It's Baton Rouge: Out To Lunch

Living in the shadows of New Orleans, one of the great tourist destinations of the country, if not the world, Baton Rouge isn't typically thought of as a hot spot for the leisure traveler. But that has started to change in recent years, as the city and industry associations have begun marketing the Baton Rouge more aggressively as a place not to only to come do business at the state capitol or watch LSU football, but to come play. Paul Arrigo is the longtime President of Visit Baton Rouge, the city's convention and visitor's bureau. Visit Baton Rouge is funded by the city's 6% hotel motel tax. The organization gets 4 cents of that. The other 2 cents goes to the Raising Cane's River Center. With that money, Visit Baton Rouge promotes and markets Baton Rouge as a destination for both the leisure and business traveler and convention groups. Ben Blackwell is General Manager of the Courtyard Marriott, one of the newest hotels located right in the heart of downtown. When the Courtyard opened in September 2018, it

With the technology explosion that seemingly never ends, there's never been a more exciting time to be an inventor, an innovator or a creator. But the same tech that brings an inventor's ideas to life also open us up to complications, and challenges that make us vulnerable to threats from competitors who may want steal our great ideas. And that's why we have Intellectual Property laws. Michael Leachman is an attorney with Jones Walker who specializes in Intellectual Property: patents, trademarks and copyrights. In his decade at Jones Walker, Michael has prepared and prosecuted patent applications covering a broad spectrum of inventions and technologies in the mechanical, chemical, biomedical, bioscience, and nanotechnology fields, and handles trademarks, trade secrets, and unfair competition litigation in federal and state courts. Jason Hugenroth knows a lot about patents and intellectual property. Jason is the owner of Inventherm, an engineering R and D company that specializes in machine design and therma

"One man's trash is another man's treasure" is not just a cliche, it's a fortunate dynamic for those whose livelihoods and missions are built around selling second-hand stuff. Used merchandise was once pretty much limited to hipsters in funky neighborhoods. Today, it's gone mainstream, particularly among younger millennials and I-Gen-ers, who have turned a cottage industry into a major retail sector. Charlotte Smith is owner of Pop Shop Records, a locally owned record store in the heart of Mid City. Pop Shop Records stocks vinyl records from a variety of genres, including vintage albums and new releases, but Pop Shop Records isn't just a record store; it's also a music outlet, cultural hub and live performance venue. Charlotte bought the store-then called Atomic Pop Shop-in early 2018 as the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to own a record store. Brian Sleeth is Executive Director of the Christian Outreach Center of Baton Rouge, which operates the Purple Cow, a thrift store that sells a variety of gently use

Paul Charbonnet is the owner of Atmosphere Cinema. Atmosphere Cinema is not a movie theater, it's a Baton Rouge company that shoots aerial video and photography, primarily from its fleet of drones. Paul founded the company in 2014. Atmosphere Cinema shoots video for the movie industry. Car chases, sweeping shots of landscapes, and other scenes that would normally take a huge crew, a huge amount of time, and huge expenses, can now be filmed by a drone fitted with a camera and operated by just two people: a drone operator and a camera operator. Cyrus Lester is co-owner of Mushroom Maggie's, a St. Francisville farm that grows 10 different varieties of gourmet mushrooms and is taking the Baton Rouge and New Orleans foodie scene by storm. Since Cyrus and his wife, Maggie Long, opened the farm in early 2018, Mushroom Maggie's has tripled its size due to demand for its edible fungi, which are grown under the most careful and meticulous conditions. Mushroom Maggie sells its 'shrooms to to more than 40 restaurants,

Padma Vatsavai is founder and CEO of Vinformatix. Vinformatix is a software development company that specializes in designing and maintaining web-based applications, websites, and portals for public and private sector clients. Vinformatix designed the web-based system that 90,000 victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas used in 2017 to apply for disaster aid. The firm also designed two web-based portals for Louisiana Economic Development, including Louisiana Job Connection, which helps businesses find potential employees. John Morello is a 14-year veteran of Microsoft who is now Chief Technology Officer of Twistlock, a Portland, Oregon-based firm that is changing the face of cybersecurity. Twistlock opened a Baton Rouge location in the psring of 2018 at LSU's Innovation Park and is continuing to grow with clients nationwide that include GridSpace, Aetna and Workiva. What makes Twistlock unique in its approach to developing cybersecurity solutions is it's cloud-native approach that is much faster and more effect

Just five years ago, Louisiana led the nation as the number one site to make movies, outpacing even California and New York. We attained this lofty position as a result of a generous program of state tax incentives , which cost the state treasury real dollars. But what did we gain in the process? By any measure, a lot of economic ripple activity and brand recognition, until the legislature put a stop to it all in 2016, with strict caps to the program that sent the movie producers packing for more generous locales like Georgia, which quickly overtook Louisiana as Hollywood South. In the years since, the Legislature has tried to undo some of the damage it in an attempt to lure some of the business back. And it's working. Sort of. Patrick Mulhearn,is a veteran guest of this show and of the film business, After wisely getting out of the local news business, where he got his start, Patrick joined Louisiana Eocnomic Development's Office of Entertainment Industries Development, and was snatched up not long after by

Being a mid-size city in the Deep South - known as a "tertiary market" in the business world - Baton Rouge is not known for being an artistic hub. But the Capital City has a wealth of artistic and musical talent that is often overlooked and under appreciated. It's not hard to find, it's just that the city cares more about the fortunes of its beloved LSU Tigers than its singers, songwriters, dancers and theatrical performers. On this edition of Out to Lunch baton Rouge, Stephanie Riegel talks with two veterans of the local creative scene who have worked for years to cultivate the vibrant and dynamic artistic and musical culture we have today. Scott Gaskin is the owner of Green Frog Music, a local agency that does event management, talent booking, concert promotion, band management and provides what is no doubt badly needed financial consulting services to musicians and performers. Scott founded Green Frog Music back in 1996. In the 22 years since, he's represented some of the most popular acts in Baton Rouge

Dr. David Carmouche is President of the Ochsner Health Network, the accountable care network of the massive Ochsner Health System - the largest nonprofit, academic healthcare system in Louisiana. It boasts 40 owned, managed and affiliated hospitals and specialty hospitals, more than 100 health centers and urgent care centers, nearly 25,000 employees and more than 4,500 physicians. Dr. Carmouche is a veteran of the healthcare industry in Louisiana. Prior to joining Ochsner, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, where he led initiatives to organize care, improve quality and increase affordability. Vishal Vasanji is CEO of Relief Telemed, a new telemedicine platform that enables live medical providers to diagnose, and even prescribe medications, for users of the startup company's mobile app. Through the app, patients can participate in a video visit with a licensed, healthcare provider, 24 hours a day, at a cost of just $39.95 per visit. Relief Te

There are countless studies of equality in the workplace that demonstrate how unequally men and women are treated, in everything from opportunity to income. In entrepreneurship, we create our own playing field. In small women-owned businesses, women are the boss and they make a point of treating of other women how they would like to be treated. Monique Scott Spaulding is owner of Jani King of Baton Rouge, the local franchise of the world's largest commercial cleaning company. Monique started the Baton Rouge Jani King franchise in 1998. In the years since, she has grown the company to one of the top Jani King franchises in the region, with dozens of clients, hundreds of employees and multiple sales and franchise of the year awards. The story of how Monique got started and the way she has parlayed her success into a platform for giving back to the community are extraordinary. Paula Shreve is co-founder of the Red Magnolia Theater Company, the first all-female theater group in Baton Rouge. Paula and co-founder

On this edition of Out to Lunch, Stephanie's guests can make you look like a million bucks and feel like a million bucks. Blair Couatre, with her husband Dustin Clouatre, owns a business called Mera Salon Suite, a co-working space for aesthetic entrepreneurs. Mera rents out space in its state-of-the-art salon on a weekly basis to beauty and wellness professionals, who want to go out on their own but don't want to have all the expenses and headaches that come with full salon ownership. Tenants in Mera salon get their own washbasin, counterspace, cabinetry and mirror with custom lighting, and business support like wifi and marketing. Elena Keegan is owner and head instructor of the Baton Rouge Yoga Company. The company provides on-site yoga classes and wellness workshops designed to increase employee productivity, mental and physical health and well-being for optimal workforce performance. Baton Rouge Yoga Company's clients include large corporations, local businesses and even a couple of governmental entitie

In 2011, Mary Patricia Wray was a young law student at Loyola University Law School in New Orleans. Just three short years later, she found herself serving as the communications director for a longshot candidate in the Governor s Race, a democratic state Representative from Amite named John Bel Edwards. You know what happened next Edwards made the runoff and went on to beat his Republican challenger David Vitter and become the only Democratic governor in the dark red deep south. Mary Patricia Wray, who goes by M.P., was instantly thrust into the spotlight of state media and today M.P. s political consulting firm, Top Drawer Strategies, represents clients on a variety of policy fronts, at all levels of government. Jill Rigby Garner is a different kind of consultant. Jill s focus is not on electing people to office, but teaching them how to be nicer. Jill is founder and Executive Director of Manners of the Heart, a nonprofit organization that teaches kids about manners and how to treat one another. The organiza

Stafford Wood is one of the most talented women in Baton Rouge, and the founder and owner of Covalent Logic, a full service integrated communications firm that specializes in branding, corporate communications, graphic design, web design, public relations and crisis communications. Covalent s clients, past and present, include hospitals, banks, state agencies, churches and nonprofit organizations. Stafford founded the firm in 2005, after spending a decade in the private sector, first with The Advocate, where she helped that paper with its first iteration of a digital product, and then with Eatel. Since founding Covalent, Stafford has become a go to person for the local business community, particulary when there is a need for someone who understands the intersection between the worlds of digital and tech, and marketing and communications. Chris Dykes is just the kind of young entrepreneur Covalent Logic might be able to help. Chris is the creator of an app called Idle that promises to bring as much change to t

We talk a lot about the importance of getting in shape especially at the beginning of a new year or before hitting the beach but do you know what it really means to be in shape And how, exactly, do we get healthy It s a question local businesses and entrepreneurs are helping their clients better understand using new technologies, and new approaches to fitness. Tiffany Stewart is a clinical psychologist and the director of the Behavioral Technology Lab at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Tifffany s work focuses on breaking the illusion that looking healthy which is to say skinny or sexy is not the same thing as being healthy. In her work Tiffany uses technology apps and games that she has helped develop that aim to improve health and performance. Hayden Clark is owner of Irontribe Fitness, a local boutique health club that focuses on getting its clients healthy through 45 minute high intensity, group workouts, paired with one on one style coaching. Irontribe is a Birmingham based company with some 50

Thirty years ago, a young, high energy entrepreneur left his private sector job to create the Louisiana Business and Technology Center on the LSU campus, a business incubator for small startups. In the three decades since, the LBTC has helped launch hundreds of businesses and has spawned the creation of the much larger LSU Innovation Park, a 13 year old facility on its own south campus dedicated to research commercialization. This edition of Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is a special tribute to that man, Charlie D Agostino, who is retiring at the end of the 2018. Few people in Louisiana know more about business incubation and economic development than Charlie, who himself is a 1972 LSU graduate with degrees in chemistry in business. He started his career with NASA. In 1988, LSU recruited him to develop the LBTC, which today is the flagship entity on the 200 acre Innovation Park, which is about five miles downriver from the main LSU campus and today includes not only the LBTC but also the LSU Student Incubator, LSU

Andrea Leyerle is a Baton Rouge based entrepreneur who has created an online and retail nutraceutical business, Andi Lynn s Pure and Custom Formulary. Andrea started the company in 2010 in her kitchen, where she began making her own version of elderberry syrup, known for its cold and flu fighting properties. In the years since, Andi Lynn s Pure and Custom Formulary has expanded into a variety of homeopathic and natural remedies that are sold on line and in more than 150 retail locations in eight states. Emily Degan s company, Saint Hugh, makes functional and fashionable clothing for women who like to duck hunt. Emily, herself a duck hunter, was frustrated by ugly camo clothes that didn t fit properly, so she created her own line and named it after Saint Hubertus, an 8th century bishop who is the patron saint of hunting and one of the first advocates of humane hunting. That was in September 2015. Today, her company has grown to include not just duck hunting gear but fishing and hiking oriented products as well

We ve all heard about the Amazon Effect and how ecommerce is seriously disrupting the retail world. Savvy entrepreneurs are figuring out how to carve a niche for themselves, whether by offering unqiue products or that special personal touch you can t get online, creating a unique shopping experience , or, by creating a whole new business model. Mark Peirce is owner of The Royal Standard, a gifts, accessories and at one time antique furniture store. Mark and his wife Krista got into the business more than 20 years ago, selling European antiques. Over the years, as the market for antiques and the retail storefront model in general have changed, the Pierces have changed with it. Today, in addition to their two local Baton Rouge stores, they own three additional stores, an entire wholesale operation that supplies some 2000 retailers around the country with the thousands of products, gift items and womens apparel that they manufacture at one of three overseas factories. Meredith Waguespack is founder and CEO of So

Workplace accidents cost American companies some 60 billion every year. But, unlike the trajectory of most workplace costs, accident expenses are actually going down. The reason is better training and more proactive safety measures that come from the public and private sectors. Kathy Trahan is president and CEO of the Alliance Safety Council, a 60 year old agency that trains workers to meet federal OSHA regulations. Under Kathy s leadership over the past 15 years, this nonprofit organization has grown from an agency of 11 employees and a 5,000 deficit in its bank account to an 18 million organization with 110 employees and four sites. It s done this by monetizing its online training programs and selling them to companies and other safety councils around the country using a pay per view model. The council s technology department has grown so big, in fact, it recently bought a new building here on Siegen Lane to house its progammers and their growing operation. Jaime Glas is helping make the industrial workplac

Seven out of 10 American households own a pet, generally a dog or cat. This has created a huge pet care industry and unlimited opportunity for creative, animal loving entrepreneurs. It has also led to an unfortunate side effect little loved animals, particularly cats, wandering our streets. Angela Schifani is Development Director of Cat Haven, a non profit cat rescue organization that was founded in 1999 in response to a community need for comprehensive rescue, foster, and adoption services for cats and kittens in Baton Rouge. When Cat Haven began, it was the first rescue organization to spay and neuter pets before adopting them to new homes. Today, it continues this practice and partners with local spay neuter programs to ensure population control and quality of life for both animals and people in this city. Since its inception, Cat Haven has saved more than 12,000 cats and kittens. Amanda Floyd focuses on pets who have a secure home. Amanda is owner and manager of The Royal Treatment, a high end boarding an

"The disruption economy" refers to the fact that technology is changing the traditional constructs of our capitalist economy. Amazon is one of the most obvious examples. Uber is another. Closer to home, local companies are part of that disruption economy, changing the rules of the game for everyone. Chris Meaux is founder and CEO of Waitr, the phenomenally successful tech start up that is revolutionizing the restaurant and food service industries with its trademark food delivery app. Chris founded the company in 2015 from his home town of Lake Charles and the company took off on a growth trajectory that cutlimated in May of 2018, with Texas billionaire Tillman Fertitta Houston Rockets, Landry s Seafood restaurants, Golden Nugget Casino buying into the company for 308 million, including 50 million in cash. The deal will take Waitr public and give it enough capital to continue its rapid expansion around the country. Josh Cauley is President and founder of Performance Mods, an e commerce start up that ships auto

In 2015, Louisiana lawmakers joined their counterparts in a growing number of states to legalize medical marijuana for a long list of diseases and disorders, including cancer, cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, epilepsy and muscular dystrophy. Today, therapeutic cannabis is opening up all sorts of new and promising business opportunities for physicians, pharmacies that can dispense marijuana, and companies that can grow it. Dr. Victor Chou founded Louisiana s first Medical Marijuana Clinic here in Baton Rouge. The clinic has been opened since March 2018. Victor has performed hundreds of consultations and has a waiting list of hundreds more. He is one of just eight doctors, so far, to obtain a Therapeutic Marijuana Registration from the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, and is one of the first doctors to obtain a Schedule 1 CDS license from the state Board of Pharmacy. Randy Mire is a veteran pharmacist and owner of the local independent pharmacy Gem Drugs, who earlier this year became the sole licen