New Orleans calling

• By GARY PERILLOUX
• Advocate business writer
• Published: Nov 9, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Mix some New Orleans newbies with a patron saint of philanthropy.

Fold in a gaggle of Googlers.

Stir in a YouTube production.

And — voila! — you’ve got the recipe for “504ward: New Orleans Calling.”

504ward is an initiative cooked up by The Idea Village, a 9-year-old nonprofit group that encourages entrepreneurial ventures in the New Orleans region.

When local demographers estimated an influx of 3,000 new Generation Y residents into post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans — members of the millennial generation who were drawn by the vision of rebuilding one of the world’s iconic cities — Idea Village leaders knew they needed to act fast.

One missing ingredient remained: What would keep this creative pool of twentysomethings and thirtysomethings there and what could attract more of them?

Enter the patron saint of philanthropy, Leslie Jacobs, a New Orleans insurance executive and education activist who put up $100,000 for some bright individual or group to fulfill the 504ward vision.

“I have a daughter in this demographic who said she would never come back to New Orleans,” said Jacobs. “And then Hurricane Katrina hit and she wanted to come back and be a part of rebuilding. She had friends who wanted to be part of rebuilding. So I sat back and said, ‘This is our future. If we can keep these people here, it will just change the future of this city.’”

Whoever comes up with the best business plan for 504ward and spends at least one year implementing it in New Orleans will win the $100,000, along with more than $100,000 in matching office space, legal, marketing and other services donated by businesses.

Applications are due Dec. 4 at 504ward.com and the winner will be chosen from five finalists in March, with heavy input from millennials themselves.

One young New Orleanian who thought she’d never return is 22-year-old Jessica White, who had designs on democratic action and political change in Washington, D.C. In her sophomore year, her geographic focus and career plans changed radically.

“In my mind, I was going to go to D.C. and change the world,” she said. “But after Hurricane Katrina, there was this whole opening up of opportunities in New Orleans and all these new nonprofits and organizations trying to create change. And I realized if I wanted to change the world, D.C. didn’t need me, but New Orleans did.”