Week in Review: November 19th, 2012

The Silicon Bayou has been buzzing with tech and entrepreneurial news. Here are the most popular stories published on Silicon Bayou News in the past seven days:

Taking the Startup Plunge: An Interview with Matt Culpepper

Ever wondered who the best Ruby on Rails developer in New Orleans is? What about who solves all technological problems neatly and efficiently? Word on the street (and on AngelList) is it’s Matt Culpepper, CTO, tech Cofounder, and one of the driving forces behind Connect for a Cause. Read this interview with Matt about taking the plunge into the startup world.

PitchNOLA: Community Solutions Awards Three Companies a Total of $12,500

Propeller’s fourth annual PitchNOLA competition kicked off last night with the ten Community Solutions finalists pitching their hearts out for the $5,000 grand prize and a shot at the audience favorite prize of $500. After much deliberation and question asking from the judges, a decision was made. The $5,000 grand prize went to JAC, second place and $4,000 went to Birthmark Doula Collective, and the third place, $3,000 prize went to The New Orleans Fruit Tree Project.  The audience favorite and winner of the $500 prize presented by Baker Donelson was Birthmark Doula Collective.

Email Archiving Tech Company ArcMail Moves to Bossier City

ArcMail, a company which is known for pioneering email archiving technology in the North American market has recently moved into the Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City. The companies provides secure and cost-effective email archiving and management solutions for its customers.

Health Care Tax Credits for Small Businesses

Martin Roth explains how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), or more commonly “Obamacare”, will present some issues for startups and small businesses. The five key points noted are: guaranteed issue, individual mandate, health insurance exchanges, pay or play, and federal subsidies.

Sustainable Grove Plan Wins Grand Prize at PitchNOLA: Lots of Progress

The Lots of Progress competition selected the top 11 applicants to choose from 49 vacant lots around the city and to then pitch an idea that utilizes the vacant lot to benefit the community. First place winner, Get Fruity About Trees, took home the $5,000 grand prize. Goats of Progress came in second, winning $3,000 and Develop Abundance took home $2,000.

Under30CEO Names Top Young Entrepreneurs to Watch in New Orleans

Under30CEO has come out with its own list of the top young NOLA entrepreneurs under the age of 30. Over the summer, they launched a nationwide campaign for the most promising young entrepreneurs from all across the United States. Overall, the selected entrepreneurs had over $14,000,000 in revenues, $1,200,000 in funding and employed over 164 people. Congratulations to all of the winners!  You can read the full article here.

Tech Consultant GCR Inc. Expands to Baton Rouge

Since GCR, Inc.’s acquisition last year by Connecticut private equity firm Clearview Capital, GCR has been on an expansion tear, opening new offices and hiring more employees. A week ago they announced the opening of a new Baton Rouge office, where they are trying to line up new private sector business.  The Baton Rouge expansion comes after GCR’s opening of a new Los Angeles office.

Baton Rouge’s Lamar Media Buys NextMedia Outdoor Inc.

Baton Rouge-based Lamar Advertising Company announced a few weeks back that Lamar Media Corp., a subsidiary of Lamar Outdoor Advertising, was acquiring NextMedia Outdoor Inc. for an estimated $145 million. NextMedia provides outdoor advertising in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Carolina, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.