Challenges Facing New Orleans' Entrepreneurial Market - Part One

The Entrepreneurial climate in New Orleans is no doubt a growing and exciting trend that the city has never experienced before. The BioInnovation Center and the multi-billion dollar Biomedical district in particular and a host of incubators and shared-space operators are all cause for hope in a city dubbed “The city that care forgot”. But there are some real concerns that need to be addressed before the trend can be considered that and not another feel-good fad. 

To become a mecca for high tech ventures, a city has to possess a few characteristics that attract that cut of cloth. Number one is lifestyle. To attract young energetic and entrepreneurial folks, a city needs to possess culture and entertaining venues.  New Orleans no doubt is hands down the nation’s winner in this category. But when the music stops and the tylenol kicks in, there’s some serious business concerns that need to be addressed. This brings us to number two on the entrepreneurial must haves for a city, a responsive and effective government and number three a great educational environment at all levels. Unfortunately for New orleans, numbers two and three go hand in hand. 

True, the move towards charter schools in New Orleans is an exciting move that may generate some real results. But that’s going to take a generation to deliver. The real issue facing the New Orleans entrepreneurial market is a lack of well funded universities that can attract young talent now, foster new technologies and spin off new businesses. There are only two somewhat large universities to speak of in the crescent city, Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, both are at a fraction of their pre-Katrina levels, and a handful of smaller universities. Compare this with Boston’s 60 plus well funded colleges and universities with real and effective partnerships in the for-profit world. 

Just as all the parts of product development are critical and required to work together as a single organism for success, so should all the parts of a healthy entrepreneurial market. Investment in the Biomedical District was a stellar idea. But not including significant investment in higher education at the same time was an unforgivable oversight. 

Likewise, investment in the future in the form of tax incentives for new technologies is weak at best in the state. The region got a new start after Hurricane’s Katrina and Rita. This should have been followed by radical new ideas about taxation and investment. More thoughts on that in another post later.