The New Orleans BioInnovation Center Welcomes Regional Economic Competitiveness Officer
The New Orleans BioInnovation Center (NOBIC), a private, not-for-profit business incubator, supporting entrepreneurship and dedicated to the development of bioscience innovation throughout Louisiana, has named Korey Patty Regional Economic Competitiveness Officer. In this new role Patty is tasked with coordinating resources and facilitating collaboration within South Louisiana’s life sciences industry in conjunction with the Gulf Coast Health Sciences Corridor.
“Korey brings an array of experience in building strong relationships for the benefit of growing key economic sectors to the team,” said NOBIC Executive Director Kris Khalil. “He has experience in developing and executing strategic plans that will benefit the community and our efforts to continue moving the biosciences industry forward across the Gulf Coast.”
NOBIC, as lead of the Gulf Coast Health Sciences Corridor, was awarded an Economic Development Administration (EDA) Build Back Better Regional Challenge Phase I grant. This grant is designed to assist communities in accelerating the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, and building local economies that will be resilient to future economic shocks. The Regional Economic Competitiveness Officer position was created to lead this effort.
“The future of the biosciences industry in south Louisiana is bright,” said Patty. “I look forward to working with public, private, academic and civic leaders to accelerate the collaboration necessary for expansion of this industry through the opportunity with the EDA Build Back Better Regional Challenge.”
Immediately prior to joining NOBIC, Korey served as the Executive Director of Feeding Louisiana, the state association of Louisiana’s five Feeding America food banks. In this role, Korey led Feeding Louisiana’s efforts to support member food banks in providing short-term food relief while seeking long-term solutions to hunger.
His experience also includes business and economic development for the state of Louisiana, as well as management, public policy and advocacy across a variety of industries.
A native of Baton Rouge, LA, Korey is an alum of the University of Tulsa, where he earned a Bachelors of Science in Marketing, and later completed an MBA at Louisiana State University.
Phase I of the EDA Build Back Better Regional Challenge awarded $500,000 to develop a plan to transform the region into a national leader in health sciences. The Build Back Better Regional Challenge assists communities nationwide in their efforts to build back better by accelerating the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and building local economies that will be resilient to future economic shocks. The challenge is the largest economic development initiative from the U.S. Department of Commerce in decades.
The coalition has committed to a focus on addressing acute, infectious, and chronic disease by creating economic opportunity through specialized workforce development with a focus on women, residents in rural areas, and people of color. Further, the coalition intends on strengthening the regions’ research development and commercialization pipeline through new infrastructure and collaborative efforts to leverage industry expertise and promote startup creation and investment. The coalition believes that a strategic investment in South Louisiana’s health services industry cluster will help to create a resilient and equitable regional economy and mitigate certain state health disparities.
Phase II finalists will compete for significant implementation assistance. The EDA will award 20 to 30 coalitions each up to $100 million to execute their plans in their communities. Learn more about the Build Back Better Regional Challenge at eda.gov/arpa/build-back-better.
For more information on NOBIC, please visit neworleansbio.com.