Greater New Orleans, Inc. – GNO, Inc.

New Orleans is a central hub for moving oversized cargo, connecting river, rail and road transportation. But moving large and heavy industrial equipment safely and efficiently creates complex logistic challenges and can require weeks or even months of careful planning, often delaying multimillion-dollar infrastructure projects. Now, thanks to a new partnership between Port of New Orleans and the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB), shippers moving power transformers, wind turbine components, and industrial generators across the U.S. can get logistics information and routing options in real-time. Using AI-powered rail clearance technology and real-time digital modeling, project cargo can move smarter, safer, and more efficiently. Read more: https://hubs.ly/Q04jdhh10

The Greater New Orleans Innovation Internship Program just kicked off its 2026 cohort with 45 students who will be spending the summer with 39 companies from across the region. The experience draws students from four-year colleges and universities in Louisiana or students who hold permanent residency in the Greater New Orleans area and places them within innovation-focused companies for an eight-week paid internship. Special thanks to all of the companies who are hosting these future leaders, and best of luck to all of the participants during their internships. Learn more: https://hubs.ly/Q04hWBbV0

Tuesday night at Gasa Gasa on Freret, GNO, Inc. hosted the second GNO After Dark, this one focused on CultureTech and what it takes to build a real economy around New Orleans' creative sector. The conversation featured panelists Ryan Chavez of Imprinted Group, McKenzii Webster of The Recording Academy, and Donald Link of The Link Restaurant Group, Inc., moderated by Sean Mulligan of The Idea Village. Topics ranged from AI in hospitality to capital access and talent retention. The evening's most resonant moment came from Dr. Gerald Paige, a third-generation Afro indigenous chief with the Great Spirit Warriors, who spoke to the importance of rooting this work in the communities that built New Orleans' culture in the first place: "You have to be in the culture to be able to explain the culture." GNO, Inc. Board Chair Kim Boyle of Phelps Dunbar LLP and GNO, Inc. CEO Michael Hecht closed by connecting the evening to political organizing, arguing that without real pressure on elected officials, the ideas in that room stay in that room. New Orleans has no shortage of people who understand what makes this place work. Tuesday night put a roomful of them in the same conversation. Learn more: https://hubs.ly/Q04hyv5r0

A Gulf milestone 30 years in the making. Shell's Mars platform, located 130 miles south of New Orleans, just became the first single platform in the Gulf to produce one billion barrels of oil. That's double what engineers originally projected when Mars came online in 1996. The Greater New Orleans region sits at the heart of one of the world's most technically demanding energy frontiers. Shell operates 10 production hubs in the Gulf, with an 11th already under construction. That kind of long-term investment doesn't happen without world-class workforce, infrastructure, and institutional knowledge, and a lot of it lives right here. Congratulations to the Shell team and the 150 people who live and work on Mars every day. Learn more: https://hubs.ly/Q04gTQx20

The Pelican Institute calls Louisiana's inventory tax one of the most punishing remaining taxes on the books. Leaders for a Better Louisiana backs Amendment 4 as a mechanism to improve the state's tax structure while protecting parishes from near-term revenue loss. Here's what Amendment 4 actually does: parishes that choose to eliminate or reduce the inventory tax before July 1, 2027 receive a one-time payment from the state — between $1 million and $15 million, depending on current collection levels. The decision requires agreement from three local bodies. No parish is compelled to act. For companies considering Louisiana for expansion, and for economic developers making the case, this is a signal worth watching. Vote YES on CA4. The election is tomorrow. Saturday, May 16.

Louisiana competes for industrial investment against states that don't tax what companies store. That's the inventory tax. It applies to raw materials, finished goods, vehicles on lots, and product awaiting distribution, all taxed as property, before any sale occurs. Amendment 4 doesn't eliminate the tax statewide. It gives parishes a mechanism to choose elimination or reduction, backed by state compensation from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund. Local governments retain full authority. The legislature cannot mandate any exemptions under the amendment, protecting that local control permanently. For economic development professionals, chamber members, and business owners evaluating Louisiana's competitiveness, this matters. Election Day is this Saturday, May 16. Vote YES on CA4.

Louisiana is the only state in the country where students are performing above pre-pandemic levels in both reading and math. A new study from researchers at Harvard, Stanford and Dartmouth ranked Louisiana first in the nation in reading growth and second in math from 2022 to 2025. Every other state is still catching up to where students were in 2019. Louisiana passed that mark. The state got here by training teachers in phonics-based reading instruction, putting literacy coaches in schools, and spending nearly $6,000 per student on tutoring and summer learning. The investment showed up in the data. Louisiana just gave every other state a model worth studying. Learn more: https://hubs.ly/Q04gBGxt0

New Orleans is not a city in retreat. The Guardian just published GNO, Inc.'s response to the recent study calling for New Orleans residents to be relocated, and President & CEO Michael Hecht makes the case plainly: what was published isn't science. It's an ideologically driven policy argument dressed up as geological inevitability. A few facts that seem to be forgotten: – New Orleans weathered a Category 5 storm bone-dry behind a $15 billion storm wall system – The port system moves more than 90% of the nation's grain exports, because the Mississippi River is the logistical spine of the United States – More than 60% of America's natural gas is exported from southern Louisiana, much of it heading to Europe to replace Russian supply Nobody is calling for Miami, the Netherlands, or New York to be abandoned, and the same engineering solutions protecting those places are already at work here. New Orleans deserves ambition and investment, not an irresponsible academic eulogy. Read the full letter: https://hubs.ly/Q04gpnwG0

Louisiana is one of nine states that still imposes a property tax on business inventory. That means manufacturers, distributors, and retailers pay taxes on goods sitting in a warehouse or on a shelf, all before those goods generate a single dollar in revenue. The Tax Foundation identifies this tax as non-neutral. It distorts where companies locate inventory and when they move it. It hits hardest on businesses with thinner margins and larger stock requirements. Constitutional Amendment 4 on the May 16 ballot creates a voluntary pathway for parishes to eliminate or reduce this tax. The state compensates participating parishes with a one-time payment from the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund. Approval requires the sheriff, school board, and governing authority to all agree. Endorsers include the Pelican Institute, Leaders for a Better Louisiana, and the editorial board of the Times-Picayune. For parishes with manufacturing and logistics operations, this is a meaningful way to give them power over their future. Vote YES on CA4.

Louisiana has $90 billion in industrial mega projects under construction. The ports, barge operators, and freight haulers to support them are right here in the state. The question is whether the companies building those projects know it and use it. That’s the whole mission of UTC Transo, a new New Orleans-based freight forwarding firm launched by maritime veteran Greg Rusovich. Greg grew up in this industry, built Transoceanic Shipping into a global operation, and has spent decades working Louisiana’s ports and waterways. He knows what the state has to offer and how to sell it. Big investments deserve big supply chains. Louisiana’s trade infrastructure is ready. 🚢 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ePngPSGj