Jefferson Parish Pulse

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Lisa Barback, Executive Director of the Westbank Business & Industry Association (WBIA). Lisa has been the executive director of the organization for over nine years. WBIA is the premier business organization for the West bank, serving businesses in Jefferson Parish and beyond. This is a member driven organi...

On this episode of the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Dr. Arlanda Williams, Vice Chancellor of Workforce Development and Dean of Delgado's River City Campus. Dr. Williams is an avid champion of economic development and a long-time JEDCO partner. Under her leadership, Delgado continues to lay the foundation for a strong, skilled workforce in Jefferson Parish a...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Jefferson Performing Arts Society executive director, Rob DeViney. Rob joined the non-profit arts organization in May 2023. He oversees the JPAS’s day-to-day operations, strategic initiatives, and community partnerships. JPAS was founded in 1978. It is in its 46th season!! Dedicated to the artistic and cultural...

This week on Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we're excited to rerelease an interview with Dianne Sclafani, a business consultant for the Louisiana Small Business Development Center. Dianne has helped guide many, many businesses to success over the years. She’s very good at helping business owners craft their business plans and secure financing. During the interview, Dianne talks about the...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Dr. Daniel Caplan, Medical Director and CEO of Caplan Eye Clinic, and his Director of Surgery, Dr. Brendon Sumich. Caplan Eye Clinic is the oldest eye care practice in the state of Louisiana. The small business, which has changed the lives of hundreds of patients since its inception, was founded in 1938 and is c...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse podcast powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Jesse Hoppes, co-owner of Leaaf Environmental, a recognized leader in soil, groundwater, and air quality investigations. Leaaf has a long history of minimizing environmental risk for its clients across the Gulf Coast. Jesse had lots to say about Leaaf's work in the Brownfield arena as well as why their w...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse podcast powered by JEDCO, we interview Stephanie Hilton and Bayleigh Frickey, the dynamic duo behind new dating app, The Meetery. Billed as the One-Drink Dating App, The Meetery encourages in-person connection over endless online chatting. Dates are just 30 minutes long – enough time for a drink or an appetizer (or both!) – in safe, public locations. Based i...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Sam Briuglio. Sam runs the Metairie office of Pond & Company, a full service architectural, engineering, and planning firm headquartered in Atlanta with offices all over the country. Pond’s Metairie office is the second largest office (behind the headquarters) and it’s driving gamechanging initiatives to a w...

This week on the Season 6 premier of the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we interview Dr. Sarintha Stricklin, the Executive Director of Jefferson Ready Start Network. Driven by the community’s need to improve opportunities and inspire change for children from birth to age five, this coalition of individuals is committed to creating and implementing a bold local vision for early childhood...

On this episode of the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Marguerite Oestreicher, Executive Director of the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. Margurite and her team are driving new and impactful projects across Jefferson Parish. Habitat for Humanity, with support from its many partners, volunteers and donors, is helping to improve housing stock in the area a...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we interviewed Lisa Barback, Vice Chair of the Jefferson Parish Workforce Development Board, and Darrel Lewis, the One Stop Operator for Jefferson Parish. They talked about the important work being driven by the Workforce Development Board and highlighted the many ways they are serving both job seekers and employers through their vast array...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we interview Ruth Lawson, Jefferson Chamber of Commerce President. The Jefferson Chamber is a Five-Star Accredited organization with a long history of advocating for, educating, and connecting the Jefferson Parish business community. Ruth stepped into the role of President less than a year ago. She has done a tremendous job of carrying the...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we interviewed Jimmy Nguyen, founder and owner of Crawlins Seafood, a new Viet-Cajun seafood restaurant based in Terrytown. The business serves up heaping platters of boiled and fried  seafood, poboys, gumbos, and a rotating lunch menu of specialty items, ranging from red beans and rice and spaghetti and meatballs. Jimmy, a hairst...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse, we interviewed Annalisa Kelly, JEDCO Director of Strategic Initiatives and Policy. On any single day, Annalisa may be digging into a project that supports one of Jefferson Parish's targeted industry clusters or focuses in on enhancing transit options for our workforce - and everything in between. Annalisa has hand in many projects - big developments, housin...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Kate Wendel, Director of Economic and Workforce Development for JEDCO. Kate has been on the JEDCO team for over five years. She oversees the Economic Development Services Department, or as it was recently rebranded, HEART. The acronym - Hub for Expansion, Attraction, Retention, and Talent - conveys a multi-layer...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse, JEDCO features an interview with Kyle Gregore, co-founder of Stained Glass Wine House. This military-owned and woman-owned business is a customer-centric, community-focused wine bar based in downtown historic Gretna. The business, which founders say is "upscale, not pretentious", offers a comfortable gathering space where visitors can connect with friends a...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse, JEDCO features an interview with Linn Atiyah, the founder and CEO of Bemana. Founded locally in 2014, Bemana is a recruitment firm specializing in finding and matching the right employees with a long list of equipment, power generation, and industrial businesses across the country. Clients include the nation's leading equipment manufacturers, distributors a...

On this episode of the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we're excited to introduce you to Janet Galati. Janet is JEDCO's Director of Industry Recruitment, a newly-created position to help bring jobs and investment to Jefferson Parish. Janet started out as JEDCO's Strategic Initiatives Specialist over 3.5 years ago and moved into this new role earlier this year. On the show, Janet talks abo...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse, JEDCO joins communities across the globe to celebrate Economic Development Week. We are excited to relaunch the podcast during such an important week for the economic development industry. Our guest this week is JEDCO President & CEO Jerry Bologna. He talks about how JEDCO helps to create jobs and investment, advance career development opportunities, an...

After a long hiatus, the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO is back. We're kicking off new full episodes starting next Thursday in conjunction with Economic Development Week. A quick change to our programming schedule. We will be releasing the podcast every OTHER week instead of on a weekly basis, which will help ensure that we can sustain this show for the long run. Expect interviews with th...

On the Season 4 Finale of the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Dianne Sclafani, a business consultant for the Louisiana Small Business Development Center. Dianne has helped guide many, many businesses to success over the years. She's very good at helping business owners craft their business plans and secure financing. During the interview, Dianne talks about th...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Lori Weil, owner and director of Creative Dance and Music Studio, which has been in business on the West Bank of Jefferson Parish since 1985. Lori took over the business from her mother in 2004 and has continued to grow it over the years. For a long time, Lori leased a studio space, but she had always dreamed of...

On this episode of the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature Rafael Carmona, founder of Nola Sports Center. Nola Sports Center is an indoor soccer facility based in the City of Kenner. Rafael's startup story is full of advice for other entrepreneurs. During this interview, Rafael talks about how he navigated the pandemic and kept his doors open, how he made the tough decisi...

This week on the Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Carol and Myron LeBrane, founders of LeBrane's Creole Cuisine and Catering. This dynamic husband and wife duo had dreamed of owning a restaurant for years. Timing, fate and faith brought them together and helped them launch and grow their business. Carol and Myron shared how they sought a loan with JEDCO for a s...

On this episode of Jefferson Parish Pulse powered by JEDCO, we feature an interview with Colleen Keogh, founder of Kingfish Cider. This is the first-of-its-kind in Jefferson Parish and one of the few solely woman-owned alcohol producers in the US. In today's interview, you'll learn about how Colleen stumbled upon the hard cider industry while traveling and decided she wanted to bring the concept h...