playNOLA Wins The Idea Village & 504ward $200,000 Business Competition

(New Orleans) April 21, 2009 – On Saturday, April 18th, The Idea Village and 504ward hosted the finalist presentation for the $200,000 privately funded Business Competition.  playNOLA Sports and Entertainment Group (playNOLA), was selected in part by a studio audience of “504s,” the young talent of New Orleans, and an expert panel as the venture with the product or service that best retains the 23 to 35 year old demographic in New Orleans.  Launch Pad secured a second place prize of $25,000 to support the growth of its co-working space and support services for start-up entrepreneurs.  Additional finalists of the competition include: NOLA Social Sports, New Orleans Dance Institute and New Orleans Development Company. 504ward, a play on the city's area code, is a collaboration of business and civic organizations that represents a movement of young talent and a bridge that connects this talent to each another and to the established leaders in the New Orleans region.  Together with The Idea Village, a non-profit founded in 2000 to identify, support and retain entrepreneurial talent in New Orleans, 504ward launched the Business Competition in September 2008.  A team of Google employees supported the promotion and execution of the contest and in December 2008, the competition received over 140 applications from 14 states.  With the help of panels of the target demographic, Harvard MBA students, and established members of the business community five entrepreneurial ventures were selected as finalists. Today, The Idea Village and 504ward are proud to announce that playNOLA, a high impact start-up venture, will receive a prize package valued over $200,000, including $100,000 in cash and $100,000 in services and resources generously donated by the local business community.  An additional $25,000 in private funds was donated to Launch Pad, the second place venture.  The Idea Village will work with the winning entrepreneurs to support the development and growth of their respective ventures. Lavonzell Nicholson of playNOLA exclaims, “We are so excited to launch playNOLA. The 504ward demographic will be reinvigorated through playNOLA as we help them establish roots, relationships and a lasting commitment to New Orleans.  This is not just about seeing our business come to fruition, but the opportunity to realize a vision beyond ourselves.” Leslie Jacobs, a local business leader who helped fund the business plan competition remarks, “New Orleans needs to retain these talented 504s.  PlayNOLA and Launch Pad meet two key demands of the 504ward demographic: social connectivity and job creation.  It’s exciting to see the entrepreneurial capacity of this generation magnified by this competition.” Jacobs was among the expert panel of judges that included Allen Bell of The Idea Village, Nolan Rollins of the Urban League of Greater New Orleans, Rick Conway of Frantzen-Voelker-Conway Investments, LLC, and Andrea Chen of Social Entrepreneurs of New Orleans.  Allen Bell, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of The Idea Village describes, “The Idea Village was founded on the belief that entrepreneurs create economic and social change.  This 504ward contest is the perfect demonstration of how entrepreneurs develop innovative business solutions to address community challenges, such as retaining talent in New Orleans.   Both playNOLA and Launch Pad will pay dividends to our community as we focus on growing businesses that provide social connectivity and entrepreneurial opportunities for young talent in New Orleans.” Chris Schultz, Founder and CEO of Launch Pad remarks, “This award from 504ward and The Idea Village will allow Launch Pad to accelerate the growth of our entrepreneurial office hub.  It is a tremendous honor that the panelists and the audience recognized the importance of growing entrepreneurial opportunities for young talent in New Orleans and, in doing so, created a surprise second place prize for Launch Pad.” More than $100,000 in professional services and resources that were donated by the local business community including 643 Magazine, LLC, Adams and Reese, Jones Walker, Trumpet, Fabre Smith & Coco, Inspired Divine Creative, New Orleans Magazine, Gambit Weekly, Nola.com, The New Orleans Levee, Human Resources Management Association of Greater New Orleans, Loftin Group, Lifestyle Revolution Group, Event Producers, Morgan + Company and Louisiana Technology Park who have contributed office space, legal, marketing, website optimization, web development, advertising, staffing, financial consulting, networking facilities, event and media productions, communications planning and data center storage services. Other advocates of innovation and entrepreneurship are also invited to lend their support through cash and in-kind donations. For additional information about the winning ventures, please visit www.playnola.com and launchpadnola.com. #### ABOUT THE IDEA VILLAGE In 2000, The Idea Village was formed by a group of New Orleans citizens who returned home energized by experiences in thriving communities across the United States. The founders determined that the key to creating positive economic and social change in New Orleans was to create a vibrant entrepreneurial community. The Idea Village formalized in 2002 as an independent 501(c) (3) non-profit organization with a mission to identify, support and retain entrepreneurial talent in New Orleans by providing business resources to high-impact ventures.  To date, The Idea Village has provided direct service to over 250 entrepreneurial ventures representing 935 jobs and over $67 million in revenue.  With support from more than 350 students, professionals and partners, The Idea Village has provided over 31,000 hours of business consulting and allocated over $1.5 million in grants to local businesses. www.ideavillage.org ABOUT 504ward 504ward, a collaborative movement developed with a broad spectrum of New Orleans business and civic organizations, is designed to retain the influx of young movers and shakers who are arriving in New Orleans with dual aspirations of sparking social change and advancing their careers.  A play on the city’s area code, 504ward is a movement and a bridge that connects young talent to one another and to the established leaders in the New Orleans region. Included in the 504ward collaboration are: City Year, Desire Nola, First Fridays, Greater New Orleans Inc, Hands On New Orleans, Horizon Initiative, Human Resources Management Association, Humid Beings, The Idea Village, Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Make New Orleans Home, Net Squared New Orleans, New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, NOLA Yurp, Puentes New Orleans, Social Entrepreneurs of New Orleans, Teach For America, The New Orleans Business Council, Urban League of Greater New Orleans, and the Young Leadership Council. www.504ward.com