Business Relief Fund Provides Grants to Small Businesses

Well on the road to recovery post- Katrina are: Michael Murphy, Michael Murphy Productions; Kathy Koehl, Culinary Institute of New Orleans; Woodrow Wilson, Gulf South Animated Motion Technologies; Andrew Herrington, New Line Environmental Systems, LLC; and Willie Mae Seaton, Willie Mae's Scotch House.

They are the recipients of the Idea Village's IV Business Relief Fund, an emergency grant program for qualified small businesses and entrepreneurs of which the London-based E D & F Man Company was the lead sponsor.

"Entrepreneurs will lead New Orleans back, which is why we are supporting small businesses as an essential ingredient to New Orleans' recovery," said Tim Williamson, President of The Idea Village.

Whit Huguley, an executive with E D & F Man Company's New Orleans based subsidiary, Westway Holdings Corporation, said "New Orleans is an international treasure, and our many customers, suppliers and affiliated companies from around the world know that better than most and is the reason we attribute such strong support to the E D & F Man Katrina Relief Fund."

The list of recipients will grow according to Williamson.

"In 2006 we will take our story on the road to Atlanta, Dallas and other cities with a high concentration of expatriates to raise additional money and to locate other resources for New Orleans small businesses," he said.

An elated Michael Murphy of Michael Murphy Productions said, "The Idea Village recognizes that artists, musicians, and small business entrepreneurs are an important part of the city of New Orleans, and a crucial element in its recovery from the effects of Hurricane Katrina."

 

To apply for future grants, businesses may go to www.ideavillage.org and fill out the form under Katrina Update.

Over $300,000 has been raised with cash grants provided to over 80 affected businesses through The Idea Village Business Relief Fund since Hurricane Katrina.

 

The Idea Village is an independent 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to supporting entrepreneurial ventures in the region. In recent months it has become a primary driver for entrepreneurship in New Orleans and is supported by more than 300 individuals, corporations, local foundations, Tulane University, University of New Orleans, Greater New Orleans, Inc., the City of New Orleans, and the State of Louisiana.