NEW ORLEANS – Economic development magazine Site Selection has awarded Greater New Orleans, Inc. the inaugural Mac Conway Award for Excellence in Economic Development, given to the top economic development organizations in the United States.
GNO, Inc. was recognized along with 10 other groups, out of over 2,500 in the nation.
“GNO, Inc. is honored to be recognized as one of the nation’s leading economic development organizations by Site Selection,” said Michael Hecht, President and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc. “This award is a testament not only to the outstanding staff of GNO, Inc., but also the tremendous volunteer and community support for the organization.”
Criteria used to determine award recipients included the total number of jobs created, total amount of investment and total per capita investment over the past year.
The award also recognized "the unique methods in which economic development organizations address critical issues in their communities.”
In its evaluation, the magazine singled out GNO, Inc. and the Greater New Orleans area:
• In 2015, $3.4 billion in capital investment was made.
• In 2015, 1,988 new direct jobs were created in the GNO region.
One of the driving factors in the region’s growth has been the influx of knowledge industry jobs, which saw a growth of 37% in 2015.
According to Site Selection, in 2014, Greater New Orleans had a GDP of over $80,000, which is an 8% increase from 2011 and more than $25,000 higher than the national GDP. GNO, Inc. reps said New Orleans is one of only eight metro areas with a population of more than 1 million people that touts more middle-income jobs today than in 2007.
