It's Baton Rouge: Out to Lunch

Wherever you live in Louisiana, or anywhere in the US for that matter, you might have noticed something has changed in your local supermarket, in offices, and even in airports and hotels. That something is, Plexiglass. Those giant sheets of plexiglass that now stand between you and the person on the other side of a counter are called Sneeze Guards. Have you wondered where they suddenly all came fr...

If you had to list two of the pillars of American existence you might choose Liberty & Justice. Or, maybe Equality & Opportunity. Well, how about Rent & Beef? Rent The pandemic has forced us to confront a number of economic issues that were due for examination. One of them is the rental market. Even without the added stress of reduced pay or a lost job, renting can be a strained relati...

Back when we first started making Out to Lunch in New Orleans, one of our earliest guests was a young woman by the name of Amy Chenevert. Amy had gone to a football game and realized that all the guys were wearing fan fashion, but there was nothing fashionable for women to wear on game day. So Amy started up a company that made gameday apparel for women sports fans. That was back in 2007. During t...

"Everything is changing" is a phrase we don't get to use often about describing society. But living through 2020 we know it's pretty accurate right now. Things that were simple and fundamental, like going to the doctor and interacting with co-workers, are no longer so simple. On this edition of Out to Lunch we're looking at changes in how we visit doctors and digital distancing. Digital Distancing...

On this edition of Out to Lunch, Peter Ricchiuti, Stephanie Riegel and Christiaan Mader meet at the nexus of the Latinx Hub City Pang Wangle. Okay, let's unpack that: LatinX There’s no two ways about it – this is a tough time to be in business. There is help available to get through this rough patch – in the form of business loans, and even grants. Some are through Federal a...

On this edition of out to Lunch, Peter Ricchiuti and Christiaan Mader discuss the daily ritual of deleting email, but not dog dating email. Email You Don't Want to Delete Opening this segment of Out to Lunch, Peter says, "I’m always wary of hosts of shows like this who start off a story with, “If you’re like me…”  But I’m willing to go for it right now, be...

Although most businesses in the US and around the world are hurting as a result of the global pandemic, some businesses are booming as a direct result of the lock-down. Yes, there is an upside to Covid 19. Pang Wangle Before a previous disaster, Hurricane Katrina, blew Stephanie Riegel and her family to Baton Rouge, Stephanie was a journalist and news anchor at WWL TV in New Orleans. One of Stepha...

Whatever else has happened to you over the past few months, you’ve more than likely been keeping up with everything that’s going on, by checking the news. Along with NPR, some of Louisiana’s most reliable news sources are the local New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Acadiana editions of the daily newspaper, The Advocate . Both in print and online. The Publisher of all of the editions...

There was a time in what feels like the distant past – a few months ago – when it was more-or-less optional for a business to be a member of a business organization, like the Chamber of Commerce. But since the arrival of the pandemic and the economic disaster that’s come with it, there’s now so much uncertainty and so much red tape to navigate through – from Federal l...

Just a few weeks ago, the idea that we’d all stop our lives on the same day and be self-imprisoned in our homes might have seemed like the implausible plot of a dystopian series you’d see on Netflix. But since it really happened, it provided us with an un-imagined opportunity. Self-reflection. Now that things are starting back up, do you want to jump back into the exact same life you w...

As we head toward the beginning of real Summer here in South Louisiana - you know, the day you wake up and it's H-O-T - we might typically have vacation and hurricane season as top-of-mind issues. But this year things are different. Who knows if you'll be able to take a vacation? With all of our Covid anxieties do we have the capacity to worry about hurricanes as well? Plus we have a whole range o...

If you're a certain age or a fan of British comedy, you might remember the standard introduction to any number of bizarre sketches on the 1970's TV show Monty Python's Flying Circus was, "And now for something completely different." On this edition of Out to Lunch we're taking a break from unrelenting weeks of disturbing or just downright bad economic news to look at three businesses who are conti...

From the US perspective, there are two predictable economic pillars we have always relied on: Oil and The Fed. We look at the price and supply of oil to calibrate our economic position in the global economy, and we rely on The Fed to insure our economic security. In the past 2 months we have had the pillar of oil completely yanked away from the foundation of our financial institution. Is another p...

As Louisiana and parts of the rest of the country begin to re-open, there's a question about the economy that everyone is asking: What's going to happen to education, real estate, and retail? On this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana we're asking local experts in each of these areas to tell us. Retail With apologies for the medical metaphor, retail was already on life support before Covid-19 shut...

The journey we are on is leading us down a path that none of us have been on before. As individuals, as family members, as bosses or as employees, none of us know with any certainty what we're doing or where we're going. As a state we're in the same position. On this edition of out to Lunch, we're asking, Where To Now, Louisiana? The Covid-19 pandemic has changed so much about our lives, it’...

As this pandemic unfolds, we’re hearing about how it’s affecting the global economy here at home. Although that might sound like an oxymoron, and “the global economy” might feel far removed from your daily life, for all three guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana, the global economy here at home is an integral part of their lives. As the state’s second-high...

Among the long list of questions that nobody seems to know the answer to in this public health crisis, one of the most pressing is, When we finally get the spread of the virus under control and stop losing lives, will we also cure the Covid Economy? There are not many people qualified to answer this question. Meet Steve Ceulemans. Steve is originally from Belgium, where he got a degree in int...

It's the second week of Out to Lunch Baton Rouge's host Stephanie Riegel's link-up with Out to Lunch Acadiana host Christiaan Mader and New Orleans Out to Lunch host Peter Ricchiuti for a statewide look at our business and financial life in Louisiana in what has become this unprecedented Covid Economy. If you live outside of Baton Rouge, and everything you know about the city comes from what you h...

Out to Lunch Baton Rouge is linking up with Out to Lunch New Orleans and Out to Lunch Acadiana 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, Stephanie Riegel co-hosts the show along with New Orleans host Peter Ricchiuti and Aca...

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 e...

Seven out of 10 American households own pets, generally cats and dogs. 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 tha...

We all have a pack rat in the family. Maybe, in fact, you’re the one with the house that’s always a little messy and disorganized. You might not diagnose yourself as having a hoarding disorder - or other mental disorders you wouldn't expect in a business podcast - but that's where we're going on this edition of Out to Lunch Over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard in Baton Rouge, Stephan...

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 wha...

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 Tim...

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...