Biz Talks

This week’s guests are Ochsner Health CEO Warner Thomas and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Pete November. Thomas announced Sept. 13 that he’s leaving his post at Louisiana’s largest private employer after 24 years to take the top job at Sutter Health, a Sacramento, Ca.-based nonprofit healthcare network. November will take over as CEO at Ochsner on, appropriately enough, Nov. 1. In this episode, the two talk about Ochsner’s past, present and future: Thomas’s biggest accomplishment, November’s priorities and the challenges facing the healthcare industry in general.

This week’s episode features Tulane business professor Peter Ricchiuti, who is the founder of Burkenroad Reports and host of the weekly show "Out to Lunch" on National Public Radio. A renowned investment expert and educator, Ricchiuti said there are plenty of reasons to feel good about economic prospects nationwide and in New Orleans.

On July 11, Dr. Avis Williams became the first woman in the 181-year history of NOLA Public Schools to serve as its permanent superintendent. In this week’s podcast, she shares her vision for the future, including a few things she did as superintendent in Selma, Alabama, that she feels may work to strengthen schools in New Orleans.

This week’s episode features Guy Williams, CEO at Gulf Coast Bank and co-founder the Pontchartrain Beach Foundation, a nonprofit hoping to restore and re-open the storied beach at the lake end of Elysian Fields Avenue. Last month, the Lakefront Management Authority, which oversees the property, unanimously voted to negotiate a lease with the foundation. Next on the to-do list is moving the process forward and finding $20 million to make the dream a reality.

Companies from BP to Kentucky Fried Chicken are now using virtual reality technology to train their employees as the use of VR and AR continues a rapid expansion outside of the gaming world. This week we talk to Dan Clifton, founder and creative director of Top Right Corner, a company here in New Orleans that specializes in helping businesses take advantage of all the possibilities of immersive and interactive computer-generated imagery.

This week’s episode features Calvin Cooper, co-founder and CEO of Rhove, an SEC-qualified app that allows anyone to invest in commercial real estate for as little as $1 per share. Cooper said his mission is to expand access and opportunity for everyone to invest in and own their communities. A partnership with two local housing nonprofits is introducing the app to the New Orleans market.

Vaccines, gun control, climate change, abortion rights, elections — our world is packed right now with issues that can incite strong, passionate opinions that can cause friction in the workplace. But human resources specialist Amy Bakay says the worst thing employers can do is say nothing at all. Instead, she offers advice on how to flip this challenge into an opportunity to create a stronger team.

Aulston Taylor left his lucrative corporate job in New York City to take charge at St. Augustine High School, the venerable Catholic high school in New Orleans that celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2021. Taylor isn’t just the school’s president; he’s also a graduate, and he credits his alma mater with giving him the tools and discipline needed to succeed in business and in life.

Company behavior and sustainable offerings have both become even more important to consumers during the pandemic according to multiple studies. To help area businesses capitalize on this trend, Kevin Ferguson, vice president of external affairs for New Orleans & Company, discusses a new 3-month program called the Zero Waste Campaign — a partnership with the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce and LifeCity. Find out how your company can get in on this unique recognition opportunity in this week’s BizTalks.

The Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation was created in the late 1980s to coordinate efforts to attract and manage major sporting events. The organization said that by the time the 2025 Super Bowl has come and gone, it will have turned a $50 million public investment and $100 million in private fundraising into more than $3.44 billion in economic impact for Louisiana and the city of New Orleans. On this week’s podcast, the Sports Foundation’s longtime president Jay Cicero, recent winner of the Dave Dixon Louisiana Sports Leadership Award, talks about what it takes to bring these events to town — and to keep them coming back for more.