Week in Review: September 2, 2014

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:

Launch Pad To Open Entrepreneurial Hub & Fresh Food Market at St. Roch

After nine years of vacancy, a 3.5 million dollar restoration, and countless public meetings, the St. Roch Market will re-open. Last week, the city announced that our good friends over at Launch Pad have been chosen as the master lessee for the building. The New Orleans Building Corporation, the city entity that manages the building, named Bayou Secret LLC as the master tenant for the historic market property. The selection is the culmination of a nearly year-long search by Corporate Realty for an operating tenant for the market.

UNO Professor Roussev Receives $300K Grant to Train Students in Cybersecurity

An associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of New Orleans (UNO), Vassil Roussev, has received a two-year, $300,000 grant to offer students cutting-edge training in the field of cybersecurity. The grant, provided by the National Science Foundation, will allow the university to provide a self-contained cybersecuriy lab. UNO says students will install special software on their laptops that will enable them to download different lab scenarios that the instructor has prepared and they will then try to solve realistic cybersecurity problems.

80 New Orleans Neighborhoods are Already Using Social Network Nextdoor

A statistic released in in 2011 reports that only2% of peoples’ Facebook friends are neighbors, yet a more recent survey conducted by social network startup Nextdoor shows that nine out of 10 are willing to share with neighbors. It was a combination of social networking and neighborhood facts that drove Nextdoor founders Nirav Tolia and Sarah Leary to launch the free and platform for people to use to communicate with neighbors.

Enviro-Tech Systems Plans New 10,000 Square Foot Manufacturing Facility in Covington

Enviro-Tech Systems (ETS), a full-service process water treatment manufacturer in Covington, will soon be expanding to a brand new facility to better serve the offshore drilling industry. The nonprofit organization responsible for retaining and attracting business and employment opportunities in the region, the St. Tammany Economic Development Foundation(STEDF), has released details of the new facility, including its 10,000 square foot size valued at over $1 million.

Louisiana Legislature Passes Employee “Password Protection Law”

Author Josh Wood practices from the firm’s New Orleans office as an associate in the Labor and Employment Group. He contributes to Trade Secret Insider, a legal blog committed to providing timely legal insights on trade secrets, non-competes, computer fraud, and data theft. This post was originally published on tradesecretinsider.com and as an article in Volume 23 of the Louisiana Employment Law Letter.