N.O.-area leaders hope to cash in on Panama Canal expansion

NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans-area leaders hope a trade mission to Panama will result in contracts from the canal's 2014 expansion and help the metro area compete with ports in other states. Mayor C. Ray Nagin and representatives from St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Jefferson parishes headed to the Central American country Saturday to visit two of the country's largest ports during the four-day trip. “This trip is evidence of the commitment I have made to working with our neighboring parishes to create a confederacy of ports from New Orleans to the mouth of the Mississippi with a single mission: to make sure we can compete for this new business that will come as a result of Panama Canal’s expansion,” Nagin said. “The future development of our port systems, from Plaquemines to St. Bernard and all the way to Baton Rouge, is key to our... [read full story]