Class Acts Are Helping Companies Rebuild

By Ronette King
Business writer

For a group of graduate students at Loyola and Tulane universities, New Orleans will be a living laboratory this semester as they work with local business owners struggling to rebound from Hurricane Katrina.

The Idea Village, a nonprofit group that supports local entrepreneurs, recently announced a partnership with Tulane that will put students taking a class called "Rebuild New Orleans" to work helping businesses. Professor John Elstrott is leading the course for first-year students pursuing master's degrees in business administration, or MBAs.

The students will be divided into teams of three, each helping 10 to 15 companies with their post-hurricane business planning. The course objective is to teach students how to recover after a widespread urban disaster, from a business, government, community and personal perspective.

Another goal of the project is to help the businesses thrive and grow, providing employment opportunities for the MBA students when they are ready for the job market, Idea Village President Tim Williamson said.

The companies will be selected based on their participation in an Idea Village program that awarded grants to entrepreneurs working to restart their businesses. The Idea Village provided the grants to about 80 firms and individuals from $300,000 it raised in private donations, Williamson said. Each grant ranged in size from $1,000 to $10,000. Before Katrina these businesses collectively employed more than 700 people and had $48 million in revenue, Williamson said.

"Our goal is by the end of the year to at least get them back to that (level), if not grow them," he said.

The grants already have helped reshape some local businesses.

Hubig's Pies used a $5,000 grant to set up a Web site to sell T-shirts until it could complete repairs to its plant and crank up its ovens again to bake pies. Another business used its grant to buy replacement equipment to fill orders before the holidays, and still another entrepreneur used the grant as bridge financing until a line of credit could be arranged with a bank.

Sometimes the help doesn't involve money at all. For example, the Idea Village helped link one restaurant that had a spare deep fryer with another restaurateur trying to reopen.

"We can connect critical resources -- not just cash but expertise and insight -- with these companies," Williamson said. For three years the Idea Village has partnered with Tulane and its MBA program by providing internships and technology transfer and collaborating on an annual venture capital forum.

The Idea Village was founded in 2002 to help high-growth businesses with in-depth business consulting and connect entrepreneurs with business mentors. It is supported by more than 300 individuals, corporations, local foundations, Tulane, the University of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.

Meanwhile, another small-business assistance program is under way to get local college students involved in working with local businesses.

In a program devised by the local group Desire Nola, a nonprofit aimed at bringing back business to New Orleans, MBA students from Loyola and Tulane will work with business owners to develop a comprehensive recovery strategy to revive their operations, said Chris Kane, Desire Nola president. In addition, a committee that includes working MBAs and lawyers will collaborate with the students and business owners, he said.

This project is supported by private donations and by more than $70,000 in sales of T-shirts and pins with the Desire Nola logo.

On Jan. 19 the group awarded the first 10 grants to small businesses totaling $20,000.

Desire Nola has another $40,000 in grants ready. Applications are available at www.desirenola.org

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Ronette King can be reached at rking@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3308.