Greater New Orleans, Inc. is searching for its next president and CEO, and one interesting name has surfaced in chatter surrounding the selection process: Col. Scotty Autin, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans District. GNO Inc. has not announced its selection, and we have not confirmed that Autin has applied, interviewed, or otherwise formally entered the process. For now, his name is simply one we have heard is under consideration.
Still, it is a curious name to surface.
Autin assumed command of the Corps’ New Orleans District in July 2025. Yet the organization he is rumored to be under consideration to lead has increasingly found itself involved in precisely the sort of major infrastructure, maritime, and coastal projects that intersect with the Corps’ work. GNO Inc. announced in June that longtime President and CEO Michael Hecht will become CEO Emeritus next year while a successor assumes daily leadership. Hecht plans to remain involved in major projects and launch an economic development and government relations consulting firm.
Whoever succeeds him will inherit considerably more than a conventional business-recruitment operation. GNO Inc. has coordinated millions of dollars in state-funded Super Bowl infrastructure work, is helping advance a new Mississippi River container terminal, and advocates for coastal protection and maritime development.
The organization’s financial records help illustrate the scope of that work. Its 2025 consolidated audit reports approximately $8 million in cumulative infrastructure costs incurred and reimbursed under two agreements with Louisiana Economic Development related to Super Bowl LIX. About $5 million of that increase occurred during 2025.
A Different New Orleans Nonprofit
First, a distinction worth making: GNO Inc. is separate from New Orleans & Company, the tourism organization formerly known as the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau. Readers may remember our earlier reporting on state funding for New Orleans & Company. Those are different organizations with different missions.
GNO Inc. is a private 501(c)(6) regional economic development organization serving 10 parishes. Its work includes business recruitment and retention, workforce development, and advocacy on infrastructure, insurance, and other business conditions. New Orleans & Company markets the city to visitors and convention planners.
Private nonprofit status does not mean GNO Inc. operates entirely on private money. Its 2025 consolidated audit, covering GNO Inc. and its affiliated Greater New Orleans Development Foundation, documents two Louisiana Economic Development agreements for procurement, project execution, and coordination among agencies and other participants preparing public infrastructure for Super Bowl LIX.
Cumulative costs incurred and reimbursed under those agreements rose from approximately $2.973 million at the end of 2024 to $8.019 million at the end of 2025 — an increase of approximately $5.046 million. These were reimbursements tied to the agreements, rather than a general operating allowance.
The same audit reports approximately $7 million in federal award expenditures during 2025, including about $3.2 million passed through to other recipients. It also identifies $186,357 in federal American Rescue Plan funding administered through the City of New Orleans. That establishes a city funding channel, although the money originated with the federal government.
From Super Bowl Work to a New Port
One of GNO Inc.’s major future projects is the Louisiana International Terminal, planned for Violet in St. Bernard Parish. Its location downriver of the Crescent City Connection would accommodate larger container ships that cannot pass beneath the bridge to reach existing facilities upriver. The Port of New Orleans announced in August that the Army Corps of Engineers had granted the federal permit authorizing construction. The project is a partnership involving the port, Terminal Investment Limited, and Ports America.
GNO Inc.’s role is coordination. In an August update, Hecht said that in 2025, Gov. Jeff Landry appointed him and the organization to help complete the terminal and its associated toll road access corridor. He described that assignment as building on the interagency role GNO Inc. played before the Super Bowl. The port is responsible for designing and building the terminal; the private partners would operate it.
The organization’s policy agenda also calls for coastal restoration, support for Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan, and continued funding for a comprehensive Lower Mississippi River management study. Its infrastructure priorities include roads, drainage, and bridges, while its maritime agenda seeks investment in container capacity and shipbuilding.
These are advocacy priorities, but they demonstrate the range of government, engineering, maritime, and infrastructure issues awaiting GNO Inc.’s next leader.
And Then There’s Col. Autin
All of which brings us back to that interesting name surfacing around GNO Inc.’s search. Col. Scotty Autin’s background overlaps considerably with the work the organization has undertaken. The Houma native’s published biography includes dredging projects in the Galveston District, dam remediation in Iraq, power restoration in Puerto Rico, and service in the response to Hurricane Katrina.
He now commands the Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans District, putting him squarely in the world of waterways, navigation, flood protection and major public infrastructure. He assumed that command only in July 2025. None of that establishes that Autin will become GNO Inc.’s next president and CEO. At this point, we know only that his name has surfaced as someone reportedly under consideration. Whoever the board ultimately selects will inherit an organization operating at the intersection of private economic development, public agencies, major infrastructure projects and taxpayer funding.
But if you’re wondering why the commander of the Army Corps’ New Orleans District might be a name coming up in the search for the next leader of a regional economic development organization, GNO Inc.’s recent portfolio provides some interesting context.
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