# New Orleans Business Licenses Scraper — New Business Leads (`groundplanes/nola-occupational-business-licenses`) Actor

Scrape City of New Orleans occupational business licenses via the official open-data API: business name, owner, business type, license number, start date, address, ZIP, phone (opt-in, as published), mailing address and coordinates. Filter by start date, type, name and ZIP for New Orleans B2B leads.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/groundplanes/nola-occupational-business-licenses.md
- **Developed by:** [John](https://apify.com/groundplanes) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Business, Marketing
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.10 / 1,000 business licenses

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

The **New Orleans business licenses scraper** gives you one row per occupational business license for **New Orleans, Louisiana**, straight from the **City of New Orleans** via the official data.nola.gov open-data API. No login or coding needed: run it in your browser, on a schedule, or through the Apify API, and export results as **JSON, CSV or Excel**.

Get newly started and active **City of New Orleans (Orleans Parish)** businesses as a ready-to-use lead list: business name, owner, business type, license number, start date (including planned openings), address, ZIP, phone (opt-in, when the city publishes it), mailing address and coordinates. Data comes from the official open-data API ([data.nola.gov dataset hjcd-grvu, "Occupational Business Licenses"](https://data.nola.gov/d/hjcd-grvu)). The dataset is refreshed **daily** (last refresh at build time: 2026-10-16); the newest real start date at build time was 2026-10-15.

### What you get

Each row is **one occupational business license as published by the City of New Orleans** (businesses that completed licensing; temporary licenses are not included by the city). Rows are sorted **newest business start date first** with a stable `:id` tiebreak, so large runs never skip or repeat rows. About 10 license numbers are published twice (only ~2 are exact copies; the rest list different mailing addresses). By default (`dedupeLicenses`) you get one row per license number, and `allMailingAddresses` keeps every distinct mailing address, so nothing is lost.

#### Sample output (real run, `includePhone: true`)

```json
{
  "businessName": "CREAM DADDY, LLC",
  "ownerName": "CREAM DADDY, LLC",
  "businessType": "Specialty Food Stores, All Other",
  "licenseNumber": "106028620",
  "startDate": "2026-10-15",
  "address": "2230 URSULINES AVE",
  "suite": null,
  "city": "NEW ORLEANS",
  "state": "LA",
  "zip": "70119",
  "zipFull": "70119-3530",
  "phone": "(720) 633-4348",
  "phoneE164": "+17206334348",
  "phoneExtension": null,
  "startsInFuture": false,
  "mailingAddress": "2230 URSULINES AVE, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70119-3530",
  "allMailingAddresses": [
    "2230 URSULINES AVE, NEW ORLEANS, LA 70119-3530"
  ],
  "latitude": 29.970622106225715,
  "longitude": -90.07571664619175,
  "source": "City of New Orleans via data.nola.gov"
}
```

Missing coordinates are `null` (about 24% of rows; the city publishes them as 0). With `includePhone` off (default), `phone`, `phoneE164` and `phoneExtension` are left out.

### Use cases

- **B2B sales:** reach brand-new New Orleans businesses that need insurance, accounting, payroll, banking, signage, websites or POS.
- **Restaurant and bar suppliers:** `typeContains: ["Restaurant", "Drinking Places"]`.
- **Contractor and trade lists:** `typeContains: ["Contractor"]`.
- **Market research:** new-business formation by type and ZIP.

### How to scrape New Orleans business licenses

1. Click **Try for free** (or **Start**) on this page. A free Apify account is enough.
2. Leave the prefilled input to get a quick sample, or set the filters described below.
3. Set **maxItems** to cap how many rows (and how much) a run returns.
4. Click **Start** and wait a few seconds to a minute.
5. Download the results as JSON, CSV or Excel, or connect them to Google Sheets, Zapier, Make or a webhook.

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| openedSince | Optional real date, YYYY-MM-DD. Invalid dates fail fast with a clear message. Empty = all ~38,000 licenses |
| typeContains | Business type text, e.g. `Restaurant`, `Contractor`, `Salon`, `Home Based` |
| nameContains | Matches business name or owner |
| zipCodes | 5-digit ZIPs, e.g. `70112` |
| excludeSpecialEventVendors | Default false. On drops ~8,300 special-event vendor licenses (~22%); the ~69 rows with no business type are kept |
| excludeFutureStartDates | Default false: the ~12 licenses with a start date after today are included and flagged `startsInFuture: true`. Most are planned openings in the next weeks (fresh leads); dates in 2027 or later may be typos. On = drop them |
| dedupeLicenses | Default true. One row per license number; every distinct mailing address of a duplicated license is kept in `allMailingAddresses` |
| includePhone | Default false. On adds `phone` (as published; null if the city field holds an email), `phoneE164` (US/Canada (NANP) number normalized to `+1XXXXXXXXXX` with any extension removed; null for invalid or placeholder numbers such as 999-999-9999, 555-5555 or 000-0000) and `phoneExtension` (digits after x / ext / extension). See *Phone numbers and calling rules* below |
| maxItems | Default 200 |

### Pricing (pay per event)

$3 per 1,000 rows ($0.003 each) plus Apify's minimal $0.00005 start fee. **Example:** 200 leads = 200 × $0.003 + $0.00005 ≈ **$0.60**; every license started in 2026 so far (~1,800) ≈ $5.40. Price is the same with or without `includePhone`. If a run hits your max charge limit, it stops cleanly and reports how many rows it delivered.

### Data caveats

Data is provided **as published by the City of New Orleans**. Start dates are the date the business reported, not the license issue date; a few are far in the past (e.g. 1900). Future dates are included and flagged with `startsInFuture`; most are planned openings, but 2027+ dates may be typos. `phone` (opt-in) is the business phone the city publishes as open data (present on ~83% of rows); nothing is added from other sources, and no emails are included. Owners are often companies; owner names are public license records.

### Phone numbers and calling rules

Phone numbers are **off by default** and only returned when you set `includePhone: true`. The city publishes this dataset as open data, but no license field is set on it. Many numbers belong to sole proprietors and home-based businesses (about 17,000 phone rows look like individual owners, ~1,100 are home-based), so many are personal cell phones. You are responsible for complying with the law when you contact anyone:

- **TCPA:** autodialed or prerecorded calls, and marketing texts, to cell phones require the recipient's **prior express consent** (prior express written consent for telemarketing).
- **National Do Not Call Registry:** sole-proprietor residential and cell lines are **not exempt**; scrub numbers against the registry before telemarketing.
- **Louisiana Do Not Call:** telephone solicitors must **register with the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LA PSC)** and honor the Louisiana DNC list.
  This is not legal advice.

### License and disclaimer

Source: City of New Orleans Open Data (data.nola.gov, public records). This actor uses only the official public open-data API and is **not affiliated with or endorsed by** the City of New Orleans.

### FAQ

#### How much does it cost to scrape New Orleans business licenses?

You pay $0.003 per result ($3 per 1,000) plus a $0.00005 start fee, and nothing else. Apify's free plan includes $5 of monthly credit, which covers about 1,600 results. See **Pricing** above for a worked example.

#### Is it legal to scrape New Orleans business licenses?

This Actor reads public records from the **City of New Orleans** via the official data.nola.gov open-data API, using only public endpoints (no login, no CAPTCHA bypass, no private accounts). See the source/license section above for the dataset's terms. You are responsible for how you use the data; this is not legal advice. If you plan to call or text businesses, read **Phone numbers and calling rules** above first.

#### How fresh is the data?

Each run reads the source live, so you get whatever the agency has published at that moment. How often the agency updates, and any known lag, is described in the data caveats/notes section above.

#### Can I use it via API, on a schedule, or with Google Sheets?

Yes. Every Apify Actor has a REST API and client libraries for Python and JavaScript. You can schedule daily or weekly runs, and send results to Google Sheets, Slack, Zapier, Make, n8n, webhooks, or an AI agent via the Apify MCP server.

#### I need another city, county or field. Can you add it?

Open an issue on the **Issues** tab with the city or data source you need. We build new public-records scrapers regularly.

### More public-records scrapers by Groundplanes

Same clean output, pay-per-result pricing and official public data sources:

#### Restaurant & food inspections

- [Maricopa County (Phoenix) Restaurant Inspections Scraper](https://apify.com/groundplanes/maricopa-restaurant-inspections)
- [Las Vegas Restaurant Inspections & Grades Scraper (SNHD)](https://apify.com/groundplanes/las-vegas-restaurant-inspections)
- [Pittsburgh Restaurant Inspections Scraper (Allegheny County)](https://apify.com/groundplanes/allegheny-restaurant-inspections)
- [Delaware Restaurant Inspections Scraper — Statewide Violations](https://apify.com/groundplanes/delaware-restaurant-inspections)
- [Boulder CO Restaurant Inspections Scraper — 2013–2026 Snapshot](https://apify.com/groundplanes/boulder-county-restaurant-inspections)
- [Montgomery County MD Restaurant & Food Inspections Scraper](https://apify.com/groundplanes/montgomery-md-food-inspections)
- [NY State Restaurant Inspections Scraper — NYSDOH, Non-NYC](https://apify.com/groundplanes/ny-state-food-service-inspections)

#### Code violations & distressed property leads

- [Pittsburgh Code Violations Scraper — Distressed Property Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/pittsburgh-code-violations)
- [Orlando FL Code Enforcement Scraper — Code Violation Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/orlando-code-enforcement-cases)
- [New Orleans Code Violations Scraper — Code Enforcement Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/nola-code-enforcement-violations)

#### Business licenses & new business leads

- [Delaware Business Licenses Scraper — New Business Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/delaware-business-licenses)
- [Norfolk VA Business Licenses Scraper — New Business Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/norfolk-va-business-licenses)
- [Berkeley CA Business Licenses Scraper — Local B2B Leads](https://apify.com/groundplanes/berkeley-ca-business-licenses)

# Actor input Schema

## `openedSince` (type: `string`):

Optional real date, YYYY-MM-DD. Keeps licenses whose business start date is on or after this date. Empty = all ~38,000 licenses, newest first (2026 so far: ~1,800; last 30 days: ~130).

## `typeContains` (type: `array`):

Text in the published business type, e.g. Restaurant, Contractor, Salon, Home Based, Short Term Rental. Partial, case-insensitive. Empty = all.

## `nameContains` (type: `string`):

Case-insensitive text matched against the business name and the owner name.

## `zipCodes` (type: `array`):

5-digit ZIP codes, e.g. 70112, 70130. Empty = all.

## `excludeSpecialEventVendors` (type: `boolean`):

Drops 'Special Events' business types (about 8,300 licenses, ~22% of the dataset; mostly festival and parade vendors). Rows with no published business type (~69) are kept.

## `excludeFutureStartDates` (type: `boolean`):

Off by default: licenses with a start date after today (~12 rows) are included and flagged startsInFuture = true. Most are planned openings in the coming weeks (often the freshest leads); dates in 2027 or later may be typos. On = drop them.

## `dedupeLicenses` (type: `boolean`):

A few license numbers (~10) are published twice; only ~2 are exact copies, the rest differ in mailing address. On = keep one row per license number, with every distinct mailing address in allMailingAddresses.

## `includePhone` (type: `boolean`):

Off by default. On = adds the business phone as published by the city (phone) and a normalized US/Canada (NANP) +1 version (phoneE164) plus any extension (phoneExtension). Many are personal cell phones of sole proprietors; you are responsible for TCPA, National and Louisiana Do Not Call compliance (see README).

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum licenses to return (newest start date first).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "excludeSpecialEventVendors": false,
  "excludeFutureStartDates": false,
  "dedupeLicenses": true,
  "includePhone": false,
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 200
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("groundplanes/nola-occupational-business-licenses").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxItems": 200 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("groundplanes/nola-occupational-business-licenses").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 200
}' |
apify call groundplanes/nola-occupational-business-licenses --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,groundplanes/nola-occupational-business-licenses"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Ce2sTcWnnHt3ukdKb/builds/7e0OIoFcruOE3bSgw/openapi.json