Business group seeks to update New Orleans’ image

The president of a business organization in New Orleans says the group is focusing on changing the image the city presents to businesses that are thinking about relocating there or expanding. Rodrick Miller, president and CEO of the New Orleans Business Alliance, says many people often associate New Orleans with Bourbon Street, jazz music and its port. But Miller says they don’t think about the new economic players coming to the city like the film industry and technology companies. “New Orleans is cool and hip, but there’s more to it than that,” Roderick told the luncheon held Wednesday by the Association for Corporate Growth. He says New Orleans has problems finding strong candidates for mid-management positions because people don’t see New Orleans as a great place to raise a family. “Our biggest hurdle is image,” Miller says. “There’s the perception that New Orleans is corrupt and under water. Increasingly, crime is being brought up.” However, he adds, a business has never told the alliance that it wasn’t coming to the city because of crime. “A lot of New Orleans is faring better than the rest of the nation,” he says. “Economic development is about job growth, job creation and growing the economy in a sustainable fashion.”