlessly as a region.”
At the same time, the Partnership is taking a more holistic look at transportation infrastructure, education systems, quality of life and workforce development to create a more attractive business environment for the region.
It’s even expanding its footprint beyond state lines, hiring a full-time employee in Houston to encourage the expansion of energy businesses there into the Baton Rouge market.
Continuing on that path, this fall it announced a restructuring of its business investment division, which is tasked with attracting new businesses, supporting existing companies and diversifying the regional economy.
The restructuring reflects its focus on key sectors that drive economic growth, such as process industries, technology and energy.
“The economic landscape is always evolving, and our business investment team structure is a direct response to the opportunities we see on the horizon,” Melancon says. “This team is aligned to be proactive—not just with recruiting new companies to our ecosystem, but also to ensure our existing businesses have the support they need to grow and thrive.”
She is also encouraged by the renewed collaboration between developers across the “superregion” and state.
“When we go on lead generation trips, we are really wearing a Louisiana hat now,” Melancon says. “We start the conversation with Louisiana, then start to dwindle down. Then, if there are opportunities for another economic development group, then great.
“We throw things across the fence to them, and they throw things to us, too.”
