Biz Talks

This week's guest is Sarah Andert, founder and owner of Vintage Green Review, a zero waste education, lifestyle and consulting business. Andert helps people live a vibrant, low-waste lifestyle with vintage-inspired solutions that make sustainability fun and interesting. She has a background in journalism, education, art and environmental studies.

To test COVID-19 vaccines and treatments you need primates, and the United States had a shortage even before the pandemic. Jay Rappaport, principal investigator and director of the Tulane National Primate Research Center talks about the national partnership the center is leading to coordinate primate centers like never before in order to move new vaccines and treatments forward as efficiently as p...

On this week’s podcast, we talk to Louisiana native and New Orleans resident Tyler Thompson about the state of the film industry during the pandemic and the balancing act of raising a family in New Orleans while running one of the most successful production companies in Hollywood. Thompson is the co-founder of Cross Creek Pictures, which has produced films that have grossed more than $1 billi...

Diversity is good for the bottom line. In fact, according to a 2015 study by McKinsey Quarterly, ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to have a financial performance above the industry mean. So how do we get more diverse companies? One way is to diversify internships, and that’s what native New Orleanian Perry Sholes intends to do with his new nonprofit, Corporate Internship Leadership...

On this week’s podcast, we talk to Brandy Christian, the president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, about how the pandemic and hurricanes have impacted the two public agencies and what’s around the bend.

Founder of the Cajun Navy Foundation in 2016, Rob Gaudet is a senior software developer that has harnessed the power of technology and social media to changed how we respond to disasters by creating what he calls a “flash mob-like” opportunity for groups of people to jump in, make a real difference, and return to their lives. In this week’s podcast, he talks about the issues behind why Lake Charle...

In this week’s podcast, Dr. Kathy Baumgarten of Ochsner Health explains how a successful statewide vaccination program will help Louisiana achieve “herd immunity” - and get back to life as we know it. Baumgarten is Ochsner’s medical director of infection control and prevention.

In response to the cancellation of traditional Carnival parades for 2021, Algiers Point resident Megan Boudreaux had what she thought was a simple, silly idea back in November to decorate her house like a float for Carnival this year and maybe recruit some neighbors to join in the fun. That idea quickly went viral and now Krewe of House Floats numbers 39 krewes, with thousands of registered partic...

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted air travel so much that the airline industry is expected to lose more than $80 billion in 2020, according to the International Air Transport Association. So, will there be a recovery for the industry in 2021? And how might air travel change forever? To find out, we talked to Chris Schaberg, Loyola University New Orleans professor and the author of a new book...

Healthcare is moving quickly into the digital world — as we’ve seen recently with the rapid expansion of telehealth — and with this move comes new opportunities for entrepreneurs. On this week’s podcast, we talk with a physician whose startup is the first to use technology to bring in-demand care to an underserved population that numbers 1.4 million people just in the U.S. Stanford University trai...

This week's podcast features Krystal James, the strategic initiatives coordinator for workforce development at Delgado Community College.  The pandemic has put tens of thousands of New Orleanians out of work - especially in the tourism and hospitality categories - but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any jobs out there. In fact, there are plenty of healthcare, construction and technology jobs a...

Did you know NASA’s “rocket factory” and the premier rocket engine test complex in the country are both in our own backyard? This week, we talk to Robert H. Champion, director of the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and John W. Bailey Jr., the associate director of NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, about the role these two space powerhouses play in our l...

Maryann Miller of StayLocal, an independent business alliance active in New Orleans since 2001, designs programs and directs operations that support StayLocal's efforts to build a thriving local economy. In this podcast, she talks about the importance of supporting local businesses in general and during the pandemic in particular. Miller has also worked to promote the role of historic preservation...

The current pandemic has been just as devastating as Hurricane Katrina was for New Orleans’ City Park according to its CEO, Bob Becker.  While many areas of the park are busier than ever in this time of social distancing, the funding sources necessary to keep the park operating have been severely limited. Becker shares the details of how the park is faring, along with what you need to know ab...

This week’s podcast features Lauren Pearson and Emily Lassiter, the co-founders of the Wealth Edit, a new online membership-based community for women looking to confidentially discuss and expand their knowledge of personal finance. The company is officially launching in New Orleans with a series of virtual and in-person events on Thursday, Nov. 19.

Just a few days after Louisiana International Trade day on Nov. 4, Biz New Orleans Editor Kim Singletary caught up with World Trade Center CEO Ed Webb to get a rundown on the latest news in international trade, an industry worth $93 billion annually to the state and employs an estimated 500,000 people. Webb explains how a majority of the industry is made up of small- and medium-sized businesses an...

We talk to Stan Harris, the president and CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association. New Orleans restaurants are facing an existential crisis because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Logically, chains with deep pockets are in the best shape to survive the down year but many mom and pops in Nola and around the state are holding on by learning to put quality food on the table with lower budgets and fewer...

Originally constructed in 1975, our beloved Superdome began a major, $450 Million facelift this year and Trey Trahan, founder and CEO of Trahan Architects, is leading the efforts. In this week’s podcast, he talks about what it was like bringing the Dome back from Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago and what he loves about the changes you’ll see with this new renovation. As the head of the No. 1 design...

On this week's podcast, we talk to Audubon Institute president and CEO Ron Forman about the organization's pandemic-related budget crisis and why zoos and aquariums have been left out of all federal relief programs to date. The conversation ranges from Audubon's recent request to borrow $10 million from its partners in a riverfront development project to the bright future Forman envisions for...

With a foreclosure crisis projected in Louisiana in the coming months, local homeless shelters may be struggling to meet an increased demand. On Oct. 5, a new report by Housing Louisiana was released that warned the state is only four months away from a wave of foreclosures. According to the report, 28 percent of homeowners in Louisiana (or nearly 110,000 households — 36,000 of which were in New O...

This week, we talk to Stephen Perry, the president and CEO of New Orleans and Company – the destination marketing organization that promotes the city to potential visitors. Among the topics covered: the fate of New Orleans restaurants and hotels, how long it’ll be before the city reaches 2019 levels of income and how the meeting business will change forever.

This past August, more than 200 new laws went into effect in Louisiana, including one that now permits any practicing physician to recommend medical marijuana for any condition determined to be “debilitating” — vastly expanding potential use from what was formerly only 14 recognized medical conditions. What does this mean for local employers? Should you be testing for marijuana use or will that ca...

Lacey Merrick Conway, president and CEO of Latter & Blum, talks about the pandemic's effect on residential and commercial real estate in New Orleans. The seller's market for homeowners will likely last through 2020 but the pandemic's worst repercussions may not be felt on the commercial side until 2021 or later. Latter & Blum is a real estate brokerage that’s been in business in...

In the three years since New Orleanian Leigh D’Angelo and her sister, New Yorker Casey Isaacson, founded Dig, a dating app for dog lovers, the company has found fast success on a national scale. With hundreds of thousands of users now spread across every state, Dig Dates, Inc. just launched its second offering, Tabby, a dating app for cat lovers. In this episode of Biz Talks, D’Angelo chats with B...

This week features a conversation about how COVID-19 has "changed the game" for small business owners on Oak Street - a historic commercial corridor in Uptown New Orleans - and citywide. Our guest is architect and Tulane grad Min Yang, who is the president of Oak Street Merchants, Residents and Property Owners Inc., a nonprofit that promotes the street and produces Po-Boy Fest.