Blade Dynamics to build wind turbine blades in La.

A new partner in Blade Dynamics Ltd. says the company will build advanced wind turbine blades in New Orleans, creating at least 600 jobs over the next decade.

Devens, Mass.-based American Superconductor Corp., which builds equipment for power generators and utilities, acquired 25 percent of Blade Dynamics for $8 million Tuesday. American Superconductor says space at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility will be used for the project.

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Company Returning to New Orleans, Could Create 100 Jobs

Atlantic Metrocast, Inc., a subsidiary of Atlantic Wood Industries of Savannah, Ga., has signed an agreement with the Port of New Orleans to lease seven acres at France Road, to build a pre-stressed concrete production facility - the first of its kind in Southeast Louisiana. The new venture marks a return home for Atlantic, which was originally founded in New Orleans in 1901.

"Our hope is to be in New Orleans for the long term and participate in all of the exciting growth that this great city is experiencing," says William "Bill" Crossman, president of Atlantic Metrocast, Inc. "As a company, we are excited to return to the city of our roots and be able to provide employment in an area that is going through its own renaissance."

In addition to a capital investment of $5 million, the company is expected to boost the local economy with the creation of up to 100 jobs and $2.5 million in payroll with health and 401K benefits. Approximately $160,000 from the state's Economic Development Assistance Program will be used to help provide infrastructure for the company.

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New Orleans area gains 700 jobs in August

The New Orleans area gained 700 jobs last month, even as the state’s unemployment rolls continued to swell, according to data released Friday by the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

By Jen DeGregorio at Nola.com

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Entrepreneurs Leverage New Orleans’s Charm to Lure Small Businesses

IT has been a long time since the word “optimism” was spoken in the same sentence as “New Orleans.”

But a small group of entrepreneurs has been using that word lately to describe their efforts to attract small businesses to New Orleans. For now, their enthusiasm may be greater than their results. But they say the city’s low rents and business tax incentives along with its music and culture have proved to be powerful lures, despite the still-halting efforts to get past the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

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