Eric Reisner, vice president, strategic programs, for Johnson Controls, Inc. (JCI), was also on the Gulf Coast mission. His company is on one too.
   The company's MetroMarkets strategy is "a three- pronged approach to economic development in local communities," says the company. "Using community development and local partnership development to spur a growth in our customer base, Johnson Controls also pursues work force development initiatives as a means to recruit new, diverse employees, develop the talent poll for local businesses, and generally build community strength by creating a work force with the skills and job opportunities that lead to better, higher- paying jobs."
   "We initially developed the MetroMarkets Strategy as a pilot program in Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Baltimore," said Reisner in a

Eric Reisner, Johnson Controls

pre- trip release. "Once Hurricane Katrina presented its challenges we decided there was no better time and place to implement the strategy, so we added New Orleans."
   In addition to working with the Contemporary Art Center to fund a fast- tracked recovery and opening, JCI helped rebuild the mechanical and electrical infrastructure of buildings at Tulane University in New Orleans. Going beyond its traditional scope of services, Johnson Controls also worked to ensure that university employees had primary and secondary education options for their children so the employees could return to work.
   "Tulane was trying to charter a couple of the Orleans Parish schools … to create a school system," Reisner says. "Tulane's employees are everything from cafeteria workers to deans, so if you got all their kids and the local community kids to attend the same school, that's pretty special. We helped with the chartering of the schools, made sure they got open on time, led the effort to get the buildings up and running, subcontracted on 15- 30 day terms with local contractors, and our terms were four to five months." The company took the top line, he says, and left the working out of terms with insurers and FEMA for later. In addition, JCI is making its own investment with a new office on Perdido St.
   As for the Gulf Coast mission, sooner vs. later was a recurring theme.
   "They did a good job of showing us steps that are being taken," says Reisner. "But they never communicated a plan of going to Category 5 levees, and there is no commitment on barrier islands to protect them from storms."
   Both executives interviewed couldn't help but point out some differences in how things have progressed in Louisiana relative to the state to the immediate east, where Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has pursued a business- like recovery program that has involved such luminaries as urban renewal champion Andres Duany and former Netscape and FedEx executive Jim Barksdale.
   "One of the things we did tell the department was to make sure the two areas leveraged off each other," says Little of the two- state region. Reisner is a little more direct.
   "There are a lot of unknowns on the Louisiana side, and all action on the Mississippi side," he observes. "There was more devastation on the Mississippi side, but that was a 'good thing' – it all got taken out to sea versus soaking in 12 feet of water for 12 weeks."
   Reisner says the Louisiana side of the mission emphasized higher education and transportation assets, while Mississippi emphasized "getting stuff done." He sees it as a reflection of true ego set- asides:
   "All due credit to Haley Barbour, Jim Barksdale was the No. 1 contributor to his opponent when he ran for governor," says Reisner. "But he said, 'You're the guy to build this commission.' He was not worried about party lines or even personal ego. It's a very interesting tag team – Jim tells people he has no investments in the Gulf South, so he's the best person to run it. He is a visionary, and can turn a concept into a moneymaking deal. Needless to say, there was not a counterpart on the Louisiana side."