News

Banner Joins Mayor’s Technical Advisory Committee for New Orleans

Monday, December 1, 2007

New Orleans Mayor, C. Ray Nagin, along with Executive Director of the Office of Recovery Management, Dr. Edward Blakely, will convene a group of nationally recognized experts to advise ORM staff and other stakeholders.

Under the leadership of Dr. Edward J. Blakely, a nationally recognized expert in economic and urban development, a technical advisory committee (TAC) has been assembled to provide technical advice in the areas of regional planning and transportation, real estate development, urban design, commercial finance, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs for housing and energy and the environment. The TAC is needed to advise and assist both the ORM staff and Parish-wide Recovery Committee in best practices relevant to rebuilding New Orleans.

Michael Banner has been invited to participate to offer his experience in implementing creative financial solutions for revitalizing distressed inner-city neighborhoods of Los Angeles. He is leading community development finance professional and has served in an advisory capacity, with the Urban Land Institute (ULI), in the cities of Washington, DC, Camden, New Jersey, and Jersey City, New Jersey. ULI, a Washington, D.C. - based non-profit real estate think tank, specializes in land use issues to: "provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide."

Banner, President and CEO of the Los Angeles LDC, Inc., a non-profit community development financial institution with a mission to provide capital and advisory services to foster positive community development impacts in distressed neighborhoods by aligning the needs of its borrowers and investors. The organization had funded or place over $150 Million into distressed census tracts in Los Angeles; additionally, he has served as a ULI Inner City Advisor and currently serves as a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute and is the Past Chair of the ULI Los Angeles District Council.

The ORM Advisory Committee will be held in New Orleans and will run from Thursday, January 11, 2008 through Saturday, January 12, 2008. It will be lead by Dr. Edward J. Blakely, Executive Director of the Office of Recovery Management.

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