JP Morgan Chase awards $500,000 in grants to fund New Orleans BioInnovation and health sciences industry
JP Morgan Chase investing in New Orleans’ biomedical industry — awarding $500,000 in grants to four entities in the city that focus on small business growth and life sciences.
The grant commitment is all a part of the company’s nation-wide initiative to help grow small businesses in specific industries — called clusters. It also goes hand in hand with the city’s five-year economic growth plan Prosperity NOLA.
Half a million dollars in grants were awarded to the New Orleans BioInnovation Center — a local life sciences business incubator; New Orleans Business Alliance — the city’s official economic development agency; Good Work Network — a company that assist women and minority owned small business; and the Idea vVllage — a group that aims to keep entrepreneurs in New Orleans.
President of the BioInnovation Center — Aaron Miscenich says this funding will his group and others add even more value to the city’s growing biomedical and life sciences industries.
“You have billions of dollars of clinical facilities going up. You have a new teaching hospital, the VA hospital,” said Miscenich. “At the same time, you already have these universities here with fantastic research bases in place. Really, we’re just making the most of those assets.”
During the presentation, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said as city approached 300th anniversary — it’s important to look at how New Orleans looks today and what it will look like in the next decade.
CEO of the New Orleans Business Alliance Melisa Ehlinger says with this funding, they will be able to better focus their resources on the growing the biomedical industry — an industry could easily rival that of Houston’s and Birmingham’s in the future.
“Everything from phlebotomists to physicians, we want to make sure they’re getting top notch talent,” said Ehlinger. “We want to make sure we’re plugging in our local residents to those opportunities and the local small businesses to the procurement opportunities.”
Miscenich says these grants are great examples of how people are starting recognize the talent and potential already here in the city and how they’re coming here to make the most of it.
