In Name Only

The headquarters of Intermarine Inc. exist in New Orleans in name only.

What Can A Company Do When "New Orleans" Is So Bad?

The company's chief executive, chief financial officer and most of its senior staff live and work in Houston. Most of the company's clients are in Houston, too.

"The official headquarters is in New Orleans. There is no desire to change the headquarters," said Mike Dumas, the company's chief financial officer. "But now most of our employees are in Texas. Most key personnel is in Texas, and we're hiring mostly from within the Texas area. At the end of the day, we have to attract high-quality employees who are comfortable with the living environment."

In order to do that, the company has slowly and relatively quietly moved its base of operations to the neighboring state.

Intermarine is one in a long list of companies that -- citing concerns about infrastructure, corruption, crime, taxes and work force -- have shifted operations from the metro area. Katrina exacerbated those pre-existing issues.

I can relate to this business. I have been living in Houston, Texas and I feel torn right now. Part of me would like to return to New Orleans, however, I realize that it is not feasible economically as well as mentally.