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This past weekend many people turned their attention to the Gulf Coast, where recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina still take place daily.

While signs of progress are everywhere, according to one Associated Press article, only about 75% of the pre-Katrina population has returned to New Orleans, the city that was 80% underwater at this time four years ago. In the immensely-affected, mostly low-income Lower 9th Ward, less than 20% of the pre-Katrina population has returned.

One New Orleans-based company is still helping out with community renewal and recovery. On Friday, I spoke with Patty Riddlebarger, director of corporate social responsibility for Entergy Corporation.

Housing

Thousands of local families have not yet returned to New Orleans, at least partially because, for many residents, huge gaps exist between the actual costs of rebuilding their homes and the funds received from federal/state assistance and/or insurance settlements. Entergy has partnered with two nonprofit organizations to provide financial help to families wanting to return.  

The first group, the...

By Michael Hecht, President and CEO of Greater New Orleans Inc.

Working in New York City in the years after 9/11, I learned a basic lesson about economic development. The attacks left the city in financial ruin, $4 billion in the red. Yet, four years later, NYC was experiencing its biggest building boom in decades. Why? Because of specific public policies that then encouraged private investment. Watching this, I learned: the most efficient thing economic developers can do is to “set the table”- and then let the markets work.

This is why I am so excited about the outcome of the recent Louisiana legislative session. While it was a tumultuous few weeks, when the smoke cleared, pro-business, pro-community bills did remarkably well, bills that now set the table for a potential feast of wealth creation for the Greater New Orleans community.

First and foremost is HB 106 (Hunter Greene) – elimination of capital gains tax from the sale of a private business. It used to be that when you sold your business in Louisiana, you were hit with a 6% bill. So, many people, and their companies, left before they sold. The result has been years of wealth – and brain – drain to neighboring states, like Texas. HB 106 fixes this unintended consequence, immediately levels the playing field, and gives Louisiana a new recruiting tool.

Then, there is SB 277 (Ann Duplessis) – up to a 35% tax credit for the production of digital media. What earlier...

This morning, BCLC Executive Director Stephen Jordan appeared on the show “Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins,” on NPR affiliate station WFAE. Jordan was accompanied by guest Ruth Kinzey, founder of the Kinzey Company. 

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The one-hour show focused on corporate social responsbility. Host Mike Collins inquired about the business case for operating in a way that focuses on ethical standards, self-regulation, and sustainability, and inquired whether CSR detracts bottom-line role of the business.

Jordan not only set the record straight on the history and value of CSR in general, he and Kinzey both shared specific examples of what individual companies to express their values, support their communities, and operate with integrity.

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Today the Office Depot Foundation, led by President Mary Wong, donated 1,225 backpacks containing essential school supplies and $1,225 to a foundation created by an 11-year-old boy.

Young philanthropist Zach Bonner founded the Little Red Wagon Foundation — at the age of seven — in order to raise awareness about the plight of the 1.3 million homeless children in the United States and to spur action to solve the problem. Zach’s tactic was to walk … for three years and across 1,225 miles.

The Office Depot Foundation’s donations represent the 1,225 miles that Zach walked from his home in Tampa, Florida, to the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building, where he arrived this morning.

“Zach is an inspiration to children, adults and, really, to our entire nation,” said Wong.

Hundreds of local D.C. children from the Sasha Bruce Youthwork joined Zach this morning for the last one mile of his walk, from Lafayette Park near the White House to the Capitol. Volunteers from the Office Depot Foundation, Office Depot, and BCLC provided backpacks in Lafayette Park to the kids who arrived to help Zach complete his journey. The Sasha Bruce Youthwork, an organization for at-risk children and their families in D.C., also received $1,225 and 1,225 backpacks from the Office Depot Foundation.

Next summer, Zach plans to walk from his home in Florida to California — and the new pair of sneakers that Wong gave him today will certainly be put to good use. Wong says the...