The Economic Development and Special Development Projects Committee of the New Orleans City Council met on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. The meeting featured a presentation from Dr. Jenny Mains, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, and Jeff Schwartz, Director of the Office of Housing and Community Development, on the administration's economic development priorities and major special projects. Committee members present included Chairperson Matthew Willard, Aimee McCarron, Eugene J. Green, and Jason Hughes; Councilmember Lesli Harris (District B) attended as a non-member. Committee member Jean-Paul "JP" Morrell was absent. Public comment was heard, and several key discussion items were addressed, though the meeting adjourned without a formal vote due to a lack of quorum.
Here, Councilmember Green, Councilmember Hughes. We do not have a quorum, but we can go to item number three, a presentation on the administration's economic development priorities and special projects by Dr. Jenny Mains, the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, and Jeff Schwartz, the director of Office of Housing and Community Development. Thank you so much. Dr. Maines, it's a pleasure to have you before the Economic Development Committee. To the members of the public, we wanted this to be sort of an introductory meeting for Dr. Mains to share her vision for the Office of Economic Development and all the different departments and leaders who report to Dr. Maines. We'll get an overview of some of the bigger economic development projects going on in the city right now. And we'll receive that update from Mr. Schwartz. So Dr. Mains, at this time, the floor is yours. Good morning, and thank you so much for having me here. Whenever I got the news, I was very excited to come here and present what the administration has for this 100 day 100, at least the first 100 days, and then moving forward. Like it would say, I'm Jenny Maines, and I'm here with part of my group, and also behind we have three, if they can stand up. We have Bruda, Margaret, and Andrew. They're a part of our economic development group. And we are grateful. Well, I'm grateful for them, and because they have been so great to this specific economic development project. So we are the face right here, but behind us is a group of people that are working every day. So it has been they've been working on the back in silence, but I want to recognize them and their work that they have done for the city of New Orleans. So thank you very much to all of them. Today we're gonna walk through what we are structuring in economic development. I have met with some of the council members, and I am working to meet with the rest so we can have a one-on-one and see um specifically in each district, how can we partner up and work together on what they have heard from their district and how we can work together to build economic development in each district. So to start with the presentation, umic development under this administration is structured with deputy mayors. In this case, I would go um the first is the people of New Orleans, then is the mayor, and in my department for the deputy mayor of economic development, I oversee seven seven different um seven different departments. Office of economic development, director of house, I mean I'm sorry, housing and community development, workforce development, and cultural economy film, supply diversity, and night economy. That's what my um my office oversees and it actually does um comes together with what it is economic development, as we can see in order for economic development to succeed, we need um our community development housing. We need our workforce, and that's something that it has been one of the targets for the 100 days to keep building our ecosystem around economic development, and along with the other departments. So if we go if we continue to the next slide. Um a little bit about me. I was appointed by the mayor in 20 January 2026. It feels like a year already. It has we have started um this journey into um coming in and developing this economic for the city of New Orleans. Um that's my role, this whole portfolio that I shared previously, and we are focused on coordinating an execution-driven um strategies. And if we move on into what's our mission, the mission that we have is to drive inclusive and sustainable economic growth, the strength of this neighborhood, support businesses, and expands opportunity across New Orleans. Um equity and execution are not competing goals. It's they must work together in order for us to move forward with our city. And our mission is economic development for all areas from New Orleans East to Algiers, um, and Savalize downtown and protecting our cultural economy as well. So moving on to the next slide. Our core role, what it is in the 100 day plans is the major uh major protective coordination, business recruitment and retention that we have already started, and we are creating a group that can go out and because normally um economic development we always think about okay, who are we gonna bring from the outside, like what other big company? But we are also trying to focus on what about the ones that stayed, the ones that didn't went to another parish or the ones that didn't went to another state. So we are having we are working to put a group together so that we can reach out to the ones that stay and see how can we help so that they can stay in business and and thrive. Um another core core core role is initiative and deal of the structuring. Public-private partnership, it's another one that um that in it it's needed in order to bring economic development in our city. How how can we connect with the private sector and together um bring business retention and also continue with what what's the plan for our economic development? Intergovernmental alignment as well, how can we just together work together commercial corridor, um, that reliability? We have a lot going on on that that uh we're very excited on the east, and um that I will explain shortly how how are we gonna how we plan to um to do that?