Nick Still

            While visiting Idea Village and Launchpad, you could just feel the energy the employees put into their work. Idea Village has become an entrepreneur incubator for New Orleans and has played an integral role in the rebuilding of the city. By helping young innovators learn how to crawl before walking with consultants, business strategies, and other helpful advice, Idea Village has really come through for the city.
            Idea Village really stood out to me since I have never really heard of any organization like it. It really is the definition of innovation. With the entrepreneur challenges they host, it gives a lot of people an opportunity to achieve their dream of becoming an entrepreneur or small business owner. The founders of Idea Village (entrepreneurs themselves), saw a problem with the depleting commercialism in the city, especially with the younger generations. After seeing the problem, the five of them collaborated and fixed it. I think that shows just how much the citizens of New Orleans care about their city.
            Collaborating with Idea Village was Launchpad. At Launchpad, they rented out office space to aspiring entrepreneurs. As you walked in, much like Idea Village, you could sense the hard working atmosphere. I really liked the idea of Launchpad, since it allowed entrepreneurs to gather in a central location and help each other with different situations as they tried to grow on their business. Even if one entrepreneur’s idea was completely different than another’s, they could still come together and bounce ideas off of each other.
            After visiting Idea Village and Launchpad, it further confirmed to me that New Orleans is once again, a growing city. Even though it hasn’t been a decade since Katrina demoralized the city, New Orleans is almost back to their previous stature. In the upcoming decade, look for New Orleans to continue to be a hotspot for new businesses and entrepreneurs.