One of the primary goals of GNO, Inc. is to provide the residents of Southeast Louisiana with access to well-paying jobs in growing industries, and perhaps no industry is seeing such rapid and significant advances as technology.
The evidence of this growing sector is already clear in the region, with companies such as Lucid, which specializes in market research, LevelSet, which helps contractors get paid digitally, and TurboSquid, which builds 3-D models for professional firms, all leading their respective fields from headquarters in New Orleans.
“Our tech industry continues to see significant growth across the region and state. Our team travels the globe to recruit new companies to the region in key industry clusters that will help us diversify our economy,” said Grady Fitzpatrick, Senior Vice President of Business Development at GNO, Inc.
GNO, Inc. is working to accomplish this by enticing companies with incentives such as the digital media tax credit, which provides companies with a 25% rebate on their software payroll and an 18% credit for qualified production expenditures, a tax credit that GNO, Inc. helped to write. Additionally, editorial coverage in national publications such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times are helping to showcase tech growth in New Orleans and are positioning the region as a leading area to establish and conduct business.
“We find that when we can get business decision-makers to visit our region, they truly recognize our value proposition,” Fitzpatrick says. “We are fortunate to have the allure of New Orleans that we can leverage to get boots on the ground. They then get a feel for our business attributes and understand that a low-cost environment doesn’t mean low-quality. They can find great talent with a strong work ethic and passion.”
The entries of larger tech companies like DXC Technology and Accruent have been invaluable in bringing more attention to the industry. More than that, these companies are adding fresh opportunities for established and burgeoning professionals in the area, contributing to a technological climate that is more robust than ever before. The rapid growth of the video game industry in the region has led to the addition of companies like Dreamleague, which will not only develop new online content in New Orleans but will also host live digital-gaming competitions. Another win for the technology and gaming industries was secured with the November announcement that London-based video game testing company Testronic would be moving into downtown New Orleans, immediately creating 150 quality assurance jobs.
“We have a very deliberate and targeted strategy to growing that tech sub-sector,” Fitzpatrick says. “It is a $40B industry in the US ($120B worldwide) that outpaces film and television and is located in very high cost markets (SF, LA and Seattle). We feel with our tax credit program, low cost of doing business and our creative culture, we are a nice match for the industry.”
This increased activity has led to technology standing out as a viable career path in the area, helping both parents and students understand the scope of opportunities available here and now. Similarly, higher education institutions and training partners in the area are creating a more targeted curriculum that will allow their students to succeed and quickly enter the workforce.
“Our goal is to try and help remove any barriers that are hindering growth and create a business environment where all companies can grow and thrive,” Fitzpatrick says. “We want to continue to diversify by attracting new companies that bring more job opportunities for the residents of Greater New Orleans.”
DXC Technology Comes To New Orleans
1. In November of 2017, Governor Jon Bel Edwards announced that DXC Technology would establish a Digital Transformation Center in the heart of New Orleans. DXC Technology was formed by the merger of CSC and Hewlett Packard, and their arrival in the region cements Louisiana as one of the fastest-growing tech destinations in the country.
2. The center will develop next-generation technology services that support clients’ digital transformations. DXC will hire 300 IT and business professionals to start off and will ramp up to over 2,000 jobs over five years, with an annual payroll exceeding $133 million by 2025.
3. In order to meet the workforce demand by DXC, the State of Louisiana funded a $25 million higher education initiative to expand the number of degrees awarded annually in the fields of computer science, management and STEM-related studies. This funding represents the largest higher-education investment in a private-sector workforce partnership in state history.
