Biz Talks

In this week's episode, Jefferson Parish District 5 Councilmember Jennifer Van Vrancken talks about ongoing efforts to revitalize Metairie’s “Fat City” neighborhood. For years, Parish leaders have been looking for ways to create more green space, improve walkability, add street parking and spur development in the area – and recently they sought ideas from potential developers. Van Vrancken highlights what's been done and potential next steps.

What’s open? Where are the best deals? Should you book now or wait a bit? How will traveling look different? Melinda Bourgeois, owner of Travel Central travel agency in Metairie since 1988, answers all these questions and more in this week’s episode of BizTalks.  

The "last mile" has always been the most expensive and complicated part of the journey for any product making its way to your home or office. Companies ranging from Amazon to local mom and pops are competing to come up with systems and technology to speed the process up and keep costs down. On this week's podcast, local shipping expert Jason Burns talks about the sale of his family's company - QCS Logistics - to Austin-based Dropoff and his new role looking for companies to join the Dropoff family.

If you attended Celebration in the Oaks or Floats in the Oaks, you experienced innovative event solutions from local tech company WRSTBND, including everything from QR code ticketing text messages to traffic flow tracking and a custom-built radio station. As we look to return to more concerts, festivals and fundraisers, organizers will be making every effort to make them safer, more convenient and more engaging. WRSTBND CEO Conway Solomon shares some of the possibilities his company has developed so far and what he thinks the future holds for the industry.

This week's guest is Sarah Andert, founder and owner of Vintage Green Review, a zero waste education, lifestyle and consulting business. Andert helps people live a vibrant, low-waste lifestyle with vintage-inspired solutions that make sustainability fun and interesting. She has a background in journalism, education, art and environmental studies.

To test COVID-19 vaccines and treatments you need primates, and the United States had a shortage even before the pandemic. Jay Rappaport, principal investigator and director of the Tulane National Primate Research Center talks about the national partnership the center is leading to coordinate primate centers like never before in order to move new vaccines and treatments forward as efficiently as possible. He also shares a bit about the surprising scope of COVID-19 research the center is doing right here in Covington, including on the virus’s long-term effects and emerging variants. Plus, are you or someone you know apprehensive about the current vaccines? Rappaport addresses the concerns many have about the speed of their development and their safety and shares his thoughts on what we can expect in the next few months and years.

On this week’s podcast, we talk to Louisiana native and New Orleans resident Tyler Thompson about the state of the film industry during the pandemic and the balancing act of raising a family in New Orleans while running one of the most successful production companies in Hollywood.

Thompson is the co-founder of Cross Creek Pictures, which has produced films that have grossed more than $1 billion in worldwide box office and been nominated for six Academy Awards, 10 Golden Globes and 18 BAFTAs. The Cross Creek film The Trial of the Chicago 7, released on Netflix, is receiving Oscar buzz this year.

When he’s not making deals with stars and directors - or chasing his kids around Defy Trampoline Park in Elmwood - you might find Thompson at Tipitina’s rehearsing with the band he put together to stave off COVID boredom. His first-ever album will be released this year.

Diversity is good for the bottom line. In fact, according to a 2015 study by McKinsey Quarterly, ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to have a financial performance above the industry mean. So how do we get more diverse companies? One way is to diversify internships, and that’s what native New Orleanian Perry Sholes intends to do with his new nonprofit, Corporate Internship Leadership Institute (CILI). In this week’s podcast, Sholes shares how the program works, and the opportunities it will provide to elevate local companies, underrepresented New Orleanians and the region as a whole.

On this week’s podcast, we talk to Brandy Christian, the president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad, about how the pandemic and hurricanes have impacted the two public agencies and what’s around the bend.

Founder of the Cajun Navy Foundation in 2016, Rob Gaudet is a senior software developer that has harnessed the power of technology and social media to changed how we respond to disasters by creating what he calls a “flash mob-like” opportunity for groups of people to jump in, make a real difference, and return to their lives. In this week’s podcast, he talks about the issues behind why Lake Charles is still far from recovered from Hurricane Laura, what individuals and businesses can do right now to help, and the massive economic opportunity Louisiana has to become a world leader in disaster response.