| N.O.'s Needs Draw Fresh, New Thinkers |
|
|
Jaquetta White, The Times Picayune Karnjanaprakorn and a partner in New York recently launched alldaybuffet.org, a Web site created to give would-be benefactors a way to mix philanthropy and fun. Earlier this week, for instance, the group hosted a "Cause for Drinks" happy hour that raised money for underfinanced schools. Karnjanaprakorn is hoping the site, now in its infancy, will grow into a larger, more formal corporation. He's not the only one. Although it's difficult to say how many people are moving to New Orleans and starting ventures, business leaders agree that there has been Katrina-infused growth in the entrepreneurial sector and they welcome it. "I think we have an opportunity to make New Orleans a very vibrant entrepreneurial community," said lawyer Bill Hines, former chairman of the economic development group Greater New Orleans Inc. There is only anecdotal evidence to suggest that at least a tiny wave of entrepreneurs is building businesses in New Orleans post-Katrina. But it is clear that people are moving to the city, said Arthur Sterbcow, president of Latter & Blum Inc. Realtors. For every one person moving out of the New Orleans area, two are moving in, according to a recent study the firm conducted measuring housing sales. Sterbcow said the study likely undercounts the number of people who are living and working in New Orleans because it doesn't count renters. "There are a lot of people in this town that you're not going to be able to put your hands on," Sterbcow said. "You can't document them, but they're here." And many of them are entrepreneurs. "There is opportunity to grow here," said Lauren Baum, who works with small businesses and start-ups at the business incubator, the Idea Village. "New Orleans is on the map right now." Mark Westguard formed wedsimple.com after he and his wife, then-fiancé Casey, couldn't find a wedding Web site with both tools to help them plan their wedding and software to design a wedding Web site for family and friends to visit. "There was some software, but it would only go so far," Westguard said. "A lot of the wedding Web sites that are out there do not integrate the planning tools." The site, which launched in July, charges customers a membership fee for one year or six months to gain access to wedding planning tools such as a budget creator and RSVP tracker and a Web address that guests can visit to view photos and get updates on wedding plans. "I saw a gap in the market for that, that's why I took it forward," Westguard said. Karnjanaprakorn also saw space in the market for his venture, a forum for do-gooders to have fun while doing good. "We just saw that there was nothing that combined and linked the two together," Karnjanaprakorn said. "Our thinking and our mission is if we connect people together, who knows what happens." The site is currently taking donations but will eventually generate revenue by more traditional means such as advertising on its Web page, he said. Neither Karnjanaprakorn or Westguard are from New Orleans. But both made conscious decisions to start businesses here after Katrina. Westguard who originally is from England, met his wife about a month before Katrina on a business trip to the city for his London event planning company, London Launch. Although his wife is from New Orleans, the couple considered leaving after they were married in November. An Indiana native, Karnjanaprakorn was six months into his job in London when thoughts of moving to New Orleans kept creeping into his head. "Small things," like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's move to New Orleans would remind him of the city. "It was just always on the top of my mind," Karnjanaprakorn said. "Part of it was guilt. Part of it was feeling like I was missing out on a huge opportunity." But it was a job ad for Trumpet that sealed the deal. The ad read in part: "Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success." The Ernest Shakelton quote drew about 2,000 applicants, said Robbie Vitrano, Trumpet's president and director of brand design. Danger is part of the city's allure right now. And one that it would smart to capitalize on, Vitrano said. "I think they understand the complexity of a place that is rebuilding. They aren't frightened by the crime. They can sort of put that in context," Vitrano said. "There's some healthy narcissism around that. They want to be on the front line. There's a certain cache associated with being on the front line." Vitrano said the 15 people he eventually brought on to work at Trumpet are the kinds of risk takers who eventually will go on to start ventures here. "They're very entrepreneurial for the most part," Vitrano said. "I don't think New Orleans would have been top of mind for a lot of these people in the past." For the business-savvy hoping to get in on the ground floor of a new idea, the city's crime and rebuilding educational system are hardly deterrents. "At the end of the day, they're opportunistic," said Tim Williamson, president of Idea Village. "You're coming in at a time when in two years, you could position yourself to be an industry leader. So the downside is little, the upside is huge." That's exactly what made Westguard decide to stay in New Orleans despite initial questions about whether a city that a year and a half ago "barely had electricity, let alone anything else" could support him. "We both love the city. Yeah, the roads are potholed, but the people are great," Westguard said. "That initial reaction after the storm has washed away. I'm loving it. It's a great place to live. Love the food. Love the entertainment. Love the people." The city may be most attractive to entrepreneurs hoping to start technology-based ventures because they are mobile, requiring no office space beyond a place to put a computer. Executives at the soon-to-be launched New Orleans Exchange said they left California and New York to start their high-tech receivable exchange here, in part, because rent is relatively cheap and they believe bright young professionals will follow them. Business leaders have pointed to that firm as ushering in a new wave of entrepreneurial ventures. "We're getting contacted more and more about opening businesses here," said Mark Lewis of the Louisiana Technology Council. "I think people are realizing the opportunity and feeling more secure about the region." But even if the first wave of new entrepreneurs has a decidedly tech focus, Hines also sees an opportunity for expanding the region's bedrock industries with new players. "While we talk about some of the new sexy things we need to get, having some new oil and gas companies is a good thing too," Hines said. "When you say entrepreneur to me, I think of Bill Gates and Michael Dell and Steve Jobs. But in New Orleans it's (Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. chairman, James) "Jim Bob" Moffett and (founding president and former chairman of Tidewater Inc.) John Laborde. We need to go find those younger people to fill those shoes. It doesn't have to be in tech." Williamson sees the number of entrepreneurial ventures growing as more people come to New Orleans as volunteers or to work in the nonprofit sector. "The new companies will be started in two years, when they get settled here," Williamson said. "Right now they're coming through other companies." As that happens, talk will shift to how to retain those people and their businesses, Vitrano said. "I think if the city can continue to cultivate young talent, then the opportunity to build business infrastructure around that talent will happen," Vitrano said. "If you can sustain smart people in the area, businesses will come in to tap into them or they'll generate their own ideas and create wealth." Factors like expensive commercial insurance rates have to be addressed. "If businesses can't locate or relocate here because of commercial insurance that, to me, is a problem," Sterbcow said. "Who can live in any city without a job? The whole fabric of the city is built on private business."
|
