New Orleans Office of Economic Development: Programs and Incentives

The New Orleans Office of Economic Development (OED) administers a portfolio of business attraction, retention, and workforce incentive programs that operate within one of the most complex regulatory environments in the Gulf South. This page covers the office's defined mandate, the mechanics of its primary incentive tools, the business scenarios where those tools apply, and the decision points that determine program eligibility. Understanding this landscape matters because Louisiana's layered incentive structure — combining state, parish, and municipal programs — requires applicants to navigate multiple approval authorities simultaneously.

Definition and scope

The New Orleans Office of Economic Development is a division of the City of New Orleans executive branch, operating under the authority of the Mayor's office and the broader framework established by the City-Parish consolidated government (New Orleans Consolidated City-Parish). Its mandate centers on stimulating private investment, expanding employment, and growing the tax base within Orleans Parish.

Scope and coverage limitations: This page addresses programs and incentives administered at the municipal level within Orleans Parish. It does not cover incentive programs available exclusively in Jefferson Parish, St. Tammany Parish, or other surrounding jurisdictions — those fall outside OED's geographic authority. State-level programs administered directly by the Louisiana Department of Economic Development (LED), such as the LED FastStart workforce training program or the Quality Jobs Program (Louisiana Department of Economic Development), require separate applications to Baton Rouge and are not processed through OED. Federal programs such as New Markets Tax Credits are also not OED-administered, though OED may coordinate referrals. Businesses located in unincorporated areas adjacent to Orleans Parish are not covered by this resource's direct incentive authority.

How it works

OED functions as a front-door coordinator and direct administrator. For state incentive programs requiring local endorsement — including the Louisiana Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) and Enterprise Zone program — OED issues a required resolution of support from the City before applications advance to the state. For locally administered tools, OED manages the application intake, underwriting review, and compliance monitoring directly.

The office works in close coordination with the New Orleans City Planning Commission, the New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits, and the New Orleans Assessor's Office to verify land use eligibility, zoning conformance, and property tax status before approvals are issued.

Key locally administered tools include:

  1. Economic Development Fund (EDF) Loans — Direct gap financing for small businesses and nonprofits with demonstrated financing gaps, typically structured as subordinate debt at below-market rates.
  2. Commercial Corridors Program — Façade improvement and physical rehabilitation grants targeting businesses located on designated commercial corridors in underserved neighborhoods.
  3. Enterprise Zone (EZ) Tax Credits — Louisiana's Enterprise Zone program (Louisiana Department of Economic Development — Enterprise Zone) provides a one-time $3,500 tax credit per net new job and a 1.5% sales/use tax rebate on qualifying expenditures; Orleans Parish businesses must obtain OED's local endorsement before submitting to the state.
  4. Industrial Tax Exemption Program (ITEP) Local Endorsement — Following the 2016 executive order restructuring ITEP, local governmental bodies including OED gained veto authority over exemption applications. OED evaluates the share of payroll, benefits, and local hiring commitments before issuing a recommendation (Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry — ITEP).
  5. Opportunity Zone Coordination — Orleans Parish contains federally designated Opportunity Zones under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (26 U.S.C. § 1400Z-1); OED facilitates investor connections and project screening for qualifying census tracts.

Common scenarios

Three business situations account for the majority of OED program interactions:

Scenario 1 — Small retail or restaurant expansion. A local operator with 8 employees seeking to expand to a second location on a designated commercial corridor typically accesses the Commercial Corridors Program for physical improvements and applies simultaneously for Enterprise Zone eligibility. OED reviews both tracks concurrently to reduce the total time-to-approval.

Scenario 2 — Manufacturing or industrial facility siting. A manufacturer considering a facility in New Orleans East or the Lower Ninth Ward will encounter ITEP as the primary incentive vehicle. Because ITEP exemptions historically covered 100% of eligible manufacturing property taxes for 10 years — a structure modified by Executive Order JBE 2016-73 to require local endorsement — OED's review of projected job creation, average wages, and local hiring commitments is now a mandatory gateway step.

Scenario 3 — Technology firm or creative industry relocation. A firm relocating from outside Louisiana with 25 or more projected employees may qualify for the Quality Jobs Program at the state level (up to a 6% payroll rebate for qualifying industries per LED), while simultaneously pursuing an OED-facilitated Opportunity Zone equity investment if the target location falls within a qualifying census tract.

Decision boundaries

The critical eligibility questions that determine which programs apply are not interchangeable — an application that qualifies for one tool may be disqualifying for another.

Location test: Programs such as the Commercial Corridors Program require a business to be physically situated on a city-designated corridor. Businesses one block off a designated corridor do not qualify under that program, regardless of neighborhood or investment size. The New Orleans City Planning Commission maintains the authoritative corridor map.

Employment threshold test: Enterprise Zone and Quality Jobs require net new job creation above baseline. Businesses that are relocating existing jobs from one Orleans Parish address to another — rather than adding net new positions — do not satisfy the net-new-job requirement.

Ownership and control test: EDF Loans impose a requirement that the business be at least 51% owned and controlled by the applying party. Franchise operations with out-of-state franchisor control structures may not meet this threshold.

ITEP vs. EZ comparison: ITEP and Enterprise Zone credits address fundamentally different cost categories. ITEP targets property tax obligations on qualifying manufacturing capital investments, while Enterprise Zone credits address job creation costs and sales tax on construction materials. A manufacturing business may pursue both simultaneously, but the ITEP exemption does not reduce payroll tax obligations, and the EZ credit does not offset property taxes — the two programs operate on non-overlapping bases.

Applicants navigating the full incentive landscape are directed to the New Orleans Metro area regional governance framework and to the broader overview of New Orleans departments and agencies to identify which approvals must occur in sequence versus in parallel. The index of this reference site provides orientation across the full scope of civic topics covered.

References

Read Next

New Orleans Office of Economic Development: Programs and Incentives This page covers the office's defined mandate, the mechanics of its primary incentive tools, the business scenarios where... New Orleans as a Consolidated City-Parish: How It Works ANA › United States Authority › Louisiana State Authority › New Orleans Metro Authority › New Orleans as a Consolidated... New Orleans City Planning Commission: Role and Processes ANA › United States Authority › Louisiana State Authority › New Orleans Metro Authority › New Orleans City Planning...