It's Baton Rouge: Out To Lunch

Behind every successful business is a great idea, but just having a great idea doesn t necessarily guarantee success. What are the keys to going from concept to successful operation And what are some of the pitfalls Stephanie Riegel s guests on this edition of Out to Lunch have interesting perspectives on this topic. Trey Williams is the co owner of City Pork Hospitality, a family of Baton Rouge restaurants that has taken off in just three years and now includes City Pork Deli and Charcuterie; City Pork Brasserie and Bar and City Pork Kitchen and Pie. The company also has a catering business, and is getting ready to open a poke restaurant in the Southdowns Shopping Center. If you;re wondering exactly what "poke" is, Trey explains it is not a part of a pig, it s a Pacific Ocean fish from Hawaii. J.P. Kelly is one of the founding partners of a new Baton Rouge app that raises money for schools while providing users with discounts at a variety of commercial establishments. The app is called sLocal as in, "it s Lo

Baton Rouge is a city that loves its sports. While Tiger Football dominates the headlines, baseball has a large following too, as do soccer and basketball. And there s a vibrant and growing outdoor community, active in running, cycling, swimming and rowing. That homegrown passion for sports and athletics hasn t just resulted in some of the most die hard fans you ll meet, it s also given birth to some impressive companies. Really impressive. Local Company Marucci Sports started out making wooden bats a little over a decade ago. Today Marucci is the number one brand of bat used by Major League Players, replacing the all American icon the Louisville Slugger. And that s not all. In the past two years, Marucci has branched out into non wooden bats and other baseball gear and apparel. Last season, 28 players in the big leagues could be seen sporting Marucci Gloves. Michael Uffman is CFO of Marucci Sports. While Marucci is the name to know in the world of baseball bats and gear, Coffey is the name to know in the wor

You don t have to spend much time driving around Baton Rouge to notice that the local real estate economy is booming. New construction is going up in the residential, commercial, multifamily and office markets. Todd Waguespack has been in the industry for nearly two decades and is the managing partner for Level Homes, a residential construction company that is developing homes in more than two dozen subdivisions in Louisiana and North Carolina. Level has been recognized by trade publications as one of the fastest growing builders in the nation. Todd started the company in 2000, after beginning his career in commercial real estate, and comes from a long line of real estate developers in Baton Rouge. Ben Graham is on the commercial side of the real estate business, as partner with SVN Graham Langlois and Legendre. It s been just a little more than two years since Ben and two partners joined together to form Sperry Van Ness Graham, Langlois and Legendre, and in that time the firm has quadrupled in size. In 2016,

As our economy has become more specialized, so have the consultants who come into our companies and help us improve performance, from the loading dock to the boardroom. In the digital economy it gets even more interesting consulting firms don t have to rely on local or regional clients. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Editor of the Baton Rouge Business Report Stephanie Riegel is joined by the principals of two Baton Rouge consulting firms who have clients all across the country. Robert Munson is carving a unique niche in the field of sports consulting. In mid 2016, Robert partnered with Washington D.C. based Sanderson Strategies Group to create a new sports division with offices in Baton Rouge. The firm already counts among its clients the Commissioner s Office for Major League Baseball and 22 of the 30 MLB teams. SSG helps them by providing services such as brand and reputation positions, crisis management, communications and media relations, among others. Robert also has extensive experience in business an

People in most places eat to live. Here in south Louisiana we live to eat. For those who make their living in the culinary world that means the stakes are high and the competition intense. Daniel Thompson knows this only too well. He is the executive chef and co owner of D Agostino Pasta, a Baton Rouge based company located in the Drusilla Shopping Center that makes homemade pastas and pasta sauces and is rapidly expanding its footprint in supermarkets from Lafayette to New Orleans. Daniel is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and has headed the kitchens of such well known Louisiana restaurants as Commander s Palace in New Orleans, the Grill Room at Windsor Court, the Baton Rouge Country Club and White Oak Landing Plantation. Mike Johnson is co owner of DiGiulio Brothers, another Baton Rouge food institution. In a city that is overrun with chain restaurants, DiGiulio s is a beloved neighborhood institution the kind of restaurant that people around here wish we had more of. DiGiulio s was founded

Some of us are fortunate enough to be born with a creative flair or a sense of style. Suppose you are one of the fortunate few, now you are posed with a problem how do you turn your talents into something that can sustain you Grace Emden is a Baton Rouge artist, more specifically, a makeup artist, who specializes in special effects makeup for the movie industry. Grace actually started out making beautiful, high end cakes for weddings and birthday parties and realized, after working on a movie set several years ago that needed a fancy cake for a banquet scene, that the same skills she applied to decorating cakes could be applied to decorating faces. Since then, Grace and Art Gracefully have been hired for vast array of productions and events from movies to pet portraits. Candace Hampton is a local fashion blogger, whose website, The Beauty Beau, covers a range of affordable and luxury clothing and beauty products with an emphasis on affordability. Candace grew up in Baton Rouge and has an undergraduate degree

Technology has enabled us to accomplish all sorts of things that we never thought possible. And it s not only world renowned experts in Silicon Valley who are accomplishing these feats. Scientists and engineers right here in South Louisiana are creating amazing technologies and products, and building successful businesses around them. Craig Billings is co owner of Acadian Robotics, a nearly five year old company that is Louisiana s only manufacturer of 3D printers. Craig and his partner built their first printer in 2012. Since then they have discovered a market for their printers in schools and library systems, and are placing them in parishes throughout south Louisiana. Their goal is to put 3D printers in every school, library and museum in the state. Craig sheds light on the consumer 3D printer revolution and why it seems to be a long time coming. Photos at Mansurs on the Boulevard by Ken Stewart.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Though the world of retail fashion has changed dramatically in the last 20 years, the art of good salesmanship never changes. And it continues to be the key to many a successful business. Hans Sternberg is something of an expert on this topic. For 30 years Hans had a successful career in retail with his family s beloved department store, Goudchaux s. Then, in the early 1990s, Hans embarked on a second career with the creation of Starmount Life Insuarnce and Always Care Benefits. Now, at age 82, Hans has launched his third venture High Flyer Resources. High Flyer is a new benefits administration company. Though Hans career path is varied, he tells Stephanie that the common thread connecting it all together has been good salesmanship and good service. Goudchaux s was a retail fashion leader and trend setter in Baton Rouge back in the day, as was Maison Blanche, its sister store in New Orleans. Today it s a challenge for department stores to compete. But the brave new world of online shopping and digital retail

When you sit down to search the internet for something, you ve probably noticed the advertisers vying for your attention. What you may not be aware of is that all those helpful blogs and lists of 10 things you gotta know are often carefully crafted marketing pieces designed to draw you in. And, eventually, sell you something. In this brave new world of marketing and messaging Natalie Noel is a local expert. Natalie s firm, Tech Advocate Group, specializes in high tech marketing specifically, what we call inbound marketing, which is a way of attracting customers to a website by providing them with really interesting and useful content rather than bombarding them with advertisements and spam. This is a concept a term, even, that s only been around about 10 years and it s evolving almost daily. While companies are increasingly sophisticated about how they are marketing to their customers, they re also putting more attention than ever on how they spin their message. Public relations goes hand in hand with marketi

Real estate is one of the largest sectors of the Baton Rouge economy. In the world of Baton Rouge real estate you don t get any bigger than Mike Wampold. Over the past three decades Mike s Wompald Companies has established itself as the premier developer in Baton Rouge, with a portfolio that includes an extraordinary list of apartments, hotels, office buildings and planned unit developments. Mike s devleopment, Harveston, is transforming the landscape of the southeastern part of the parish. A few chronological years behind Wampold Companies but no less ambitiouls and exciting is another Mike Mike Hogstrom and his development company Onsite Design and Development. Onsite has completed two infill projects in the Mid City area that exemplify the principles of smart growth, and is in the process of developing three other developments in the Old Goodwood area including Adelia at Goodwood, which will be built on the site of the old Goodwood Plantation. Talking of Goodwood, Goodwood Hardware is something of an insti

Sports today is big business in the United States, and Baton Rouge is no exception. Since 2006, sporting events that have been lured here over have generated an economic impact of more than 304m. Stephanie s guests on Out to Lunch are two of the leading lights growing Baton Rouge s sports sector. Pat Fellows is a serial entrepreneur who, among other things, created the Louisiana Marathon in 2012. In the years since, it has grown to become Baton Rouge s premier sporting event after Tiger Football attracting some 10 thousand runners from all 50 states and nearly 40 foreign countries to its January 2017 event. Pat also recently launched the first annual Gulf Coast Marathon, and in his spare time is a personal trainer and triathlon coach, as well as a downtown restaurant owner. Mack Chiulli is CEO and Sports Performance Director of Traction Sports Performance, an elite sports performance institute focused on enhancing all areas of athletic performance. Traction Sports has two Baton Rouge locations, employs dozens

To be a great city you have to have great performing arts organizations. For nearly 70 years, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra has been delightingting audiences in the Capital Region, with performances that rival those found in any major market in America. The organization s Executive Director is Cary Byrd. Cary started out as a French horn player with the symphony in the late 1990s. Since then he has helped lead the LSU School of Music, the LSU College of Music and Dramatic Arts, the Houston Grand Opera and Da Camera of Houston. One of the other pillars of the performing arts in Baton Rouge is the Baton Rouge Ballet Theater. Founded in 1960, the company has built a solid reputation of excellence through grassroots efforts and exceptional leadership. Over the years, the Baton Rouge Ballet has nurtured hundreds of award winning local dancers and choreographers, while bringing world class professional dance to the Baton Rouge stage. Christy Benoit is the Baton Rouge Ballet Theater s Director of Development an

Next time you re in a hotel room with a little coffee maker, take a look at the individual coffee pod. There s a good chance it came from right here in Baton Rouge, headquarters of Pod Pack International. The local company manufactures and distributes single cup brewing solutions not only for hotels, but for offices, restaurants, convenience stores, and homes. And as of recently for every Taco Bell in the US. Last year, the company announced plans to expand its presence in Baton Rouge and invest more than 10 million building a new larger manufacturing facility and hiring 19 more employees. Pod Pack s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Tom Martin tells Stephanie about the company s recent exciting successes after what Tom describes as being "a 15 year startup". Pod Pack isn t the only coffee company in Baton Rouge. Ian Melancon is the second generation owner of River Road Coffees, a family business that for 20 years has been roasting high quality, signature blends of coffees for the Baton Rou

Sometimes what makes a business interesting is not so much what it does as much as how it does it. Today, the internet and mobile platforms make it possible to do business in all sorts of new ways. Then again, the digital era has also made it possible for savvy entrepreneurs to improve on age old business models. Like the barter economy. And come up with something better. Stephanie s guests on Out to Lunch exemplify those trends. Chip Davis is president and CEO of the Trade Authority. It s a Baton Rouge organization that is almost its own country with its own currency The TRade Authority supplies software, technical services and know how to barter exchanges. Chip knows something about this. He and 12 other partners founded the very successful Partners One Exchange in Baton Rouge in 2000. In the years since, Trade Authority has grown to 650 members, who spend trade dollars backed by goods and services amongst themselves on the exchange. The success of Partners One is what prompted Chip several years ago to cre

In today s high tech world, we re increasingly isolated from one another. And yet, in some ways it s easier than ever to make connections. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Stephanie Riegel introduces two guests who are helping us connect. One, through an app that brings people together; the other, through an organization that helps start up businesses connect and find synergies that can help them thrive and grow. Alayna Dixon is the creator of a mobile app called Redu, which enables its users to connect with someone they ve actually seen and might like to meet. It s like a mobile dating web site, but instead of browsing through bios and pictures of strangers, you re searching for a guy or a girl you ve actually spotted in an elevator or walking across campus or at the gym. And if that person has the app, too and here s the key to its success then you re able to find them and make contact. Alayna and her mom, Marcelle, created the app after one missed opportunity. They rolled out the product earlier in 2016 a

It is not unusual for entrepreneurs to tell you that the single biggest attribute you need to succeed in business is "passion." Even if you ve heard that a thousand times you won t fully appreciate what it means till you hear the business tales of Todd Graves and Brandon Landry. These two homegrown Baton Rouge entrepreneurs have defied the odds and the expressed wisdom of their elders to follow their dreams and act on what they knew was a good idea. Both of their companies are now powerhouse restaurant chains based right here in Baton Rouge Raising Cane s and Walk Ons Bistreaux and Bar. Todd Graves founded Raising Cane s 20 years ago on the corner of Highland road and State Street, just outside the north gates of LSU. In the years since, his chain of fried chicken fingers restaurants has grown to almost 300 locations in 20 states and the country of Kuwait. Cane s is also one of the 10 largest private companies in Baton Rouge, with revenues last year of 580 million and the company shows no signs of slowing dow

You could say we re sports crazy in south Louisiana. And with good reason more professional athletes come out of Louisiana per capita than any other state in the U.S. Maybe it s our famous cuisine. Or the chemicals in our environment Whatever the reason, It s taken us a while to capitalize on one of our greatest natural resources, but that is starting to change. Our sports obsessed culture is spawning a growing number of sports related businesses. Eric Engmann is helping to lead the charge and grow the business of sports in Louisiana and, particularly, the Capital Region. Eric is vice president and CEO elect of the Baton Rouge Area Sports Foundation. For more than two decades the Sports Foundation has worked to bring sporting events to Baton Rouge and has worked with local, regional and national sports events coordinators in planning and executing their events here. Eric has been with the Foundation since 2007 and has master s degrees both in sports administration and business administration. He was promoted

There s an old proverb that says, "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day but if you teach him to fish you feed him for a lifetime." Learning something new changes one s perception of the world and opens so many doors. Being on the teaching end presents opportunities, too. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Stephanie introduces two entrepreneurs who are creating opportunities through education companies that are teaching clients life changing and life saving skills. Joey Comeaux is founder and CEO of Cover Six Training Academy. It s based in Church Point and trainis Law Enforcement, Military and First Responders as well as owners of business establishments how to deal with an "active shooter," hostage, or terrorist situation. At 75,000 square feet, Joey s training facility a converted Fruit of the Loom factory uses moveable walls to recreate building layouts such as hospitals, schools, houses, banks and hotels. Since its opening, thousands of law enforcement and first responders have traveled to south

Many a young boy aspires to play in the NFL. But only a small percentage actually realize that dream. It s similar to how many people dream of starting their own business, graduating from the work a day world, doing something they re passionate about, and making it big. On this edition of Out to Lunch, Andre Moreau sits in for Stephanie Riegel and hosts lunch with two members of a family who have done both gotten to the NFL and started their own business, at the same time Matt Flynn is an NFL quarterback who many in Baton Rouge remember from his days of leading the LSU Tigers to victory in the early 2000s. Matt is also an entrepreneur. He s pioneering a new, personalized sports drink tailored precisely for you, patterned on your own DNA. It s called MYHY. Don t go looking for it at GNC yet but when you do remember you heard it here first. Matt s mom, Ruth, is growing her own business. Ruth Flynn, aka Mama Roo to her grandchildren, makes candy, appropriately called Flynn s Candy Company. The candy you can find

How many times have you thought, "There s got to be a better way" to do any one a thousand tasks Stephanie s guests on this edition of Out to Lunch had the same thought. Then they went and did something about it. And in the process created a better way to get from A to B, to publish a book, to find a job, to save your precious photos and raise money for your school. Two years ago most people in Louisiana had never heard of Uber. Today, the company that makes the popular ride sharing app is a household word here in Baton Rouge, where we didn t just embrace Uber we begged the company to bring its services to town. Uber is perhaps the epitome of the new better way of doing business in the digital economy. Tom Hayes is Uber s General Manager for the South. Jeffrey Marx is an acclaimed author of six books, including two New Yorks Times best sellers and a Pulitzer prize winner. His latest book, Walking with Tigers, is an unconventional collection of LSU sports stories but it s also unconventional in the sense that