About

Hosts

Hosts

Business and community leaders from across New Orleans will graciously open their homes and hearts to MBA students and corporate teams participating in Entrepreneur Week.

James Carville and Mary Matalin

James Carville and Mary Matalin will host the New Orleans Entrepreneur Week Closing Celebration at their home on Friday, March 26. James is America's best-known political consultant. His long list of electoral successes evidences a knack for steering overlooked campaigns to unexpected landslide victories and for re-making political underdogs into upset winners. Mary is a political strategist who's experience in politics, public affairs, crisis management and media spans three decades and multiple venues.

Elly and Merritt Lane

Elly and Merritt Lane will host a Cocktail Reception, sponsored by Hibernia Homestead, for business leaders and investors at their home on Thursday, March 25. Merritt is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Canal Barge, Inc., a U.S. flag marine transportation and management services company headquartered in New Orleans. Merritt serves on the Executive Committee of the New Orleans Business Council and was the first and longest standing Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Idea Village. Elly is the chair of Art and Bloom, the past chair of Newman School's Fundraiser and a marathon runner.

Dine Around Hosts

Dine Around Hosts on Tuesday, March 23 include:

Linda and Neil Baum

Neil, aka "The Wiz" is a urologist by day and a magician by night. Linda serves on the Board of the Audubon Commission and the Board of Touro Hospital's Auxiliary and manages Neil's office and magical performances.

Margaret and Ken Beer

Ken is the Chief Financial Officer of Stone Energy and a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Margaret served on the Mayor's Bring New Orleans Back Commission, serves on the board of New Orleans Farmer's Market and was the lead photographer of How They Did It: Profiles of New Orleans Entrepreneurs.

Victor and Angela Castellon

After having sold VitaRx to McKesson and his retail drugstore to his employees, Victor embarked on a gene-hunting trip to Australia, where he licensed the Exclusive rights to the Americas for the first marbling and tenderness genes for beef cattle from CSIRO, Australia's counterpart to our U.S., NIH and USDA.. He worked with two professors from Cornell University Animal Science Dept to set up a committee to ensure that any and all genes commercialized would be validated by a committee of quantitative geneticists for true correlation to a trait. Vic Castellon started Bovigen in late 2003 and competed with Merck's Veterinary Animal Division. In 2008, Bovigen was sold to Pfizer Animal Division. His company held 85% share of the market, according to McKinsey&Co. internationally known marketing and consulting firm. Today, he divides his time between launching a new company in the human health DNA arena, his family, a commercial business park in Harahan, and his eight-hundred registered Black Angus cattle ranch in Folsom, Louisiana. Together with his wife, Angela, they have raised six children while living in New Orleans. Angela, a native of the city, enjoys sharing it's unique culture with many friends and visitors. Hosting fundraisers and various events for local charities have become an unexpected pleasure of hers, since moving into their new home.

Mary and Bill Hines

Bill Hines is Managing Partner of Jones Walker, the largest law firm in Louisiana. He is among the most engaged and active business leaders in New Orleans with civic responsibilities that include serving on Mayor-Elect Landrieu's Economic Development Transition Team, as Vice Chair/Chair-Elect of The Idea Village Board of Directors, on the Board of Greater New Orleans, Inc. (former Chairman), and as an Advisory Member of the New Orleans Business Council. Bill is also the Immediate Past Chairman of the Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL), Arts Council of New Orleans and current Chairman of the Board of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. Bill was instrumental in bringing the Hornets to New Orleans. Mary is the owner and manager of H & H Estate Sales and is a sustaining member of the Junior League of New Orleans.

Their son, Walker Hines, is currently the youngest member in the Louisiana State Legislature and the second youngest member to serve in the Louisiana State Legislature in history.

Janet and Scott Howard

Scott is the New Orleans area president and runs commercial banking in southern Louisiana for Regions Bank. He is a Sunday painter, and loves to play tennis. Janet is president of the Bureau of Governmental Research, a local public policy organization. She relaxes with music, cooking, yoga and walking the dog.

Machelle and John Payne

John is Central Division President of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. In this role, he oversees the operations of the company's nine casino properties in Louisiana, Indiana and Mississippi. He is active in several charitable, civic and community organizations, including the Jewish Community Center of Atlantic County, Shore Memorial Hospital, the Casino Association of New Jersey, the New Orleans Metropolitan Visitors and Convention Bureau, the New Orleans Tourist Marketing Corporation and the Audubon Institute. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Duke University and a master's degree in business, finance and marketing from Northwestern University.

Liz and Poco Sloss

"Poco" is the co-founder of Bellwether Technology. A Georgia Tech graduate, Poco is also a member of numerous Boards of Directors. Most notably, Poco has served on the New Orleans City Planning Commission, the Metropolitan Crime Commission, and the Bureau of Governmental Research. Liz is the founder of Liz Sloss designs and has been designing pearl and semiprecious jewelry for five years. She is on the Board of NOMA and of the New Orleans Botanical Garden Foundation, and she is the Chairman of NOMA's Centennial celebration. Liz and Poco have three children.

Dian and Tom Winingder

Tom, a real estate developer, has developed properties for the last 30 years. His projects include Canal Place, the Windsor Court and Jazzland Theme Park. Since Katrina he has been working on historic renovations in New Orleans. Tom serves on the boards of the New Orleans Police Foundation and The World Trade Center. Dian ran The Holiday Inn Downtown Superdome for over 20 years. After Katrina she teamed up with Tom to renovate historic properties. She is on the verge of starting a new company.

Matt and Suzanne Wisdom

Matt co-founded Turbosquid to solve the problem of how to buy and sell 3D images. He is interested in music, media, technology and local politics. He sits on The Idea Village Board as well as the board of other non profits and philanthropic organizations. Suzanne works at the Inspector General's office, is an attorney, and enjoys, music, reading, volunteering, and of course, spending time with the kids.

Special Guests

James Carville, Jim Coulter, Bob Brown, General Wesley Clark, Amy Cosper, Dr. Scott Cowen, Mark Cuban, Michael Hecht, Walter Isaacson, Julie Silard Kantor, Robin Keegan, The Honorable Mitch Landrieu, Mary Matalin, Irvin Mayfield, Stephen Perry, Peter Reiling, Hugh Weber & Kurt Weigle

  • "Inspired by Design"

    Entrepreneur.com - 5/3/10

    Just recently, Hardy was chosen as one of seven entrepreneurs to partner with an MBA team in New Orleans Entrepreneur Week 2010, when over 150 top MBA students, corporate volunteers, and our nation's most accomplished entrepreneurial talent congregated and collaborated in New Orleans to provide 9,121 hours of direct service to 329 early-stage New Orleans entrepreneurs....

  • "Reaping the Reward"

    myNewOrleans.com - 4/8/10

    What a year it has been so far! And now we are smack in the middle of festival season: Pinch me, I must be dreaming in the land of dreamy scenes. As good as it has been (Thank you, Saints. Thank you, Mitch. Thank you, Rex, etc.), plenty has been going on in parallel to all the Big Things that should not go unnoticed.

  • "How Businesses Are Launched, Big Easy Style"

    GOOD - 4/8/10

    Right after Hurricane Katrina hit, the academic world responded to the disaster. Schools sent students to do relief work, symposiums were planned.... Over spring break, while many of their peers lapped up tropical-flavored drinks, business students from around the country flew to New Orleans, where they were matched with local entrepreneurs as part of Idea Village's Entrepreneur Week.

  • "C.U. Team Takes First Place in Entrepreneur Challenge"

    The Cornell Daily Sun - 4/2/10

    The first time's a charm. The Johnson School of Management team travelled to New Orleans from Mar. 20 to Mar. 27 to compete for the first time in the Entrepreneur Challenge and won first place - beating out rival business schools Stanford, Northwestern, University of California-Berkeley and University of Chicago.

  • "Big Easy Blends wins Entrepreneur Week competition"

    New Orleans CityBusiness - 3/30/10

    Big Easy Blends, makers of the portable potable Mar-GO-rita, were chosen winners of New Orleans Entrepreneur Week’s competition among up and coming businesses. One of CityBusiness’ Innovator of the Year honoree in 2009, Big Easy Blends was founded in 2007 by Craig Cordes....

  • "Jazz Festival for Entrepreneurship"

    TravelTalk Media - 3/28/10

    Mixing work with fun is a longtime New Orleans specialty and nobody does it better. Mix they did again this week in the Big Easy for the annual New Orleans Entrepreneur Week where some of the nation’s most creative minds congregated to celebrate, support and promote entrepreneurship and innovation.

  • "Johnson School team wins New Orleans IdeaCorps Challenge!"

    Cornell University The Johnson School - 3/27/10

    A team from the Johnson School, participating in their first IdeaCorps Challenge in New Orleans, took first place among other visiting business-school teams from Kellogg, Booth, Haas and Stanford.

  • "Students team up for New Orleans Entrepreneur Week"

    Tulane University Freeman School of Business - 3/27/10

    Jack and Jake's Local and Organic Market is a new business that plans to bring locally grown food to customers in underserved neighborhoods within three days of harvest, but to achieve that goal, the company first needs a top-notch distribution system. That’s where a team of MBA students from Tulane, Loyola and UNO comes in.

  • "New Orleans entrepreneurs merge commercial and social-welfare interests"

    The Times-Picayune - 3/23/10

    Hurricane Katrina disrupted the sense of detachment and malaise that can often envelope communities, and in doing so it laid the groundwork for a burgeoning innovative entrepreneurial community in New Orleans, the president and chief executive officer of the Aspen Institute said Monday.

  • "Entrepreneur Week Kicks Off In New Orleans"

    Good NOLA - 3/22/10

    Entrepreneur Week Kicks Off In New Orleans. Entrepreneur Week in New Orleans is a meeting of the minds for upstart businesses and up-and-coming talent. The week is about matching top business talent from across the country with ...

  • "Village Capital and The Idea Village: Starting Social Enterprises"

    TechDrawl - 3/21/10

    The Idea Village in New Orleans is an excellent model for how a small group of dedicated entrepreneurs have created a remarkable ecosystem. A group of young entrepreneurs in New Orleans went to Atlanta, New York, Boston, and Chicago, did well in start-ups and finance, and then moved back to the city....

  • "Entrepreneur Week billed as Jazz Fest for business"

    The Times-Picayune - 3/21/10

    Despite their splashy appearance, the three-foot-long, black and yellow flags emblazoned with a light bulb and the phrase "It's On In NOLA" that were sent to businesses around the metro area this month may prove to be an understated way ...

  • "Bloomberg Television to focus on New Orleans entrepreneurs"

    The Times-Picayune - 3/19/10

    The digital-cable business network Bloomberg Television will present a live New Orleans edition of "On the Road with Betty Liu" on Tuesday (March 23) from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

  • "Idea Village sets economic development pace"

    New Orleans CityBusiness - 3/19/10

    Let's spend a few minutes celebrating a victory and remembering what could have been. First of all, congratulations to The Idea Village for making its 10th year and helping countless New Orleans area entrepreneurs make something of themselves and their good ideas.

  • "Big Help in the Big Easy"

    Inc.com - 3/17/10

    Organizers of New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week estimate the event will provide some $900,000 worth of consulting to local businesses. New Orleans already is the fastest-growing city in the U.S. - and a local nonprofit wants its businesses (and hopefully, a reputation for fostering innovation) to keep pace.

  • "Johnson School team to be part of Entrepreneur Week's IDEACorps"

    Cornell - 3/16/10

    A team of Johnson School students has, for the first time, been invited to compete with the best in the Idea Village Entrepreneur Challenge in New Orleans, LA from March 20-28. The challenge, which is part of Entrepreneur Week, charges teams from the nation's leading MBA schools to use their professional skills in short-term, high impact service roles in the revitalization of New Orleans.

  • "New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week: Meet With Google, Deloitte, Salesforce.com"

    BayouBuzz.com - 3/3/10

    Google, Deloitte and Salesforce.com…Jazz Fest of Entrepreneurship…What a week…Attend Friday's Introduction, Cocktail Party and Mingler. Idea Village, a leading organization in Southeast Louisiana is announcing Entrepreneur Week which will be a week-long event involving many New Orleans sites, business and major national industry leaders.

  • "Blue Ocean: Can the popular business strategy help Louisiana find its next big catch?"

    1012 Corridor - 2/9/10

    When state economic development officials talk about the kinds of companies they want to attract to Louisiana, they point to TurboSquid.

  • "Receivables Exchange capitalizes on the down economy"

    The Times-Picayune

    Nic Perkin and The Receivables Exchange, an online auctionhouse for accounts receivable are trailblazing for a new generation of entrepreneurs by capitalizing on a huge theoretical market. New Orleans is welcoming driven entrepreneurs with open arms, says Tim Williamson, co-founder of The Idea Village. "The biggest ideas are the ones that have skepticism in the beginning."

  • "Back in Business After Katrina"

    CNN - 10/22/09

    Sean Callebs reports on how Rock 'n Bowl bounced back after Hurricane Katrina. Rock 'n Bowl discusses with CNN the generous grant he received from The Idea Village which made it possible for them to quickly open their doors to the public news-Katrina.

  • "The New NOLA Tech Zone"

    Where Y'At Magazine - 10/15/09

    According to Tim Williamson, President and Co-founder of the Idea Village, New Orleans possesses, among other things, a university system and a creative culture. New Orleans is also a "worldwide brand." "The good news is that the foundation is there," Williamson says.

  • "After the Storm: New Orleans' economic rebirth"

    CNN - 8/27/09

    "If you look at the people that have come since Katrina, there has been this influx of talent who has come to New Orleans, initially to help, but now they are here to stay and live and to grow new companies. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to reinvent an American city," Tim Williamson said.

  • "Entrepreneurs Take to 'Big Easy'"

    Wall Street Journal - 8/24/09

    Small-business owners who left are now coming back, driven by a sense of mission to help the struggling city and to take advantage of generous tax breaks. Young professionals have moved to the Big Easy to help with its recovery, enjoy its cultural offerings and start businesses.

  • "The changing face-and faces-of New Orleans"

    The Times Picayune - 8/23/09

    "Now you have some people who are here not just for the recovery, but who have drunk the Kool-Aid and want to be part of the long-term economic and social change of New Orleans," Tim Williamson said.

  • "A Place of Their Own"

    1012 Corridor - 8/1/2009

    "If you’re a young, bright entrepreneur, New Orleans looks pretty interesting right now," [Idea Village CEO Tim] Williamson says. "There aren’t hundreds of thousands of layoffs; there’s actually a growing, entrepreneurial community. We’ve got our coolness, but there’s also a sense of opportunity here, because we’re going through a transformation."

  • "Entrepreneurs Leverage New Orleans's Charm to Lure Small Businesses"

    The New York Times - 7/30/09

    "Competitive gets you nowhere. It's about being collaborative. And this city is so like that, from the people helping each other rebuild their homes to building businesses," said Seema Sudan, the owner and director of the knitwear company LiaMolly.

  • "Introducing the Entre-pioneers of the 'New' New Orleans"

    Social Earth - 7/30/09

    Clusters are a validation that entrepreneurs can create economic and social change.

  • "Persevering in New Orleans"

    The Washington Times - 7/29/09

    Driven by the mantra "Trust your crazy ideas," The Idea Village is a nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the city's for-profit entrepreneurial culture. Through a combination of talent attraction, technical support and connection to financing, the organization has supported more than 255 entrepreneurial ventures representing 946 jobs and more than $69 million in revenue.

  • "Think Tank"

    WWL - 7/24/09

    Think Tank hosts Tim Williamson, Miji Park, Jo Ann Minor and Amy Cosper, Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, on July 24th to discuss entrepreneurship in New Orleans and the grand opening of The Entergy Innovation Center.

  • "Entrepreneur Magazine Highlights the New Orleans Entrepreneurial Ecosystem"

    Entrepreneur Magazine - 7/23/09

    "When The Idea Village was founded in 2000, we were building the framework for vibrant entrepreneurial community. 9 years later, this nascent spirit is alive and growing" says Tim Williamson.

  • "Laid-off Wall Streeters Find Entrepreneurial Spirit"

    Christian Science Monitor - 7/23/09

    "Clustering entrepreneurs is quite useful," says Tim Williamson, President of The Idea Village, a New Orleans business incubator. "It allows people to interact closely, bump into each other at the water cooler, [and it] forces conversation," he says.

  • "Entrepreneurial Hubs Are Springing Up Across the City And Spurring Economic Development"

    The Times Picayune - 7/19/09

    "The hubs operate under edgy names - Entrepreneur's Row, The Icehouse, The IP and the Entergy Innovation Center. The hubs encourage networking and collaboration among innovative companies while seeking to recreate a freewheeling culture reminiscent of Silicon Valley."

  • "Despite the National Recession, New Orleans is Attracting a Wave of Workers Pursuing Entrepreneurial Jobs"

    The Times Picayune - 6/26/09

    "New Orleans is attractive because there are lots of opportunities here and less layoffs than in other places like Boston or San Francisco," Tim Williamson said.

  • "Trumpet named one of top 10 marketing agencies in the country by Fast Company magazine"

    The Times-Picayune

    Regional New Orleans ad agency continues to craftily reinvent itself news-Katrina by becoming a startup incubator.

  • "3-D role in building up America"

    Anderson Cooper 360

    Turbosquid, a New Orleans-based 3-D imaging company becomes a worldwide leader in its industry despite difficult odds.

  • "James Carville: New Orleans is Storming Back"

    CNN

    James Carville pens a tribute to New Orleans’s historic rebirth.