Pardon my use of an expression from a different sport, but the Superbowl was a homerun! New Orleans was on display and did itself proud as the unchallenged leader in the game of fielding major international events.

But there is another, much more subtle game at play and it is an open question whether this Superbowl paid off in a way that the major investment by the people should return.

On Sunday morning, while near Lakefront airport, I watched dozens of really large private jets come in one after the other; the tarmac at the airport was already crowded with earlier arrivals. Who were these people who could afford to fly to New Orleans just to watch a football game? The answer is simple, New Orleans has attracted some of the most successful entrepreneurs and businesspeople in the world.

The other game at play is in reality but a major challenge for us. What will it take for us to convince those superstars of American capitalism to not just fly in and fly out, but instead that they see the value of doing business in Louisiana and relocating or growing their businesses in New Orleans and Louisiana.

For as long as anyone can remember, the facts are that tourists flock here for a visit and then return home to live their lives, to their home where they believe that there is an economy and a quality of life that will support their dreams. Businesspeople attend conventions here, enjoy the city, and then go back to where they locate their businesses in places that they believe will be most profitable.

The big game that we must win has already been won by another major tourist city; theirs is a model of the linkage between business and tourism that we should imitate. Years ago, Las Vegas realized that tourism presented limited opportunities for economic diversity that they knew they would need to sustain a healthy city. Their vision for the future focused on two factors that would allow them to achieve strong diversification, they would enhance their position as a tourist Meca and at the same time become home to a vibrant corporate business sector. This was a vision of socio/economic growth based on using their current strength to build a new strength, the same thing that our city desperately needs to focus upon.

They knew that tourists simply liked to come to Las Vegas. Tourists liked the city and its culture and quality of life. So, as the city cultivated its tourist sector, they realized the benefits of a beneficial opportunity. The anti-business, negative political climate of neighboring California was driving businesses out of their state, creating the opening to attract them to Las Vegas. All Las Vegas had to do was to offer a reliable opportunity to displaced business leaders for better profits and unimpeded growth that could not be counted on in California.

Flashing forward a few decades, Las Vegas now has a diversified economy, strong growth and attractiveness, and adequate government resources to maintain a great quality of life. They are now known for their tourist industry and as the home to major business institutions, a place that corporations come to invest.
New Orleans, like Las Vegas, is beloved by tourists from all over the world. That is the first part of a vision that I offer. Cultivate tourism, but at the same time pursue economic diversity. Diversify in much the same way as Las Vegas, take advantage of the outmigration of businesses from big government/high tax cities and states, corporations that cannot expect to make profits or grow under the political climates in their current locations.

Does our ability to attract business sound unrealistic? To nay-sayers it does, but there is ample proof that if we make the effort, then growth will follow.

Proof? Just look around. During the last few decades cities and states all over the South have re-structured their political and economic climates and now demonstrate amazing growth. At the same time New Orleans and Louisiana have clung to the status quo and have seen slow, or even negative growth. Relocation of business from the crushing burdens of big government/high tax states shows no sign of abatement and therefore remains an opportunity for us to tap into.

So, my vision for long stagnant prosperity for our city and its people is to use New Orleans’ unique stardom to nurture the tourism and convention sector and, at the same time, create a political/economic climate that allows us to join in the New South’s attractiveness. Tap into the proven positive outcomes of offering a business climate that lures corporations that are longing to find a home that allows them to profitably grow.

We will have a simple test to determine when our efforts are a success. When we see that Lakefront Airport is not just an entrepôt for visitors, but instead is home to dozens of jets owned by corporations resident to New Orleans and Louisiana we will know.