Week In Review: Forbes, Biotech, Cleantech, & Second Line

Here’s our roundup of the week’s top tech business news. First, the most popular stories Silicon Bayou News published in the last seven days:

FORBES covers LA Digital Media Incentives, Call Them “Best Tax Incentives in the U.S.” –  Louisianians in the startup or tech space should be very familiar by now with the the state’s Digital Media Tax Credits, which offer transferable tax credits up to 35% of digital media project costs spent in-state.  And since Forbes just wrote an article covering those efforts,  now the rest of the country knows about it as well.
GNOINC Study: New Orleans Prime To Become Hub For CleanTech – Greater New Orleans Inc. (GNOINC), the regional economic development arm for the 10-parish region, announced that they have launched a Sustainable Industries Initiative to position metro New Orleans as a hub for businesses that tackle environmental challenges. The goal of the Initiative is to build and grow companies that create products and provide environmental-minded services.

Freeman School honors Entrepreneurs of the Year – The Freeman School honored Albert R. Lepage, chairman of Lepage Bakeries Inc., as Tulane Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year and Phyllis E. Cassidy, executive director and founder of Good Work Network, as Tulane Social Entrepreneur of the Year at its annual Tulane Council of Entrepreneurs Awards Gala.
New Orleans Technology Biotech Startups On Display Next Week – On May 17, the New Orleans BioInnovation Center (NOBIC) is holding their Technology Showcase to display the cutting edge bio technologies spinning out of local universities. NOBIC Interns will pitch the companies they have been working on throughout 2011., which include Orthopeptide, enVivaTech, Scout Diagnostics, MiniVax, Home Point Testing, WibiWorks and Chosen Diagnostics.

Discussion of Innovation and Business Ignites Dialogue at Inaugural Second Line Conference –  On May 2 and 3, leading thinkers, entertainers and entrepreneurs from across the country gathered in New Orleans to listen, exchange thoughts and have a good time at the first annual Second Line Conference. Held in XLIV in Champions Square, attendees gathered each day to listen to speakers like James Carville, Treme’s Wendell Pierce, Grammy-winner Irvin Mayfield Jr., Kickstarter Founder Perry Chen, Vogue Contributing Editor Julia Reed, Chef John Besh, Hornets’ CEO Hugh Weber, Chief Content Director for Playboy Jimmy Jellinek and more, as they discussed innovation in business, entertainment and New Orleans in today’s economy.

Lamar’s Billboards Going Energy Efficient, To Have Solar Panels – Lamar Advertising, the publicly traded Baton Rouge-based outdoor advertising company, is installing solar panels and energy-efficient LED lighting on the signs in Baton Rouge and more than 70 additional markets. The total effort is to cost over $10 million and will equip more than 1,000 billboards across the state with the capacity to generate solar or wind energy by 2012. The work is partially paid for by a $2.25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, but Lamar is spending its own money on the rest.

And here are three more posts we think are important, thought-provoking, or fun:

Receivables Exchange to Offer $5,000 for Customer Referrals – New Orleans-based The Receivables Exchange has been on a tear recently, growing 466% in 2010 and winning the 2011 Emerging Growth Company award from the Association for Corporate Growth. Last week, the company also announced that it is now offering $5,000 per referral to those who introduce eligible businesses to its working capital marketplace.

Universal Data Chosen for Tech Elite 250 – New Orleans-based Universal Data, Inc., a networking and systems integration company, was chosen for CRN’s Tech Elite 250 Award. CRN’s annual Tech Elite list highlights 250 resellers in the data center and IT infrastructure space that have invested in certifications ranging across a variety of technologies and IT vendor programs. Solution providers on the Tech Elite 250 increase their value by earning some of the most difficult certifications from some of the biggest names in IT, including Citrix, Dell, Microsoft, NetApp, IBM, HP, EMC, VMware and Cisco.

Louisiana Tech Researcher Presents on Eco-Friendly Nanotechnology at National Conference – Dr. Yuri Lvov, professor of chemistry and T.C. Pipes endowed chair in micro and nanosystems at Louisiana Tech University, recently led a symposium at the 241st Conference of the American Chemical Society (ACS), discussing his application of a more eco-friendly and cost-effective nano-material that can be used to significantly improve the properties of plastics, paints and other synthetic composites.