“A leader is a dealer in hope.”
It’s a great quote — and one that’s not only particularly timely for our city right now, but it even has a bit of a tie to New Orleans as it came courtesy of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon may never have made it to the city, but the house that was waiting for him and still bears his name is a renowned fixture of our French Quarter (and will always be my favorite place for a muffuletta).
Every election at every level hinges on what candidate is most effective at delivering on the promise of a better future, and I feel confident in saying we are all looking for some hope in this new mayor.
It’s going to be a critical election for New Orleans, which is why in this issue, Biz reached out to the most recent class of the New Orleans 500 — top leaders in every industry — to find out what issues matter most to them. We had a great response — evidence of the importance of the topic. Even our cover Q&A with the new head of the Downtown Development District, New Orleans native Seth Knudsen, included Knudsen’s hopes with the upcoming leadership change. Don’t miss what the top three candidates had to say about some of the most pressing issues facing the city’s business community.
Of course, hope is nothing without action — so don’t forget to get out and vote!
October will be here before we know it, and with it comes our annual real estate issue. In it, we curate a short list of some of the top professionals working in both the residential and commercial realms and ask them to share what’s challenging them now and exciting them for the future.
One thing that’s exciting me right now is talking to so many incredible local leaders on our weekly BizTalks podcast! Just a few of our recent episodes have included a chat with the new CEO of the convention center on his vision for this tourism powerhouse and a check in with the head of the Louisiana Restaurant Association to find out whether we should be concerned about the future of our critical restaurant industry. Check out BizTalks wherever you get your podcasts, or online at BizNewOrleans.com which, I’m so excited and proud to share, took home the title of “Best News Website” at this year’s Press Club of New Orleans Excellence in Journalism Awards.
As always, thanks for reading (both in print and online)!
Kimberley Singletary, Editor
Kimberley@BizNewOrleans.com
