Ingenuity - New Orleans City Business

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nonprofitsAudubon Center for Research of Endangered SpeciesCenter strives to stop extinction with technologyAudubon Center for Research ofEndangered Species wants to makeextinction extinct.The undertaking is ambitious andless than 10 years ago would haveseemed impossible. But DirectorBetsy L. Dresser and the rest of theteam at ACRES are well on their wayto making it happen.Begun in 1996, on the West Bank onthe 1,200-acre grounds of the Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species SurvivalCenter, the Center’s scientists,whose expertiseranges from endocrinologyand genetics toembryo transfer andreproductive physiology,work to create a “frozenzoo.” The zoo isdesigned to prevent theextinction and endangermentof species throughin vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmicsperm injection,inter-species and nuclear transferName: Audubon Center forResearch of EndangeredSpeciesLocation: New OrleansDirector: Betsy DresserService: Preserve endangeredspecies through reproductivetechniques such as cloning.and the study of reproductive behavior.Since its inception, the center’sresearch has led to the birth of an Africanwildcat named Jazz by a domestic housecat.The birth was made possible byimplanting in the housecat a previouslyfrozen embryo through in vitro fertilization.This birth represented the first interspeciestransfer of an embryo in a wild carnivore.Four years after Jazz’s birth, he wascloned, creating Ditteaux and Miles, thefirst clones of an endangered carnivore.This past April,two female wildcat cloneswere born in the Center.As genetic copies ofa female wildcat, once they have matured,they will be bred with Ditteaux and Miles tocreate the first offspring ofBetsy Dresser, director of the Audubon Center, with Ditteaux, the cloned wildcat.cloned endangered carnivores.Dresser and her colleagueshave been recognizedlocally, nationallyand internationally withsuch awards as theChevron ConservationAward and theTechnology Museum ofInnovation — IntelEnvironmental Award.“The work being done at AudubonCenter for Research of EndangeredSpecies has far-reaching positive implicationsfor the future of endangered animals,”said L. Ronald Foreman, presidentand chief executive officer of theAudubon Nature Institute. “Scientistsare applying advanced reproductivetechnology to vanishing wildlife, offeringa ray of hope in the battle againstextinction.”— Nicole HaaseExceptional Entrepreneurs of LouisianaHelping disabled become independent business ownersA disability should never exclude anindividual from the workforce andthanks to Exceptional Entrepreneurs ofLouisiana, it no longer does.In 1999, the Louisiana RehabilitationServices, a state administered agencyunder the Louisiana Department ofSocial Services, created ExcEL in partnershipwith the University of NewOrleans’ Training Resource andAssistive Technology Center. The goalis to assist individuals with disabilities tobecome financially independentthrough self-employment.Since its inception, ExcEL hashelped 274 Louisiana residents fulfilltheir dreams and open their businesses.Name: Exceptional EntrepreneursLocation: New OrleansDirector of the Training, Resource andAssistive-Technology Center: GayleGaglianoService: A partnership between theUniversity of New Orleans andLouisiana Rehabilitation Service, theprogram helps people with disabilitiesstart businesses.In New Orleans, a blind man became atransportation broker. In Monroe, aquadriplegic customized “living quarters”horse trailers. And in Baton Rouge,a woman with post-polio syndromeopened a herb/culinary products store.Program specialist CharlotteJackson said the program helps theclient attain independence and asense of self-worth while contributingto the community.“Sometimes our clients don’t exist inthe community at large,” she said. “Theystay at home and don’t have contact withanyone. But by creating their own businessthey begin to move out into the communitywhile contributing both sociallyand financially.”Through an intensive two-weekworkshop, ExcEL participants aretrained in every manner of the businessworld, taught how to construct abusiness plan and, ultimately, how toimplement that business plan.Once the workshop is complete,ExcEL counselors assist the participantsin their search for funding and the initialstart-up of the business.“When it comes to people with disabilities,self-employment is always seenExcEL staff Charlotte Jackson, program specialist, Gayle Gagliano, seated, director Kenneth Lacho,left, professor of Management, and William Galle, professor of management.as a last resort,” Jackson said. “It’s ourmission to change that view and look atself-employment as the main option. It’simportant because when clients withdisabilities go to work they have to bringsupports or adapt the business environmentto their disabilities. What this doesis eliminate that barrier.”— Richard A. Webster22A 2004 Innovator of the Year
nonprofitsJefferson Parish Economic Development CommissionAttracting and retaining businesses is group’s mantraStarted in 1987 by the local businesscommunity and parish government inresponse to the oil bust, the JeffersonParish Economic DevelopmentCommission strives to attract and retainquality jobs in Jefferson Parish.In the past year, JEDCO has hadimpressive successes on both fronts.JEDCO convinced M & A Supply, amanufacturer of marine installations, torelocate from Connecticut to JeffersonParish. JEDCO also persuaded BarristerGlobal, a company specializingin computerhardware maintenance,to relocate its headquartersfrom Buffalo, N.Y.,to Jefferson Parish.In addition to coaxingcompanies to relocateto the New Orleansarea, JEDCO aidedlocal businesses as well.It awarded a $75,000grant from the parish’sName: Jefferson EconomicDevelopment CommissionLocation: MetairieExecutive director: Scott D.AdamsService: Recruit new business tothe area and help retain existingbusinesses.economic development incentive fundto UNO’s Nims Center Studios. Thismoney will be used to construct one ofthe first studios in the country that willfocus entirely on digital video production.Digital video is considered bymany to be the wave of the future in thefilm industry.Perhaps JEDCO’s finest hour camewhen it obtained a $50 million incentivepackage to retain Northrop GrummanShip Systems’ Avondale Operations.Northrop Grumman is one of the largestemployers in Louisiana and was seriouslyconsidering relocating to Mississippi(and taking about 6,000 jobs with it)before JEDCO intervened.However, JEDCOdoes not plan on restingon its laurels in 2004.The organization hopesto lay the foundation fora new business andtechnology park on theWest Bank. It hopes topursue additional fundsfor the JeffersonEconomic FutureFund.The fund devotes$500,000 a year inincentive money to help lure new companiesto the state and keep existing companiesfrom leaving. June Johns,JEDCO’s marketing and public relationsmanager, refers to this money as “theScott Adams, standing, executive director, Gaye Frederic, deputy director, and Dottie Stephenson,deputy director of JEDCO.cherry on top of the sundae.”When it comes to JEDCO’s long-termgoals, Johns says that it hopes to “not onlyget businesses to relocate (to the NewOrleans area), but also to encourage businessesto stay and grow here.”— By Fritz EskerLouisiana Bucket BrigadeOrganization gives citizens power to test the air they breatheIn the past, when Louisiana citizenswho lived near an oil refinery sniffedsomething noxious in the air, they hadto take the plant’s or the government’sword as to whether they were beingabout what communities are breathing.”Rolfes started working with thebuckets in 1999, and when communitiesresponded favorably, she incorporatedexposed to a toxic substance.the Louisiana BucketNow, with the help of new technologies,the nonprofit LouisianaBrigade in 2000. The nonprofit isdependent upon grants from foundationsBucket Brigade isand donationsworking to put theability to monitor theair in the hands ofcommunity members.The “bucket” of theorganization’s name isa simple device thatallows regular peopleto take a three-minuteair sample into a plasticbag. That bag isName: Louisiana BucketBrigadeLocation: New OrleansDirector: Anne Rolfessent off to a lab for analysis. If it indicatescertain substances are above thelegal limit, citizens have evidence toback up any complaints.“The government and industriescommunicate well together but peopleare often left out of the equation,” saidAnne Rolfes, executive director.“There is a vacuum of informationService: Help communities dotheir own environmentaltesting via buckets thatcollect samples.from individuals forfunding. In the lastyear, it raised about$200,000.Based in NewOrleans, the LouisianaBucket Brigade helpsgather air samples frommany communitiesaround the state, buttends to focus its energiesin one place at a time. Currently,the Louisiana Bucket Brigade has beenworking in Chalmette. Its strategy is togo into “fenceline” neighborhoodsseveral times a week and partner withexisting community environmentalorganizations.— Henry K. AlpertFrank Dery, left, and Kenneth Ford use buckets from the Louisiana Bucket Brigade to monitor airquality in their Chalmette neighborhood.2004 Innovator of the Year 23A
Page 1 and 2: 2004
Page 3 and 4: Table of ContentsLaitram . . . . .
Page 5 and 6: Intralox has adapted to the demands
Page 7 and 8: Organizing your event with the wron
Page 9 and 10: Boudreaux’s Butt PasteQuirky name
Page 11 and 12: Chef John FolseReviving culinary in
Page 13 and 14: LEI Inc.Recycling lamps proves prof
Page 16 and 17: P&R AccessoriesMotorcycle rider’s
Page 18 and 19: Napoleon Ave Container TerminalBusi
Page 20 and 21: Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle Orlea
Page 24 and 25: STARC Commercial Linen ServiceOrgan
Page 26 and 27: nThe BrinkBesides our 2004 honorees

Ingenuity - New Orleans City Business

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