NOLA Business Alliance

The New Orleans Business Alliance (NOLABA) is the economic development catalyst for the city of New Orleans with a mission to unite a diverse community of stakeholders who catalyze job growth, create wealth, and build an equitable and sustainable economic future for New Orleans. NOLABA is launching a new business model that is business-friendly, people-centered, place-based and resilient.

• Business-Friendly: The model builds upon its experience in business attraction and growth adding real estate development expertise, business, development and concierge services to support firms in their navigation of permitting, public infrastructure disruption and delivery of timely city services.

• People-Centered: The model heightens the value of the talent of citizens as a key driver of economic growth. By merging workforce development strategies, NOLABA better ensures employer access to a skilled and reliable workforce and worker access to career paths creating family supporting wages.

• Place-Based: Strategic neighborhood development strategies promote and support economic development in commercial corridors that have struggled to redevelop in the city’s post-Katrina economy: Districts A & B (i.e., Hollygrove, Gert Town, Mid-City), District C (i.e., Algiers) and Districts D & E (i.e., New Orleans East, Gentilly, Lower 9^th Ward). NOLABA’s new place-based program combines business and industry growth, real estate development, economic development incentives and small business development expertise and capacity building.

• Resilient: NOLABA recognizes the implications and opportunities for a city below sea level to target the green economy as a strategic growth sector. The new business model focuses on developing several critical aspects of a thriving green economy: a skilled green-focused workforce; prepared small businesses and businesses owned by people of color; access to incentives to mitigate investors’ risk; and providing a real-time laboratory for product development in the emerging green economy.

• Ultimately, NOLABA’s new business model leverages the power of effective collaboration and partnership by providing a platform for innovation and giving local government, investors, foundations, financial institutions, business and industry leaders, and social entrepreneurs a dynamic vehicle to address issues of equity and sustainability through market-based approaches.