nThe BrinkBesides our 2004 honorees, these individuals and companies were also nominated for their innovations.Bounce for LifeSusan Sarver, Dr. Tyler Curiel, Andy Martin<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>Bounce for Life was started to raise funds for cancerresearch by Dr. Tyler Curiel and Andy Martin,a Tulane student who is trying to cure his own cancer.The organization has raised more than$70,000 and been mentioned in “The Wall StreetJournal,” the “Today” show, National Public Radioand “60 Minutes II.” Curiel, chief of the section ofhematology and medical oncology at TulaneMedical School, began the fund-raising campaignin a distinct way by breaking a Guinness worldrecord in dribbling a basketball for more than 108miles over 24 hours.E-Z Time LLCRay A. FraisePresident and CEO of E-Z Time LLC<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>E-Z Time is negotiating with Coca-ColaCorporation and Budweiser to place orders for the“Crawtable,” a product designed to accommodateseafood and other tailgating foods that require thedisposal of shells, carcass, cans, corncobs, etc. RayA. Fraise, President and CEO of E-Z Time LLC, isthe patent holder of the invention and constructedthe table with a waste receptacle built directly in thecenter to alleviate trash at social events. NFL, NBAand Major League Baseball teams have alsoexpressed interest in the “Crawtable” for promotionalconsiderations. According to E-Z Time LLC,the projected revenue for the “Crawtable” in 2004 is$6,898,500 and $13,347,000 in its second year.H&A Innovative Creations, Inc.Laura HernandezPresident<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>H&A Innovative Creations, Inc. creates threedimensionalresumes, which speak for the personwhose resume is opened. The resumes use video,graphics and music to present the client in a uniqueway. The product was first introduced in April.Jazz Rio LLCThomas J. Andre, Founder<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>Jazz Rio LLC promotes the culture of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>and has produced the Jambalaya Jazz Festival inBrazil the past two years. The company plans toexpand to additional countries in 2005, after seeingan attendance of 30,000 at the 2003 Brazil festival,ten times the 2002 attendance. Jazz Rio LLC hadtotal revenues of $80,000 in 2003 and projectedearnings of $150,000 for 2004. The company wasstarted in 2002 by Thomas Andre, a 27-year-oldnative <strong>New</strong> Orleanian and a graduate of BenFranklin High School and Princeton University.Andre has received financial backing from the Stateof Louisiana Office of Tourism, Delta and AmericanAirlines, the <strong>City</strong> of Rio de Janeiro, TulaneUniversity, University of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> and the OGlobo, the largest newspaper in Brazil.Johnson, Shields, Jackson,Brown and Associates LLCZandrea JohnsonBeverly C. ShieldsDonna JacksonMonique T. Brown<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>Johnson, Shields, Jackson, Brown and Associates,a medical-legal consulting firm, was founded inSeptember 2003 by four local registered nurseswith more than 30 years of combined nursingexperience. All four partners are Certified LegalNurse Consultants and render services to attorneys,health care facilities, insurance companies,government agencies and private corporations.JSJB did not generate any revenue in 2003, but thecompany anticipates a net profit of $50,000 to$75,000 in 2004.Louisiana Casting LLCTimothee Hammond and Elizabeth Coulon, partners<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>Louisiana Casting LLC is an independent castingdepartment available for hire by film and commercialproductions that come to Louisiana. Thebusiness began in 2003 as a response to changesin legislation that gave tax incentives to film productionscoming to Louisiana. Credits include“Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story,” “ALove Song for Bobby Long” and “The HauntedMansion.” Louisiana Casting projects earnings of$91,000 this year and plans to venture into anInternet-based database for its catalog of actorsand background extras.P&O Ports LouisianaDave Morgan, Port Vice President<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>P&O Ports and its developers created a GateEntry Management system to aid truckers deliveringand receiving cargo at the $101 millionNapoleon Avenue Container Terminal, whichopened operations in March. GEM enables trucklines to enter in dispatch instructions on containerscoming to the terminal, eliminating paperworkand faxes and relaying feedback to the dispatcherif there is a problem. According to P&OPorts, GEM was needed because of the move tothe 26-acre terminal, enabling P&O Ports to handleexisting container volume in a smaller area.P&O Ports financed GEM privately.Parking Solutions LLCKeith Pittman, Tyrone Rodgers and Mark Boucree,partners<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>Parking Solutions received a contract from the city tobegin installing new multi-space meters, which willbe completed by the end of July. Parking Solutionswas founded in 2002 and its clients include retail andmedical centers, hotels and businesses, sports complexesand municipalities. Multi-space meters acceptcoins or credit cards and are connected to a centralcomputer system, allowing operators to know howmuch money is in each meter. Parking Solutions,which is partnered with Standard Parking, projectsrevenues of $3.3 million in 2004.RazorLine LLCGene Dry, Jim Dry and Richard Jaubert, Cofoundersand managersMetairieRazorLine LLC is the first Louisiana based andhosted PBX telephony service, bringing businessesin the state telecommunication needs all from onevendor, such as local, long distance, Internet, PBXfeatures, E-mail and web hosting services.RazorLine started business and introduced its hostedplatform in March 2004 and projects total revenuesof $1.7 million in its first year.ThinPrint, Inc.Brian Nelson, CEO<strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>Through its Content Beamer and Public Printingproducts, ThinPrint has accomplished the goals ofenabling users to pull up attachments on their cellphone and print them to any printer or fax machineand also to deliver any document in the world byproviding the recipient with an access code. Theseoptions can be used with any type of connection andvia any device which can browse the Internet. TheContent Beamer was first made available in the secondquarter of 2003, and Public Printing wasreleased in May. A privately owned self-financedcompany, ThinPrint has been open in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>since 2002.We Care Designs LLCRene’ de la Tour Jr., inventorMandevilleRené de la Tour Jr., a paraplegic as a result of anautomobile accident in 1966, has invented a ParaLadder, the first patented transfer aid designed toassist elderly people, wheelchair users and limitedmobility individuals to move to or from the floorsafely. De la Tour was a member of the USA ParaTrack Team and a wheelchair winner of theCrescent <strong>City</strong> Classic. Launched in April, the ParaLadder, with possible Medicare approval at theend of 2004, has projected revenues of $10,000 inits first year. There are two models of the ParaLadder, including a lightweight aluminum brand,which folds for storage and travel and a heaviermodel for larger users.26A 2004 Innovator of the Year
THE LITTLE STEAMBOATThat Could.WHEN DELTA QUEEN STEAMBOAT COMPANY LOOKED AT HOW TO MARKET OUR PRODUCTS, we asked ourselves: “Couldwe be even more successful in filling our steamboats if we introduced our passengers to all that our hospitality partners have to offer in <strong>New</strong><strong>Orleans</strong>? Could we increase the economic impact all around?”Today, we’re proud to be recognized for our newest innovation, The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> & Riverboat Adventure Week, and more important, we areproud to deliver more than 40,000 new visitors to the Crescent <strong>City</strong>.For the first time in history, a <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> cruise line has combined a 3- or 4-night cruise with a 3- or 4-night hotel stay in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> – offeringthe only riverboat cruise that comes with a free <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> vacation. This new product enables Delta Queen passengers to customize their visitsby selecting their choice of restaurants and attractions from among more than 50 partners in the Big Easy. What we found out is that we couldcombine our unique steamboat vacations with the greatness of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> and still be successful. That’s the true spiritof innovation – a cruise ship that takes people, and their vacation spending, to <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> instead of taking them away.The Delta Queen Steamboat Company is a part of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>, and we think it’s appropriate to share this culturallyrich destination with our passengers, and to share our customers with the city of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong>.We applaud all of Louisiana’s innovators. With all of us working together, the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Orleans</strong> economy, like Old Man River,will keep on rolling along.By the way, we just happen to sail the largest steamboat in the world.
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