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Photo by Frank Aymami
At center, New Orleans Hornets President Hugh Weber, left, owner George Shinn and Executive Officer of the Board Chad Shinn hit the court with employees of the NBA team.
The New Orleans Hornets
Season tickets to NBA home games and the
chance to rub elbows with superstars such
as Chris Paul are just part of coming to work
every day for The New Orleans Hornets.
Employees point to a sense of camaraderie
and commitment that they say starts at the top
with owner George Shinn.
“Mr. Shinn makes the effort to come to the
office and talk with us and knows everyone’s
name,” said Robert Miller, Hornets’ group-sales
manager. “My friends who work for other sports
teams tell me that’s very rare for an NBA team
owner. He’s hands on, cares about us and the
community and is fabulous to work for.”
Miller also likes Breakfasts with Hugh, held
throughout the year by Hornets President
Hugh Weber, who invites one person from each
department to join him and General
Manager/Coach Jeff Bower to discuss where
the team is headed.
“You have a chance to ask questions and
learn from two outstanding leaders,” Miller said.
Devyn Smith, the Hornets’ community
enrichment coordinator, said there’s a sense of
purpose that Hornets staffers and players get
from the company’s involvement in nonprofit
activities. The Hornets’ community investment
department matches employees with volunteer
activities, including the Hornets Believe outreach
program focusing on children, senior citizens,
schools and refurbishing playgrounds
and homes. And the company’s bookmobile
hands out more than 50,000 books to local children
each year.
Smith and her husband Brandon Smith, also
a Hornets employee, transferred with the team
when it moved back from Oklahoma in 2007 as
New Orleans continued to recover from
Hurricane Katrina.
The franchise was briefly known as the New
Orleans-Oklahoma City Hornets. Devyn Smith
said Hornets staffers are excited to participate
in the Crescent City’s revival and that the company
and New Orleans have been good places
for young professionals to thrive.
A recent company project was planting trees
at Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in
eastern New Orleans, Smith said. On Hornets-
United Way Volunteerism Day in October,
staffers joined local residents to clean playgrounds
and paint fences in St. Roch and other
New Orleans neighborhoods.
The company also provides top-of-the-line
benefits to employees, such as a health care
Nature of business: professional basketball
Where based: New Orleans
Employees: 128, plus 15 players
Average starting salary: $35,000*
Median salary: $65,000*
Average employment time: seven years
Benefits: health care with 100 percent coverage, dental, vision
and prescription plans, health, dental, vision, prescription drugs,
maternity-paternity, disability, 401(k) with 6 percent match, relocation
assistance, flexible hours, employee recognition program,
fitness program
Wait time for benefits: about one month
Paid days off: 32
Web site: www.hornets.com
* Salary figures exclude players
plan with full coverage for employees and their
families, plus a flexible spending account offering
up to $2,500 a year for medical expenses
and up to $5,000 for child care.
“But our staff is fairly young, so it may be
awhile — 10 years or so — before everyone
takes advantage of them,” said Weber, who
focuses on business operations.
The company also covers the cost of downtown
parking and graduate school tuition and
offers fun perks such as discounts on team gear
and two season tickets a year.
And one of the advantages of working for
the Hornets is the annual Christmas party,
“where everyone gets to mix with the players,”
Weber said.•
— Susan Buchanan
December 14, 2009 29