whole seeing
FINANCE NEW ORLEANS IS DETERMINED TO ENSURE THE NEW GENERATION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE CITY IS ALSO EFFICIENT AND BUILT TO LAST
the picture
DAMON BURNS, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF FINANCE NEW ORLEANS
AUGUST
The 20-year story of Mr. Chill’s First Class Barber Shop includes
Chartering a New Path
This month’s opening of Hynes Charter School’s new UNO campus marks a corporate partnership with the largest public university in Greater New Orleans and the school’s second new permanent campus in just three years.
Finance New Orleans is determined to ensure the new generation of affordable housing in the city is also efficient and built to last.
Ticking All the Boxes
This is the first time we’ve had an official finance issue and I think Damon Burns and Finance New Orleans could not have made a more perfect cover story.
First, there’s the fact that this quasi-governmental organization has been working for 46 years to address a critical need in our region — affordable housing. It is the mother of financial issues for so many people. With the dramatic rise of interest rates and insurance rates, what used to be a big problem has now reached the critical stage.
Then there’s the way that Finance New Orleans is working toward a solution — by helping potential homeowners find the financing they need by providing unique mortgage options by working with area financial institutions. Then there’s the fact that Finance New Orleans itself has morphed into what has become known as a green finance authority — a green bank and housing authority married into one. The goal is to use new technologies and methods from around the world to fight back against rising insurance rates by making our housing stock more resilient to climate change.
Finally, there’s the fact that Finance New Orleans itself is in search of money to make all of this happen.
In what is traditionally the scariest month of the year when it comes to hurricane threats — the month where we collectively hold our breaths — will we be able to turn that fear into action? Can our government — national, state and local — and our financial institutions and investors make the moves that need to happen to help us all sleep better?
I hope so.
Thanks for reading,
Publisher Todd Matherne
EDITORIAL
Editor Kimberley Singletary
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Contributors Ashley McLellan, Misty Milioto, Chris Price, Veranisha Thompson, Poppy Tooker, Keith Twitchell
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*Must
A Busy Month
This month, as we wind down summer and students head back to school, Renaissance Publishing has a few more great events and magazines to publish before Labor Day.
August 8 is our big Bride New Orleans bridal show. This year, the summer event is being hosted at The Roosevelt New Orleans, a Waldorf Astoria Hotel. If you or someone you know would like to attend, more information can be found at BrideNewOrleans.com.
In August we will also produce the first of this season’s Saints GameDay magazines. We have published this one-of-a-kind New Orleans Saints collective season program for more than 30 years, and I can share that our publishing team really enjoys all the behind-the-scenes content and collaboration with the Saints organization to produce this excellent publication. With New Orleans hosting the Super Bowl and a remodeled Caesars Superdome we are especially excited to continue this relationship. For more details, including how you can buy a copy of each game program, visit MyNewOrleans.com/shop.
Later this month, on August 24, our editorial talents will be on display at the 66th annual Press Club of New Orleans Excellence in Journalism awards banquet. This year, we are among
the finalists for numerous categories, and we look forward to celebrating our victories with other fellow media companies in the region. Personally, our family awaits the arrival of Penelope’s little brother and the fourth grandbaby for Andrea and me. By the end of this year, our family will blossom yet again, bringing the total to five.
We are so blessed and thankful.
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kate@bizneworleans.com
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TODD MATHERNE CEO and Publisher Renaissance Publishing
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(504) 830-7208
abby@bizneworleans.com
KATE HENRY
MEGHAN SCHMITT
ABBY PALOPOLI
THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY IS TALKING ON BIZNEWORLEANS.COM
Catch all the latest news, plus original reporting, people on the move, videos, weekly podcast and blogs, digital editions of the magazines and daily Morning Biz and afternoon newsletters. If it’s important to business in southeast Louisiana, it’s at BizNewOrleans.com.
TALKS PODCAST
EPISODE 204 A Power Grid that Can Withstand Extreme Weather?
We could do it. Tulane professor Fariba Mamaghani shares her research on the subject.
EPISODE 203 And YOU Get a Car!
David Waller, chair of the New Orleans City Park Improvement Association board, speaking about the June 25 announcement that, following the resignation of CEO Cara Lambright, the park’s vice president and chief administrative officer will
For the second year in a row, NOLA Black Wall Street made headlines by giving a local high school senior a car. Founder Goldie Gasper shares how her organization is working to lower the enormous racial wealth gap in the region, as well as big news about next year’s giveaway.
IN THE BIZ
IN THE
Where There’s Smoke, There’s Honey
A recent Los Angeles transplant displays her Greek and Jewish heritage in a new Mediterranean restaurant in Mid-City.
BY POPPY TOOKER
Drawing deeply from her Greek and Jewish heritage, Vassiliki Ellwood Yiagazis delivers an entirely new take on Mediterranean cuisine at Smoke and Honey, which opened this past January at 3301 Bienville Street (adjacent to Bayou Wine Garden).
Born on the Greek island of Aegina, Vassiliki emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 7. Growing up, she learned to replicate all her favorite Greek dishes in her mother’s American kitchen.
POPPY TOOKER has spent her life devoted to the cultural essence that food brings to Louisiana, a topic she explores weekly on her NPR-affiliated radio show, Louisiana Eats! From farmers markets to the homes and restaurants where our culinary traditions are revered and renewed, Poppy lends the voice of an insider to interested readers everywhere.
Her culinary horizons expanded dramatically when she learned some surprising genealogy from her maternal British grandfather. His research revealed that more than five generations before, her Episcopalian family had been Jewish, a secret hidden for over 100 years. “It all made such sense to me then,” Yiagazis laughed. “I always had such an affinity for Jewish people and their food, and it certainly explained my love for Jewish boys!”
Yiagazis was living in Los Angeles, while successfully pursuing a TV and film career when the pandemic started. Her boyfriend persuaded her to move home with him to New Orleans, where life took an unexpected turn.
“I had too much time on my hands and no income when my friend, Leah Vautrot of Coffee Science, asked if I’d like to sell my tzatziki and matzo ball soup at their Sunday farmers market,” she said. Soon after, Yiagazis began a pop-up at Pal’s Lounge with her new business, Smoke and Honey. Inspired by Jewish smoked salmon and the Greeks’ love for honey, the name represents the blending of Yiagazis’ food heritage.
Researching the possibility of opening a restaurant, Yiagazis reached out to Lauren Lynch, a New York City friend who has owned several successful restaurants and bars there since 2012. Lynch shares Yiagazis’ love of New Orleans, and the two became partners in the new endeavor.
In January 2024, Smoke and Honey established a permanent home on Bienville Street in Mid-City, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. With an open kitchen and wrap-around counter, the space includes booth seating and even a romantic nook. Mosaic-tiled walls and hand-painted murals add an authentic Greek-island feel.
From breakfast gyros to “Broth and Balls” featuring “sacrilegious matzo balls” made with bacon fat instead of schmaltz, Smoke and Honey’s offerings are unlike anything else found in the city. At
lunch, the Lambeaux, a Greek-style poor-boy of lamb, whipped feta, onion and garlic jam served on John Gendusa’s French bread is sensational, while the Village Salad actually has no lettuce. Instead, ripe tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions topped with a generous slab of feta is exactly as it’s prepared in Greece.
Yiagazis’ Coffee Science friends operate an outpost of their Broad Street business, utilizing 6 feet of Smoke and Honey’s counter space.
From specialty hot and cold coffee drinks to “aquaceuticals” like the “Chaos Theory,” a wellness shot of lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, ginger, turmeric and cayenne with tonic water topped with an espresso shot, Coffee Science provides unique non-alcoholic beverages.
“We’re like a blended family,” reflected Coffee Science founder Tom Oliver. “We developed a pistachio version of our famous chocolate chip cookies exclusively for Smoke and Honey that fly out of the door.”
As afternoon moves into evening, specialty cocktails come into play, like the unique Purple Martini made with kalamata olives. Mastika, a sweet, resin-flavored liqueur from the Greek island of Chios, combines with lemonade and sparkling water to create the Skinny Dip. Retsina and other Greek wines dominate the menu with a special concentration on small batch wines crafted by female winemakers.
A dinner favorite is Yiagazis’ pastitsio.
“The Greeks invented lasagna,” she declared. “My version includes spiced ground beef with a thick, cheesy bechamel layered between noodles.” Her Jewish roots shine through in summertime kasha, combining noodles and bulgur wheat with local mushrooms and veggies.
Catch Poppy Tooker on her radio show, “Louisiana Eats!” Saturdays at 3 p.m. and Mondays at 8 p.m. on WWNO 89.9 FM.
The charming space, available for private events, has hosted birthday parties, rehearsal dinners and even a Passover supper. “I love creating special occasions, providing a place for people to party,” Vassiliki proclaimed. T
Faith, Hope & Mum
Saints are seemingly irrelevant in national media this preseason
BY CHRIS PRICE
When the New Orleans Saints hired “Bum” Phillips as head coach and general manager in 1981, a bumper sticker became ubiquitous across the Crescent City. The black sticker featured a likeness of the new head coach with the tagline “Faith, Hope, & Bum.” Of course, the 1980 Saints went 1-15, so there was almost nowhere to go but up from there. In fewer than five whole seasons, the best Bum could do was an 8-8 season in ’83. The team didn’t make the playoffs until 1987, didn’t win a playoff game until 2000, and didn’t achieve Super Bowl success in 2009. The team was competitive through the 2020 season, but it’s been mediocrity since then — hovering around .500 with no postseason appearances.
Although the Saints posted a 9-8 record and finished second in the NFC South last season — a feat those fans in the ’80s and ’90s would have
not writing, he’s avid about music, the outdoors, and Saints, Ole Miss and Chelsea football.
taken in a heartbeat — it was a letdown. To put it simply, the defense was the team’s strength, and the offense was often offensive.
Immediately after the season ended, Head Coach Dennis Allen cleared house in the coaches’ office and hired offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, running backs coach Derrick Foster, offensive line coach John Benton, senior offensive assistant Rick Dennison, wide receivers coach Keith Williams, and assistant wide receivers coach DeNarius McGhee. But those hires haven’t yet made an impact. The biggest offseason free-agent signing was former San Francisco 49ers defensive end Chase Young, who agreed to a one-year, fully guaranteed $13 million deal. The Saints’ draft was highlighted by tackle Taliese Fuaga (first round, 14th overall pick), cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry (second round, 41st overall), and quarterback Spencer Rattler (fifth, 150th).
Fuaga looks like he’s ready to be a starter on day one, but the lack of additional talent coming to the roster has made it a long offseason in New Orleans. The Saints haven’t played since early January, and despite a few days of action during the NFL Draft in April and minicamp in June, excitement for the kickoff of the 2024 season should be building by the minute. Instead, Saints fans — and more noticeably the national media — seem to be taking, at best, a wait-and-see approach to the Black & Gold’s coming campaign. At worst, some are calling for the team to take the coming season as a loss and look ahead to 2025 and beyond.
In the drought of streaks and sweeps on the gridiron, keystrokes and commentary — mostly speculative — fill the void. From those who have given up on this coming season already to those who say the team needs a “miracle” to be a Super Bowl competitor — none of it has been good for the Saints. Here’s the gist of some of the content created this summer:
• USA Today — Dennis Allen should be on the hot seat going into 2024;
• Bleacher Report — Saints should tank for
next year’s draft;
• ESPN — Saints’ skills positions among NFL’s worst group of playmakers;
• Bleacher Report — Saints’ QB room ranked 23 out of 32 teams;
• CBS Sports — Only two Saints among the Top 100 Players of 2024;
• Bleacher Report — New Orleans Saints messing up their rebuild;
• ESPN — Saints offensive line 27 out of 32;
• Pro Football Focus — Saints have the worst offensive line in the NFL;
• Bleacher Report — Saints to finish third in the NFC South with 7-10 record.
While Saints aren’t in their darkest days, they’re not exactly basking in the sunshine. In the NFC South, national media attention is focused on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are trying to win their fourth straight division crown; the Atlanta Falcons, who signed quarterback Kirk Cousins in the spring; and the pitiful Carolina Panthers, who are looking to rebound with 2023’s No. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Young. As much as new coaches can breathe new life into a team, they’re on the sidelines during games. Prognosticators are looking at this Saints’ roster and assuming the maxim that past is prologue, or as Bobby Hebert would ask, “What have you done for me lately?”
Experts didn’t expect anything from the Saints in the summer of 2006 when the team went to their first NFC Championship, nor did they in 2009 before New Orleans won the Super Bowl. No news can mean good news. The Saints, especially Allen, will feel pressure to win, but they won’t be in the glaring, white-hot spotlight. Maybe Kubiak’s new offense will click, the O-line will jell, and the defense can remain the solid foundation of the team.
Entering the season, New Orleans has the NFL’s weakest schedule in 2024. The other teams in the division are not exceptional. If the Saints can’t come together and make something of the season, big changes should be made.
This will likely be another season of faith and hope, that is until the team can give fans something solid on which to build their belief. T
CHRIS PRICE is an award-winning journalist and public relations principal. When he’s
IN
KEITH TWITCHELL spent 16 years running his own business before becoming president of the Committee for a Better New Orleans. He has observed, supported and participated in entrepreneurial ventures at the street, neighborhood, nonprofit, micro- and macro-business levels.
When Entrepreneurs Go Bad
Sometimes crime does pay, as with these famous examples.
BY KEITH TWITCHELL
Most entrepreneurs are successful in part because their innovations help make the world a better place. However, throughout history a few individuals concocted some amazing criminal enterprises with the same entrepreneurial skill set.
Leaving aside the obvious ones — drug barons, gambling moguls, the mob — here are a few ingenious and entertaining examples of when entrepreneurs go bad.
A SCHEME BY ANY OTHER NAME
First, let’s talk about the Ponzi scheme, when a fraudulent investment opportunity is offered to buyers whose money is then used to pay off the previous round of buyers without ever actually investing in anything. The originator of this back in the 1920s was one Charles Ponzi.
Ponzi got started when he discovered a legitimate way to buy and sell stamps at a substantial profit. However, the scheme only worked on
a small scale and Ponzi wanted more. So, he created the structure that bears his name to this day, starting with an initial group of investors that he paid off with funds procured from the second round, while skimming off some of the revenues to make money himself. No legitimate investments were ever made, and like every other scheme of its kind, eventually it collapsed, and Ponzi ended up in jail. But on the way, he made a name for himself.
THE MANY MONA LISAS
Fraud is rampant in the art world, but no one ever succeeded at the level of Eduardo de Valfierno. The most famous painting in the world is the Mona Lisa, and every unscrupulous art collector in the world would pay a fortune for it. However, every art collector in the world also knows that the painting is displayed in the Louvre.
Around the turn of the last century, when museum security was less sophisticated, Valfierno came up with a brilliant plan. He had a skilled art forger produce multiple fakes of
the painting, then told several buyers around the world that he was going to steal the Mona Lisa and got them to commit to buying it. Valfierno even thought far enough ahead to get the fakes into each buyer’s country before the theft, avoiding going through customs with them afterward, when every inspector in the world would be on the lookout.
Valfierno hired someone to steal the painting, which was accomplished remarkably easily, and had the thief keep it concealed. He then sold the forgeries to his customers, making untold millions of dollars. He was never caught — though ironically, the thief eventually nabbed in the process of trying to sell the original.
BROOKLYN BRIDGES FOR EVERYONE
We’ve all heard the joke about selling some sucker the Brooklyn Bridge, but for any number of gullible visitors to New York in the early 1900s, the joke was on them. One George Parker convinced tourists that the bridge was for sale, and they could recoup their investment by charging a toll to cross it. It sounds comical today, but neither NYPD nor the unwitting buyers thought it funny when the police had to run them off the bridge while they were trying to set up their toll booths.
A LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME
Perhaps the most famous local criminal entrepreneur was the pirate Jean Lafitte. Though probably born in France, Lafitte and his brother Pierre got their start smuggling products from around the Caribbean into New Orleans, where they built a warehouse and established a distribution network. With the authorities closing in, they built a new port on an island in Barataria Bay and added piracy to their portfolio.
With our colorful history here in Louisiana, it may be surprising that no major criminal masterminds have emerged from the Bayou State. But if anyone is interested in buying the Huey Long Bridge, give me a call. T
PERSPECTIVES
22
REAL ESTATE+CONSTRUCTION
While the resilience of New Orleans and its residents is often celebrated, it’s time to shift the focus from individual grit to systemic improvements.
26 BANKING+FINANCE
Investment firm Boot64 ventures believes SSBCI funds will ‘kick things up a notch’ for Louisiana startups.
28 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
With a unique and holistic approach to economic justice, Fund 17 offers BIPOC entrepreneurs a wide array of support. 24 LAW
Local lawyers discuss the necessity, and challenges, of pro bono work in the region
PERSPECTIVES
REAL ESTATE+CONSTRUCTION
Less Praise, More Action
While the resilience of New Orleans and its residents is often celebrated, it’s time to shift the focus from individual grit to systemic improvements.
BY DREW HAWKINS
Here’s a fun drinking game: Turn on the TV after any major disaster in New Orleans and take a shot every time you hear a city, state or federal official say the word resilient.
Actually, don’t do that. Please don’t do that. You may not survive.
New Orleanians are often praised — or patronized, depending on how you look at it — for their resiliency. But while this is true, I think I speak for many when I say
DREW HAWKINS is a writer and journalist in New Orleans. He’s the health equity reporter in the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration among public radio stations in Louisiana (WWNO and WRKF), Alabama (WBHM) and Mississippi (MPB-Mississippi Public Broadcasting) and NPR. He’s also the producer and host of Micro, a LitHub podcast for short but powerful writing.
I’d rather have functioning and resilient infrastructure and affordable housing more than praise for my own personal resiliency. Because, the truth is, it’s getting harder and harder to live here.
A recent report from the Urban Institute, a nonprofit research group that focuses on social and economic policy, found that while there have been some infrastructure improvements that have lessened the overall exposures to dangers like flooding since Hurricane Katrina, much of this protection is not equitably distributed. Like so many other issues in the city, storm protection is divided along racial and ethnic lines.
And though there’s been a lot of growth in home retrofit services and providers, as well as financial incentives to make homes more hurricane-resilient, the report found that “home mitigation remained largely untapped in the region.” Unsurprisingly, the ability to pay for this mitigation was the deciding factor.
It’s August in Louisiana — which means heat and hurricanes. And unfortunately, because of climate change, both are getting worse. That’s why now it’s more important than ever for the city’s housing stock to be more resilient — and at the same time, more affordable and accessible for those who need it most.
Let’s take a quick second to look at what makes a home more hurricane resilient. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is an independent nonprofit that has spent decades studying the damage caused by severe weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes, identifying weaknesses and vulnerabilities in your average American home.
The group then built a full-scale research center — the only one in the world — and spent a few more years testing different ways to make a home more resilient. With that research and science, IBHS put out the “FORTIFIED” construction method.
“There are three levels of Fortified ratings that IBHS has established: Fortified Roof, Fortified Silver, Fortified Gold,” explained Bradley Holland, director of construction at New
Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity. He used a home Habitat built in Jean Lafitte after Hurricane Ida as an example. The organization partnered with the Auburn University Rural Studios Design-Build program to build homes that were EnergyStar certified in efficiency and Fortified Gold in structural strength.
“This classification meets a whole house system of design, from the foundation to the finish,” Holland said.
The homes have metal hurricane straps, nailing and other materials that will withstand 130-150 mph winds. Each framing piece of the structure is strapped and secured to the last. There are impact-resistant windows that can withstand high-velocity projectiles, as well as impact-rated doors. The roofing system has plywood nailed at every 4 inches with galvanized, full headed, ring shank nails.
There’s special tape on the seams of the plywood in case the underlayment — traditional tar paper — should fail, and a new synthetic underlayment that is nailed at specified locations. On top of that, any shingles or metal used are rated to withstand high winds and securely installed. The whole construction process is documented by a third-party inspector with photographic, as well as time- and location-stamped evidence that is submitted to a panel for review.
Holland said that the main challenge for building hurricane-resilient homes is the cost, but you don’t have to necessarily break the bank to make your home safer.
“Most costs for upgrading to more resilient homes are not substantial,” he noted. “An increase of nails and straps or engineering is not painful. The highest cost increase would be in supplying impact-resistant doors and windows.”
One of the biggest motivators for upgrading homes to be more resilient is that it could help lower home insurance costs.
But let’s be real about it — we’re in a fullblown insurance crisis. In fact, skyrocketing insurance premiums have threatened people who live in homes they purchased through
Habitat for Humanity with foreclosure.
It’s critical that hurricane-resilient measures be accessible and affordable for the most vulnerable people in the city, but it’s not enough to focus on just making individual homes more resilient.
“The bricks and mortar of the individual units are probably the first thing that’s going to be a predictor of how safe and secure families are as they experience climate impacts. So physical changes to the housing unit, like elevation, like weatherization, energy efficiency upgrades, can all help to keep people safe at home,” said Sara McTarnaghan, co-lead principal research associate on climate and communities practice area at the Urban Institute, a Washington, D.C.–based think tank that conducts economic and social policy research. “But what I think is important not to lose from the conversation is that it doesn’t start and stop there, even though that’s where so much of the focus is. We need to zoom out into both our land use and development patterns, our building codes, land use codes, as well as the kind of infrastructure that we put in communities.”
McTarnaghan said it’s also important to include the community in the decision-making process. \
“This piece of the conversation is so often missing as we focus on the buildings and not the people, but it’s really important,” she said. That involvement can look like community advisory boards that include culture bearers and community members who have their finger on the pulse of the needs and interests of the community. Those boards can then be used to guide project development, tailor local programs and support some of the outreach.
As climate change exacerbates the frequency and severity of hurricanes, the need for hurricane-resilient housing has never been greater. It’s clear that while strides have been made in infrastructure improvements and home retrofit services, these measures are not yet widespread or equitably distributed.
Building for the future in Louisiana requires a comprehensive approach that combines physical resilience with community engagement and equity. Only then can we create a city that not only withstands the challenges of today but also thrives in the face of tomorrow’s uncertainties. T
PERSPECTIVES
LAW
DID YOU KNOW? In Louisiana, the number of people who qualify for free legal services outnumber legal aid attorneys by 11,250 to one, according to the Louisiana State Bar Association.
JUSTICE FOR ALL
Local
lawyers discuss the necessity, and challenges, of pro bono work in the region
BY DREW HAWKINS
The idea of equal justice under the law is one of America’s core tenets, or at least it’s claimed to be. But from pledges to political speeches — even Supreme Court decisions — equal justice under the law is one of the most regularly violated legal principles and often does not reflect the reality of the justice system for many.
Deborah Rhode, director of the Stanford Center on Ethics and the Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law at Stanford University, reported that “an estimated four-fifths of the legal needs of the poor, and the needs of two- to three-fifths of middle-income individuals, remain unmet.” Compounding the issue, Rhode wrote that over the last two decades, national spending on legal aid has been cut by
one-third and “legal services offices can handle less than a fifth of the needs of eligible clients.”
An additional irony behind this lies in the fact that there are currently 1.3 million active lawyers in the U.S. — more than any other country in the world.
People need legal help for all kinds of reasons. The legal system is complicated, and lawyers are expensive. As such, for many, legal representation is nearly impossible to access. And though people charged with a criminal offense are guaranteed by law to receive representation from a public defender, that’s not the case for civil matters.
Stepping in to help address the widening justice gap are lawyers who volunteer their time to assist underserved communities that cannot otherwise afford a lawyer. They do it “for the public good” or pro bono publico in Latin — shortened to pro bono. Pro bono work is often a critical lifeline for people who need help and by extension can help strengthen the broader community.
“There is no right to counsel in this country for civil matters,” said C.C. Kahr, executive director of The Pro Bono Project, an organi -
zation that serves the Greater New Orleans area from its headquarters at 935 Gravier Street. “Individuals need help navigating their divorce, adopting a child, declaring bankruptcy or communicating with creditors, writing a will, opening a succession on their family home or challenging their insurance claim.”
Kahr said the legal needs in New Orleans are wide ranging. Children need representation when they’ve been abused or neglected. Renters need assistance when threatened with eviction or to recover a security deposit. Families need a succession to have a clear title to property — often crucial for ensuring generational wealth.
Without legal aid organizations, many individuals cannot tackle the legal issues that are affecting their lives. Kahr said 40% of Louisiana’s citizens earn income levels below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, and nearly 8 million people in the state are eligible for legal assistance.
Meeting this need takes a lot of organization and a lot of resources. The Pro Bono Project serves clients who might not otherwise have access to the legal help they need in Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany and Washington parishes. This requires engaging and recruiting volunteer attorneys, paralegals, law students and private citizens to help provide pro bono services.
Some firms and law schools require legal practitioners to provide some pro bono work, but many volunteer their time because they believe in giving back.
“It’s hard not to feel good when you help a grandmother adopt her grandson or help an older woman open a succession on her family home so she can ultimately sell it in order to relocate to be with her daughter, to assist someone find a path out of crushing debt,” Kahr said.
Some private New Orleans firms encourage pro bono work as well. Stone Pigman, for example, doesn’t have a pro bono requirement, but supports its lawyers and staff on pro bono matters. Paul Masinter, a lawyer at Stone Pigman, said that since he joined in 1990, the firm has always supported pro bono work.
“My career as a lawyer has provided me with a rich and rewarding life; therefore, spending some time helping others on a pro bono basis is an easy way to give back,” he said.
Brooke Tigchelaar, another lawyer at Stone Pigman, said the firm encouraged her to get involved in pro bono work, and “the gratefulness of the recipients encourages it to continue.”
“
It’s hard not to feel good when you help a grandmother adopt her grandson or help an older woman open a succession on her family home so she can ultimately sell it in order to relocate to be with her daughter, to assist someone find a path out of crushing debt.
C.C. Kahr, executive director of The Pro Bono Project
”have been marginalized and oppressed in our society,” said Jim Craig, director of the Louisiana Office of Roderick & Solange MacArthur Justice Center. “I went to law school to be the kind of lawyer mentioned above, so before taking any job I’ve ever had as a lawyer, I have required the firm to commit to allowing me to provide pro bono services to those who could not afford an attorney.”
Pro bono work, however, doesn’t address the underlying inequities in the justice system. And even still, there are barriers that make pro bono work a challenge for practicing lawyers and firms.
Craig said the major obstacle is that, like everyone, attorneys need to earn a living. Options for potential reimbursement for pro bono work include grants, nonprofits, government agencies, or by private law firms.
Craig has worked at many different firms and settings since he was first licensed in 1985. He said one of the ways some firms help meet this challenge is to open files in pro bono cases in the same manner as fee-based cases. That’s what he did as pro bono coordinator at Phelps Dunbar, for example. This allowed attorneys and staff to bill hours to a pro bono file, counting it toward their annual minimal expectation of billable hours.
“We also approved payment of expenses, including experts, deposition costs, and the like, so that our bro bono clients had the same quality of representation as those who were paying fees for our services,” Craig said.
Brooke Tigchelaar at Stone Pigman said she believes that if more law firms or bar associations provided more “credit” toward billable hours or Continuing Legal Education (CLE) hours for time spent in the pro bono sector, more lawyers might be more willing to use their skills to help the less fortunate.
Masinter said you never know what you’re going to get when you volunteer for pro bono.
“In some instances, my pro bono work was as simple as helping an individual figure out how to fill out a court form; in other instances, it was helping an organization serve the entire community by better executing on its mission.” he said. “In all instances, I hope my work helped the individual or organization, even if only in a small way.”
Some lawyers do pro bono work because they say it brings them back to why they wanted to be a lawyer in the first place.
“I have almost always wanted to be an attorney that represented individuals who
Craig also echoed these sentiments, saying that he believes that pro bono/volunteer requirements in higher education and by professional licensure authorities incentivize employers to allow their professionals to provide services to those who are otherwise unable to pay.
But it also comes down to a commitment to giving back to the community, and the support to make it happen.
“I have been privileged to work under senior lawyers who encouraged and applauded pro bono efforts,” Craig said. “Their example and leadership are necessary to permit younger lawyers to commit to pro bono cases.” T
This Boot Is Made For Funding
Investment firm Boot64 ventures believes SSBCI funds will ‘kick things up a notch’ for Louisiana startups
BY RICH COLLINS
Last August, Boot64 Ventures became the first fund in Louisiana to invest in a local startup using matching dollars from the latest round of the federal government’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Almost a year later, the two-year-old Jefferson Parishbased firm has nine investments on the books and three more coming soon.
Last summer, a federal report showed that Louisiana was deploying funds more slowly than other states, but the process is beginning to gain momentum. Boot64, led by partners Mickal Adler and John Roberts, helped pave the way by being the first to complete all program requirements and to begin funding projects.
“It was new to the state; it was new to us,” said Adler, a local attorney and entrepreneur whose family owns Adler’s jewelers. “We went through the learning curve together. There was a lot of back and forth to make sure we were doing things correctly.”
Announced in 2021 as part of the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue
Plan stimulus package, SSBCI 2.0 could provide up to $90 million in Louisiana that can be used as matching funds for investments in local startups with a focus on entrepreneurs in traditionally underserved communities. An additional $23 million is reserved for loans or loan guarantees.
Boot64, a for-profit enterprise, raised $5 million from private investors to unlock $5 million in SSBCI matching funds. In addition to Roberts and Adler, the firm includes 29 limited partners, seven general partners and an analyst.
In July, Louisiana Economic Development, the state agency responsible for administering the program, reported that it had committed $22.15 million to seven equity funds that have signed agreements and verified matching funds. The agency said four additional funds are securing or verifying matching funds for $5 million of additional SSBCI commitments.
LED’s website lists a dozen funds as participants in the state’s SSBCI Seed Capital Program. In New Orleans, these include the Idea Village, Ochsner Ventures, Propeller, the New Orleans Startup Fund and the Tulane Innovation Institute.
Adler and Roberts welcome the company.
“We plan to make about 55 investments over four years,” said Adler. “We are very rarely, if ever, going to be the only investor in a round. There’s a lot of great funds in this ecosystem, and we want them in the investments with us, because it makes the chances that that investment will be successful way, way higher.”
Boot64’s top priority is finding another 45 businesses worthy of joining its portfolio, which already includes Advano, DAWn Audio, hampr, iCAN Technologies, Ingest, JammAround, Junum, Kubanda Cryotherapy and ProdOps.
The goal is to invest in dozens of companies to increase the chance of uncovering the next Lucid, the first startup in New Orleans to sell for more than $1 billion. A few big winners in the portfolio will help investors get their money back and then some.
Adler and Roberts already have considered roughly 1,000 businesses, and they plan to find more by networking with other funds, business accelerators, incubators and chambers of commerce.
“We’re looking for scalable startups,” said Roberts, who has focused on investing since selling a chain of gas stations and convenience stores in 2018. “If you want to open a coffee shop, that could be a very nice business, but it’s not really venture investable unless you’ve developed a new way to brew coffee that nobody else has and you’re going to open 500 coffee shops. That’s what we mean by ‘scalable.’”
There’s no time to waste if Louisiana is to receive its maximum allotment of federal dollars. The Treasury Department is releasing the money to the state in three chunks. By the beginning of next year, LED needs to show that it met its investment benchmarks to unlock the second disbursement.
The stakes are high, said Adler, because of the profound opportunity the program represents for local entrepreneurs.
“You’ll be looking at, knock on wood, several hundred million dollars going into startups in this ecosystem over the next year to two years,” he said. T
RICH COLLINS is an Emmy Award-winning writer, musician and actor known for the Disney Channel TV series “Imagination Movers.”
PERSPECTIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
VERANISHA THOMPSON is the executive director of Fund17. She may be reached via email at Veranisha@fund17.org.
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats
With a unique and holistic approach to economic justice, Fund 17 offers BIPOC entrepreneurs a wide array of support.
BY VERANISHA THOMPSON
The mission of Fund 17 is to support business cultivation in the 17 wards of New Orleans and the surrounding area, focusing on BIPOC (Black, indigenous and people of color) entrepreneurs often overlooked by traditional business incubation and economic development strategies. We prioritize low-income entrepreneurs of color and native New Orleanians, especially those facing the threat of displacement.
One of the key principles of Fund 17 is to invest in the community. Since our 2022 reconfiguration, in addition to providing technical assistance and capital access we have expanded our focus to collaborate across the GNO economic development ecosystem. This has been intrinsic to growing our work in our communities and deepening relationships with our community and program partners. We have continued to support our entrepreneurs in formalizing their businesses, and in
addition to our policy research in permitting and licensing, we were able to collaborate with Sinnidra Taylor — executive director of Friends of Codey’s Nola and a former Fund 17 program graduate and business case manager — to facilitate workshops on LLC and EIN (Employee Identification Number) processes and LED (Louisiana Economic Development) certifications. With Friends of Codey’s, we have supported “foodpreneurs” with a commercial kitchen space and provided industry-specific technical assistance to food-service vendors at Friends of Codey’s Commissary Kitchen and Co-Op.
The Financial Wellness Collaborative (FWC) — a collaboration between Fund 17, Thrive Nola, and Propeller over the past two years — is a testament to our expanded support for our entrepreneurs. FWC supports our entrepreneurs with direct capital access, technical assistance workshops, and one-on-one advising to help them become “bankable.” It also provides clear pathways for referrals to support them as
they continue to progress in our region’s Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) ladder.
During this time, our team reevaluated our “why” and how we fit in the overarching economic development ecosystem among other ESOs in the region. As of the summer of 2023, we launched our Wellness Initiative to provide comprehensive holistic wellness training in a mini-retreat format tailored to support our entrepreneurs in collective healing. This offering was developed after we disbursed $60,000 in Ida Relief Stipends to entrepreneurs, a heightened need after Hurricane Ida and past floods, which entrepreneurs stated were a sustained impediment to business as they recovered from COVID-19 closure impacts.
In the spring of 2024, we launched our Culture Bearer Promise initiative to support the New Orleans entrepreneurial community in addressing their unique needs. We found that entrepreneurs we work with require a level of technical assistance as dynamic as their challenges. By honing a cultural-specific lens to programming, creating a viable pathway of business incubation and providing resources and opportunities while building trust, Fund 17 directly contributes to the economic advancement of low to moderate-income communities, BIPOC, women and other groups experiencing economic oppression.
We are excited to present our upcoming fall program lineup, showcasing our enriched portfolio. We are expanding our offerings to include more workforce development, distinctive educational workshops, and opportunities to enhance our current Core Pipeline Programs and Capital Access Initiative. Our new offerings will focus on operational structure essentials, business soft skills and digital safeguards awareness, all aimed at building the capacity for successful workforce growth.
FUND 17 is focused on our Actionable Intention for 2024-2027. Stay tuned and reach out.
We like to say we’re only “hood famous” in four wards, but we aim to be in all 17 by 2027!T
whole seeing the picture
wholeFOR HOUSING TO TRULY BE AFFORDABLE IN NEW ORLEANS RISING ENERGY BILLS AND INSURANCE COSTS MUST BE ADDRESSED, WHICH IS WHY FINANCE NEW ORLEANS IS DETERMINED TO ENSURE THE NEW GENERATION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE CITY IS ALSO EFFICIENT AND BUILT TO LAST. UNFORTUNATELY, THE 46-YEAR-OLD AGENCY IS STRUGGLING TO FIND THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT NEEDED TO MEET DEMAND.
BY KIM SINGLETARY PORTRAITS BY THERESA CASSAGNE
Since
Finance New Orleans has served as the city’s housing finance agent, providing single family mortgages to first-time homebuyers as well as low-to-moderate-income families.
At the time, cities around the country were recognizing the importance homeownership played in the stability of communities, but private financial institutions weren’t always willing to provide resources or capital to certain segments of the community or certain areas. The result was the creation of quasi-governmental agencies to step in and fill the gaps.
After almost three decades in business, things were going well at Finance New Orleans. Thanks to good investments, by 2005 the organization had a $400 million balance sheet.
Then came Hurricane Katrina, however, which wiped out about 90% of its investments.
As the city joined the nation in an economic downturn, the BP oil spill hit. By the time Damon Burns became president and CEO of the agency in 2016, Finance New Orleans’ balance sheet was down to just $30 million.
The agency was forced to rethink its business model, which has resulted in a new model focused on not just affordable singlefamily homes, but multifamily projects and city infrastructure. In addition to affordability, these investments are now focused on sustainability.
Since 2018, Finance New Orleans has served as the city’s housing finance agency and green bank rolled into one — a unique hybrid called a green finance authority. The agency’s seven-member board is appointed by the New Orleans City Council and its staff of nine, helped by what Burns calls “an army of consultants and partners,” works closely with the mayor’s office.
The organization recently made two big moves: On June 25, it held the first-ever Resilient New Orleans Innovation Challenge showcase. Co-designed by Finance New Orleans and Elemental Accelerator, the event showcased 34 technologies aimed at “reducing the overall cost of building compo -
1978
nents, while enhancing resiliency and affordability for tenants and homeowners alike.”
During the showcase, Finance New Orleans also announced it was launching a green mortgage program that will provide families making up to 140% of the area median income with up to $25,000 in down payment assistance.
Biz New Orleans recently chatted with Burns about these new endeavors, as well as the city’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities when it comes to becoming a more affordable, more sustainable New Orleans.
Let’s start with some basics: When you're talking about sustainability, what do you mean?
Sustainable can mean several things, but in general, we categorize it as energy, wind and water improvements toward single family properties. And then there are other categories, too, like clean transportation and nature-based solutions.
Sustainability is about how a product is built, and making that leap toward using technology, or an improved process. That may sound like a simple thing to do, but it's not. It takes a cultural shift. It takes a shift in our systems. Our Resilient New Orleans Finance Plan is a public sector document that lays the foundation for how we're going to operate in collaboration with the private sector.
The first thing that pops into my mind as a sustainability program is the new fortified roof program. Is this an example of what you’re talking about?
Yes. Being sustainable means being more in step with the challenges that we face and helping our homes survive into the future. We’re not always talking about high-end technology. It could be a nature-based solution, like a French drain, or a stormwater management system around the house, or water technology inside of the house. There's a variety of investments that can be made that fall under the sustainability category. Right now, we're identifying companies that have products that make sense for New Orleans. It's about getting ahead and trying to package these things so that we can make the transition in a more rapid fashion.
RIGHT NOW, WE’RE IDENTIFYING COMPANIES THAT HAVE PRODUCTS THAT MAKE SENSE FOR NEW ORLEANS. IT’S ABOUT GETTING AHEAD AND TRYING TO PACKAGE THESE THINGS SO THAT WE CAN MAKE THE TRANSITION IN A MORE RAPID FASHION.
THE REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY WANTS TO BUILD AN ELECTRIC RAPID TRANSIT LINE ACROSS NEW ORLEANS THAT IS GOING TO HAVE STATIONS ACROSS THE CITY. EACH ONE OF THOSE BUILDINGS REPRESENTS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SUSTAINABILITY.
What were some of the top products you are considering from the recent showcase?
Thirty-four companies applied — we got applications from companies as far as Poland, so that was exciting. But we also got a lot of local and regional ideas.
Ultimately, we selected four companies. One of them is Gro Enterprises, which is a hemp-based building materials company. We also had another company called Gradient that has created a heat pumpbased window unit, which is an alternative to HVAC, particularly for public housing units, affordable housing projects. It's a more affordable way of providing heating and cooling to the home. We also had a company called RainStick, which has a water recycling technology that is intended to save water costs for a property. And lastly, there was a company called Frontline Gig, which has a workforce development application aimed at creating a pathway for green jobs. For individuals in the community looking to learn new skills or get involved in new projects, they provide a pathway to training and then a pathway to start working on those projects right away.
These are all technologies that we're going to start implementing this year in a series of projects that we're sponsoring ourselves.
So, the goal is to find new products and systems and test them in projects locally?
homeowners to add features to their home. With an FHA mortgage, for example, a homebuyer can add $8,000 of energy efficiency upgrades. FHA stretches the loan criteria to allow for the increased costs because it is expected that the property is going to be more valuable over the long run, so they don't mind the upfront investment being made. That's going to add a few dollars to a homeowner’s monthly mortgage payment, but it should drive down insurance and maintenance costs, along with energy bills. With all the technologies we look at, we want these costs and homeowner returns clearly spelled out.
SUSTAINABILITY IS ABOUT HOW A PRODUCT IS BUILT, AND MAKING THAT LEAP TOWARD USING TECHNOLOGY, OR AN IMPROVED PROCESS. THAT MAY SOUND LIKE A SIMPLE THING TO DO, BUT IT’S NOT. IT TAKES A CULTURAL SHIFT. IT TAKES A SHIFT IN OUR SYSTEMS.
Yes, but once they are using their products in New Orleans, the next step is to get these companies to have a presence here. That's the end goal, because we really need to create a new type of industry here, and it needs to be robust. It needs to be something that attracts people here and where we can organically grow talent here. Calvin Mackie with STEM Nola gave one of the most powerful performances of the day when he talked about the work they're doing to prepare youth for STEM careers. Anything we're going to do in climate tech STEM is going to have to be the foundation.
Sustainable solutions are obviously great for homeowners when it comes to lowering bills like energy and insurance, which is very important, but there is an upfront cost involved. Coupled with the fact that building costs have increased since the pandemic, how does that affect the ability to make sure these advanced homes are still affordable?
Sure. Cost is a big part of the conversation when we’re working with these companies. That’s also where our new green mortgage program comes in. We have participating lenders, starting with Hancock Whitney and Liberty Bank. We've worked with both of those banks for a long time.
The program offers a family a first mortgage and a second mortgage. The first mortgage is FHA, Freddie Mac or VA. The second mortgage is downpayment assistance, which typically comes from Finance New Orleans or some grant source — we got a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
FHA and Freddie Mac understand these homes need to be more sustainable, so there are allowances built into the mortgage to allow
You mentioned earlier that Finance New Orleans is working on some affordability projects. Can you talk about those?
Yes. First, we launched an innovation fund, which will allow us to make equity investments, test out new ideas and new products. The first project out of the fund is going to be a series of homebuilding projects.
One is five units in the Pontchartrain Park area, where we're going to build singles or doubles; we're still trying to figure out the plan. We just released an RFQ for developers — you can see that on our website. The goal is to build highly sustainable housing and sell these homes to families that qualify for our green mortgage program.
What’s your work like on the multifamily end?
Multifamily has been the main activity for us since 2020, when we created our Resilient New Orleans Finance plan. In this area, we offer developers of affordable housing bond financing, or debt financing, as well as tax exemptions. Since 2020, we have closed 10
tax exemption transactions for affordable housing projects across New Orleans.
How do you decide which products are worthy of support?
There's a standard called Enterprise Green Community Standards, which is pretty universal — a lot of other cities and states are using those standards. All the projects we consider at least meet those standards at a bare minimum.
How does infrastructure fit into what you are doing?
That started also with the launch of the 2020 plan, and that came about because before Hurricane Katrina we had a single-family port-
RECENT FINANCE NEW ORLEANS PROJECT NEWS
folio of assets, and the reason why we lost that portfolio is not only were the homes not sustainable enough to withstand the climate event, but the infrastructure also itself around the homes wasn't sustainable enough to bounce back.
Now, a lot of the issue was the levee system, and we’ve since seen a $14 billion investment in that, so that's a great start, but there's other infrastructure in the community that's important, too. There's a term we use called decentralized infrastructure, which for a homeowner means you can use features integrated into your home to manage the water runoff from your property. That, in turn, relieves pressure on the overall water system.
We want to make sure that we can amplify all of the large-scale infrastructure investments that are being made with smaller infrastructure investments, like water systems, rooftop solar, even community solar. We have some developers that are applying to us right now to build community solar farms in different parts of the city, where the output of those solar farms is going to be sold back to families in the affordable housing category.
JANUARY 19, 2024
H3C New Orleans
Grand opening of H3C New Orleans, an $80 million, affordable-housing development in Central City. The fivestory building on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard is anchored by a ground-floor community health clinic managed by DePaul Community Health Centers.
OCTOBER 24, 2023
St. Bernard Circle Apartments
Groundbreaking of St. Bernard Circle
Apartments across from Circle Food Store at 1429 St. Bernard Avenue. The $22 million, fourstory project will include 51 apartments (40 of which will be dedicated to long-term workforce housing offering rents at or below 60% of the area median income.
Another infrastructure example is clean transportation. The Regional Transit Authority, the airport, they all have projects that require sustainable investment, and their balance sheets aren’t always large enough to handle certain projects, particularly sustainability projects, which are new. So, they need a finance department, which is why we're working with other governmental agencies on amplifying their infrastructure investments with sustainability features.
As an example, the Regional Transit Authority wants to build an electric rapid transit line across New Orleans that is going to have stations across the city. Each one of those buildings represents an opportunity for sustainability. We're going to help them build a micro grid, or string of buildings that are connected and fully sustainable, with EV charging, heating and cooling, clean energy, clean water, everything the community might need in times of disaster, or on a really hot day or as a convenience. All those things are going to require some testing — that's where we come in. That's our role in the city of New Orleans, to really be on the forefront and push the edge with the type of investments that we're making, not just for our own balance sheet, but introducing them to other agencies.
MARCH 22, 2024
Grove Place
Grand Opening of Grove Place in Hollygrove. The $14 million project revitalized 23 historic homes and added nine new units, all classified as affordable.
Can you elaborate on Finance New Orleans’funding situation?
We are truly a financial institution. We don't make money if we don't lend or invest. We can receive money from the city, state, federal government foundations. We’ve received a big philanthropic investment in the past few years to help supplement us until we can get our cash flow going again.
Are there other organizations or other areas in the country that you look to for best practices?
Housing finance agencies have been around since the ’70s. And we've been a part of a network of housing finance agencies for a long time — the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies. I'm on the board
FEBRUARY 2024
Tivoli Place
Plans announced for a complete renovation of the Tivoli Place apartment building on St. Charles Avenue in the Central Business District. The $87.6 million project will significantly upgrade the senior affordable housing community to include rooftop solar panels and a more efficient HVAC, as well as a media room, library, fitness center and medical exam room. Completion is expected in 2025.
MARCH 27, 2024
St. Claude Gardens II Groundbreaking of $11.7 million affordable housing complex in Lower Ninth Ward. The project’s 39 units set on 22 lots are all Energy Star and FORTIFIED Gold certified.
of that organization. I'm the treasurer right now, so I get a chance to work with leaders from other agencies across the country like D.C., Atlanta, Miami and San Francisco. To that end, Invest Atlanta is — they're one of our peers, but more of a role model. We also look at the D.C. Green Bank. They’re a new organization, but they're doing some good things, and they started right about the same time we decided to become the city's green finance authority.
The New York City Housing Development Corporation is the finance authority of all finance authorities. They're bigger than a lot of banks. They have a huge balance sheet, so they can reinvest in a lot of low interest loans and projects and create more impact. We will never be as big as them, probably, but we could at least get our financial situation as strong as they are to our scale.
What are the biggest challenges in making all this happen?
A few challenges come to mind. No. 1, nature — nobody controls nature. You must have a recognition of that in all these things we're doing. You must work with nature.
And then there’s cultural adoption. We had a panel yesterday on the cultural perspective of climate technology. Sometimes the community can be a little wary of new ideas, new technologies, regardless of the demographics of that community. There can be some skepticism, so those products need to be culturally competent. They need to make sense, and the community must be ready to adopt them.
Gas Reduction Fund, and some other programs. That's going to be a shot in the arm, but also, that's not going to come around every year, or even every 10 or 20 years. It’s almost like catching lightning in a bottle. But we feel like we're in a pretty good position to receive some of that money.
We’re also working with private financial institutions — we've been trying to get banks, investors, investment banks, community banks, all types of financial institutions, hedge funds. We're trying to break even within the next two or three years. Frankly, we just don't have the amount of capital in the city to do all the things that are necessary. That part is very difficult because we're not a private company where we can say, “We will give you X amount of return over the next 10 years.” What are the opportunities here? What makes New Orleans a good place for programs like this?
Part of our responsibility being on the board of the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies is we go and lobby and advocate in D.C. for all finance authorities. Oftentimes, I'm in the room with New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and frequently the conversation is redirected toward New Orleans — that's what they want to talk about. We have sort of an intangible that other places don't have that allows us to be in rooms that maybe other cities our size don't get access to.
THAT’S OUR ROLE IN THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, TO REALLY BE ON THE FOREFRONT AND PUSH THE EDGE WITH THE TYPE OF INVESTMENTS THAT WE’RE MAKING, NOT JUST FOR OUR OWN BALANCE SHEET, BUT INTRODUCING THEM TO OTHER AGENCIES.
Policy is also a challenge. New Orleans is doing well, in terms of evolving its policies to allow more sustainability. For example, all of the multifamily projects I mentioned earlier, they all had to meet stormwater management minimum guidelines from the city of New Orleans. We need more implementations along those lines.
Lastly, I will say financing, because our balance sheet was put in such a point of disrepair, that we need new injections of capital to move forward, and that's hard to get. It's hard to get philanthropy to make the public investment.
The federal government just allocated $27 billion for green funding for the Greenhouse
The other opportunity we have is since we have been ground zero for climate events, maybe next to Miami and some other places, we know the industry better than everybody. People come here all the time for conferences and events to learn about some of the things that we have learned over the years.
There’s also our resilience as a people and as a community. There's a lot of admiration for that, and because of that we get the attention of the world. There's an opportunity for us to take that advantage and use it to bring in the kind of capital that we need. We need to say “We know you love New Orleans, and we love it, too. Now let's make it the best New Orleans possible.”
The last thing that encourages me is I went to a community event for the organization Water Wise Gulf South, and in this packed room a guy from Amsterdam got up, and first he said how much he loved New Orleans, but then he said, “Look, you're 6 feet below sea level. I live 12 feet below sea level in Amsterdam and I sleep like a baby at night, because we have made the investment in our city and our infrastructure to protect ourselves from water.” His message to us was that we can get it right, but we must be innovative, we have to collaborate.
OFTENTIMES, I’M IN THE ROOM WITH NEW YORK CITY, LOS ANGELES, ATLANTA, AND FREQUENTLY THE CONVERSATION IS REDIRECTED TOWARD NEW ORLEANS — THAT’S WHAT THEY WANT TO TALK ABOUT. WE HAVE SORT OF AN INTANGIBLE THAT OTHER PLACES DON’T HAVE THAT ALLOWS US TO BE IN ROOMS THAT MAYBE OTHER CITIES OUR SIZE DON’T GET ACCESS TO.
CHARTERING
THIS MONTH’S OPENING OF THE NEW HYNES CHARTER SCHOOL’S ON THE UNO CAMPUS MARKS A CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LARGEST PUBLIC UNIVERSITY IN GREATER NEW ORLEANS AND THE SCHOOL’S SECOND NEW PERMANENT CAMPUS IN JUST THREE YEARS.
TA NEW PATH
BY MISTY MILIOTO PHOTOS BY JEFFERY JOHNSTON
HOME TO SOME of the highest demand, non-selective admissions elementary schools in Orleans Parish, Hynes Charter Schools serves three campuses in Lakeview and Gentilly that offer both challenging academic curriculums— including a progressive literacy program, and gifted and talented course— as well as classes in art, instrumental music, vocal music, library, theater and physical education.
On August 14, the charter will welcome the first students to its newly completed home on the campus of the University of New Orleans. The state-of-the-art facility will eventually house more than 900 students.
AA LITTLE HYNES HISTORY
Named in memory of native New Orleanian and educator Edward Hynes (1872-1936), the original Hynes School opened in 1952 at 990 Harrison Avenue in Lakeview. The school was accredited in 1969 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and first recognized as a National BlueRibbon School of Excellence in 1988.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the school, closing it for the remainder of the school year. In early 2006, the Hynes Charter School Corporation was created to support the financial, operational and academic functions of the school. In March 2006, the newly founded board of directors and founding CEO were granted a Type 3 charter by the Orleans Parish
School Board, and the school forged its first partnership with UNO.
By August 2006, the school reopened in two temporary locations: pre-kindergarten through fourth grades at 719 S. Carrollton Ave. and fifth through eighth grades at St. Henry’s School at 821 General Pershing. Both campuses were then united at the St. James Major campus on Gentilly Boulevard for the 2007-08 school year.
By 2012, Hynes returned to its original location to a rebuilt campus at 990 Harrison Avenue. Not long after, the Louisiana Department of Education recognized the school with its first A in school performance. Hynes was also named to Louisiana’s elite list of High Performing, High Poverty Schools.
“In the spring of 2018, the school’s administration and board embarked on a self-study and green-lighting process to determine the feasibility of replicating this model of success,” said Michelle Douglas, CEO of Hynes Charter Schools. “In the fall of 2018, the leadership of the University of New Orleans and Hynes Charter Schools became corporate partners recognized by the Charter School Demonstration Act.”
Hynes-UNO then opened its doors in August 2019 in a temporary location provided by the New Orleans Public Schools (NOLAPS) Board.
In February 2023, the Hynes Corporation and Friends of Hynes broke ground on the new facility, which was just completed this June.
Meanwhile, in 2020, NOLAPS selected Hynes to be the 2021-22 operator for the Parkview campus at 4617 Mirabeau Ave., and HynesParkview (the third campus), opened its doors in August 2021.
“Today, Hynes serves 1,800 students from urban areas throughout New Orleans and will grow to serve 2,300 students by the year 2027,” said Douglas. “Two campuses are home to a World Language Certified French immersion program, and the Hynes network received Cognia Accreditation, which is an internationally recognized mark of distinction for meeting or exceeding rigorous standards of operations, practices and results.”
Michelle Douglas, the founding CEO of Hynes Charter Schools, was awarded last May with the prestigious Palmes Academiques award for contribuition to French language, education and culture in Louisiana. Hynes started one of the first French immersion programs in the state.
Brittany Smith was named principal of Hynes-UNO in 2019. She previously taught at Hynes and served in many leadership roles, including on the Hynes strategic planning committee.
HHYNES-UNO
Hynes-UNO represents a big move for the school toward workforce development.
“The partnership with UNO allows for a unique K-8 and beyond learning experience for our students,” said Brittany Smith, principal of Hynes-UNO. “Through this partnership, our goal is to inspire students to continue their educational career beyond high school by providing them with learning experiences that will spark their interest in a future career.”
Hynes-UNO consists of two state-of-the-art buildings, designed by Grace Hebert Curtis Architects and built by Lemoine Construction. The academic building houses classrooms and the library/media center, while the commons building houses the cafeteria and music room.
“We are looking forward to adding a third building to the property that will serve as our performing arts/physical education building,” Smith said.
The K-8 school also include 42 classrooms, an art room and multiple small group spaces.
“Our new building was designed to highlight aspects of French immersion and STEAM, with each floor taking on themes of water, land and space,” Smith said. “Hynes-UNO will enroll a total of 930 students once we are fully built out to a K-eighth grade school,” Smith added. “This enrollment would make us the largest Hynes campus. With our location next to the No.1 high school, Ben Franklin High School, and on the UNO campus, the Hynes team looks forward to establishing a partnership with these schools to enhance our students’ learning experience.”
The school is currently partnering with UNO by way of school and family events such as a Hynes Night at a UNO basketball game and Game Day at a UNO baseball game. Hynes-UNO is also partnering with the UNO Education Department to coordinate afterschool tutoring for students. The goal is to
Did You Know? Nationwide, enrollment in charter schools (schools that are publicly funded but independently run)
is on the rise. From 2010 to 2020, enrollment went from 1.8 million students to 3.7 million — more than doubling.
Our overarching goal is for every student to achieve proficiency in reading at or above grade level by the end of each academic year. End-of-year benchmark data reveals an average improvement of approximately 20 to 25 percentage points, highlighting the effectiveness of our instructional strategies and the dedication of our educators.
“continue the partnership through offering Hynes-UNO students on-site educational experiences (i.e. attending a jazz performance by UNO students in the performing arts auditorium, a field trip to the UNO engineering building to see a demonstration of model ships in the towing tank, etc.)
Hynes-UNO is also looking forward to building a partnership with Ben Franklin High School. One program the two schools are partnering on is the Ben Franklin High School’s STAR (Students Teaching and Reaching) Research Course. This course inspires high schoolers to pursue the field of education. Through the STAR-Research Program, Ben Franklin students will have the opportunity to engage in a student teaching experience at Hynes-UNO.
“As an alum of Ben Franklin High School and the Teaching Academy (now STAR-Research Program), I am thrilled to provide students the same opportunity I received that inspired me to become an educator,” said Smith.
Hynes-UNO will also offer after-school sports such as flag football, baseball and softball, Scouts of America, pep squad and chorus.
“We will partner with local art programs to
Did You Know? Washington, D.C., had the highest percentage of charter schools in 2021-22 — 51.3%. In Louisiana the share is 10.7%
provide after-school art classes,” Smith said. “As we continue to grow, we look forward to offering more programs for our students.”
MMEASURE OF SUCCESS
Hynes has identified five core elements that drive its success: student-centered instruction; an inclusive and positive school culture; tailored enrichment opportunities for students; an invested and committed community; and having a sustainable organization.
“Hynes Charter Schools excels notably in English language arts,” explained Anne Kramer, chief academic officer of Hynes Charter Schools. “A cornerstone of our approach is the daily 90-minute uninterrupted reading block provided to all students, supplemented by an additional 45 to 50 minutes integrated into the schedules of students from kindergarten through fifth grade.”
Kramer cited the Success for All reading program, which incorporates evidence-based strategies, as being central to the school’s ELA success.
“This program emphasizes foundational literacy skills and provides opportunities for teachers to gather data on leading indicators of student progress,” she said.
“Armed with these data, teachers facilitate lessons that allow students to take ownership of their learning and use differentiated approaches to meet the individual needs of each student,” Kramer added. “Our overarching goal is for every student to achieve proficiency in reading at or above grade level by the end of each academic year. End-of-year benchmark data reveals an average improvement of approximately 20 to 25 percentage points, highlighting the effectiveness of our instructional strategies and the dedication of our educators.”
In the 2020–21 school year, there were: 146 charter schools in Louisiana, serving over 87,000 students. Approximately 47,000 of whom reside in the Orleans Parish
The typical class size at Hynes Charter Schools is 24 to 26 students. With smaller class sizes, students can receive more individualized attention.
Central to Hynes Charter Schools’ approach is a strong focus on students’s social-emotional well-being. As such, the school teaches students essential skills like teamwork, constructive feedback, respecting diverse opinions and self-regulation.
“Equally important is the emphasis we place on building efficacy among both our educators and students,” Kramer said.
For example, students work in partnerships and teams that foster collaboration, feedback and goal setting. Likewise, teachers and Instructional Leadership Teams take part in programs like weekly Professional Learning Communities, and instructional and solutions team meetings.
The school boasts high retention rates for teachers and students. “Demand rates [also] put Hynes Schools at the top of the list for
School Board district. Source: the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and USA Facts
family choice,” Kramer said. “And we cannot forget about academic accountability scores.”
Kramer cited the 2023 Louisiana Educational Assessment Program results, which found that Hynes Lakeview and Hynes-UNO are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the City of New Orleans for the percentage of students scoring mastery or above for open enrollment schools.
“[Additionally,] Hynes Parkview joined our portfolio of schools at the start of the 2021-22 school year,” Kramer said. “At the time, their [school performance score] was 32.8. Within two years, the SPS score rose to a staggering 59.17. Hynes Parkview was also ranked fifth in the growth index for schools in New Orleans.”
However, Kramer said that the most impactful sign of Hynes’ success comes from alumni, staff and their families.
“In fact, several alumni have joined our teaching faculty, and many teachers choose to send their own children to a Hynes School,” she said. “This is the true measure of success.” T
Anne Kramer, chief academic officer of Hynes Charter Schools since 2019, worked as a business banker before stepping into education as a teacher in 1994. She has served at Hynes in many roles, including as a teacher, instructional coach and supervisor of curriculum and instruction.
FROM THE LENS
54
GREAT WORKSPACES
Baptist Community Ministries went mid-century with its new headquarters.
62
NEIGHBORHOOD GEM
The 20-year story of Mr. Chill’s First Class Barber Shop includes an unlikely alliance.
64
NEW ORLEANS 500 Meghan Donelon, market president of Red River Bank
58 WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?
This summer’s opening of The Scalp Spa in Mandeville is rooted in a viral TikTok trend.
NOD TO THE PAST
Baptist Community Ministries went mid-century with its new headquarters.
BY MISTY MILIOTO
PHOTOS BY LAURA STEFFAN
Created out of the sale of Southern Baptist Hospital, Baptist Community Ministries is a private health legacy foundation serving Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and St. Tammany parishes. The foundation operates from three pillars of service: chaplaincy, congregational wellness and grantmaking. Since 1996, the organization has awarded nearly $250 million in grants, including approximately $12 million annually to New Orleans-area nonprofits.
The BCM’s focus areas are education, health and public safety. It annually awards approximately $12 million in grants to New Orleans-area nonprofits.
“We currently employ 11 professional chaplains who serve the New Orleans Police Department and several medical facilities in the Greater New Orleans region,” says Inman J. Houston, president and CEO of BCM. “Our congregational wellness division recruits, equips, deploys and supports community health nurses and lay health advocates in churches throughout our service region.” FROM THE LENS
The terrazzo flooring and wood paneling on the first floor are original to the building at 1320 St. Charles Avenue, which was formerly home to Whitney Bank.
“
Moving from an upper floor in a corporate tower on Poydras Street, the new ground-floor location along St. Charles Avenue serves as both a metaphorical and physical ‘return to the community.
”BCM recently moved into its new headquarters, a mid-century modern building at 1320 St. Charles Avenue in late February 2024. The location, formerly occupied by Whitney Bank, provides the organization with enough space for staff and community meetings, as well as sufficient outdoor space for parking and a new outdoor courtyard.
To maximize the building’s space, BCM hired EskewDumezRipple (EDR), which began the full-service architecture and interior design work (including furniture specification) in the fall of 2021. EDR also provided site and landscape work, including transforming a portion of the existing parking lot into the new courtyard.
“The BCM team wanted to rebrand their new office to be approachable and to provide space for their community partners [and] staff,” said Jill Traylor, principal and director of interiors at EDR. “Moving from an upper floor in a corporate tower on Poydras Street, the new groundfloor location along St. Charles Avenue serves as both a metaphorical and physical ‘return to the community.’ The organization wanted to celebrate this return by creating a welcoming and warm space for visitors; the interior design shows that BCM is ready to serve [the community] compassionately in this space.”
BCM also hired Ryan Gootee General Contractors (RGGC), which began renovations in January 2023. The company estimated all building costs, collaborated with the design team and owners during reconstruction to value engineer the project, and managed all the trade partners.
“It was largely a full-gut project, including moving walls to create a more open floor plan with increased office space, multiple workstations and a flex area on the first floor,” said Kristian Sonnier, vice president of communications and business development at RGGC. “We identified original elements of the interior that could be saved and restored, like the old bank
vaults, interesting wood, and travertine wall panels and column cladding. The existing wood paneling was in poor shape. We brought in an artist [who spent months meticulously hand painting] the panels so that the original wood grain could be accentuated.”
“At every opportunity, we tried to use existing materials,” Houston said. “The beautiful terrazzo flooring and the wood paneling on the first floor are original. The stone columns and window trim are also original.”
The workspace now boasts a reception area, a boardroom, a kitchen, two conference rooms and an open public area with custom arched banquettes on the first floor. The second floor, which also features an open floor plan, includes two conference rooms, multiple employee offices, workstations, meeting spaces and a break room. On the ground floor, the existing glass storefront along St. Charles Avenue lets in plenty of daylight, while the new courtyard provides employees the opportunity to extend the office outdoors.
EDR added mid-century modern-inspired furniture and light fixtures to keep the heritage of the building present in the design.
The team also cleaned and preserved the vault doors on the first and second floors and
Two existing bank vaults were repurposed as design features. One serves as Baptist Community Ministries’ second-floor conference room. An artist was brought in to hand paint the original wood panels in order to bring them back to life.
repurposed two existing bank vaults as design features. One, which now acts as a second-floor conference room, still features a wall of old safety deposit boxes, reminders of the building’s history.
“Contrasting with the existing stone and terrazzo within the building, we included elements of fluted glass, woven fabrics and screening elements to provide a welcoming space,” Traylor said. “Rich tones like navy and maroon, alongside tan leather, create a space with color and warmth.”
Overall, the architecture and interior design cohesively reflect BCM’s faith-based mission to improve the physical, mental and spiritual health of individuals in the community.
“We created the concept based on the values of transparency, warmth, strength, compassion and bonding,” said Traylor, “all of which are important to [BCM].” T
QUICK LOOK
Number of years in operation
29
Style of architecture
Mid-century modern Square footage
Approximately12,000
Number of Employees
28
Persons in Charge
Inman J. Houston, CEO; Dianne McGraw, board chair; Phillip Brodt, chair of BCM ad hoc building committee
Architecture
EskewDumezRipple
Interior Décor
EskewDumezRipple
Art and furnishings EskewDumezRipple
The building also features multiple work stations and a flex area on the first floor.
HEAD SPACE
This summer’s opening of The Scalp Spa in Mandeville is rooted in a viral TikTok trend.
BY ASHLEY MCLELLAN PHOTOS BY EDMUND D. FOUNTAIN
Just opened in June, The Scalp Spa in Mandeville offers a suite of scalp-specific treatments catering to those looking for a new option for self care. It’s an idea inspired both by current spa trends, as well as a need for something different, according to scalp specialist Ashley Ingraham, who said her inspiration for the new venture came from social media.
“I kept seeing videos of these scalp spa treatments that looked incredible,” she said. “However, most of the clips I was seeing were at spas in New York City or L.A., and we didn’t have many places in Louisiana doing the service.”
Visitors to The Scalp Spa in Mandeville will receive a unique experience that aims to treat scalp health and increase a person’s overall sense of well-being.
“Clients can expect to receive a luxury scalp service that is not only relaxing, but effective in keeping the scalp healthy,” Ingraham said, who noted that “scalp care promotes healthy hair growth, unclogs hair follicles and removes dead
The Spa’s “Luxury Scalp Experience and Blow Dry” includes a scalp analysis, double cleanse and soak, mini facial and masque, scalp exfoliation and hair mask.
Scalp specialist Ashley Ingraham is a full-time, licensed and trained esthetician and qualified massage therapist (pictured above). Plans are in the works for more treatment tables and possibly a larger space as the spa continues to grow.
skin cells, regulates oil production, and relieves itching, flaking and redness. Relaxation and stress relief is an extra benefit.”
The Scalp Spa currently has two full-time employees, both of whom are licensed and trained as estheticians, with Ingraham also serving as a qualified massage therapist. Plans are in the works for more treatment tables and possibly a larger space as the spa continues to grow.
The spa is equipped with a special scalp bed that allows clients to recline while undergoing treatment, as well as technology that allows clients and estheticians to get an up-close-andpersonal look at their scalp health.
“We have a scalp analysis scope that take a microscopic look at the condition of the scalp and hair follicles,” she said. “Most clients have been shocked at seeing up close the dirt, oil and product buildup on their scalp before the
service, and seeing how clean and sometimes less red their scalp is after the service,” she said.
The Spa’s “Luxury Scalp Experience and Blow Dry” is $175 and includes a customized treatment with a scalp analysis, double cleanse and soak, mini facial and masque, scalp exfoliation and hair mask, as well as a scalp, neck, chest, arm and hand massage, and conditioning treatment. Gift cards are also available.
According to a February 2024 report from Netshark.com, a single TikTok video may be responsible for the spa treatment concept taking off across the U.S..
California’s “[Spa] Cai Xiang Ge, which opened in the middle of 2021, helped the ‘#headspa’ trend in Los Angeles gain momentum when an influencer visited and documented her experience for TikTok. The relaxing video, uploaded in August 2023, has since garnered
more than 12.3 million views and more than a million likes, with many viewers expressing their desire to visit a head spa as well.”
The report noted that “Cai Xiang Ge owner Ning Chen told the Los Angeles Times her previous clientele was predominantly 70% Asian and 30% non-Asian, but by summer 2023, this ratio reversed, a shift she attributes to the influence of social media promotion.”
Also noted wasthat many clients in larger markets visit scalp spas regularly, including “members who come weekly or biweekly for relaxation and scalp maintenance.”
“We recommend [a visit] at least once a month to maintain a healthy scalp. For the most part this experience is great for anyone to get. Our only exception is for someone who currently has extensions in their hair, although it’s great to get the service before extensions are put in.” T
BY THE NUMBERS
According to an April 2024 report by Market.us Media, “The spa services market, including massage services, beauty and grooming, and physical fitness, is projected to reach over $133 billion by 2027. The United States spa industry generated approximately $20.8 billion in revenue in 2022.”
“Total spa industry revenue experienced a significant increase of 49.4%, rising from $12.1 billion in 2020 to $18.1 billion in 2021, marking a growth of $6 billion.”
WHO VISITS SPAS?
In the United States the largest agegroup of spa-goers is between 35 and 54 years old (accounting for 48% of spa visits).
Women account for 85% of spa visits.
Millennials represent a growing demographic (currently accounting for 38% of all spa visits in the U.S.)
Source: Market.us Media Statistics
A Haircut and a Legacy
The 20-year story of Mr. Chill’s First Class Barber Shop includes an unlikely alliance
BY KEITH TWITCHELL
Few business ventures last long enough to attain “community treasure” status, and even fewer leave the kind of legacy created by Wilbert “Chill” Wilson, the late founder of Mr. Chill’s First Class Barber Shop.
Wilson opened his first storefront in Broadmoor in 2004. It was unfortunate timing in an unfortunate location given the extensive flooding that area experienced following Hurricane Katrina. Despite this disaster, Wilson was one of the first barbers in the city to resume serving customers — cutting hair on the street in front of his destroyed business.
In search of another location, Wilson received assistance from an unlikely source: Aidan Gill, proprietor of arguably the most high-end tonsorial establishment in the city. While their approaches to their field could hardly be more different, the respect was mutual, and Gill alerted Wilson to the availability of the current establishment at 2736 South Carrollton.
Gill was also the one who began calling Wilson “Mr. Chill,” spawning the name of the relocated shop.
MR. CHILLS FIRST CLASS CUTS BARBERSHOP 2734 S. Carrollton Avenue // New Orleans // 504-861-7530
mrchillsbarbershopnola.com // @NewOrleansBarberShop @mr.chillsfirstclasscuts // @barbershopnola
After Wilbert Wilson passed away in 2019, his widow, Joyce Wilson, became owner and operator.
The staff of four barbers has stayed on; all have been with the Wilsons for a decade or longer, with one even going back to before Katrina.
“We are full service here,” said Wilson. “Along with haircuts, we do facials, hot towels, shaves and everything. We specialize more in male customers, but the women come in too.”
Moving a neighborhood business from one neighborhood to another can be risky, but Mr. Chill’s combines longtime, dedicated customers with new clientele from nearby neighborhoods such as Leonidas and Black Pearl. The shop’s visibility on Carrollton Avenue draws walk-ins from the surrounding area, many of whom become regulars.
Indeed, “managing walk-ins when the barbers are all booked is one of our biggest challenges,” Wilson observed.
This is especially true when major events such as Mardi Gras or prom season are looming, and bookings and walk-ins increase. Consequently, Wilson does little marketing beyond a
bit of social media, relying instead on word of mouth for most of her business.
“People also look up barbershops on Google, find us, see the reviews, and come on in,” she added.
Like any other business dependent on in-person customers, Mr. Chill’s struggled to survive the pandemic. However, “As soon as the COVID mandates were lifted, people started calling,” remembered Ferrand. “We saw people who hadn’t had haircuts in months.”
Mr. Chill’s provides patrons with more than just a haircut.
“It’s the barbershop experience,” explained barber Josh Ferrand, who has been on staff for 16 years. “We have conversations, educate people while they are in the chairs.”
An essential part of Wilbert Wilson’s legacy is that he took this common feature of his field much further. He initiated several mentoring programs, not just teaching young people the trade, but, in his widow’s words, “Teaching people how to do things for themselves, how to make their way in life.” T
EDUCATION Louisiana State University (MBA)
Meghan Donelon
Market President of Red River Bank
This New Orleans native leads local operations for Alexandria, Louisiana-based Red River Bank, which hosted a ribbon cutting for its new location on Veterans Boulevard last month. “We’re thrilled to enter Jefferson Parish,” she said. “It’s a great place to do business.” Donelon donates her time to many business and civic organizations, including her alma mater, Academy of the Sacred Heart. T
PHOTO BY MIKE LIRETTE
GO-TO RESTAURANT Houston’s
VACATION SPOT Anywhere in Mexico, from Cabo San Lucas to San Miguel de Allende to Mexico City
SHOP LOCAL Keife & Co.
HIDDEN GEM Barracuda in Algiers Point
