Interview with Gene Schreiber, Managing Director, World Trade Center of New Orleans By Carol Conway, Director, Global Strategies Council, Southern Growth Policies Board

On February 15th, I spent over an hour at the top of the World Trade Center of New Orleans (WTCNO) interviewing Gene Schreiber, its iconic managing director. I expected to find an empty, battered building; instead I found a thriving hub of daily business. It is the gathering point for the dozens of international delegations that have flocked to New Orleans in the last few months.

The 33-story, riverside WTCNO lost a lot of windows but, unlike many other business headquarters, it was relatively unscathed by Hurricane Katrina. Once people were allowed back into the city (a month after the hurricane) the WTCNO quickly became the temporary headquarters for a number of orphaned businesses, FEMA briefings for visiting dignitaries, and even some of the classes for the historic (HBCU) Dillard University.

Virtually all the foreign visitors are looking for local business partners to assist in the rebuilding efforts, but all came with their hearts on their sleeves. New Orleans is a sentimental favorite for many. The importance of the offer of partnerships is that the destruction is so great, and the rebuilding is so complicated, that American manufacturers do not have the capacity or the technologies required to meet all immediate demands by themselves. Examples of recent visitors include:

• The Swedish Innovators Association came to showcase its highly advanced flood control technologies (including instant flood buffers to surround buildings).
   
• Australia offered to restock several species of fish for the aquarium. It may sound minor, but many of the animals, including many rare species of rays, turtles and frogs, did not survive the heat and neglect. (Gene joked that the aquarium’s impressive collection of piranha didn’t escape.)
   
• Prague pledged $600,000 to help restore certain historic buildings and documents.
   
• France delivered $22 million of private donations raised from French companies.  
   
• Hungary’s Ambassador—who is actually something of a rock star back home—performed in a rock concert in Cleveland with the proceeds going to Katrina families who had fled to that city. 
   
• The Ambassador of Austria recently announced a $1 million contribution to the University of New Orleans’ Center Austria for exchange programs. 
   
• A Brazilian man sent his New Orleans business partner a check for $5,000 to do anything to “help the families of the employees.” The employees refused to cash the check, but were overwhelmed by the gesture. 
   
• China has already sent two delegations. 
   
• Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, France, Holland, Malaysia, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and the U.K.—the list of international visitors goes on and on. And more are booked to come in the weeks ahead.

But WTCNO has also been a hub for American business interests. One of the country’s top consulting and major projects companies called Gene to announce it was moving its annual meeting to New Orleans; it will be the first time this company has held its meeting out of Washington, D.C. and they are expecting more than 600 attendees at the event. The World Trade Centers Association also announced a change in plans—the 2007 annual meeting will be in New Orleans instead of elsewhere. Similar conferences have also been switched to New Orleans.

The chief problem in the New Orleans area for workers is housing—hotels are booked and housing is nowhere to be found. (Oddly enough, some people who have completed renovations cannot get the FEMA trailers removed from their front yards. Other people are still waiting for trailers. To be fair, there may be sanitation issues holding up the transfers. And things are improving daily.)

The WTCNO is also serving as an informal clearinghouse for locating local businesses that have no receptionists, mail, email or land line phones. WTCNO made a concerted effort to track down its 2,000-plus members and eventually found most, although many are still scattered around the country. An amazing 90 out of 100 WTCNO board members are actively participating in WTC meetings, though a few are conferencing in from Houston. This is remarkable given that the population of the City of New Orleans was about 462,000 August 28th, and is now somewhere around 150,000. Mail service is beginning to be restored, but magazine subscriptions remain blocked.

MetroVision, now known as GNO Inc., had already spun off the chamber functions to focus on becoming an economic development organization. Its staff had fallen to eight from 22. The new chamber is only two years old; although promising, it too is struggling for a foothold and is dealing with daily crisis. By default, WTCNO became an additional source for CEOs trying to find their old business partners. WTCNO also provided updates on basic business conditions in the city. For instance, through its networking, WTCNO found 17 K-12 public schools that were open, down from 170 pre-Katrina. The majority of public schools are now charters. A number of private schools have opened as well. (The WTC posted this and other information on its web site in December.)

Gene also said that the Port of New Orleans is back to 70 percent of its pre-Katrina capacity. Just like the cabbies and waiters, Gene thinks the key to the city’s rejuvenation depends on the political commitment to rebuild the levee system to withstand an even stronger hurricane. As it is, time will not permit anything better than a “hardening” of the existing system before the next hurricane season. Nevertheless, a cautious optimism exists. Every day brings new evidence that the old political styles are giving way to decisions that put people first.

Like any other resident, Gene spoke of luck and tragedy. He had evacuated two days in advance to stay with his in-laws 100 miles away. Returning a month later, he found his house only had two inches of water, but that it had created two feet of mold! Luckily, it was a first-floor rental apartment, with no tenants, so his living space was unscathed. Gene was almost embarrassed by his good fortune. Some of his board members had lost their homes and businesses. One member and his three children all lost their homes. In another case, a member and each of his four sons evacuated St. Bernard Parish (directly adjacent to New Orleans) and lost all their homes. But that wasn’t the worst. St. Bernard is famous for its culture of stubborn attachment to the neighborhood and homes that had been passed down through generations; one of the daughters-in-law refused to evacuate, and tragically drowned.

Gene also spoke of the heroics of everyday people, and the elation felt by all when the first formal restaurant reopened in the French Quarter. It was just with paper plates and plastic forks, and only three things on the menu, but no one cared…not even when the dinner rolls turned out to be warm hamburger buns. Today many good restaurants are open in the French quarter, and are packed with celebrants. One famous restaurant lost its entire stock of fine wines, which had been stored in a cellar the length of a city block! The endless days of 95-degree heat destroyed them.

There were many other stories. The hotels were able to keep much of their staff by allowing them to move their families into the rooms. Hospital personnel were not so lucky. Although the families were allowed to move into the hospital, they were eventually evacuated by force…and were ordered to leave their pets behind. Gene described how, two weeks later, several doctors dressed in scrubs, drove to New Orleans, bluffed their way through the federal guards, and recovered a beloved German Shepherd. The dog, which had been left with lots of dog food, had somehow managed to survive the overwhelming heat and gross conditions.

Like every other entity in New Orleans, WTCNO faces a somewhat uncertain future. How many of the 2,000 members will continue paying dues? Will the tourists and business investors come back? The workers? Accustomed to SNAFU conditions, Gene’s final comment was that the final day for FEMA-paid hotel space for displaced residents is the start of Mardi Gras.

The WTCNO has a long and productive history. Founded in 1943, it was the first of what are today nearly 300 WTCs in 78 countries. Membership dues in the WTCNO range from $175 to $400. Given its strategic gateway value, it might be both smart and kind for members of other WTCs (and those who are not) to join up. We lost New York; we can’t afford to lose the remaining icon for WTCs in America. For more information, see www.wtcno.org

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