Previous Executives of the Year

All year long Biz New Orleans highlights business people who are out there succeeding and making a difference in our region. Here are a few of our favorites from 2016.

The “Great Eight,” these leaders are taking on our coastline, our waistline, and everything in between. this year, Biz New Orleans celebrates our second-ever business people of the Year — individuals that are taking their companies and industries to new markets and new frontiers in efforts that are gaining them recognition not just at home, but on the National stage.

2018 was a year of beginnings — a year where we began building upon our region’s strengths across so many industries at one time that one can’t help but be excited for what 2019 will bring. And leading that charge into the future are these eleven professionals that Biz New Orleans is honored to celebrate as our third-annual Business People of the Year. Within this group are leaders seeking to grow our record-setting tourism numbers even further by transforming our downtown landscape, giving our airport a $1 billion facelift and creating an anniversary celebration felt across the globe. In healthcare and biotechnology, we’ve got young entrepreneurs bringing exciting new ideas to the market aimed at not just improving quality of life, but saving lives in ways no one has seen before. In sports we saw the loss of our beloved Tom Benson, but thanks to his wife, Gayle, his legacy is continuing as strong as ever. We saw one of this country’s fastest-growing business schools open a $35 million expansion, one of our top tech companies go public and Jefferson Parish celebrate its most successful year in decades. Finally, just over four years after gracing our first cover as “Mr. Business,” we welcome Michael Hecht back as our CEO of the Year. Continually stepping up his game to bring Southeast Louisiana to new heights, he and GNO, Inc. were integral in bringing our region its two biggest successes of the year, projects whose impacts will continue to ripple outward for generations to come. Here’s to our “Elevating Eleven,” and to a very prosperous and exciting new year.

It’s a challenge to look back at an entire year of business in Southeast Louisiana and come up with a small group of standouts given the fact that, once again, this has been a year where almost all industries have seen tremendous growth. There are some, however, that have emerged as clear leaders in their fields. For our fourth-annual class of Biz New Orleans Business People of the Year, 13 is indeed a lucky number, but it’s much more than luck that has brought them this far. Within these pages we celebrate leaders that are safeguarding and growing our cherished institutions, like the 166-year-old New Orleans City Park and the annual Sugar Bowl — first played in 1935. We also honor home-grown companies that continue to reach beyond our borders and into the national scene, grabbing honors like “Top Architectural Firm in the Country” and “First New Orleans Tech Company to hit the $100 Million mark.” While the region as a whole continues to prosper, that prosperity has been a lot slower to reach some in our community. Thankfully, there are some that have made it their mission to help spread the wealth and opportunity to all, and we are proud that almost half our class this year are devoted to just that — expanding support for female entrepreneurs, continuing to strengthen the only historically black and Catholic university in the country, and reaching into neighborhoods like New Orleans East to bring new opportunity and growth. Finally, we honor the clear man of the hour, the person responsible for delivering the region the airport it deserves. One can’t help but feel proud to have such a welcome mat greeting visitors to our fine city and welcoming us all back home again. Here’s to this year’s “Transformative Thirteen,” and to a very prosperous and exciting 2020

Adversity is never welcome, but in the right hands, it can be transformed into innovation. It can spur us to step out of our own little worlds and reach out in a desperate effort to create a little light in the darkness. It can break us down, only to build us back in a way we never could have anticipated. It can teach us how far we can be pushed, and show us what matters, and what really doesn’t. It is in times of adversity that leaders of quality are formed, and within these pages you’ll find some of the top in our region right now. They are the people who have long been leading the charge to eradicate poverty and provide more affordable housing and are now finding their mission more critical than ever. They are the people that stepped up to make sure all of our communities had the testing and medical care they needed this year, who led our healthcare heroes and who made sure our small businesses had the guidance they needed to get the resources to keep them afloat. They are the leaders who dared to think differently in industries that have been hit the hardest — to use this crisis as permission to change the way things have long been done, and yes, even to test the boundaries of how much fun can be had on a Zoom call. Please join us in celebrating Biz New Orleans’ 2020 Executives of the Year

Each year, we face the difficult task of selecting our CEO and Executives of the Year. The task is difficult simply because New Orleans is so rich in leadership, innovation and ideas. This year was no different, except for the fact that our leaders faced monumental obstacles in 2021, from pandemic pivots to hurricane delays. Despite all, each one excelled in their field and provided unparalleled services to the New Orleans business community. We look forward to a new year, one which we are sure will be rich with opportunities and continued development.

What does it take to be one of Biz New Orleans’ Executives of the Year? Each year we look at the biggest issues, the biggest stories of the year and we find the people behind them getting things done. We look for the leaders whose dedication to their region is evident. Those that are innovating and excelling in their field. The superstars. This year, we recognize two leaders responsible for bringing back local institutions — one after two long years, the other after eight. We honor another that is at the top of his game, and the best at bringing the biggest games to our doorstep. While another continues to lead the largest and busiest mall in the region to success, even in a challenged marketplace. We honor a professional that has taken on multiple large roles in the community in order to address equity problems and another that is, quite literally, reaching for the stars. Please join us in celebrating Biz New Orleans’ 2022 Executives of the Year.

At the end of every year, the Biz team looks back on the biggest stories and accomplishments that occurred in the New Orleans area business community and finds the people behind those wins. For 2023, the good news spanned across a wide variety of industries, including healthcare, nonprofit, hospitality and tourism, higher education and workforce development, and the environment. In the following pages we’re excited to bring to you the names, faces and stories of the people whose hard work, dedication and leadership are moving our region into a more positive, healthy and productive future. We think you will agree that honoring their inspiring accomplishments is a great way to welcome the new year. Please join us in celebrating Biz New Orleans’ 2023 Executives of the Year.

For the eight people you will learn more about in the following pages 2024 was a year of incredible achievement. Whether the work involved reimagining what is possible in their industry, pushing transportation in our region forward, reaching out to the most vulnerable among us, bringing a new attraction to town, doubling down on their investment in their community, completing a transformational project or bringing a certain football game to town, these dedicated professionals have given us all much to celebrate as we look toward a new year of possibilities.