News

A collection of articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals on the state of local businesses in New Orleans and across the nation.

New Orleans Non-Profits Looking for Mentors for At-Risk Youth

Nola.com

May 14, 2012

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The New Orleans Kids Partnership, a collaboration of nonprofit agencies serving children and teens, will hold its annual Mentorfest Saturday at Kingsley House.

Farm Restaurants Are All the Rage

Grit.com

May 14, 2012

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Small-farm owners discover a way to serve locally grown items to a public clamoring for more fresh food.

Minority contracts fall for first time in decade

Washington Post

May 14, 2012

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U.S. government contracts to black-and Hispanic-owned small businesses fell last year for the first time in a decade, declining at a sharper rate than awards to all companies.

Jefferson Parish sales tax collections down sharply in February from a year ago

Nola.com

April 16, 2012

Filed under: Commerce

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Collections of sales taxes and other fees in Jefferson Parish dropped nearly 7 percent in February from a year earlier, a “rather large decrease” that the Sheriff’s Office attributed primarily to the “continuing stagnation of the local economy.”

"Cash Mobs" gather to splurge in locally owned stores

Reuters

March 28, 2012

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(Reuters) – Flash mobs have been blamed as a factor in looting during urban riots. But now a group of online activists is harnessing social media like Twitter and Facebook to get consumers to spend at locally owned stores in cities around the world in so-called Cash Mobs.

Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Doerr Furniture to hold special tree planting in Bucktown

Nola.com

March 14, 2012

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The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation (LPBF) will partner with Doerr Furniture in New Orleans to host volunteers for a special tree planting program. The event will be held on March 24 from 9 a.m. to noon at the new Bucktown Harbor and Recreation Area in Metairie.

Joining the (Cash) Mob to Help Main Street

Bloomberg Businessweek

March 12, 2012

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Shopping at an independent retailer instead of a big-box store like Target (TGT) or Wal-Mart (WMT) is better for your community because more of your money stays local. That’s the message groups like the American Independent Business Alliance, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and the Institute for Local Self-Reliance have been trumpeting for years as they’ve pushed to strengthen local economies.

New Orleans' entrepreneurial spirit has shined throughout its history: Walter Isaacson

Nola.com

March 7, 2012

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I’m proud to be a New Orleans native. Our town exerts an emotional tug not just on me but on people around the world, including some who know it only by reputation. Wherever I go, people pepper me with questions when they find out I’m from New Orleans. In the past, they mainly asked about the music, food or our predilection for larger than life politicians. But nowadays, it’s mainly about how New Orleans, against all odds and most expectations, rebounded from Katrina.

Cash Mobs, the Anti-Groupon, Are Coming to a Store Near You

GOOD Business

March 5, 2012

Filed under: Commerce

Archived Copy

The Groupon-led daily deal craze has made shoppers eager to get as much as possible from local shops for as little as possible—even when that turns out to be a terrible deal for the businesses themselves. Now, a new movement in support of local business is turning the flash-sale concept on its head. Participants in “cash mobs” pick a store, then flock to it in droves to pay full-price to support a local business in need.

Outdoor sporting goods retailer interested in mall at Six Flags site

Nola.com

March 2, 2012

Filed under: Commerce

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A development company says a major outdoor sporting goods retailer is interested in anchoring an outlet mall that could be built at the site of the defunct Six Flags amusement park in eastern New Orleans. DAG Development chief executive David Garcia told CityBusiness of New Orleans that the big-box retailer is studying the possibility of a 200,000-square-foot store.

A major outdoor sporting goods retailer is said to be interested in anchoring a mall at the Six Flags site in eastern New Orleans.
DAG is proposing the concept with Dallas-based Provident Realty Advisors. City officials are still deciding whether to proceed with the projects.
Several proposals have been raised in the past to redevelop the site. The amusement park was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and resulting flooding in 2005 and never reopened.