10 Years In, New Orleans Entrepreneur Week Continues to Bring Entrepreneurs Together

After a decade of cultivating entrepreneurial spirit in New Orleans, The Idea Village will continue to bring entrepreneurs together during New Orleans Entrepreneur, running March 19-23, 2018.

Executive producer of New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) Victoria Phipps said the original event emerged from Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. After the storm, MBA students came to the city to help small businesses bounce back. While The Idea Village hosted these students, the company recognized the need for community efforts and developing relationships.

“We decided to officially become New Orleans Entrepreneur Week to provide direct resources to founders and local companies, while educating and inspiring the masses,” Phipps said.

In the following years, New Orleans’s population began to rebound, bringing with it a growing entrepreneurial community, and Phipps said NOEW grew along with it.

“Following the early, post-Katrina years NOEW has grown to become a catalyst and key contributor to the growth of this ecosystem, attracting founders from other community and attracting investors at the company and community level.” Phipps said.

Phipps said entrepreneurship can be a lonely venture, and building a community helps entrepreneurs engage with each other to hash out ideas and help each other grow.

Phipps said she contributes NOEW’s success to two groups: the internal team at The Idea Village and the people of New Orleans.

She said the internal team strives to provide an insightful and engaging event every year that keeps people coming back and attracting new attendees. They do this by finding passionate producers, speakers, sponsors and founders who give unique experience and insight to the conference.

Phipps said New Orleanians create a great atmosphere for the national attendees and speakers participating. “Their authentic personalities and ideas captivate other organizations inside and outside of the city to want to be a part of NOEW,” Phipps said.

Phipps said in the decade since NOEW began, New Orleans’s entrepreneur climate has grown immensely. According to Entrepreneur.com, New Orleans places within the top five cities where entrepreneurial communities are booming due to many different New Orleans companies being a part of the Fortune 500.

With a full calendar of events is not being released until next week, The Idea Village is already offering city-wide events across different entrepreneurial focuses from fashion to healthcare. These events will be hosted and presented alongside New Orleans organizations such as Propeller Incubator, the Urban League of New Orleans and New Orleans Fashion Week.

Attendees can look forward to the final schedule release on February 21, the same day pre-registration begins for the event.