The Greater Good: BioDistrict New Orleans Finalizes Strategic Master Plan
On Thursday, March 14, BioDistrict New Orleans’ Board of Directors approved their Strategic Master Plan, “BioDistrict New Orleans Economic Development & Placemaking.” For the past six months, the Board of Directors has been engaged in a strategic planning effort designed to create a shared vision for the BioDistrict and a district-wide strategy to guide the BioDistrict in fulfilling its mission to grow the biosciences industry in Greater New Orleans to create jobs and economic opportunity for all New Orleanians. The Strategic Planning effort was supported by the New Orleans Community Support Foundation (NOCSF), a supporting organization of the Greater New Orleans Foundation; the City of New Orleans; the Downtown Development District; and the Kresge Foundation.
In November 2023, the Louisiana State Bond Commission unanimously approved a cooperative endeavor agreement with the BioDistrict New Orleans for economic development revenue sharing, following prior unanimous approval on October 18 by the state’s Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. This agreement paves the way for a $25 million match of the City of New Orleans’ $70.65 million revenue sharing agreement with the BioDistrict (which was approved in 2022) over the next 17 years.
The Greater New Orleans Foundation has made a generational commitment to catalyzing the growth of a dynamic, job-creating BioDistrict for our region, and a strategic plan commissioned by the Foundation in 2018 called for the economic development revenue sharing agreements recently approved by both the State of Louisiana and City of New Orleans. Andy Kopplin, CEO & President of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, serves as the Chair of the BioDistrict, an economic development district that works to grow the biosciences sector of the New Orleans economy. To read the rest of this article, click here.
The BioDistrict is home to the Louisiana State University’s Health Sciences Center, Tulane University’s Schools of Medicine and Public Health and Tropical Medicine, the University Medical Center operated by LCMC Health, the Regional Veteran’s Administration Hospital, the Louisiana Cancer Research Center, the New Orleans BioInnovation Center, and Ochsner Health’s administrative offices in Benson Tower.
The BioDistrict works to increase jobs and diversify our economy by positioning New Orleans as a global center of excellence in healthcare specialties (e.g. cancer, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases). It strives to be a hub for healthcare industry anchors, world class research, biotech startups, and small businesses and to create a model for equity and economic inclusion, including small business creation and workforce training to increase the wealth and opportunities of our residents.