This is always a tricky issue to get out because we aim to highlight the top business stories of the year, but our print deadline means the year hasn’t finished when we have to make our decisions. It’s always a rush trying to make things as inclusive and relevant as possible, but there’s always going to be things we miss.
That being said, looking at last year’s list and comparing to this year’s, there’s definitely some similarities. The insurance crisis took our No. 2 spot last year, behind crime, but this year it moved to No. 1 but in a good way. This time the story was not just the problem, it was the multiple things that have been done, and are being done, in try to improve the situation.
Last year, the announcement of LCMC Health’s plans to acquire three hospitals from HCA Healthcare made the list. After some legal hurdles, this year, the deal went through.
On the flip side, last year Avondale Shipyard’s return made the list. This year, it’s proposed sale to Port of South Louisiana being put on hold is a top story.
And last year, the Mississippi River’s drop to record-low levels was a top story of the year. This year, it was the dangers posed by a saltwater wedge moving its way up the river.
With finite space in the magazine, there’s no way to include every top story, so I’d like to highlight a few more here.
In 2023, we also saw the Port of New Orleans set a new monthly record for cruise passengers, along with the first sailing of cruise ship Disney Magic.
We saw Ochsner Health partner with MD Anderson to announce the creation of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Southeastern Louisiana, and we saw LED and GNO, Inc. partner to create Metronome, a series of programs focused on growing the business of the New Orleans-area music industry.
We saw our own The Roosevelt New Orleans, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel’s Sazerac Bar named the Best Hotel Bar in America for the sixth year in a row by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice rankings. Plus — and being a parent of a teenager this excited me — we saw a New Orleans student, Dennis Barnes, set the record for most college scholarship offers ever received by a college bound senior in the country!
We’re seeing movement in some of the areas we struggle with most — crime, insurance, coastal erosion — amidst a lot of exciting announcements of things to come. Here’s to a peaceful, prosperous, productive 2024!
Thanks for reading,
Kimberley Singletary, Editor
Kimberley@BizNewOrleans.com
