Entrepreneur Week Kicks Off in New Orleans
Event Is Meeting Of Minds For Upstart Businesses
March 21, 2010
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 entrepreneurs and encouraging innovation.
WDSU caught up with some local business owners who said events like this helped them come up with the perfect mix.
Cordina mixed drinks are packaged at a factory in Kenner. The brand is the brainchild of three Rummel High School graduates after a trip to the beach.
"We were told we couldn't have glass on the beach, so our ice chest was limited to just canned beer and bottled water," Sal LaMartina said. "We noticed our nephew drinking out of a Capri Sun pouch and we thought to ourselves, why not package our favorite frozen cocktail in a pouch?"
The idea that was hatched in 2007 just launched last April. It's not on grocery store shelves across Louisiana and in a dozen other states.
It's that kind of ingenuity that the Idea Village is hoping to foster with its Entrepreneur Week.
"New Orleans is becoming this national center of innovation and entrepreneurship, and these folks are coming in town because they believe something special is going on in New Orleans," said Tim Williamson, of the Idea Village.
"It encompasses more than just starting a business; it's creating an environment of investors and people that are willing to take risks," said attendant Leonard Hinton.
Entrepreneur Week is a blend of ideas and resources, a mix even the employees at Cordina can enjoy. With there business not quite a year old yet, the high school friends said they are ready to change the mixed-drink industry one pouch at a time.
This was the second year for Entrepreneur Week, and interest and attendance has more than doubled from last year.
At the end of Entrepreneur Week, five new businesses will have the chance to pitch their idea to a group of investors with deep pockets looking to help a new business expand.