It's Baton Rouge: Out To Lunch

We’ve talked a lot on this show about how businesses have adapted to the challenges created by the pandemic. But for nonprofit organizations, which sort of live in a constant state of responding to challenges - closing gaps and providing services to the community in any number of ways – the pandemic and post-pandemic has created its own set of obstacles and opportunities for growth and reinvention. Renee Chatelain is President of the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge, a nearly 50-year-old nonprofit that promotes cultural growth, economic development, and educational enhancement through the arts in and around the 11-parish Capital Region that it serves. As the Arts Council of the Capital City, the organization is a hub for information and resources benefiting organizations and residents statewide. Renee has been at the helm of the organization since 2015 and in that time has helped grow the Arts Council and lead it through its recent expansion and relocation. The new center opened in the fal

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

We all have two sides to our brain: the right brain which is said to control our creative artistic abilities and the left side which is the analytical part that can do math and science. We often tend to describe people as left brain or right brain people, depending on whether they’re particularly gifted with one set of abilities or the other. Is this valid? Or does a successful computer guy need to have artistic skills as well? Does a successful artist need a left brain as well? Tim Rauls might be considered a left brain person. Tim is the owner of Tim’s Computers, a PC retail and repair shop on Sherwood Forest in Baton rouge that has been fixing the computers of a loyal clientele for more than 25 years. In the decades since, Tim has seen the PC retail and repair business change considerably - from an era where the local IT guy was indispensable to one where he has been replaced by some techy in a call center 4000 miles away. But through it all Tim’s Computers has survived the disruption - b

If you live in the big cities of Louisiana, like Baton Rouge or New Orleans, you might not realize just how rural much of Louisiana actually is. And how important agriculture is to the state’s economy: it's the state’s 5th largest sector behind oil, natural gas, commercial fishing and chemicals. A lot of research around agriculture - and it’s sister discipline, horticulture – goes on right here in Baton Rouge, where we also have some micro organic farms in the middle of the city! Heather Kirk Ballard is Assistant Professor of Consumer Horticulture in the School of Plant, Environmental, and Soil Sciences at Louisiana State University's AgCenter. The Ag Center has stations in all 64 parishes around Louisiana and works directly with the agriculture and horticulture industries to bring the latest in cutting edge research from LSU out into the field. In addition to her research and extension program, Heather is the host of the AgCenter’s Get It Growing program, which is a user-fr

It’s cool enough to have one successful entrepreneur in a family. What happens when you have two? Stephanie’s guests on this edition of Out to Lunch have a unique perspective on the topic of love and business. Greg Milneck is president and owner of Digital FX, which produces commercials and feature films, as well as post production work for the movie and TV industry. The company also rents equipment and leases out its 15,000-square-foot LEED certified studio for film and video shoots. Greg founded the company nearly 30 years ago, and in the decades since it has been involved in hundreds of projects including some of the big budget films that have been shot here in Louisiana, and it’s racked up dozens of awards.  Anne Milneck, is the owner of Red Stick Spice Company, which sells spice blends, loose teas, small portions of freshly ground exotic spices, oils and vinegar from its story on Jefferson Highway in Mid City. Anne is a writer and professionally trained chef, and Greg&rsq

There aren’t enough bad things we could say about the COVID-19 pandemic. It's cut a path of death, destruction and suffering around the globe since early 2020. But, like any major disaster, it has also disrupted the old way of doing things and forced us to come up with new alternatives that will live on after the pandemic has passed - like telehealth consultations and working from home. This long-running crisis has also created opportunities - for entrepreneurs and innovators. Some of them in Baton Rouge. Calvin Fabre is President and CEO of Envoc, a software development and services firm he founded in 2003. Calvin is the creator of LA Wallet app, one of many but far and away Envoc’s most visible product. In 2018, before anyone had ever heard of Covid, Calvin created the digital drivers license, which slid into your digital LA Wallet, making Louisiana the first state in the nation to offer such a product. The Louisiana State Legislature even passed specific legislation to make a digital driver's l

As we were reminded during hurricane Ida, Louisiana is home to critical infrastructure that serves not only the region but the entire country. Ports and petrochemical plants line the Mississippi River from the Gulf past Baton Rouge. They are vital assets that keep life humming along, and in this digital age they are increasingly interconnected - and reliant on technology to function. Which means they – and we – are vulnerable to threats from cyber attacks. Very few people within a 500mile radius of downtown Baton Rouge know this more than Jeff Moulton. Jeff is President and CEO of Stephenson Technologies Corporation, a nonprofit applied research and development corporation that does cyber research and development, and also provides cybersecurity services for clients in the federal government, commercial and energy sectors. Jeff is also President and Chairman of the Board of a related entity, Stephenson Stellar Corporation, which helps provide next generation cybersecurity solutions for space syste

How many kids have gazed up into the sky and pondered what it’s like to be an astronaut or space traveler? How many adults, for that matter? There’s something about outer space, which we get a glimpse of through the night sky, that excites the 10 year old watching Star Wars in all of us. But, deep space doesn't have any connection to Baton Rouge, does it? Yes, Luke, it does! Bob Fudickar is Executive Director of the LSU National Center for Advanced Manufacturing, which, among other things, is building the rocket NASA is sending astronauts to Mars. The center is located at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, and is home to  partnership between NASA, the state of Louisiana, LSU, UNO and the UNO Research and Technology Foundation. It was originally formed in 1999, and is a state of the art research and production center focused on applying advanced manufacturing technologies to lightweight composite and metallic materials in support of the NASA space program and adjacent industrie

Our Cajun Creole heritage in south Louisiana is famous all over the world. People come here for food, music, and historic architecture they can t get anywhere else. And for those who can't get here, or who want a taste of Louisiana once they get back home, we have some crafty entrepreneurs who have figured out how to capture our local culture, bottle it or box it and export it to folks outside Louisiana. Primo Troy Primeaux is the co owner of Primo's Peppers. It's a company that grows several varieties of organic hot peppers which it then sells to specialty food manufacturers not only in south Louisiana but across the country for use in products like hot sauces, spice blends and even coffees. Primo also uses its peppers in its own line, Farmer's Daughter pepper jellies, made by Troy s wife and business partner, Kara Farmer. If you're a part of the international cult of pepper-heads, which is quite a sizeable group, you will recognize Troy, or at least his name, as the grower of The Primo, the world's hottest

In the age of Internet shopping, retail is an increasingly difficult way to make a living. When shoppers don't care if you're local and, no matter where they live, want current fashion and accessories at a fair price, how does a local business compete? Scott Berg says it starts with service. Scott has other strategies too, and proven successes to back them up. Scott is Baton Rouge Market President of Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry, including a Pandora franchise in the Mall of Louisiana. Scott was just a two-year-old when his father, Lee Michael Berg, opened the first Lee Michaels in Cortana Mall in 1978. Today Scott and his dad work closely together, and Scott's 15 year old has some design ideas of her own. Scott's daughter could learn clothing design and manufacture with Andrea Eastin. Andrea's company, Fair Fit, is a boutique fashion design studio with classes that teach people of all ages and both genders to sew, design and customize our own clothing. And you might be surprised to learn that a good number

Water is essential for life on earth and indeed water covers two-thirds of our planet. We literally cannot live with out it.  But living with it, managing it, trying to control it and make it do what we want it to do is an ever present challenge - especially in South Louisiana where we are surrounded by lakes, rivers, bayous and a Gulf that is eating away at our battered coastline and inching closer to our our inland areas.  Scott Nesbitt is a wetlands ecologist and the owner of Natural Resource Professionals, a consulting firm that provides regulatory expertise to municipalities, industrial interests and developers within South Louisiana. The firm’s regulatory expertise includes conducting all surveys and site studies required to identify jurisdictional wetlands and secure the necessary permits from the US Army Corps of Engineers. Scott is also an investor in and manager of the Spanish Lake Mitigation bank, which helps drain much of Ascension and Iberville parishes. Scott has been in the busi

Louisiana faces so many challenges. One in five residents lives below the federal poverty level and nearly half the population is considered  working poor. Our health outcomes are among the worst in the nation and so are our schools. How do we change policies to help everybody in the state? And what will it take to turn our schools around?  Ashley Shelton has answers to these questions. Ashley is founder, president and CEO of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, a statewide 501(c)3 organization in Louisiana that uses a broad-based strategy of community organizing, issue advocacy, and civic action to give underserved populations a voice in the halls of power. They specialize in in focusing on workers' rights, community health and criminal justice reform.  Ashley has led several  nonprofit advocacy organizations over the years, where she has made a significant impact on policy at the state and local level. She also served as executive vice president at the Louisiana Disaster Recovery

Although we live in a digital world today, most of us – both at home and at work – have too many pieces of paper still stored in file cabinets, boxes, and in piles that we have promised ourselves we’ll go through one day soon. But, as we all know, “one day doesn’t” always come. And that’s a problem that not only puts us at risk for information theft, but also clouds our ability to organize our finances, and our lives.   Jay Babb has a solution for you. Jay is the owner of Secure Shredding and Recycling, a local company that provides document destruction and shredding services on site at your office or home, as well as at its plant-based facilities in North Baton Rouge and, since 2019, Lake Charles.   Jay founded the company in 2009 and has grown it over the years. Today they shred some 250 tons of paper per month for clients that include government offices, businesses and individuals. As its name suggests, Secure Shredding and Recycling recycles all tha

It’s not unusual on Out to Lunch to have a guest who’s a star in their own world. Someone who’s well known and highly regarded in a particular field. It’s much less common for Stephanie to have lunch with someone who’s a real star. Someone whose face and name is known nationwide. Matt Flynn was a football player who first found fame as a quarterback for the LSU Tigers. Unless you’ve been living under a rock or just moved here, you’ll know that in 2008 Matt led LSU to a BCS National Championship, and to the number one rank in national polls. Matt went on to the NFL where he was on the Green Bay Packers team that won the superbowl in 2011, and he played for a number of other teams in the NFL, including the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. Typically, star athletes who graduate from professional sports go on to be a spokesperson for a product, or buy into a local business like a bar where their name and face appears on the awning, but that’s about

Louisiana, for all its man-made foibles and imperfections, is blessed with a lot of lush greenery, natural wildlife, and a temperate climate that allows for outdoor recreation. We also take our great outdoors for granted, and as a result, have one of the worst environmental records in the country and a host of regulations to deal with it. Diane Baum is owner of Baum Environmental Group, a contract and consulting firm that specializes in helping commercial and governmental clients secure environmental permits dealing with things like storm-water runoff, while also providing services to make sure their clients stay in compliance. Baum helps its clients not only with the planning and the paperwork but also the technical work, silt fencing or hydroseeding, for instance. The company also helps companies determine their environmental risk, and helps commercial and residential customers design more eco-friendly buildings and homes. Diane is an engineer, who founded the firm in 1995 after leaving the Louisi

If you’ve been paying attention since the start of the pandemic, you might have noticed a lot more people riding bikes than usual. Indeed, with folks stuck at home, and many activities off limits during COVID-necessitated shutdowns, a lot of folks got back to doing one for the things that wasn’t forbidden and was actually fun : riding a bike. By one estimate, cycling in urban areas was up at least 25% in the first half of 2020, while trail riding increased 100%. Stores that sell bikes and cycling gear, still have waiting lists and backlogs. It’s a a good time to be in the bike business. James Newkirk is operations manager of Ride Gotcha by Bolt, an app-based electric bicycle rental company, that began operating in 2019 and has 500 GPS-enabled e-bikes and 50 mobility hubs across Baton Rouge. The local Baton Rouge operation is part of a national company, Gotcha, which operates its app-based mobile bike rental service in 25 states and over 50 cities. James is something of a natural to be headin

One of the most exciting and interesting aspects of entrepreneurship is that there are so many niches, fields and areas of specialty that didn’t exist as recently as just 20 years ago but today provide opportunities for the creative and ambitious to build entire lifestyles and careers. What’s also unique and special about these emerging fields is the way they blend entrepreneurship and business know-how with a higher mission – to help others or to help the environment or just to do things with an eye on making the world a better place. Influence Chenese Lewis is an entertainer, entrepreneur and multimedia success story, who is one of the original plus size influencers in the country. Chenese is a Baton Rouge native, who moved to L.A. to launch her career in the early 2000s and, not long thereafter, won a plus-sized beauty pageant. She went on to become a plus size model, and an advocate for women’s positive body image and self-esteem. Chenese was an influencer before most people e

We all lead such busy, distracted lives, and often forget to plan for those who will come after us and pick up where leave off. This is especially true in family-owned businesses, where you see things fall apart round about the third generation. But paving the way for the next generation also means educating today’s young people in newer, better and more targeted ways, so they will be prepared for a future in which they will be productive, engaged and successful. Camm Morton is an expert on this transition. Camm is President of VR Business Sales Baton Rouge, a business brokerage service that facilitates mergers and acquisitions. Camm is also a certified exit planner and family business advisor, who helps companies figure out their succession plans, which is no small thing. Camm brings a lot of business experience to the field. He spent much of his career in commercial real estate, where he developed and managed hotels, shopping centers and mixed use developments throughout the South the and Atlantic sea

The country these days seems increasingly divided into two groups: those who  look to government for all the answers and those who believe the private sector can provide the solutions. But neither is able to address the many problems facing our communities today - which is where the nonprofit sector comes in. Perhaps at no time has the need for nonprofit organizations that help vulnerable and underserved populations been greater than it is today. And, as more people rely on them, they face ever greater challenges. George Bell is President and CEO of the Capital Area United Way, which serves 10 parishes through programs focused specifically on early childhood education, income stability, health and basic needs. George is a retired healthcare executive, originally from Thibodeaux, who took over at the agency in 2015, after a 30-year career in health care management with private physician practices including most recently, Baton Rouge General. George is also a community volunteer and a trumpet player, perfo

The built environment and the way we design our buildings and green spaces help create our sense of place and determine our character as a community. But it’s not just as simple as putting down good plans on paper. It takes a comprehensive effort and commitment from everyone not only to design livable, smart, sustainable communities but to keep them clean. Green Jeffrey Carbo is a landscape architect with over 35 years of experience in professional practice, and the founding principal of CARBO Landscape Architecture in Baton Rouge and Alexandria. The range and scope of Jeff’s concerns include environmental conservation, the historical and cultural context of local and regional landscapes, and the attention to design detail in the numerous places and gardens that the firm has created. Jeff is a graduate of the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture and his firm’s projects have a unique design perspective that have influenced decision-makers to follow the themes of historic and cult