stephanie riegel

Out to Lunch Acadiana is linking up with Out to Lunch New Orleans and Out to Lunch Baton Rouge for a statewide examination of our businesses and personal finances as we deal with the national public health crisis that is Coronavirus in Louisiana and life in the Covid Economy.

Isolated in their respective homes, Christiaan Mader co-hosts the show along with New Orleans host Peter Ricchiuti and Baton Rouge host Stephanie Riegel. 

On this inaugural edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana, Christiaan discusses the extent to which Acadiana has begun to feel the effects of the onset of the virus, from the oil field to Jefferson Street, with veteran local political insider and current CEO and President of United Way of Acadiana, Carlee Alm-LaBarr.

Stephanie Riegel introduces Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana's healthcare economist, Mike Bertaut, who reveals the scope of the current crisis for the healthcare company, for healthcare nationwide, and for the 1.6million Louisiana residents who are signed up with Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Peter Ricchiuti examines what the the slowdown of business and collapse of the stock market means to the future of stocks with veteran financial consultant, Ricardo Thomas. Is this like every other market turn down that will eventually correct itself and then some? Or are we really in uncharted waters here and therefore looking at a bigger change that we haven't seen before?

Out to Lunch Louisiana will continue as a statewide program for the duration of the public health crisis of Coronavirus in Louisiana.

Photos from the Zoom recording of the program by Jill Lafleur and more information at our website https://itsacadiana.com/show/out-to-lunch/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine that you're the most beautiful person in the world. And you happen to have a sister, who is even more beautiful than you! If you didn't happen to be compared to your sister all the time, you'd be a really big deal. That's kind of how it is with the Baton Rouge performing arts. Baton Rouge is unfortunate in its proximity to its older sister, New Orleans. But there are actually a number of extraordinarily talented people in the Baton Rouge performing arts world. For example, Jamie Ray.

Jamie Ray is owner of Air Seekers Acrobatic Movement, a professional acrobatic company that focuses on cirque-style and physical theater performances. Jamie is a professional movement artist and instructor whose work is informed by her background in aerial dance, theater, and partner acrobatics. 

Vastine Stabler is Managing Artistic Director of Swine Palace, a non-profit, professional theater company supporting the educational mission of the LSU Department of Theater. Since its founding in 1992, Swine Palace has produced more than 68 productions, including many regional and world premiers that have advanced the company’s mission to produce plays of social relevance. Vastine has been in his current role at Swine Palace since the spring of 2018, previously serving as the theater’s director of marketing and communications from 2005-2010. 

Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As surprising as it may seem, in 2019 Newsweek magazine called Baton Rouge music Mecca. And named the local Listening Room as the best place in the US to hear live music!

The music industry in Louisiana is one of the state’s most powerful economic and cultural engines, though most of the credit and attention typically goes to New Orleans. Why is Baton Rouge music business overlooked? And what does the Capital Region have to offer in the music space?

Somebody who is well qualified to address these questions is Chris Maxwell. He's owner of the Red Dragon Listening Room a local venue for live music that, as its name implies, really focuses on the music and the quality of the sound its artists produce, instead of the glitz and glam you might find in a larger concert arena.

Founded in the early 2000s, the Red Dragon Listening Room showcases Louisiana talent. And giving back to the community – it is a nonprofit – not a business. The Listening Room puts money back into the arts and other nonprofit organizations.

Though it is tucked away on Florida Boulevard in a neighborhood where you might not be looking for it, The Listening Room was recognized in 2019 by Newsweek magazine, no less, as one of the best places to hear acoustic music in a city that Newsweek described as "one of the top 10 music meccas in the world.” 

Dustan Louque is a local artist, musician and songwriter, who was born in St. James Parish and came back to South Louisiana after spending time in Brooklyn.  Though Louque, as he is known, signed with a major record label early in his career, which led to a two-year stint touring and selling his music to films, he walked away from the corporate side of the business and these days, travels the country in his 1987 Westfalia,  performing year round and connecting on a more personal level with fans of his music.

Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is recorded over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard. For more discussions over lunch about the Baton Rouge Music Business, check this out.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In May 2013, New Orleans businessman John Georges bought Baton Rouge’s beloved family-owned newspaper The Advocate. At a time when media companies around the country have been down-sizing, shutting up shop, or going exclusively digital, the Baton Rouge Advocate has expanded into Acadiana and into New Orleans, ultimately vanquishing its rival there with the acquisition of the New Orleans Times Picayune. And the newspaper expansion has continued - now encompassing statewide more community papers than you can count on two hands, including New Orleans’ alternative weekly, Gambit.

We've known for some time that John Georges is one of the smartest business people in Louisiana. What we didn’t know, until his foray into newspapers, is that he is apparently one of the smartest business people in the USA. With over 8,000 journalists laid off nationwide over 2018-19, no-less than the President of the US repeatedly assailing the press and journalists as "the enemy of the people," and media pundits referring to this era as “Mediapocalypse,” it is instructive for the country and for lovers of a free and fair press to understand what exactly is the John Georges business model that allows him to keep growing The Advocate.

The person tasked with executing the Georges doctrine is Judi Terzotis, Publisher at The Advocate.

Judi is a veteran media executive, who grew up in Tennessee and spent 25 years of her career at Gannett—where she spent four years as president of Gannett Louisiana and two years as president of its Gulf Region, which includes five papers in Louisiana, two in Mississippi and one in Alabama.

Judi joined The Advocate parent company, Georges Media Group, in January 2018. Since then, Judi has grown the staff and circulation of The Acadiana Advocate, and played a key role in combining The New Orleans Advocate, The Times Picayune and its popular online platform NOLA.com, after the New Orleans acquisitions in 2019.

Host of Out to Lunch Baton Rouge, Stephanie Riegel, is a veteran journalist herself, having worked in TV and print for over two decades and currently serving as editor of the Baton Rouge Business Report.  This one-on-one conversation over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard is a rare and valuable opportunity to understand the current state of both local and national media organizations and especially the future of news delivery.

You can check out other conversations over lunch about local media here.

 

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As technology continues to evolve and change the world around us, our local economy is changing too and adapting — taking advantage of the opportunities the tech sector creates and preparing the next generation of tech workers for the jobs that need filling today and in the years to come.

Jacquelyn Craddock is Director of Workforce Initiatives at Nexus Louisiana, an arm of the Research Park Corporation that connects growth-focused companies to capital, resources and talent. In that role, Jacquelyn oversees a relatively new program called Apprenti Louisiana—an apprenticeship program that provides education and paid on-the-job training for those interested in joining the tech sector. Apprentices work in computer programming, web developers, software developers, IT support personnel and network security administrators, to name a few. Jacquelyn is a native of south Louisiana and graduate of LSU, who came back to the state to work at LSU more than a decade ago after first getting a master’s degree in Public Administration at Tennessee and working several years in that state. 

Casey Roussel is CEO of Entrical, a Baton Rouge based tech company that specializes in technology solutions in the security sector. Entrical is a new name for a company that’s been around a while— it was previously called Perceptive Intelligence and it has several products, including a database that allows law enforcement agencies to share information with each other, a facial recognition  and object comparison software, and Platform XI, which enables law enforcement and commercial users to share information designed to keep those users safe. Casey has been CEO of the company since mid 2019, though he was working with the firm before that in his capacity as an IT consultant.

Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is recorded over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard. You can find photos from this show and more information about Out to Lunch and our guests on our website.

There's more lunchtime conversation about Baton Rouge tech here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aging is a hot topic in America these days. So is anti-aging. On the one hand, the Baby Boomer generation are now in their late 50s which means big changes to our workforce, retirement system, and healthcare delivery system, all of which are creating business opportunities for companies that meet the needs of the aging population. On the other hand, the relentless desire to remain youthful has created a desire to stay and look young, which to some degree is setting up a question we're going to have answer: Aging Versus Anti-Aging.  

On the side of aging, Maria Yiannopolous is Director of Community Relations at Southside Gardens,  a retirement community of independent living and assisted living units in the heart of Baton Rouge’s Southdowns neighborhood.

Unlike most retirement communities are owned by large chains, Southside Gardens is a family-owned business.  Maria’s background is in marketing, which she did in her native New Orleans for more than two decades. Since 2017, she has been spreading the word about Southside Gardens and helping shape their message. 

Dr. Todd Howell is co-owner of The Aesthetic Medicine and Anti-Aging Clinics of Louisiana, which, as its name suggests, is in the business of trying to keep us from aging – or, at least, from looking like we’re aging. The Aesthetic Medicine Institute and Anti Aging Clinics were founded in 2009 and have locations in Baton Rouge and Lafayette. In the years since, the business has grown exponentially, as the global market for aesthetic medicine has increased from more than $10billion in 2016 to what is expected to be nearly $27billion by 2024. Todd is an emergency room physician by training, who moved into aesthetic medicine more than a decade ago and has since become one of the local pioneers in the field.

Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is recorded over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aging is a hot topic in America these days. So is anti-aging. On the one hand, the Baby Boomer generation are now in their late 50s which means big changes to our workforce, retirement system, and healthcare delivery system, all of which are creating business opportunities for companies that meet the needs of the aging population. On the other hand, the relentless desire to remain youthful has created a desire to stay and look young, which to some degree is setting up a question we're going to have answer: Aging Versus Anti-Aging.  

On the side of aging, Maria Yiannopolous is Director of Community Relations at Southside Gardens,  a retirement community of independent living and assisted living units in the heart of Baton Rouge’s Southdowns neighborhood.

Unlike most retirement communities are owned by large chains, Southside Gardens is a family-owned business.  Maria’s background is in marketing, which she did in her native New Orleans for more than two decades. Since 2017, she has been spreading the word about Southsdie Gardens and helping shape their message. 

Dr. Todd Howell is co-owner of The Aesthetic Medicine and Anti-Aging Clinics of Louisiana, which, as its name suggests, is in the business of trying to keep us from aging – or, at least, from looking like we’re aging. The Aesthetic Medicine Institute and Anti Aging Clinics were founded in 2009 and have locations in Baton Rouge and Lafayette. In the years since, the business has grown exponentially, as the global market for aesthetic medicine has increased from more than $10billion in 2016 to what is expected to be nearly $27billion by 2024. Todd is an emergency room physician by training, who moved into aesthetic medicine more than a decade ago and has since become one of the local pioneers in the field.

Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is recorded over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve flown across the country or around the world, for that matter. There’s something that continues to dazzle and fascinate us wingless, human creatures every time we get in an airplane, whether a single prop or a jumbo jet, and get ready for take off. 

When cars were invented, they were originally known as "horseless carriages." In the same way, a few years ago we started talking about "unmanned aircraft" - the contraptions we now call "drones." 

On this edition of Out to Lunch Baton Rouge, Stephanie Riegel is talking traditional and unmanned aviation.

Mike Edwards is Director of Aviation at the Baton Rouge Metro Airport. BTR, as it’s known, is a regional airport with three carriers that serve around a million  passengers a year from its 1,800 acres in north Baton Rouge. Mike took over at the helm of the airport in November 2018, after previously serving as Interim Director and, before that as Operations Manager. Mike previously worked at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport before coming to BTR. 

Billy Gibson has an aviation company based out of Denham Springs, called  G Force Skyshots. It’s a communications consulting firm that specializes in aerial photography and videography with a specialty in drones. Drone still and video photography has all sorts of applications for businesses in sectors such as real estate, industry, agriculture, and construction, as well as shooting special events. Billy is an award winning writer, photographer, videographer and marketing professional with over 30 years experience, who has had his pilot’s license since 1989. 

You can get ready for take off and learn more about Mike, Billy, and Stephanie, as well as seeing photos from this show, recorded over lunch at Mansurs On The Boulevard, at our website https://link.chtbl.com/6MIjfVRb

Get ready for take off to the movies on mushrooms, with this conversation about drones, film, and fungus. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you think "Silicon Valley" sounds cool but "Silicon Swamp" doesn't, you're probably not from South Louisiana.

Here in South Louisiana we love the swamp, it's a part of who we are. The reason "Silicon Swamp" might sound weird is that we are less inclined to identify ourselves as the home of tech innovation. Well, maybe it's time for an altitude adjustment! There are  impressive start-up businesses here that maybe you've never heard of but that are turning heads around the country. And beyond.

Casey Roussel is Executive Vice President of Cloud Gavel, a company that is revolutionizing the way law enforcement officers do their jobs. More specifically, Cloud Gavel has created software that streamlines the way officers obtain warrants in the field by enabling them to complete the entire warrant process electronically,  without ever having to leave the scene of a crime. The electronic warrant system allows officers to write a bulletin and send it to a judge at the push of a button. The judge then receives an email notification alerting them that there’s a warrant to review, which they can sign or revise and send back all within a matter of minutes. Cloud Gavel is a law enfocement revolution, and it started here in Louisiana. 

Dale Pfost is another revolutionary. Dale is CEO of Microbiome Therapuetics, a biotech company that is developing and marketing therapies that help keep you healthy by interacting with the gastrointestinal microbiome. Growing research suggests that a variety of conditions are impacted by the health of your GI microbiome. BiomeBliss, the flagship product of Dale’s company, is a berry flavored preobiotic blend that is made into a drink or spread and is intended to be an addition to your daily eating routine. You can think of BiomeBliss as a way to make sure you have the proper amount of fruits and vegetables in a day, with fewer calories. 

Silicon Swamp is real! Out to Lunch is recorded over lunch at  Mansurs on the Boulevard . You can find photos from this show by Karry Hosford and more at our website https://link.chtbl.com/6MIjfVRb

There's more Silicon Swamp high tech and lo-tech here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There aren't many occasions to talk about fine art and movies in the same sentence. And you'd be forgiven for thinking there's even less occasion to consider the financing of movies and fine art as having anything to do with each other. And that's why we have lunch! So folks from what might seem to be disparate endeavors can talk and find out they actually have something in common.

Ann Connelly is a legend in the art world.

 

Ann is founder and owner of Ann Connelly Fine Art where she is a curator, interior designer, and consultant to homeowners and businesses. Over the past 25 years, Ann has grown her business into a gallery that today carries the works of more than 40 creatives, and as a consultancy to some of the most prominent companies and institutions in Baton Rouge, that have hired Ann to hang art on their walls. 

 

Jillian Hall is a documentary fiim maker. She also heads up the Baton Rouge operations of NOVAC, the oldest media arts nonprofit organization in the Gulf South. NOVAC was started in New Orleans in the early 1970s as a way to provide media training and production resources to underserved communities. Since 2013, the organization has had a presence in Baton Rouge, and in the years since has trained hundreds of people for creative industry jobs, developed original documentary content and created innovative youth media programs. 

Fine art and movies might not have a lot in common in Hollywood or Paris, but they do here in Baton Rouge.

Out to Lunch is recorded over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard. You'll find photos from this show and more at our website https://link.chtbl.com/6MIjfVRb

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every place has a history and a past, but preserving the best of it and keeping it relevant doesn’t just happen, you have to work at it. On this show we're very bullish on keeping Baton Rouge vital economically and socially, but today we're talking about looks - keeping Baton Rouge beautiful. We're not being shallow and fixated on appearance, cities can be more attractive economically and socially as they age - with the right approach to beauty and preservation.

Michael Desmond is an architect and scholar in the LSU School of Art and Design, with a particular expertise in the history of architecture. For the past decade, Michael has been studying the architecture of the historic LSU campus. Since receiving a grant from the Getty Foundation in 2008,  Michael has produced an architectural history on the buildings, a technical report documenting the external condition of the buildings, a large public exhibition that traveled the state throughout the university’s 150th anniversary in 2010 and a book. 

Fairleigh Cook Jackson is Executive Director of Preserve Louisiana, a statewide preservation organization was founded back 1963 with the purpose of promoting local interest in the heritage of Baton Rouge and the state of Louisiana. Preserve Louisiana, which was formerly known as the Foundation for Historical Louisiana, works to preserve historical structures and promote cultural awareness, while also encouraging economic growth that revitalizes our communities through historic preservation.  

Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is recorded over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard . You can find photos from this show by Karry Hosford and more at our website https://link.chtbl.com/6MIjfVRb

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Time was, every town had cobblers and tailors. Fairy tales and history books alike are replete with references to these noble tradesmen, who kept people "shodded" and clothed. Today, you can still look good in a sharp suit and shiny shoes.

Commerce has evolved from local service providers to department stores, big box retailers and online sites, but, here in Baton Rouge, although old fashioned businesses have become fewer and far between, they haven't completely disappeared.

Clyde Lawrence is owner of MIlitello’s Shoe Repair, a venerable Baton Rouge business that has been around since 1972. Everybody knows Militello’s and gets their shoes repaired there, or, at least, polished and shined.

Clyde came to Baton Rouge from his native Bossier City to seek his fortune in the chemical plants in the mid-1970s. He stumbled instead into Militello’s and landed a job. He’s been there ever since. In early 2018, he and his wife bought the business from longtime owner Fred Militello, who was retiring. Arguably, no one was better suited to run the service-based business but Clyde,  at the time, was himself thinking about retirement. Instead, he jumped in with both feet, took the plunge and today is not only the local tradition alive, he's growing the business! 

Geno Brown is co-owner of Brown and Brown Custom Clothiers.

Geno has been a custom tailor almost his entire career, because Brown and Brown is a family-owned business that was started under the name Fashion Limited, by Geno’s father, the late Eugene Brown, who died in 2019.

Today, Geno and his brother, O’Lindsey Brown, run the company, which was re-branded in 1993 when the Browns moved away from carrying ready-to-made clothes and started making their own custom, handmade garments using fabrics the Browns find on buying trips around the world.

Geno didn’t necessarily intend to be a haberdasher. He went to Morehouse College and graduated from Southern University with dual degrees in math and physics, then taught physics for a year before joining the business. He holds certified master tailor and certified master clothiers designations.

Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is recorded over lunch at Mansurs On The Boulevard restaurant. You can see photos from this show, and more, at our website https://link.chtbl.com/6MIjfVRb

Check out Baton Rouge's other premiere tailor Manuel Martinez.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Retail apocalypse" is a term we’re starting to hear frequently. It suggests a coming meltdown of retail reality due to the impact of Amazon and other online retailers on brick and mortar stores. Stephine Riegel's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Baton Rouge are, in two very different ways, fighting it out on the front line of retail apocalypse.

Chris Russo Blackwood is co-owner of Russo Ross, a popular women’s boutique on Jefferson Highway here in Baton Rouge. Chris didn’t start out in the retail sector. She was a journalist with The Advocate and then later with In Register Magazine, which she headed as publisher. In 2011, Chris sold the magazine and wrote a true crime book about the murder of local businessman Ted Kergan, then, in 2012, before the retail apocalypse got started, she and longtime friend Susan Ross decided to take their careers in a different direction and opened Russo Ross to offer classic, well-made clothes at a reasonable price. 

Kevin Langley is on the other side of the apocalypse. Kevin is a Baton Rouge based entrepreneur and entrepreneurial expert. He's President & Co-founder of Entrepreneurs Across Borders, a global nonprofit organization that helps high potential entrepreneurs in developing countries, and in the retail sector he's working with the Ebay Retail Revival program, an anti-apocalypse initiative launched by Ebay a couple of years ago that came to baton rouge in May 2019. The program is a way to help small businesses learn how to compete in the digital marketplace by training them over a 12-month period, providing them with individualized coaching and promotional support so that they can learn to succeed on platforms like Ebay. 

This episode of Out to Lunch Baton Rouge was recorded over lunch at Mansurs On the Boulevard restaurant in Baton Rouge. See photos from this show and learn more about Out to Lunch Baton Rouge here.

Hear more about Baton Rouge retail here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the tech industry evolves and matures, all sorts of new opportunities are created for entrepreneurs, who see where existing technologies don't meet a need or don't go far enough to deliver what customers demand. If you listen to national shows like "How I Built This" or Freakonomics, you're familiar with the type of wildly creative person who doesn't take no for an answer and comes up with a great idea that at the outset might seem odd or impossible. Those kinds of ideas are not all born in Silicon Valley. We have them here too. Meet Omnidek and Sellswipe, and their creators, Chris Jordan and D. Marcus Glasper.

Chris Jordan's Omnidek is an all-in-one business platform geared toward the construction industry that consolidates all the apps a company needs to run its expense reports, payroll, project management and so on, and merges them onto a single system.

Chris got the idea for this platform when, after several years selling software to construction companies and realizing all the inefficiencies of having multiple software systems, he was watching a movie about the early years of Facebook s founding and thought ,"If this dude can make 80 billion I can make 1 billion." He's on the way.

D Marcus Glasper is Vice President of Sellswipe, a homegrown app that allows its users to do a hyper local product search to find items and businesses in their own communities so that they can shop local and support the local economy. The app also provides a platform that connects users with their friends so they can see what their friends are buying, selling and recommending. It's a social marketplace app in the truest sense of the word.

Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is recorded over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard.

You can see photos from this show by Karry Hosford, and more, at our website https://link.chtbl.com/6MIjfVRb

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk a lot about business on this show, and what it takes to be successful in business. On this edition of Out to Lunch Stephanie focuses on an aspect of business that doesn't typically get so much attention: ethics.

Aaron Beam is a former executive who travels around the country lecturing on ethics in business. It's a topic he knows well. In the late 1990s, Aaron participated in a 2 billion securities fraud scandal at Health South, the extremely successful Fortune 500 company he had co founded in the 1980s and helped lead as CFO. When the fraud was discovered, Aaron had opportunity in prison to reflect on what he had done. In the years since, he has taken those lessons learned and now tries to help others avoid making the same mistake.

Tom Ryan is Professor of Theology and Ministry at Loyola University in New Orleans, and Director of the school s Institute for Ministry, which has an extension program in Baton Rouge. Tom is an expert on the Catholic Church and its teaching and has been nationally recognized for his research on the history of biblical interpretation, the history of spirituality and faith, and popular culture.

Professor Ryan also speaks regularly on Pope Francis, who recently published a document on the Call to Holiness in Today's World. In that document, the pope makes a special point about the call to holiness in business and the marketplace.

Stephanie Riegel takes an unorthodox but fascinating pause for reflection in this lunchtime conversation at Mansurs on the Boulevard.

Photos by Karry Hosford and more information is at our website -https://link.chtbl.com/6MIjfVRb 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We hear a lot on this show from entrepreneurs — some successful, some just starting out— about what they do and what makes them tick. On this edition of Out to Lunch we turn our attention to a whole new breed of business people: high school entrepreneurs. 

Deborah Sternberg is founder and chairperson of the Baton Rouge affiliate of a nationwide organization called Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA).

Deborah founded the local chapter of YEA in 2018, after more than a decade as President of her family's business, Starmount Life Insurance and in just two years, the academy has already created some remarkable successes.

YEA partners with LSU's E.J. Ourso College of Business to train its students and help them launch companies by generating business ideas tied to their interests, writing business plans, filing their business with the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office and pitching to a shark-take like investor panel for seed funding.  

Channing Hall, is a junior at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, where she is a member of the award-winning debate team. Channing is also involved in theater, and is the founder of Backstage, a theater management app she designed that allows directors to better communicate with their cast and crew. The tool is especially useful for small and community theaters that might need a little help with organization.

Trevor Turner is a junior at Catholic High. Trevor is the founder of Dormenity - a web-based real-world service that takes away the stress of college move-in day by combining storage and delivery. Dormenity houses students’ stuff and moves it to and from their dorm rooms each semester, based on orders they place on line.  

Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is recorded over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard in Baton Rouge. You can find photos from this show, and much more here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Teach For America is a nationwide initiative to address the shirtage of teachers in the US. A recent study estimated that the nationwide shortage in 2018, which was around 110 thousand, is expected to nearly double to 200 thousand by 2025.

Teach For America is an organization that seeks to enlist and mobilize bright, motivated future leaders and put them to work for two year stints, helping improve some of the nation’s poorest performing and most under-served public schools.

Laura Vinsant heads the South Louisiana region of Teach for America. Laura is an alum of LSU and its Manship School of Mass Communications, who was drawn to TFA’s mission after graduating in 2007 because of her positive experience as a volunteer tutor. Laura spent the next two years teaching second and third grade students at a school in North Baton Rouge, and became so invested with the organization she stayed with it. Since 2016, Laura has led the South Louisiana TFA region, which was one of the six original regions the organization served. Today, Laura oversees a cohort of more than 200 teachers, who last year impacted more than 15-thousand students in the four parish region, which includes Ascension, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and Pointe Coupee. 

Lucas Spielfogel is a Teach for America alumnus, who taught 7th grade at Baker Middle School during his tenure with TFA from 2010-2012. Lucas was born in New York, raised in south Florida, went back up north for college, attending Yale University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s in history. Lucas joined TFA to give something back and after two years was so hooked on his new community that he joined the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, an organization that helps high-achieving, under resourced teens prepare, excel and graduate from college. Since 2013, Lucas has led the organization as Executive Director, growing the number of students it serves from 50 to more than 250 across nine school districts.

Although many of us pride ourselves on how many generations back we can trace our Louisiana roots, we can be equally proud of the caliber and contribution of young people like Laura and Lucas who make the choice to move here and who are making such a significant contribution to our region.

Photos over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Over the next few years, the disaster management industry in the United States alone is expected to top $122 billion dollars, which points to a lot of problems with our climate, but also to the many opportunities that exist for companies able to respond to the needs of city, state and local governments when they’re hit hard by natural disaster.

Louisiana has a growing expertise in the disaster management arena and is home to a handful of companies that are carving out a space in the field and helping to define it as it becomes more specialized. At the same time, the state’s tech industry is become more sophisticated and competitive, and local companies are providing services to clients in newer, different and more effective ways.

Bart Farmer is co-founder and managing partner of The Workforce Group, a local company that provides claims, staffing and disaster assistance to private clients and state and local governments.   

Rob Wise is CEO of IT Inspired, a local IT company that helps businesses with all their IT needs, including data—analytics, storage, security and networking;  cloud services and voice—phone systems, telecom services and VOIP. In other words, any service that has to do with anything technical. IT Inspired approaches what can be a technical and intimidating field with humor and a human touch: Rob, unlike some in IT, actually interacts really well with his fellow humans. He’s a former LSU cheerleader and, better yet, Mike the Tiger, who enjoys working with people as much as working with computers. 

You can see photos from this show by Karry Hosford, and more, recorded live over lunch at Mansurs On The Boulevard, here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ted Kergan is the largest franchisee of Sonic drive in restaurants in the state of Louisiana. Ted owns 58 Sonic locations in the central and southern part of the state. That sounds like a lot but it s just a fraction of the more than 150 Sonic restaurants Ted has developed during his nearly 40 year career. Ted Kergan is originally from Detroit. Ted began his career in 1977 as a managing partner in an Alexandria Sonic restaurant. He eventually became a partner in the operation with his brother, the late Gary Kergan, who was murdered in 1984. Anyone who has been around Baton Rouge for a number of years know that Ted played a key role in solving the high profile crime and bringing Gary s killers to justice, though not until nearly 30 years had passed. In the meantime,Ted was growing his company and has been recognized as one of the top franchise outlets in the country. Join Stephanie Riegel on this edition of Out to Lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard for a fascinating, frank look into the life and business of one of Louisiana s most successful businessmen.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.