ep. 05: GNO Inc. Establishing New Orleans as a Blue Economy Innovation Hub
We mix it up with GNO Inc. President and CEO, Michael Hecht (a.k.a. DJ El Camino), about regional initiatives supporting the Blue Economy, Blue Tech, and resilient Gulf Coast communities. Michael explains the Greater New Orleans region’s Cha Cha style of economic development and innovation ecosystem development, grounded in a social equity and inclusivity agenda, powered by our exceptional creative culture heritage (with a bit of Lagniappe). Even in this complex age of climate crisis, all of the elements are in place for the Gulf Coast to make a great leap forward. We discuss how in the decades to come, the Louisiana Estuary can position itself to attract and cultivate an adaptive mix of talent, technology, and capital to preserve our homegrown Northern Caribbean character, while establishing global climate tech leadership and securing sustainable economic prosperity for our future generations.
Michael Hecht
President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc.
Michael Hecht is President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc., the economic development agency for southeast Louisiana. GNO, Inc.'s mission is to create a region with a thriving economy and an excellent quality of life, for everyone. Under Michael's leadership, GNO, Inc. has been named a “Top Economic Development Organization in the United States” by Site Selection magazine.
Before coming to GNO, Inc. Michael led the quarter-billion-dollar Katrina Small Business Recovery Program for the State. Previous to coming home to Louisiana, Michael worked for Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York City, running the post-9/11 small business program.
Michael's entrepreneurial experience includes co-founding a conglomerate of restaurant ventures, including “Foreign Cinema,” named Restaurant of the Year 2000 in San Francisco. He began his career as a strategic management consultant in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia.
Michael holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and an undergraduate degree from Yale. Michael has been recognized as “One of the Ten People Who Made a Difference in the South,” “One of the 20 Business ‘Icons’ of the Tricentennial,” and “2018 CEO of the Year.”
With family roots in Louisiana back to the 1830s, Michael now lives in New Orleans with his wife, Marlene, who is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Tulane, and their two teenaged sons.
OTHER EPISODE REFERENCES AND LINKS:
The GNO Wind Alliance, run by GNO, Inc., is a 250+ member group at the epicenter of the US offshore maritime sector, providing coastal Louisiana offshore wind (OSW) manufacturers with a highly specialized workforce, superior assets, and competitive business environment.
Access some of the local green and blue economy training through Dillard University Urban Water Management Certificate, Louisiana Green Corps, Groundwork NOLA, and Thrive NOLA.
The Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, commissioned by GNO, Inc., is a resiliency planning study to develop sustainable strategies for managing the water resources in the Greater New Orleans region.
GNO Inc.’s H2theFuture initiative is building a clean hydrogen energy cluster to decarbonize the South Louisiana industrial corridor through the execution of projects across five interrelated work streams.
IDEA Village is the startup incubator started by Tim Williamson after an initial startup competition launched in 2000 ( listen to Tim tell his story in BEP ep01 ).
CCUS; Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage; see the International Energy Association definition and additional information.
Wikipedia definition: Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance
Louisiana Governor Edwards Defends Carbon Capture Projects, by Sarah Edwards, AP 12/24/22
If you enjoy the Blue Economy Primer podcast, and would like to support Deep Blue Academy’s non-profit education and research work, please consider making a tax deductible donation today.