Business Grants to be Awarded

By Ronette King

The Idea Village, a nonprofit group that supports entrepreneurial ventures, will announce today another round of $100,000 in emergency relief grants to 20 small businesses hurt by Hurricane Katrina.

Grants averaging $5,000 will be awarded to each business, and each company will get a strategy session with members of the IDEA Corps, a group of Tulane MBA students, community volunteers and professional consultants who will work with the businesses.

The main sponsor for the round of grants is the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation. It will focus on tourism and hospitality industry companies that were affected by the storm. The business owners were required to show entrepreneurial spirit by returning and reopening despite the risks involved.

The businesses are: Magic Tours, New Orleans Cooking Experience, Ovah da Rivah, Voodoo Authentica, India House, Grand Victorian B&B, The Praline Connection, Two Sisters Restaurant, Leah's Pralines, Creole Delicacies, Fleur de Paris, Jazzy Ice, Louisiana Folk Art Museum, 3 Ring Circus, Wehmeier's Belts, Bourbon French Parfums, The Music Shed, Home Team Productions, Whiteoak Productions and Maskarade.

Since Katrina, many hospitality-related businesses have needed marketing and online assistance. So Trumpet Advertising and MakeBuzz will host workshops and give individual help.

The Idea Village also plans to hold a financing workshop in September with SEEDCO, a financial assistance group based in New York that provides loans to small businesses and nonprofit groups for working capital, project financing, startup and expansion. SEEDCO is an acronym for the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation.

Tim Williamson, president of the Idea Village, said the group hopes to duplicate this model with teams focused on other sectors. The group has raised $400,000 to give cash grants to more than 110 businesses.

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