Biz Talks

We talk to Stan Harris, the president and CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association.

New Orleans restaurants are facing an existential crisis because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Logically, chains with deep pockets are in the best shape to survive the down year but many mom and pops in Nola and around the state are holding on by learning to put quality food on the table with lower budgets and fewer employees.

But how long can they survive? And what happens to those former employees who are waiting for jobs to return? The answer may depend on how much more federal and state aid is headed their way in the coming months. We’ll talk about all this plus why you don’t hear about restaurant bankruptcies, how artificial intelligence can’t sauté a piece of fish and why the restaurant industry is particularly good for the state. Hint: no tax breaks.

Originally constructed in 1975, our beloved Superdome began a major, $450 Million facelift this year and Trey Trahan, founder and CEO of Trahan Architects, is leading the efforts. In this week’s podcast, he talks about what it was like bringing the Dome back from Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago and what he loves about the changes you’ll see with this new renovation. As the head of the No. 1 design firm in the United States, he also shares his thoughts on New Orleans’ place in the architectural landscape and what’s up next for the firm.

On this week's podcast, we talk to Audubon Institute president and CEO Ron Forman about the organization's pandemic-related budget crisis and why zoos and aquariums have been left out of all federal relief programs to date. The conversation ranges from Audubon's recent request to borrow $10 million from its partners in a riverfront development project to the bright future Forman envisions for all the museums and parks the institute operates.

With a foreclosure crisis projected in Louisiana in the coming months, local homeless shelters may be struggling to meet an increased demand.

On Oct. 5, a new report by Housing Louisiana was released that warned the state is only four months away from a wave of foreclosures. According to the report, 28 percent of homeowners in Louisiana (or nearly 110,000 households — 36,000 of which were in New Orleans) were unable to pay their mortgage in September.

What does this mean for local homeless shelters who are already struggling to accommodate pandemic changes including remote schooling, enhanced cleaning protocols and social distancing after losing the ability to raise funds through events? Melissa Tyler, development director for the New Orleans Women & Children’s Shelter, talks with Biz New Orleans Editor Kim Singletary about the challenges of meeting the needs of New Orleans families in need and shares some surprisingly easy ways you can help.

This week, we talk to Stephen Perry, the president and CEO of New Orleans and Company – the destination marketing organization that promotes the city to potential visitors. Among the topics covered: the fate of New Orleans restaurants and hotels, how long it’ll be before the city reaches 2019 levels of income and how the meeting business will change forever.

This past August, more than 200 new laws went into effect in Louisiana, including one that now permits any practicing physician to recommend medical marijuana for any condition determined to be “debilitating” — vastly expanding potential use from what was formerly only 14 recognized medical conditions.

What does this mean for local employers? Should you be testing for marijuana use or will that cause more problems than it’s worth? How does this change impact federally regulated industries?

In this week’s podcast, Biz New Orleans Editor Kim Singletary chats with drug testing expert Jared Rosenthal, founder and CEO of Health Street, a software solution that helps over 20,000 businesses set up drug tests and occupational health services at over 10,000 clinics nationwide. Rosenthal shares the struggles this has created for employers nationwide and what he advises they do.

Lacey Merrick Conway, president and CEO of Latter & Blum, talks about the pandemic's effect on residential and commercial real estate in New Orleans. The seller's market for homeowners will likely last through 2020 but the pandemic's worst repercussions may not be felt on the commercial side until 2021 or later. Latter & Blum is a real estate brokerage that’s been in business in Louisiana for more than 100 years. Conway grew up around the company - her father Bob Merrick was its longtime CEO - and she took the reins in January.

This week features a conversation about how COVID-19 has "changed the game" for small business owners on Oak Street - a historic commercial corridor in Uptown New Orleans - and citywide. Our guest is architect and Tulane grad Min Yang, who is the president of Oak Street Merchants, Residents and Property Owners Inc., a nonprofit that promotes the street and produces Po-Boy Fest.

HGTV’s new show “Selling the Big Easy,” premiering Sept. 11 at 8 p.m., is getting a lot of buzz, but what is the show about? How did it happen? And what kind of exposure will the city be getting? The show’s star, New Orleans native and successful high-end real estate agent, Brittany Picolo-Ramos, shares how she made the surprising leap to the small screen and what she hopes the network’s millions of viewers will learn about the city.