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Austin firm tapped to help New Orleans plan on rebuilding business

From the Austin Business Journal:

AngelouEconomics has secured a $200,000 contract to complete a regional economic development strategy for the New Orleans metropolitan area.

Greater New Orleans Inc., a non-partisan group charged with bringing companies and jobs to that city, has tapped the Austin economic development consulting firm to develop a strategy looking at ways to improve the region's business climate over the next five years.

"The goal is to create a road map for economic development going forward," says Pam Meyer, director of regional business development for GNO Inc. "We brought in Angelou(Economics) because of their site selection and economic development expertise to come up with a plan that includes determining and marketing our most competitive assets and coming up with specific action items we can implement."

The plan slated for completion in December will focus on a 10-parish region of Southeast Louisiana. Meyers says part of it will include determining three specific sector niches where GNO Inc. should focus its recruitment efforts.

Half of the funding for the plan came from the Greater New Orleans Foundation, a nonprofit group that provides grants for causes from workforce development to education. The Louisiana Economic Development Department put up a matching grant to secure the contract.

Rooting Out New Orleans Corruption with Few Tools

by Carrie Kahn for NPR (go to the article for a link to audio of the show):

Robert Cerasoli is New Orleans' first inspector general; his job is to be a watchdog over local government and root out corruption and waste. But as of now, the newly hired Cerasoli doesn't have an office or car, and he makes calls from his personal cell phone.

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