You’ve probably heard something about Launchpad and Beta, New Orleans’ new, hip shared workspaces for startups. As much as everyone loves the combination of modern design and classic architecture, some small businesses are more concerned about just getting off the ground, especially ones that are just returning to the city after the federal flood. Southern University of New Orleans had these people in mind when they created a business incubator in New Orleans East.  

Here’s a roundup of the week’s developments at the intersection of business and commerce from Silicon Bayou News.

SUNO to Build On-Campus Business Incubator - New Orleans is set to gain another startup incubator with Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) securing financing to launch their own on-campus incubator. SUNO’s incubator will join the ranks of the other New Orleans business accelerators including the Idea Village, Launch Pad Ignition, and the Bio Innovation Center. The chicks are scheduled to start hatching when construction is completed in 2013.

Plans for the state's institutional odd couple to move in together are no more. Southern University at New Orleans and the University of New Orleans will remain independent institiutions. The dramatic debate over merging the NOLA colleges, which took on increasingly racial overtones in its later stages, ended yesterday in the Louisiana House of Representatives. House Speaker Jim Tucker (R-Terrytown) concluded he didn't have enough votes to pass the legislation, and ended debate before a tally could be put on paper.

The state board that oversees education policy marked the first to make any sort of definitive decision in the debate over merging Sothern University at New Orleans with the University of New Orleans. After Gov. Bobby Jindal's 'suggestion' that the idea be 'studied' and a later directive that the study be halted, the Board of Regents' Tuesday afternoon decision to recommend the formation of a University of Greater New Orleans seemed to be a sign of someone with the ability to move the plan forward bucking up.

What with lawsuits and Bobby Jindal involved, the SUNO-UNO merger has only been gaining steam as a hot-button issue over the past few months. But today it seems to be on tap to become an out-and-out cause. The man who can find media attention like a dog can find a duck in the heavy brush, Jesse Jackson, will apparently be in New Orleans today at a rally on the SUNO campus. Look for the complicated crisis to be reduced to a phrase that is easily negotiated with end rhyme. Jackson was in Baton Rogue talking about the merger yesterday.

As a potential merger between Southern University of New Orleans (SUNO) and the University of New Orleans (UNO) is debated and dissected by the public at large, it's easy to forget that the invisible hand of John Lombardi and the LSU brass hold a lot of the power. Yesterday, Lombardi went on a suspension bonanza. First, they halted the search for a UNO chancellor due to apparent "uncertainty." Then, in response to students filing court action against the board that is looking into the merger, the whole study was put on hold. Allen Iverson would be proud, Lombardi!

by Shay Sokol

Pulling an independent, outside voice into the debate over merging the University of New Orleans and Southern Universit at New Orleans (what's so hard about knocking off a letter guys?), The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems presented data on the two schools yesterday in a meeting with the Board of Regents.  The report showed very low enrollment, graduation and retention rates at both schools, while blatantly hinting at a larger problem in the New Orleans education system.