BGR Panel: Regional Collaboration Drives Growth

By Kelly Hite

Source: Biz New Orleans

July 15, 2026

NEW ORLEANS – Regional collaboration emerged as a dominant theme during the Bureau of Governmental Research (BGR) July 9 Breakfast Briefing, where business and economic development leaders said Greater New Orleans must strengthen cross-parish partnerships to attract investment, grow businesses and reverse population decline.

Held at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center in Metairie, the breakfast featured Annalisa Kelly of the Jefferson Parish Economic Development Commission (JEDCO), Walt Leger of New Orleans & Company and Jeff Schwartz, deputy mayor for economic development for the City of New Orleans.

Rebecca Mowbray, president and CEO of BGR, opened the breakfast by highlighting recent population trends, including a roughly 7% decline in Orleans Parish since 2019 while Jefferson Parish’s population has remained relatively stable. Throughout the discussion, the speakers said population growth ultimately reflects a region’s economic strength and its ability to create opportunity for residents.

Regional Collaboration

The panelists said Greater New Orleans already functions as a regional economy, with residents, businesses and major industries crossing parish lines every day.

“We’re here in Jefferson Parish and that’s intentional,” said Mowbray. “The issues that BGR works on don’t stop at the parish lines and neither do the decisions that shape this region.”

Kelly said industries such as manufacturing, distribution, logistics, ports and food and beverage naturally operate across parish lines.

“We will never succeed if we are siloed,” Kelly said. “We are strong as a region. Our economy is an ecosystem that pulls from all the different parishes in the region.”

Schwartz said coordination among the region’s parishes is stronger than it has been in a generation.

“Economies are regional,” Schwartz said. “Companies don’t think about parish lines except when they have to think about a permit.”

Leger said residents routinely live, work and shop across parish lines.

“As somebody who grew up in St. Bernard Parish, who lives in Orleans Parish and who shops in Jefferson Parish a lot, I don’t think we see parish lines day to day as we live our lives,” Leger said. “But there are times when politics and other things drive wedges that we should really resist.”

Collaboration in Action

The panelists pointed to several redevelopment initiatives as examples of how regional collaboration is already generating economic development opportunities.

Kelly highlighted the West End Economic Development District as an example of regional collaboration, describing the joint Orleans-Jefferson initiative to redevelop the historic West End waterfront into a mixed-use destination for restaurants, recreation, tourism and private investment.

“On Mayor Moreno’s first full day of office, she called a meeting between Jefferson and Orleans,” Kelly said. “It was such a positive energy looking at how we could work together to bring this jewel back.”

Leger said regional partnerships allow local governments to focus less on competing for tax revenue and more on expanding economic opportunities.

“We can either keep fighting over who gets the revenue or we could actually generate some revenue — some is better than none,” Leger said.

Leger said the planned Omni Hotel redevelopment reflects that same philosophy of transforming underperforming properties into higher-value assets that generate more economic activity and tax revenue.

“It’s the same thing that we’ve been able to accomplish in the last couple of weeks with the Omni Hotel development,” Leger said. “It’s a piece of property that’s generating $30,000 a year in property tax for the city. It will generate $3.5 million per year at a minimum after they develop the hotel. We should do that more. We should take underperforming properties and develop them into properties that are higher performing.”

“At the end of the day, taking low-performing properties and turning them into high-performing properties is the mission,” Leger said. “It helps alleviate the burden on the residents, on the businesses of our community, it stabilizes budgets and it’s a great win when you can do it collaboratively.”

Editor’s note: This story is part of Biz New Orleans Magazine’s July focus on Jefferson Parish.

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