Podcast appearances and mentions of christiaan mader

It's the end of the month, and that means it's time to catch up with our neighbors in Acadiana. Founder and editor of The Current, Christiaan Mader, breaks down the latest news in the region, including how U.S. deportations are raising concerns in a Laotian refugee community in the area.Following the jailbreak at the Orleans Parish Justice Center, law enforcement agencies across the state began pointing the finger at one another. Gov. Landry blamed the District Attorney's Office for delays in the inmates' cases, DA Jason Williams blamed the sheriff's office for its slow response to requests for evidence needed to prosecute cases. And Sheriff Susan Hutson pointed to jail workers and those on the outside helping the inmates. So where does the accountability actually lie here, and how common is this kind of law enforcement infighting? Mac Muir, leading expert on police accountability and the former Executive Director of the Community Police Review Agency (CPRA) in Oakland, California, joins us to share his thoughts. The Marigny Opera House is gearing up for a night of Italian music with a production of Verismo: Opera Tableaux. The upcoming performance also includes dance numbers and visual art for an immersive experience. Marigny Opera House executive director, Dave Hurlbert, and “Verismo” artistic director, Bogdan Mynka, tell us what to expect at this production. ___Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Diane Mack. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. We get production and technical support from Garrett Pittman, Adam Vos and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell.You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

If you're a baseball fan, you know it's impossible to watch a game these days without hearing about torpedo bats, the new bat design giving Major League hitters unforeseen power. But what is it about these bats that allows players to hit the ball so deep?Louisiana Considered's Alana Schreiber visited Marucci Sports, a bat company in Baton Rouge, to find out. Coming to Lafayette this week is a conference on Big Towns, a gathering of representatives from places too big to be towns and too small to be cities. The meeting is a chance for these big towns to learn from one another when it comes to economics, city planning and more. Christiaan Mader, founder and editor of The Current, and Heather Blanchard, CEO of United Way of Acadiana, tell us more about the event. A former president of Xavier University, the first woman to be mayor of Lake Charles, and a photographer and food writer are some of this year's winners of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities' Bright Lights awards.Clare Shelburne, LEH program manager, tells us more about the awards and what it means to be recognized. —Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Adam Vos. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. We get production support from Garrett Pittman and our assistant producer Aubry Procell.You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you!Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

It's the last Monday of the month, so we're checking in with our neighbors in Lafayette to get an update on the latest news in Acadiana. Christiaan Mader, founder and editor of The Current, tells us why a federal broadband program meant to expand internet access in the Lafayette area is now on hold. We also hear about an upcoming conference of mid-size cities coming to the region this spring.  If you're a parent, you likely understand these words: It. Goes. So. Fast. That's the title of a new book, by NPR reporter and co-host of All Things Considered, Mary Louise Kelly. Kelly joins us to talk about her new memoir, which is about balancing her  career with parenting and the mixed emotions one feels when kids flee the nest. Coastal Desk reporter  Halle Parker said goodbye to WWNO and WRKF last week. During her time at the stations, Halle reported on environmental issues across the Gulf South and co-created and co-hosted the climate podcast, Sea Change. Now, she's heading to Verite News to work as a health reporter. Halle joins us to reflect on her career and biggest reporting moments. —Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. We receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman, Adam Vos and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell. You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

It's the last Monday of the month, so we're getting an update on the latest news in Acadiana. Editor and founder of The Current, Christiaan Mader tells us about an upcoming special election, a new mental health hospital, and Mardi Gras in Lafayette. It's been about a month and a half since Sid Edwards took office as East Baton Rouge Mayor-President. The election result came as a big surprise when he upset Democratic incumbent, Sharon Weston-Broome, becoming the first Republican to lead the city in over two decades. Edwards spoke with Capitol Access reporter Brooke Thorington about his first month in office, current projects, long-term goals and tension over library funding.Sports competitions are not just for the young. The Southwest Louisiana Senior Games is a competition for those 50 and older with a variety of athletic, recreational, and social activities. It kicks off in April at the McNeese State University Recreational Complex in Lake Charles.Rosalind Berry, administrative director of the Calcasieu Council on Aging and Vera Minix, one of the athletes, tell us more about the upcoming competitions and how to participate. —Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. We receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman, Adam Vos and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell. You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

It's the end of the month and that means it's time to catch up on the latest news from Acadiana. Christiaan Mader, founder and editor of The Current tells us how the Lafayette area fared with last week's snow, and about an upcoming special election.A once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm hit the South last week, breaking snowfall records dating back to 1895. Flights were canceled, schools were closed and many Louisianans engaged in their first-ever snowball fights or made their first snowmen!But what does this rare blizzard say about our climate? State climatologist Jay Grimes explains how the historic snowfall affected agriculture and wildlife. This Saturday, ballet will meet flamenco for a reimagination of the classic opera Carmen. The New Orleans Ballet Association is presenting the work in conjunction with Ballet Hispanico, and the performance will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the opera. Ballet Hispanico's artistic director Eduardo Vilaro joins us for more.___Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schreiber. We receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman, Adam Vos and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell. You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

It's the second to last Monday of the month, and we're checking in with our neighbors in Lafayette and get an update on the latest news in Acadiana. Christiaan Mader, founder of the Current, tells us about an upcoming special election in Lafayette, and a new Buccee's coming to the area.The Louisiana Department of Health's new policy stops staff from advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID, influenza or monkeypox vaccines. Promoting vaccines is a long established practice at the health department, as well as other state health entities, and Louisiana isn't the only state where vaccine science is under threat. WWNO and WRKF's Rosemary Westwood broke the story. She tells us why this new policy is concerning health officials and could spread vaccine skepticism. After the Civil War, many former slaves  left the South in search of better opportunities – otherwise known as the Great Migration. But there were those who stayed behind. And in West Feliciana Parish, formerly enslaved people achieved great successes in the post-war era, rising to a new level of prosperity not seen in many of Louisiana's Black communities. Louisiana Public Broadcasting senior producer Dorothy Kendrick's new documentary film, “How We Got Over.” tells the story of this parish and how its Black residents rose to acclaim. She joins us with the details.—Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. We receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman, Adam Vos and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell. You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, the NPR App and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

It's the last Monday of the month, and that means it's time for an update on the news in Acadiana. Christiaan Mader, founder and editor of the Current, gives us the latest on changes to the region's education system and results of the recent elections. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported a decrease in sexually transmitted infections across the country, in Louisiana, STI rates are soaring. Some infections, like syphilis and chlamydia, are higher than they've been in decades, with some calling this problem an epidemic. Patty Kissinger, infectious disease epidemiologist at Tulane, tells us more about this problem and how to combat it.A team of researchers in Louisiana has received a federal grant to study the use of wastewater as a form of fertilizer. The team, which is composed of faculty from the LSU AgCenter, the Louisiana Sea Grant and Southern University, are aiming to see if the organic matter in bodies of water can be put to a beneficial use. M.P. Hayes, AgCenter and Sea Grant water quality specialist, tells us more about this grant and what researchers are hoping to discover. ___Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. We receive production and technical support from Garrett Pittman, Adam Vos and our assistant producer, Aubry Procell. You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

The Lafayette Parish school system could soon see nine schools closed or consolidated. But community members are pushing back, despite declines in enrollment. Christiaan Mader, founder and editor of The Current, tells us about the potential overhaul of the city's school system. Early voting is already underway, and in East Baton Rouge Parish, voters will be choosing their next mayor-president. And so far, it's looking like a tight race between the top three candidates: incumbent Sharon Weston-Broome, Democratic challenger Ted James, and Republican Sid Edwards. Here on Louisiana Considered, we'll be bringing you conversations with all three of these candidates throughout the week. Today, we hear from Mayor-President Sharon Weston-Broome, who shares her campaign strategy, previous record and addresses a recent ad scandal.___Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Karen Henderson. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at noon and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

Last week, Governor Landry vetoed $1 million in funding allocated to Catholic Charities of Acadiana. The veto is a major blow to the organization that works to address homelessness and provide emergency shelter in the Lafayette area. Christiaan Mader is the founder of the Current and has been covering this story. He tells us more about who will be impacted by this loss in funding. “One More Game,” is a new photography exhibit by Camille Farrah Lenain that documents the Rougaroux, a New Orleans-based queer rugby team. The photographs combine images of the players while their personal testimonials are woven into the negative space. The exhibition is part of larger efforts by French photographer Emilien Buffard to highlight queer athletes across the globe ahead of the upcoming Paris Olympics. Louisiana Considered's Alana Schreiber spoke to photographer Camille Farrah Lenain about her latest exhibit. They were also joined by the cultural attaché of the French Consulate who commissioned this project, Jacques Baran, and current president of the Rougaroux rugby team, Fernando Rodriguez. ___Today's episode of Louisiana Considered was hosted by Diane Mack. Our managing producer is Alana Schrieber. Matt Bloom and Aubry Procell are assistant producers. Our engineer is Garrett Pittman.You can listen to Louisiana Considered Monday through Friday at 12 and 7 p.m. It's available on Spotify, Google Play and wherever you get your podcasts. Louisiana Considered wants to hear from you! Please fill out our pitch line to let us know what kinds of story ideas you have for our show. And while you're at it, fill out our listener survey! We want to keep bringing you the kinds of conversations you'd like to listen to.Louisiana Considered is made possible with support from our listeners. Thank you!

Acadiana is a culture obsessed with itself. That's not unique, really. Regional pride is a thing in most places, wherever you go.  A strong cultural identity — or more precisely, identities — can create a powerful market for artists who can tap into it.  The ability to sell on social media or through e-commerce has only extended that reach. And that goes for pretty much any medium.  There's the more classical approach of an artist, like Herb Roe. Herb is best known for his rich, textured and detailed depictions of pastoral Acadiana — scenes of country Mardi Gras, po-boy shops and boucheries.  Herb Roe grew up in Ohio, where he hooked up with muralist Robert Dafford and landed in Lafayette. Herb painted murals for 10 years before settling into a studio in Freetown to focus on his own work under the business moniker, Chrome Sun. Since then, he's built a career tapping into the local and national obsession with Acadiana. Acadiana's cultural landscape is a fitting subject for oil painting — how about a chainsaw? That's one way sculptor Kelly Guidry has cut his own path in the art world.  Kelly is a mixed-media artist. He works in metal and wood, and works in conversation with modern and traditional tokens of local life. He collects his work under the business name Modern Primitive, a brand concept he came up with while working in advertising.  Kelly left the ad business to go work full time as a sculptor. Today, he and his wife Robin work side by side to sell his work and others at a gallery in Breaux Bridge called the Pink Alligator. Kelly's work is also sold online, by commission or at local festivals. Johanna Divine sits in for Christiaan Mader as host of this episode of Out to Lunch Acadiana, recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here's a not-so-fun fact: A family of four wastes $2,200 worth of groceries every year.  Fortunately, there's a tasty way to solve that problem. Leftovers.  Leftovers put the Thanksgiving turkey in your turkey sandwich, or the Chinese takeout in your fried rice. Well, how about making a burger out of yesterday's gumbo? Wait, what? Susanne Duplantis describes this as “Thinking outside the icebox.”  Susanne is a blogger and cookbook author who reheated her career in the restaurant industry into a brand new dish. Her blog, Makeover My Leftover, walks readers through fun and easy-to-follow transformations of everyday foods.  Susanne baked that concept into a cookbook, Lagniappe Leftovers, that serves up leftover fare with a Louisiana flare. Susanne was born and raised in New Orleans and now lives in New Roads.  Even a good plate of leftovers began life on a farm somewhere. If fresh is your preference, then the Lafayette Farmer's & Artisans Market at Moncus Park is the place for you.  Mark Hernandez has been the director at the Moncus Park market since the day it launched in 2013 with 45 vendors. Today, the market features 70 vendors every Saturday, attracting around 1500 patrons each week.  Mark is a farmer himself. He and his wife have operated a 7-acre urban farm since 2002, growing blueberries, figs and herbs. Today, they are restoring the land as Cajun prairie.  Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded live over lunch at Tula Tacos and Amigos in downtown Lafayette. You can photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com. Our regular host, Christiaan Mader gives the host seat to Jan Swift for this episode of the show. When she's not filling in for Christiaan, Jan is host of her own Acadiana podcast, Discover Lafayette.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Acadiana is famous for the wildcatter mentality. It's a frame of mind inherited from the early days of the region's oil industry, when lone prospectors went drilling until they struck black gold.  You can see the attitude just about everywhere. Lafayette has a really high level of entrepreneurship. Around 11% of the workforce is made up of business owners, a ratio competitive with innovation meccas like Austin, Texas.  So it's not so much about what we're making, but how we make it. It's the spirit of the region.  David Meaux is working to make rum the spirit of the region as founder and master distiller of Wildcat Brothers. Wildcat is the second rum distillery in Louisiana and the first in Acadiana. It sources its flagship brand of small batch rums from local sugar cane.  The goal is to make sipping rum, something you can enjoy neat, up, or on the rocks. David is a lawyer by training and founded Wildcat in 2011. Today you can find bottles of their flagship Sweet Crude rum in 40 states.  Acadiana wouldn't have much spirit without music. And in the wildcatter mentality, Dustin Gaspard has made a go of breaking into the region's music scene as a singer-songwriter, an unusual track for a culture best known for dance music.  Dustin grew up in Cow Island but went all-in on his dream with a move to Lafayette. No car, no job, no place to sleep.  In 2016 Dustin suffered severe damage to his vocal chords, forcing him to change how he used his voice and inspiring him to hone his craft.  Dustin has released several singles and put out the record Hoping Heaven Got a Kitchen in 2022.  On this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana, Jan Swift sits in for Christiaan Mader who's off on an assignment for the New York Times and NPR.  Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded live over lunch at Tula Tacos and Amigos in downtown Lafayette. You can see photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com. And check out recent lunchtime conversation with entertainer and creator of the Janky Piano show Hunter DeBlanc and selfie impresario Carlie Faulk.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What's not to love about a doughnut? They're fried, fatty, crispy, doughy and sweet. You can dip them in chocolate, stuff them with Bavarian cream and roll them in sprinkles. They come vegan, gluten free or covered with bacon crumbles. You can slice them half and use them as a hamburger bun. Anything that good has to be sold by the dozen. And it should be easy to do, right?  Not so much.The doughnut business is cutthroat. It's a crowded market out there and one dominated by customer loyalty. Plus, the hours are terrible.  Why get into the business? Drake Pothier says because it makes people really happy. The chance to make someone's day better is a great reason to get up at 3 o'clock in the morning.   Drake owns Village Deaux in Maurice. He and his wife bought the shop in 2019, looking to diversify their income and find something new to sink their teeth into. They navigated the pandemic shut down and came out the other side with a doughnut shop that folks are driving to from all over Lafayette Parish. Which is saying a lot with all the good doughnut spots here. Before running Village Deaux, Drake worked in communications and ran a successful insurance agency, which he sold in 2021.  So everyone loves a doughnut, but not everyone likes politics. And that's what Marie Centanni sells: ideas. Marie is a political consultant, running her shop Centanni Communications since 2009.  Marie is a vet of the political scene. And her specialty is communicating public policy. That means taking a wonkish piece of legislation, dipping it in chocolate, stuffing it with bavarian cream and selling it to voters. Cynics may not like it so much, but it's how the policy gets made. And I'm sure Marie has to get up plenty early in the morning to do it.  During the 2021 Legislative session, Marie played a big role in communicating the push for tax reform, a process which took steering several pieces of legislation through a toxic political climate. Marie is a former broadcast journalist, worked as a staffer on Capitol Hill and served as press secretary to former Gov. Kathleen Blanco. She's advised over 250 candidates through the Candidate Training Bootcamp at the Louisiana Free Enterprise Institute, the nonprofit arm of her top client the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. Whether it's donut or doughnut, Democrat or Republican, Christiaan Mader has you covered on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana recorded live over lunch at Tula Tacos and Amigos in downtown Lafayette. You can see photos from this show by Nathan Davis at our website. This is our first Out to Lunch show about doughnuts but you can hear more lunch table conversation about Acadiana pies here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grocery stores did very well during the pandemic. In 2020, Lafayette grocery stores pulled in just over $300 million, a 10% increase over the previous year. It makes sense. Restaurants shut down. People stayed home. Supplies were key to surviving a stay-home order.  Now, imagine that there wasn't a grocery store near you. Imagine you lost your job, or you were furloughed. Maybe you don't have a car and the nearest grocery store is five miles away. If that's your situation, you live in what researchers call a food desert. And that's not just a problem during a pandemic.  Having access to healthy food is essential to a good quality of life. And more and more people now live in food deserts. They live shorter lives with higher rates of chronic disease. It's a serious social problem and it disproportionately impacts poor and historically black neighborhoods.  On this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana, Christiaan Mader's guests are working to bring healthy food to communities without it, specifically on Lafayette's northside.  Kevin Ardoin comes from a family of farmers, but he didn't become a farmer himself until he had an epiphany. He quit his job in retail and got to farming. He now owns Zydeco Farms — a 43-acre produce farm in Evangeline parish. In 2020, Kevin launched Fightingville Fresh, the first farmers market in Lafayette's Fightingville neighborhood and its mission is to make good, healthy produce available to folks living in a food desert.  While Kevin is working in Fightingville, Tina Shelvin Bingham is planting all kinds of seeds in the McComb-Veazey neighborhood of Lafayette. Tina is Executive Director of the McComb-Veazey Neighborhood Coterie and the Community Development Director for Lafayette's Habitat for Humanity. She's worked to grow prosperity in the neighborhood since 2012. And that includes creating a community garden, where McComb Veazey residents grow and share produce. Like Kevin, Tina's current career path was a detour. She was trained as an engineer and is now engineering a brighter future for her neighborhood.  See photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at our website. And here's lunch-table conversation about sugarcane and crawfish farming in Acadiana. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Louisiana shares the abbreviation “L.A” with the city of Los Angeles. Although that sometimes leads to some confusion on paper and online, in the real world there is very little overlap between the LA lifestyle in the desert west and the LA lifestyle in the humid South. For example, if Aileen Bennett sitting in for Christiaan Mader was to say “burritos” you'd say Los Angeles. If Aileen was to say “poboys” you'd pick Louisiana. So, how about “skateboarding?” Naturally you're going to say, Los Angeles. But you know this is a trick question, right? The answer is, Lafayette native, Daniel Barousse. Daniel is an artist. A woodworker. And a skateboarder. The combination of those three traits is a company called Barousse Works, in which Daniel makes works of art from recycled skateboards. How's The Market Doing? No, not the stock market. The other one. On South Johnston.  During the Covid crisis we've seen some changes around here. Some businesses we regraded as institutions, and others we always assumed were doing great, have closed for good. Although we all lose something when a local business closes, as consumers we manage to recover. We find another place to eat a poboy, drink a daiquiri, or buy whatever it was we used to get at what used to be our favorite place. But, during this pandemic we have come to realize there are some institutions that are simply irreplaceable. One of them is officially known as the Lafayette Farmers and Artisans Market, in Moncus Park. If you're from Lafayette, you know it as The Farmer's Market at The Horse Farm. Every Saturday morning since June 2013, the Farmer's Market has been selling everything from fresh produce to popcorn. And offering experiences from Cajun music to face painting, 52 weeks a year. Some Saturdays it's bitterly cold. Some Saturdays it's raining. But every Saturday the Farmer's market is open. Or, it was. Until it wasn't. To catch up with what we're optimistically calling post-covid plans for the Farmer's Market, Alieen Bennett talks with Market Director, Mark Hernandez. If you didn't know this show was made in the Louisiana variant of LA, and you just heard us talking about a vibrant farmer's market and an artist who makes pieces of sculptural functionality out of recycled skateboards, you might well assume we were talking about the second largest city in America, rather than the 4th largest city in Louisiana. Photos by Jill Lafleur. Catch up with Abby the Popcorn person from The Farmer's Market.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christiaan Mader was unexpectedly out of commission today so we've decided to take a trip back to our Best Of vault and make a return to the life of pies. When we hear about people who are successful in business, we tend to hear different versions of a familiar story. Somebody with a singular vision relentlessly pursues an idea, till, against all odds and after all kinds of hardship, they create Wal-Mart or Apple. What you hear less often, are stories about people who have no single-minded obsession, but are nonetheless successful and happy, doing something today that just a few short years ago they would never have imagined. That's the category that both of Aileen's lunch guests fall into on this episode of Out to Lunch Acadiana.    Kevin Blanchard started out as a journalist. He was a news reporter in Lafayette, for The Advocate. By 2008 he was married and had kids. For a guy with a family to raise, the future of the newspaper business didn't look too bright. So, Kevin went back to school. In 2011, he graduated from LSU with a law degree. As an attorney, Kevin was serving as Public Works Director and Chief Development Officer for Lafayette Consolidated Government when he came in contact with the owners of Southern Lifestyle Development. They're the company behind River Ranch, and 17 other communities they're developing throughout Louisiana. Kevin went to work at Southern Lifestyle Development as their in-house counsel. He soon became the company's Chief Operating Officer. And that's what he's doing today, managing 40 employees.   Korey Champagne grew up in Thibodaux, went to LSU and majored in dietetics and nutritional science with a plan of getting into healthcare. On the way to making that plan happen, Korey was working as a paramedic. That's when he met his wife, who is from Broussard, and they had a child. At this time, Korey was making some extra money by going to The Farmers Market with homemade pies that he was making. He couldn't help but notice two things: one, he loved making pies. And two, his pies sold out really  quickly. For a while, Korey was a paramedic piemaker. Till it got to the point where he had to make a decision about where to concentrate his efforts. The sensible plan would have been to concentrate on a career in healthcare. And that's how Korey came to be the founder and owner of a growing business called Acadian Slice. Acadian Slice is not a healthcare company, it makes pies. Today's business plan lesson? What business plan? Apparently you can follow your heart or your gut, without a plan, and end up being happy and successful.   Photos at Marcello's Wine Market Cafe by Lucius Fontenot. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Out to Lunch prepares to go back to hosting live lunches, for inspiration we're taking a look at some of our pre-Covid shows. Here's an Out to Lunch Best of: The Music Business. If you're in the music business and you can get a dollar for every time somebody says "The music business is changing," you'll probably make more money than however you're making it now in the music business.  Yes, Acadiana is rich with music, but music makes hardly anybody rich. And getting rich is besides the point. For the most part, the people who play the music that makes South Louisiana famous do so part-time. That includes all those Grammy winners you hear about.  Sure enough people get by. There's never a shortage of gigs. And playing Zydeco or Cajun music can be good supplemental income. Plus it's a great time.  But long term, it's tricky if not impossible to build a safety net or nest egg that most American workers accumulate over their careers.  Musicians can't really retire — not that they would want to — and that means major needs can go unfunded and unmet in the twilight of most careers.  Christiaan Mader's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana are both dealing with this problem, albeit from different angles.  Major Handy is by all accounts a  living legend in blues and Zydeco. A world traveler. A raconteur, and an auto mechanic. At 72 years old, he's deeply familiar with the challenges of being a working musician past the traditional retiring age. But he's a consummate pro and fighter. He suffered a stroke at the beginning of 2020 but is already back on the beat, set to play some gigs in France later this year. Major is also involved with the Music Makers Relief Foundation, a nonprofit that supports and documents traditional musicians in the Deep South. John Williams is president of Love of People, a nonprofit started by his family in the 1990s, but is best known for Blue Monday, a program he launched in 2016. Blue Monday raises money to help aging musicians pay for medical care and living expenses through an monthly concert and dinner series staged at Rock and Bowl here in Downtown Lafayette. Love of People runs several different initiatives including Musicians Etude, We Care and the Lending Closet, which compensates local musicians who donate their talents to benefits with credits to buy goods and professional services. John is also Executive Director of the Upper Lafayette Economic Development Foundation. Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded over lunch at The French Press in downtown Lafayette.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 from? Peter Seltzer has laser cutters that he uses to make paper products at his company, Pete's Papercrafts. When Covid came along, Peter switched from paper to plexiglass, and started making face shields and sneeze guards. Peter started out by making over 13,000 face shields for members of the Ochsner Health System. That alone would be an extraordinary accomplishment, if it was the whole story. But it's barely the beginning. Peter has gone on to make thousands of plexiglass sneeze guards. And the reason that Peter knew about the initial PPE shortage is because, as well as being a successful entrepreneur, he's also a paramedic, and founder and Director of a paramedic training program for high school kids, called Gateway EMS Training. Hotel One of the local business sectors that has been hardest hit by the pandemic is tourism. Jim Cook is uniquely familiar with all aspects of the leisure and convention tourist industry. Jim is General Manager of the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans. He's also a commissioner of the Downtown Development District in New Orleans, a past Chairman of the Board of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, and past President of the Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association. When the tourist and convention business came to a sudden halt in March, it brought into stark relief just how dependent New Orleans has become on tourism. At some point the city seems to have crossed an unseen boundary. New Orleans used to be a place that people came to, just to experience everyday life. For a few days a person from somewhere else could eat, shop, drink, and listen to music like a New Orleanian. Now we discover that some of New Orleans most revered institutions – from famous restaurants to the French Quarter itself – can't survive without a steady stream of tourists. There are, apparently, other tourism business models that target specific types of tourists, not just high volume. The question New Orleans faces now is, Is there a way to retain a tourist and convention sector that doesn't rely on 19 million tourists a year? Photos from this by Jill Lafleur are on our website. There's more conversation about tourism here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 relationship, for both landlord and tenant. in 2019 Marco Nelson came up with an app called Rentcheck and it's already in use in all 50 States. If you've ever rented an apartment or an office, you'll have gone through the usually upbeat experience of moving in… and the typically much more painful process of moving out, which is usually the argument over the security deposit. The tenant wants her total security deposit back. The landlord says he's not giving it back because of the hole in the wall. The tenant swears it was like that when she moved in… You've no doubt been through something similar to this, as either a tenant or a landlord. What Rentcheck does is walk you through a series of steps that documents and records a tenant's move in, and move out. Both the tenant and landlord have a set of time-stamped photos that they sign off on. And that, simply and efficiently, does away with all those ugly disagreements. Beef Dr. Shannon Gonsulin's family have been raising cattle in South Central Louisiana since 1770. No, that is not a typo. SEVENTEEN 70. But it wasn't until 236 years later, in 2006, that Gonsulin Land & Cattle officially switched to producing fully grass-fed cows, with no hormones or processed grains. Dr. Shannon Gonsulin comes from a family of ranchers. He's also a veterinarian. Dr. Shannon (as everyone calls him) owns Bayou Teche Veterinary Clinic, in Breaux Bridge, and Atchafalya Animal Clinic in Morgan City. Being a rancher of organic grass-fed beef and a vet is a great combo. Not  because you don't have to pay vet bills when a cow gets sick, but because when you produce beef that is guaranteed to be hormone-free and anti-biotic-free, cows don't have the luxury of having a sick day. if they do they have to be removed from the herd and that severely impacts the farm's bottom line. So Dr. Shannon is very involved with preventive medicine. If you can prevent a cow from having a single sick day its whole life, are there lessons for human medicine? Photos from this by Jill Lafleur are at our website. More conversations about grass-fed pork are here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 the 2019 football season, a new piece of women's sports apparel started popping up. If you don't have one yourself, you've probably seen someone wearing it. It's a sparkly, sequined sports jacket, in appropriate Saints, Tigers, and other team colors. That sparkly jacket marked Amy Chenevert's return to sports fashion. After taking some time away from her business, Amy is back at the head of her company, Tru Colors Gameday. The company makes fashion items specifically for women to wear and take to the game on game day, centered on a very specific NFL women's fashion accessory, the clear bag.  Game Day Every Day the New Orleans Saints, the LSU Tigers, and every other successful sports team know how to go out on the field and win. Everybody knows their position. Everybody knows the rules. Everybody on the team knows exactly what to do. But they still have a coach. You can't even imagine a football team without a coach. When an organization with a lot of moving parts is dependent on communication and on-the-fly decision making, it makes sense to have someone who can stand back and see the big picture. Which is why businesses have coaches too. Like Julie Couret. The companies Julie coaches are an impressive list that include GE, the Marriot, Sheraton, Entergy, Ochsner Health System, and many others. Recently the question for a lot of businesses has gone from, “When will things get back to normal?” to “How do we survive if things never go back to normal?” Julie imparts a great deal of wisdom for businesses coping with Covid in this conversation. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. More conversation about the future of the NFL season with Saints CFO Ed Lang is here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How's the social distancing going? Are you managing to keep 6 feet away from everybody else? How do you figure out what 6 feet is? We've heard people describe it as the length of two supermarket shopping carts, or the same height as Drew Brees, if you can imagine Drew lying on the ground in front of you.  If you're working with other people in industry, in construction, on a factory floor, or even in school, it's now become vitally important to know what six feet looks like. Getting within six feet of another person greatly increases the chances of catching or spreading Covid 19.  Once someone in the workplace or at school tests positive for Covid 19, and you have no idea what parts of the building they've been in or who they've been in contact with, the whole place has to shut down while it's cleaned, and everybody has to get tested. So it's vital – not just for health, but for keeping businesses open – that we know what 6 feet looks like. A Baton Rouge company, Enginuity Global, is solving this distancing problem, with a product called the Proxxi Halo. The Halo is a wristband that alerts a user when they're within six feet of another Halo wristband. The wristbands cost $100 each and since May, Enginuity Global has shipped tens of thousands of them to customers. Dan Ducote is the owner and Managing Member of Enginuity Global. Doctor Referral This has probably happened to you: You go to your doctor, and she refers you to another doctor. A specialist. Do you know how your doctor decides who to refer you to? You might be surprised to learn that there is no established method. It's more or less like recommending a restaurant. When someone recommends a restaurant to you, it's usually because they've been to the restaurant. But when your doctor recommends you go see a mental or behavioral health professional – like a psychiatrist or therapist - there's a very good chance your doctor has never actually seen this person professionally herself. So, what is your doctor basing this recommendation on? Maybe the therapist is someone your doctor knows personally. Or maybe she's heard good reports from other patients. Don't you think there ought to be a better way for medical professionals to find and refer each other?  That's what Trevor Colhoun thought too. Trevor's company, Trusted Provider Network, transforms medical referrals and recommendations into a more medically sound and logical system. Trusted Provider Network is not for consumer recommendations. It's not like a medical Yelp. It's for medical professionals only. But it's not LinkedIn or Facebook for doctors. So, what is exactly is Trusted Provider Network? How does a doctor use it? Find out more about telehealth here. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"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 How's the social distancing going? Are you managing to keep 6 feet away from everybody else? How do you figure out what 6 feet is? We've heard people describe it as the length of two supermarket shopping carts, or the same height as Drew Brees, if you can imagine Drew lying on the ground in front of you. If you're looking for a more reliable measure, a Baton Rouge company, Enginuity Global, has a digital solution. It's called the Proxxi Halo. It's a wristband that buzzes when you're within 6 feet of someone. If you're saying, “Wait, what?” - they've already sold tens of thousands of these wristbands, at $100 each. Dan Ducote is the owner and Managing Member of Enginuity Global.  if you're working with other people in industry, in construction, on a factory floor, or even in school, it's now become vitally important to know what six feet looks like. Getting within six feet of another person greatly increases the chances of catching or spreading Covid 19. Once someone in the workplace or at school tests positive for Covid 19, and you have no idea what parts of the building they've been in or who they've been in contact with, the whole place has to shut down while it's cleaned, and everybody has to get tested. So it's vital – not just for health, but for keeping businesses open – that we know what 6 feet looks like and have a contact-traceable record of where an infected person has been while contagious. And that's why the Proxxi Halo is taking the workplace market by storm. Doctors This has probably happened to you. You go to your doctor, and she refers you to another doctor. A specialist. Do you know how your doctor decides who to refer you to? You might be surprised to learn that there is no established method. It's more or less like recommending a restaurant. When someone recommends a restaurant to you, it's usually because they've been to the restaurant. But when your doctor recommends you go see a mental or behavioral health professional – like a psychiatrist or therapist - there's a very good chance your doctor has never actually seen this person professionally herself. So, what is your doctor basing this recommendation on? Maybe the therapist is someone your doctor knows personally. Or maybe she's heard good reports from other patients. Don't you think there ought to be a better way for medical professionals to find and refer each other? That's what Trevor Colhoun thought too. Trevor's company, Trusted Provider Network, transforms medical referrals and recommendations into a more medically sound and logical system. Trusted Provider Network is not for consumer recommendations. It's not like a medical Yelp. It's for medical professionals only. But it's not LinkedIn or Facebook for doctors.  There's more discussion about alternative healthcare models here. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"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 How's the social distancing going? Are you managing to keep 6 feet away from everybody else? How do you figure out what 6 feet is? We've heard people describe it as the length of two supermarket shopping carts, or the same height as Drew Brees, if you can imagine Drew lying on the ground in front of you. If you're looking for a more reliable measure, a Baton Rouge company, Enginuity Global, has a digital solution. It's called the Proxxi Halo. It's a wristband that buzzes when you're within 6 feet of someone. If you're saying, “Wait, what?” - they've already sold tens of thousands of these wristbands, at $100 each. Dan Ducote is the owner and Managing Member of Enginuity Global.  if you're working with other people in industry, in construction, on a factory floor, or even in school, it's now become vitally important to know what six feet looks like. Getting within six feet of another person greatly increases the chances of catching or spreading Covid 19. Once someone in the workplace or at school tests positive for Covid 19, and you have no idea what parts of the building they've been in or who they've been in contact with, the whole place has to shut down while it's cleaned, and everybody has to get tested. So it's vital – not just for health, but for keeping businesses open – that we know what 6 feet looks like and have a contact-traceable record of where an infected person has been while contagious. And that's why the Proxxi Halo is taking the workplace market by storm. Doctors This has probably happened to you. You go to your doctor, and she refers you to another doctor. A specialist. Do you know how your doctor decides who to refer you to? You might be surprised to learn that there is no established method. It's more or less like recommending a restaurant. When someone recommends a restaurant to you, it's usually because they've been to the restaurant. But when your doctor recommends you go see a mental or behavioral health professional – like a psychiatrist or therapist - there's a very good chance your doctor has never actually seen this person professionally herself. So, what is your doctor basing this recommendation on? Maybe the therapist is someone your doctor knows personally. Or maybe she's heard good reports from other patients. Don't you think there ought to be a better way for medical professionals to find and refer each other? That's what Trevor Colhoun thought too. Trevor's company, Trusted Provider Network, transforms medical referrals and recommendations into a more medically sound and logical system. Trusted Provider Network is not for consumer recommendations. It's not like a medical Yelp. It's for medical professionals only. But it's not LinkedIn or Facebook for doctors.  There's more discussion about revolutionary healthcare models here. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 agencies, some are from State agencies, and there's money available from city governments in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. Getting a hold of this money is not easy. Typically, businesses benefit by being a member of a business alliance to help them navigate the maze of regulation and bureaucracy.  But some businesses are too small to join alliances like the Chamber of Commerce. For those small owner-operator businesses, getting access to financial expertise of any kind is challenging. You might be a great hairdresser, house painter, or plumber, but that doesn't mean you have great – or even any – business skills. Now, imagine having the added problem of not being able to speak English. That's the position many Latinx self-employed people find themselves in, in Louisiana. And that's why there's an organization called El Centro. El Centro provides business assistance for Latinx entrepreneurs. Lindsey Navarro is Executive Director of El Centro. There's a local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, but that's not El Centro. If there was ever an organization that truly exists to help the little guy, it's El Centro. 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 Stephanie's colleagues there was fellow journalist, Jennifer John. Stephanie is still a journalist but Jennifer John is not, she's the founder and CEO of  a company with an intriguing name, Pang Wangle. The story goes that while Jen was out in the field reporting, she was so sick of getting bitten up by mosquitoes and other bugs that she created a line of bug resistant clothing for women: scarves, wraps, pants, hats, and bags that are not only stylish and lightweight for life outdoors in the South, but they're also impregnated with a safe and long-lasting bug repellant. Things had been going pretty well since Jen launched Pang Wangle at the end of 2017. And then along came Covid 19. But, instead of decimating Jen's business like so many others, the pandemic got Pang Wangle coverage in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, New York Lifestyles magazine, and on a coveted Buzzfeed list. Hub City Over the course of the last few months, journalists have found themselves asking what seems like an endless list of questions for which there are often no known answers. How long will this economic downturn last? What happens when your government assistance runs out? What is the future of education, of the tourist and convention business, the entertainment industry, air travel… The list goes on. But, in the midst of all this uncertainty, there is one economic question that we get a definite answer to on this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana. And that question is – Why, during the course of this pandemic and unprecedented economic uncertainty and record unemployment – why are bicycle sales through the roof? To answer that question, we're not turning to an economist or financial pundit, we're turning to Meg Arcenaux, owner of Hub City Cycles in Lafayette. You can also check out other bike related conversations. Photos by Jill Lafleur at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 agencies, some are from State agencies, and there's money available from city governments in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. Getting a hold of this money is not easy. Typically, businesses benefit by being a member of a business alliance to help them navigate the maze of regulation and bureaucracy.  But some businesses are too small to join alliances like the Chamber of Commerce. For those small owner-operator businesses, getting access to financial expertise of any kind is challenging. You might be a great hairdresser, house painter, or plumber, but that doesn't mean you have great – or even any – business skills. Now, imagine having the added problem of not being able to speak English. That's the position many Latinx self-employed people find themselves in, in Louisiana. And that's why there's an organization called El Centro. El Centro provides business assistance for Latinx entrepreneurs. Lindsey Navarro is Executive Director of El Centro. There's a local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, but that's not El Centro. If there was ever an organization that truly exists to help the little guy, it's El Centro. 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 Stephanie's colleagues there was fellow journalist, Jennifer John. Stephanie is still a journalist but Jennifer John is not, she's the founder and CEO of  a company with an intriguing name, Pang Wangle. The story goes that while Jen was out in the field reporting, she was so sick of getting bitten up by mosquitoes and other bugs that she created a line of bug resistant clothing for women: scarves, wraps, pants, hats, and bags that are not only stylish and lightweight for life outdoors in the South, but they're also impregnated with a safe and long-lasting bug repellant. Things had been going pretty well since Jen launched Pang Wangle at the end of 2017. And then along came Covid 19. But, instead of decimating Jen's business like so many others, the pandemic got Pang Wangle coverage in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, New York Lifestyles magazine, and on a coveted Buzzfeed list. Hub City Over the course of the last few months, journalists have found themselves asking what seems like an endless list of questions for which there are often no known answers. How long will this economic downturn last? What happens when your government assistance runs out? What is the future of education, of the tourist and convention business, the entertainment industry, air travel… The list goes on. But, in the midst of all this uncertainty, there is one economic question that we get a definite answer to on this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana. And that question is – Why, during the course of this pandemic and unprecedented economic uncertainty and record unemployment – why are bicycle sales through the roof? To answer that question, we're not turning to an economist or financial pundit, we're turning to Meg Arcenaux, owner of Hub City Cycles in Lafayette. You can also check out other bike related conversations. Photos by Jill Lafleur at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 agencies, some are from State agencies, and there's money available from city governments in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. Getting a hold of this money is not easy. Typically, businesses benefit by being a member of a business alliance to help them navigate the maze of regulation and bureaucracy.  But some businesses are too small to join alliances like the Chamber of Commerce. For those small owner-operator businesses, getting access to financial expertise of any kind is challenging. You might be a great hairdresser, house painter, or plumber, but that doesn't mean you have great – or even any – business skills. Now, imagine having the added problem of not being able to speak English. That's the position many Latinx self-employed people find themselves in, in Louisiana. And that's why there's an organization called El Centro. El Centro provides business assistance for Latinx entrepreneurs. Lindsey Navarro is Executive Director of El Centro. There's a local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, but that's not El Centro. If there was ever an organization that truly exists to help the little guy, it's El Centro. 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 Stephanie's colleagues there was fellow journalist, Jennifer John. Stephanie is still a journalist but Jennifer John is not, she's the founder and CEO of  a company with an intriguing name, Pang Wangle. The story goes that while Jen was out in the field reporting, she was so sick of getting bitten up by mosquitoes and other bugs that she created a line of bug resistant clothing for women: scarves, wraps, pants, hats, and bags that are not only stylish and lightweight for life outdoors in the South, but they're also impregnated with a safe and long-lasting bug repellant. Things had been going pretty well since Jen launched Pang Wangle at the end of 2017. And then along came Covid 19. But, instead of decimating Jen's business like so many others, the pandemic got Pang Wangle coverage in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, New York Lifestyles magazine, and on a coveted Buzzfeed list. Hub City Over the course of the last few months, journalists have found themselves asking what seems like an endless list of questions for which there are often no known answers. How long will this economic downturn last? What happens when your government assistance runs out? What is the future of education, of the tourist and convention business, the entertainment industry, air travel… The list goes on. But, in the midst of all this uncertainty, there is one economic question that we get a definite answer to on this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana. And that question is – Why, during the course of this pandemic and unprecedented economic uncertainty and record unemployment – why are bicycle sales through the roof? To answer that question, we're not turning to an economist or financial pundit, we're turning to Meg Arcenaux, owner of Hub City Cycles in Lafayette. You can also check out other bike related conversations. Photos by Jill Lafleur at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, because I bet there is one thing we have in common. "If you're like me, you checked your email today, and went down the list going delete, delete, delete, delete. The email from Amazon trying to sell you something you bought last week. The email from some company you can't remember – maybe they were the people you bought those flip flops from… It's like this every day, right?" Now picture this. A marketing email from a company that sends you information about something you're actually interested in. Maybe it's the flip flop company, but they're not sending you information about flip flops, they're telling you about an advance in Alzheimer's research, which you actually are interested in. Or a recipe for chocolate cake, which, strangely enough, you were just thinking about baking. This would brighten your whole email experience. And on the other side of the equation, if you're the company sending the email, your clients will actually open the email, read it, and appreciate you. That's how the A.I-driven email marketing company RASA.io works. If you're thinking, “Well, that's a great idea,” it's way past the idea stage. Rasa.io has 20 employees and they send out 15 million emails a month. Jared Loftus is Chief Operations Officer at Rasa.io. The secret to the success of these A.I-generated emails is their personalization. Peter says, "Suppose Christiaan and I bought the same flip flops, but I'm interested in brass bands and the oil business, and Christiaan is interested in progressive jazz and football. We both get email from the same flip flop company, but the emails we get are tailored to our specific interests." The obvious question is, “How does a flip flop company know all this about me?” Where is this information coming from that allows a company to target clients so specifically? It's a fascinating concept and a fascinating company. Almost as fascinating as dog dating. Dog Dating We're still feeling the effects of the lockdown. There are two segments of the population that the lockdown had a big effect on: dogs, and single people who like to go on dates. If you're a dog, the lockdown was awesome – you had company 24 hours a day. If you're human, single, and looking for somebody to date, well, the lockdown was challenging.  In the Venn Diagram of those two populations, dogs and daters, you can add Leigh Isaacson D'Angelo. Leigh is neither a dog, nor dating – she's a married human, with a business called DIG. DIG is a dating app for dog owners. The concept is, if you love your dog, and dogs in general, it's good to weed out - at the very beginning of the dating process - potential partners who don't like dogs. And DIG is big. It's on the ground in 15 cities across the country. The biggest DIG communities are in New York and Los Angeles, and they're about to break into Europe. And breaking news! DIG is expanding into animal loving world, with Tabby, the cat person's dating app! Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. For more conversations about dogs, check out this classic conversation about two related but very different businesses, one that makes treats for dogs and the other that picks up dog poop. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, because I bet there is one thing we have in common. "If you're like me, you checked your email today, and went down the list going delete, delete, delete, delete. The email from Amazon trying to sell you something you bought last week. The email from some company you can't remember – maybe they were the people you bought those flip flops from… It's like this every day, right?" Now picture this. A marketing email from a company that sends you information about something you're actually interested in. Maybe it's the flip flop company, but they're not sending you information about flip flops, they're telling you about an advance in Alzheimer's research, which you actually are interested in. Or a recipe for chocolate cake, which, strangely enough, you were just thinking about baking. This would brighten your whole email experience. And on the other side of the equation, if you're the company sending the email, your clients will actually open the email, read it, and appreciate you. That's how the A.I-driven email marketing company RASA.io works. If you're thinking, “Well, that's a great idea,” it's way past the idea stage. Rasa.io has 20 employees and they send out 15 million emails a month. Jared Loftus is Chief Operations Officer at Rasa.io. The secret to the success of these A.I-generated emails is their personalization. Peter says, "Suppose Christiaan and I bought the same flip flops, but I'm interested in brass bands and the oil business, and Christiaan is interested in progressive jazz and football. We both get email from the same flip flop company, but the emails we get are tailored to our specific interests." The obvious question is, “How does a flip flop company know all this about me?” Where is this information coming from that allows a company to target clients so specifically? It's a fascinating concept and a fascinating company. Almost as fascinating as dog dating. Dog Dating We're still feeling the effects of the lockdown. There are two segments of the population that the lockdown had a big effect on: dogs, and single people who like to go on dates. If you're a dog, the lockdown was awesome – you had company 24 hours a day. If you're human, single, and looking for somebody to date, well, the lockdown was challenging.  In the Venn Diagram of those two populations, dogs and daters, you can add Leigh Isaacson D'Angelo. Leigh is neither a dog, nor dating – she's a married human, with a business called DIG. DIG is a dating app for dog owners. The concept is, if you love your dog, and dogs in general, it's good to weed out - at the very beginning of the dating process - potential partners who don't like dogs. And DIG is big. It's on the ground in 15 cities across the country. The biggest DIG communities are in New York and Los Angeles, and they're about to break into Europe. And breaking news! DIG is expanding into animal loving world, with Tabby, the cat person's dating app! Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. For more conversations about dogs, check out this classic conversation about nutria dog treats, pampered pets, and prosthetics for pets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, because I bet there is one thing we have in common. "If you're like me, you checked your email today, and went down the list going delete, delete, delete, delete. The email from Amazon trying to sell you something you bought last week. The email from some company you can't remember – maybe they were the people you bought those flip flops from… It's like this every day, right?" Now picture this. A marketing email from a company that sends you information about something you're actually interested in. Maybe it's the flip flop company, but they're not sending you information about flip flops, they're telling you about an advance in Alzheimer's research, which you actually are interested in. Or a recipe for chocolate cake, which, strangely enough, you were just thinking about baking. This would brighten your whole email experience. And on the other side of the equation, if you're the company sending the email, your clients will actually open the email, read it, and appreciate you. That's how the A.I-driven email marketing company RASA.io works. If you're thinking, “Well, that's a great idea,” it's way past the idea stage. Rasa.io has 20 employees and they send out 15 million emails a month. Jared Loftus is Chief Operations Officer at Rasa.io. The secret to the success of these A.I-generated emails is their personalization. Peter says, "Suppose Christiaan and I bought the same flip flops, but I'm interested in brass bands and the oil business, and Christiaan is interested in progressive jazz and football. We both get email from the same flip flop company, but the emails we get are tailored to our specific interests." The obvious question is, “How does a flip flop company know all this about me?” Where is this information coming from that allows a company to target clients so specifically? It's a fascinating concept and a fascinating company. Almost as fascinating as dog dating. Dog Dating We're still feeling the effects of the lockdown. There are two segments of the population that the lockdown had a big effect on: dogs, and single people who like to go on dates. If you're a dog, the lockdown was awesome – you had company 24 hours a day. If you're human, single, and looking for somebody to date, well, the lockdown was challenging.  In the Venn Diagram of those two populations, dogs and daters, you can add Leigh Isaacson D'Angelo. Leigh is neither a dog, nor dating – she's a married human, with a business called DIG. DIG is a dating app for dog owners. The concept is, if you love your dog, and dogs in general, it's good to weed out - at the very beginning of the dating process - potential partners who don't like dogs. And DIG is big. It's on the ground in 15 cities across the country. The biggest DIG communities are in New York and Los Angeles, and they're about to break into Europe. And breaking news! DIG is expanding into animal loving world, with Tabby, the cat person's dating app! Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. For more conversations about dogs, Traci Pecot talks about her business that matches up lonely dogs with lonely people, and Jacey Simon talks about her business that pampers pets. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Stephanie's colleagues there was fellow journalist, Jennifer John. Stephanie is still a journalist but Jennifer John is not, she's the founder and CEO of  a company with an intriguing name, Pang Wangle. The story goes that while Jen was out in the field reporting, she was so sick of getting bitten up by mosquitoes and other bugs that she created a line of bug resistant clothing for women: scarves, wraps, pants, hats, and bags that are not only stylish and lightweight for life outdoors in the South, but they're also impregnated with a safe and long-lasting bug repellant. Things had been going pretty well since Jen launched Pang Wangle at the end of 2017. And then along came Covid 19. But, instead of decimating Jen's business like so many others, the pandemic got Pang Wangle coverage in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, New York Lifestyles magazine, and on a coveted Buzzfeed list. Hub City Over the course of the last few months, journalists have found themselves asking what seems like an endless list of questions for which there are often no known answers. How long will this economic downturn last? What happens when your government assistance runs out? What is the future of education, of the tourist and convention business, the entertainment industry, air travel… The list goes on. But, in the midst of all this uncertainty, there is one economic question that we get a definite answer to on this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana. And that question is – Why, during the course of this pandemic and unprecedented economic uncertainty and record unemployment – why are bicycle sales through the roof? To answer that question, we're not turning to an economist or financial pundit, we're turning to Meg Arcenaux, owner of Hub City Cycles in Lafayette. You can also check out Meg's previous appearance on Out to Lunch Acadiana. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Stephanie's colleagues there was fellow journalist, Jennifer John. Stephanie is still a journalist but Jennifer John is not, she's the founder and CEO of  a company with an intriguing name, Pang Wangle. The story goes that while Jen was out in the field reporting, she was so sick of getting bitten up by mosquitoes and other bugs that she created a line of bug resistant clothing for women: scarves, wraps, pants, hats, and bags that are not only stylish and lightweight for life outdoors in the South, but they're also impregnated with a safe and long-lasting bug repellant. Things had been going pretty well since Jen launched Pang Wangle at the end of 2017. And then along came Covid 19. But, instead of decimating Jen's business like so many others, the pandemic got Pang Wangle coverage in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, New York Lifestyles magazine, and on a coveted Buzzfeed list. Hub City Over the course of the last few months, journalists have found themselves asking what seems like an endless list of questions for which there are often no known answers. How long will this economic downturn last? What happens when your government assistance runs out? What is the future of education, of the tourist and convention business, the entertainment industry, air travel… The list goes on. But, in the midst of all this uncertainty, there is one economic question that we get a definite answer to on this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana. And that question is – Why, during the course of this pandemic and unprecedented economic uncertainty and record unemployment – why are bicycle sales through the roof? To answer that question, we're not turning to an economist or financial pundit, we're turning to Meg Arcenaux, owner of Hub City Cycles in Lafayette. You can also check out Meg's previous appearance on Out to Lunch Acadiana. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Stephanie's colleagues there was fellow journalist, Jennifer John. Stephanie is still a journalist but Jennifer John is not, she's the founder and CEO of  a company with an intriguing name, Pang Wangle. The story goes that while Jen was out in the field reporting, she was so sick of getting bitten up by mosquitoes and other bugs that she created a line of bug resistant clothing for women: scarves, wraps, pants, hats, and bags that are not only stylish and lightweight for life outdoors in the South, but they're also impregnated with a safe and long-lasting bug repellant. Things had been going pretty well since Jen launched Pang Wangle at the end of 2017. And then along came Covid 19. But, instead of decimating Jen's business like so many others, the pandemic got Pang Wangle coverage in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, New York Lifestyles magazine, and on a coveted Buzzfeed list. Hub City Over the course of the last few months, journalists have found themselves asking what seems like an endless list of questions for which there are often no known answers. How long will this economic downturn last? What happens when your government assistance runs out? What is the future of education, of the tourist and convention business, the entertainment industry, air travel… The list goes on. But, in the midst of all this uncertainty, there is one economic question that we get a definite answer to on this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana. And that question is – Why, during the course of this pandemic and unprecedented economic uncertainty and record unemployment – why are bicycle sales through the roof? To answer that question, we're not turning to an economist or financial pundit, we're turning to Meg Arcenaux, owner of Hub City Cycles in Lafayette. You can also check out Meg's previous appearance on Out to Lunch Acadiana. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 of The Advocate is Judi Terzotis. The last time Judi was on Out to Lunch, back in February - which now seems like a lifetime ago - she was talking about how The Advocate was bucking national newspaper trends. In the face of shrinking circulations and streamlined newsrooms in most other places, The Advocate was hiring reporters, it was growing newsrooms, it had recently acquired the New Orleans Times Picayune,  it was seeing new revenue streams from merchandising and live events… Everything seemed to be humming along. Then Covid 19 hit. Now, when you go to the Advocate's website there's an advertisement that says “Our Covid 19 news team needs your help,” and there's a “Donate” button. It's been reported that journalists at The Advocate have taken pay cuts, and that 10% of the New Orleans newsroom has been temporarily furloughed. What was it about the pandemic that turned The Advocate from an outlier media success story into a newspaper that's having a tough time? Latinx Entrepreneurs 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 agencies, some are from State agencies, and there's money available from city governments in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. Getting a hold of this money is not easy. Typically, businesses benefit by being a member of a business alliance to help them navigate the maze of regulation and bureaucracy.  But some businesses are too small to join alliances like the Chamber of Commerce. For those small owner-operator businesses, getting access to financial expertise of any kind is challenging. You might be a great hairdresser, house painter, or plumber, but that doesn't mean you have great – or even any - business skills. Now, imagine having the added problem of not being able to speak English. That's the position many Latinx self-employed people find themselves in, in Louisiana. And that's why there's an organization called El Centro. El Centro provides business assistance for Latinx entrepreneurs. Lindsey Navarro is Executive Director of El Centro. There's a local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, but that's not El Centro. If there was ever an organization that truly exists to help the little guy, it's El Centro. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are on our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 of The Advocate is Judi Terzotis. The last time Judi was on Out to Lunch, back in February - which now seems like a lifetime ago - she was talking about how The Advocate was bucking national newspaper trends. In the face of shrinking circulations and streamlined newsrooms in most other places, The Advocate was hiring reporters, it was growing newsrooms, it had recently acquired the New Orleans Times Picayune,  it was seeing new revenue streams from merchandising and live events… Everything seemed to be humming along. Then Covid 19 hit. Now, when you go to the Advocate's website there's an advertisement that says “Our Covid 19 news team needs your help,” and there's a “Donate” button. It's been reported that journalists at The Advocate have taken pay cuts, and that 10% of the New Orleans newsroom has been temporarily furloughed. What was it about the pandemic that turned The Advocate from an outlier media success story into a newspaper that's having a tough time? Latinx Entrepreneurs 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 agencies, some are from State agencies, and there's money available from city governments in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. Getting a hold of this money is not easy. Typically, businesses benefit by being a member of a business alliance to help them navigate the maze of regulation and bureaucracy.  But some businesses are too small to join alliances like the Chamber of Commerce. For those small owner-operator businesses, getting access to financial expertise of any kind is challenging. You might be a great hairdresser, house painter, or plumber, but that doesn't mean you have great – or even any - business skills. Now, imagine having the added problem of not being able to speak English. That's the position many Latinx self-employed people find themselves in, in Louisiana. And that's why there's an organization called El Centro. El Centro provides business assistance for Latinx entrepreneurs. Lindsey Navarro is Executive Director of El Centro. There's a local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, but that's not El Centro. If there was ever an organization that truly exists to help the little guy, it's El Centro. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are on our website. Judi Terzotis talks more about the business side of The Acadiana Advocate here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 of The Advocate is Judi Terzotis. The last time Judi was on Out to Lunch, back in February - which now seems like a lifetime ago - she was talking about how The Advocate was bucking national newspaper trends. In the face of shrinking circulations and streamlined newsrooms in most other places, The Advocate was hiring reporters, it was growing newsrooms, it had recently acquired the New Orleans Times Picayune,  it was seeing new revenue streams from merchandising and live events… Everything seemed to be humming along. Then Covid 19 hit. Now, when you go to the Advocate's website there's an advertisement that says “Our Covid 19 news team needs your help,” and there's a “Donate” button. It's been reported that journalists at The Advocate have taken pay cuts, and that 10% of the New Orleans newsroom has been temporarily furloughed. What was it about the pandemic that turned The Advocate from an outlier media success story into a newspaper that's having a tough time? Latinx Entrepreneurs 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 agencies, some are from State agencies, and there's money available from city governments in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette. Getting a hold of this money is not easy. Typically, businesses benefit by being a member of a business alliance to help them navigate the maze of regulation and bureaucracy.  But some businesses are too small to join alliances like the Chamber of Commerce. For those small owner-operator businesses, getting access to financial expertise of any kind is challenging. You might be a great hairdresser, house painter, or plumber, but that doesn't mean you have great – or even any - business skills. Now, imagine having the added problem of not being able to speak English. That's the position many Latinx self-employed people find themselves in, in Louisiana. And that's why there's an organization called El Centro. El Centro provides business assistance for Latinx entrepreneurs. Lindsey Navarro is Executive Director of El Centro. There's a local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, but that's not El Centro. If there was ever an organization that truly exists to help the little guy, it's El Centro. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are on our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 loans to local ordinances – that most businesses are finding it essential to turn to business alliances for help. The Louisiana Alliance of Business and Industry - mostly known by its acronym, LABI - is Louisiana's official state chapter for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. It's the state's largest business organization. Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of LABI, spends much of time lobbying the legislature in Baton Rouge, and Congress in Washington DC, with a focus mostly on keeping government out of business – to minimize government's influence on business. But now that businesses are struggling to survive this downturn, the landscape has changed and business is looking for cooperation and partnership from the State and Federal government. At the same time, LABI is managing to advance a business agenda through the legislature that includes changes they have been pushing for for a long time.  Now, Pork You may remember, at the end of April, President Trump signed an executive order compelling meat processors to remain open to head off shortages in the nation's food supply chain. The unintended consequence of this presidential decree was to make all of us aware – many for the first time – of just where our meat comes from. And most of the pictures we saw were not pretty. This has got a lot of people who don't want to go so far as turning Vegan, asking if there isn't a better way to get meat onto our table. The answer is, Yes, there is. Tim Melancon is a 4th generation Louisiana pig farmer. He farms pasture-raised Berkshire pork on T Moise Farms, in Sunset, Louisiana, specializing in raising an all-natural product. Tim's pigs are – perhaps ironically – totally vegetarian. Tim doesn't believe in additives, or preservatives. Given a choice, probably every person who enjoys eating pork would far prefer to eat this kind of product. But it's that kind of widespread massive demand that has brought about the kind of industrial scale farming and meatpacking plants we have today. So, is it possible to have a nationwide, large-scale meat industry and still observe the kind of care Tim Melancon lavishes on your farm-to-table product? See photos from this show by Jill Lafleur, and more, at our website.  More conversation about Baton Rouge pork (meat, not politics) is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 loans to local ordinances – that most businesses are finding it essential to turn to business alliances for help. The Louisiana Alliance of Business and Industry - mostly known by its acronym, LABI - is Louisiana's official state chapter for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. It's the state's largest business organization. Stephen Waguespack, President and CEO of LABI, spends much of time lobbying the legislature in Baton Rouge, and Congress in Washington DC, with a focus mostly on keeping government out of business – to minimize government's influence on business. But now that businesses are struggling to survive this downturn, the landscape has changed and business is looking for cooperation and partnership from the State and Federal government. But governments have their own agendas. Are they using this change in the power structure to advance them?  Now, Pork You may remember, at the end of April, President Trump signed an executive order compelling meat processors to remain open to head off shortages in the nation's food supply chain. The unintended consequence of this presidential decree was to make all of us aware – many for the first time – of just where our meat comes from. And most of the pictures we saw were not pretty. This has got a lot of people who don't want to go so far as turning Vegan, asking if there isn't a better way to get meat onto our table. The answer is, Yes, there is. Tim Melancon is a 4th generation Louisiana pig farmer. He farms pasture-raised Berkshire pork on T Moise Farms, in Sunset, Louisiana, specializing in raising an all-natural product. Tim's pigs are – perhaps ironically – totally vegetarian. Tim doesn't believe in additives, or preservatives. Given a choice, probably every person who enjoys eating pork would far prefer to eat this kind of product. But it's that kind of widespread massive demand that has brought about the kind of industrial scale farming and meatpacking plants we have today. So, is it possible to have a nationwide, large-scale meat industry and still observe the kind of care Tim Melancon lavishes on your farm-to-table product? See photos from this show by Jill Lafleur, and more, at our website.  More conversation about Acadiana meat is here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 were living? Or could you use your period of suspended animation to reassess, and make some changes? These are questions Dr Stephen Barnes is asking. Except he's asking them about the State of Louisiana. Dr. Barnes is Director of The Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. And he's a member of a select group of economists and advisers on the Louisiana Revenue Estimating Conference – a government panel that determines income projections that create the state budget. Education If you're in college or you have kids in school, over the past couple of months you've learned a new word. And a new skill. The word is, “Zoom.” And the skill is, “Distance Learning.” Up until sometime in March 2020, if you wanted to get an education you had to get out of your house and go to a classroom. Now you just have to go to your computer - or even your phone – and click on “Join Zoom Meeting.” And there you are, with the same teacher, the same lesson, even the same kids in your class. And it's all going on in the comfort of your own home. Why would you ever go back to a classroom again? Out to Lunch puts that question to someone whose life is intimately bound up with its answer: Tania Tetlow, President of Loyola University in New Orleans. In this conversation, Tania lays out the possibilities for the post-pandemic future of higher education in stark and sometimes alarming detail. Dr Tetlow's fear is that we are about to embark on an era that she describes as "The GI Bill in reverse," in which a whole generation of kids suddenly does not go to college. Photos by Jill Lafleur and more info at our website. Further examination of the Louisiana economy is here See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 were living? Or could you use your period of suspended animation to reassess, and make some changes? These are questions Dr Stephen Barnes is asking. Except he's asking them about the State of Louisiana. Dr. Barnes is Director of The Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. And he's a member of a select group of economists and advisers on the Louisiana Revenue Estimating Conference – a government panel that determines income projections that create the state budget. Education If you're in college or you have kids in school, over the past couple of months you've learned a new word. And a new skill. The word is, “Zoom.” And the skill is, “Distance Learning.” Up until sometime in March 2020, if you wanted to get an education you had to get out of your house and go to a classroom. Now you just have to go to your computer - or even your phone – and click on “Join Zoom Meeting.” And there you are, with the same teacher, the same lesson, even the same kids in your class. And it's all going on in the comfort of your own home. Why would you ever go back to a classroom again? Out to Lunch puts that question to someone whose life is intimately bound up with its answer: Tania Tetlow, President of Loyola University in New Orleans. In this conversation, Tania lays out the possibilities for the post-pandemic future of higher education in stark and sometimes alarming detail. Dr Tetlow's fear is that we are about to embark on an era that she describes as "The GI Bill in reverse," in which a whole generation of kids suddenly does not go to college. Photos by Jill Lafleur and more info at our website. Further examination of the Louisiana economy is here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 of new unknowns: The Saints, LSU, and back to the office. On this edition of out to Lunch, Peter Ricchiuti, Stephanie Riegel and Christiaan Mader run through those three current unknowns. The Saints It's no secret that not everybody in the state of Louisiana has warm feelings for New Orleans. In towns across Louisiana it's not unusual to find a certain amount of political and financial resentment about the amount of money and attention given to New Orleans. But all of that melts way when it comes to football. The name of the team is The New Orleans Saints. But it might as well be The Louisiana Saints. From Shreveport in the North, to the most Southern point of Barataria Bay, Saints fans are everywhere. And so, along with all of our individual problems that we're grappling with as we work our way through this pandemic, we have one question that unites us: What's going to happen to football? Whatever else happens during football season this year, one thing is becoming increasingly apparent. And that is, football stadiums are not going to be allowed to be packed to capacity. Ed Lang, Chief Financial Officer for The New Orleans Saints, and The Pelicans, discusses the question that I'm sure every team in the league is trying to answer: Is there a way to have an NFL season where football becomes a sport more like golf or tennis, where most of the audience is not in the stadium, and revenue comes from sources other than ticket sales? Is that model financially possible for the NFL? LSU There are a lot of unknowns in our future. One thing we do know for sure though is, the State of Louisiana is facing a massive financial shortfall. Whenever this has happened in the past, the first victims of cost-cutting out of Baton Rouge are healthcare and education.  This time, the Governor is proposing to cover the budget gap with Federal funds. However, as of today, that is far from a done deal. So it won't be surprising if we start to hear some of the familiar economic-crisis catch-cries coming from the capital. One of the old faithfuls is taking the ax to LSU – including proposals to close down whole departments. If this happens, one department that will not be on the chopping board is the department that might be the future of education itself – online learning. Dr Sasha Thackaberry is LSU's Vice President of Online and Continuing Education. The stay-at-home learning that colleges have had to suddenly adopt over the Covid lockdown is being talked about as possibly changing the nature of college education forever. As every single department is now looking at putting at least some of their curriculum online, Dr Thackaberry is suddenly a central figure in the future of LSU.  Back To The Office Over the past couple of months, if you have an office job… Well, we might have to come up with a different title for your occupation. We've traditionally called it “office work” because it was done at an office. But, as we have all discovered, you can do office work at home. Working from home has turned out to have all kinds of advantages.  Office workers can avoid commuting and enjoy a more integrated work/life balance. And employers can cut down on the expense of running an office. But what do these changes mean for people whose life and livelihoods revolve around the office? And there are plenty of them. Realtors. Food courts. Commercial cleaners. And almost every retail outlet in downtowns and CBD's everywhere that revolve around the foot traffic that clusters of offices generate. Possibly nobody is more affected by these changes - or more of an expert at being able to predict the future of office work - than Ashley Thibodeaux Herbert. Ashley is CEO of a New Orleans-based company called Bart's Office. Bart's Office is a full-service office moving company. But it does more than just move office furniture. Bart's does everything from making sure you buy the furniture you need, to setting up your internet network. One of the clients they worked with in 2019, for example, was setting up the new New Orleans International Airport. So Ashley is in a good position to look at the what might be the future of the office.  is this whole work-from-home period going to be something we look back on as just a temporary phase? Or are we looking at a permanent change to our relationship with the office? Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. More conversation about the Louisiana Covid economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 of new unknowns: The Saints, LSU, and back to the office. On this edition of out to Lunch, Peter Ricchiuti, Stephanie Riegel and Christiaan Mader run through those three current unknowns. The Saints It's no secret that not everybody in the state of Louisiana has warm feelings for New Orleans. In towns across Louisiana it's not unusual to find a certain amount of political and financial resentment about the amount of money and attention given to New Orleans. But all of that melts way when it comes to football. The name of the team is The New Orleans Saints. But it might as well be The Louisiana Saints. From Shreveport in the North, to the most Southern point of Barataria Bay, Saints fans are everywhere. And so, along with all of our individual problems that we're grappling with as we work our way through this pandemic, we have one question that unites us: What's going to happen to football? Whatever else happens during football season this year, one thing is becoming increasingly apparent. And that is, football stadiums are not going to be allowed to be packed to capacity. Ed Lang, Chief Financial Officer for The New Orleans Saints, and The Pelicans, discusses the question that I'm sure every team in the league is trying to answer: Is there a way to have an NFL season where football becomes a sport more like golf or tennis, where most of the audience is not in the stadium, and revenue comes from sources other than ticket sales? Is that model financially possible for the NFL? LSU There are a lot of unknowns in our future. One thing we do know for sure though is, the State of Louisiana is facing a massive financial shortfall. Whenever this has happened in the past, the first victims of cost-cutting out of Baton Rouge are healthcare and education.  This time, the Governor is proposing to cover the budget gap with Federal funds. However, as of today, that is far from a done deal. So it won't be surprising if we start to hear some of the familiar economic-crisis catch-cries coming from the capital. One of the old faithfuls is taking the ax to LSU – including proposals to close down whole departments. If this happens, one department that will not be on the chopping board is the department that might be the future of education itself – online learning. Dr Sasha Thackaberry is LSU's Vice President of Online and Continuing Education. The stay-at-home learning that colleges have had to suddenly adopt over the Covid lockdown is being talked about as possibly changing the nature of college education forever. As every single department is now looking at putting at least some of their curriculum online, Dr Thackaberry is suddenly a central figure in the future of LSU.  Back To The Office Over the past couple of months, if you have an office job… Well, we might have to come up with a different title for your occupation. We've traditionally called it “office work” because it was done at an office. But, as we have all discovered, you can do office work at home. Working from home has turned out to have all kinds of advantages.  Office workers can avoid commuting and enjoy a more integrated work/life balance. And employers can cut down on the expense of running an office. But what do these changes mean for people whose life and livelihoods revolve around the office? And there are plenty of them. Realtors. Food courts. Commercial cleaners. And almost every retail outlet in downtowns and CBD's everywhere that revolve around the foot traffic that clusters of offices generate. Possibly nobody is more affected by these changes - or more of an expert at being able to predict the future of office work - than Ashley Thibodeaux Herbert. Ashley is CEO of a New Orleans-based company called Bart's Office. Bart's Office is a full-service office moving company. But it does more than just move office furniture. Bart's does everything from making sure you buy the furniture you need, to setting up your internet network. One of the clients they worked with in 2019, for example, was setting up the new New Orleans International Airport. So Ashley is in a good position to look at the what might be the future of the office.  is this whole work-from-home period going to be something we look back on as just a temporary phase? Or are we looking at a permanent change to our relationship with the office? Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. More conversation about the Louisiana Covid economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 of new unknowns: The Saints, LSU, and back to the office. On this edition of out to Lunch, Peter Ricchiuti, Stephanie Riegel and Christiaan Mader run through those three current unknowns. The Saints It's no secret that not everybody in the state of Louisiana has warm feelings for New Orleans. In towns across Louisiana it's not unusual to find a certain amount of political and financial resentment about the amount of money and attention given to New Orleans. But all of that melts way when it comes to football. The name of the team is The New Orleans Saints. But it might as well be The Louisiana Saints. From Shreveport in the North, to the most Southern point of Barataria Bay, Saints fans are everywhere. And so, along with all of our individual problems that we're grappling with as we work our way through this pandemic, we have one question that unites us: What's going to happen to football? Whatever else happens during football season this year, one thing is becoming increasingly apparent. And that is, football stadiums are not going to be allowed to be packed to capacity. Ed Lang, Chief Financial Officer for The New Orleans Saints, and The Pelicans, discusses the question that I'm sure every team in the league is trying to answer: Is there a way to have an NFL season where football becomes a sport more like golf or tennis, where most of the audience is not in the stadium, and revenue comes from sources other than ticket sales? Is that model financially possible for the NFL? LSU There are a lot of unknowns in our future. One thing we do know for sure though is, the State of Louisiana is facing a massive financial shortfall. Whenever this has happened in the past, the first victims of cost-cutting out of Baton Rouge are healthcare and education.  This time, the Governor is proposing to cover the budget gap with Federal funds. However, as of today, that is far from a done deal. So it won't be surprising if we start to hear some of the familiar economic-crisis catch-cries coming from the capital. One of the old faithfuls is taking the ax to LSU – including proposals to close down whole departments. If this happens, one department that will not be on the chopping board is the department that might be the future of education itself – online learning. Dr Sasha Thackaberry is LSU's Vice President of Online and Continuing Education. The stay-at-home learning that colleges have had to suddenly adopt over the Covid lockdown is being talked about as possibly changing the nature of college education forever. As every single department is now looking at putting at least some of their curriculum online, Dr Thackaberry is suddenly a central figure in the future of LSU.  Back To The Office Over the past couple of months, if you have an office job… Well, we might have to come up with a different title for your occupation. We've traditionally called it “office work” because it was done at an office. But, as we have all discovered, you can do office work at home. Working from home has turned out to have all kinds of advantages.  Office workers can avoid commuting and enjoy a more integrated work/life balance. And employers can cut down on the expense of running an office. But what do these changes mean for people whose life and livelihoods revolve around the office? And there are plenty of them. Realtors. Food courts. Commercial cleaners. And almost every retail outlet in downtowns and CBD's everywhere that revolve around the foot traffic that clusters of offices generate. Possibly nobody is more affected by these changes - or more of an expert at being able to predict the future of office work - than Ashley Thibodeaux Herbert. Ashley is CEO of a New Orleans-based company called Bart's Office. Bart's Office is a full-service office moving company. But it does more than just move office furniture. Bart's does everything from making sure you buy the furniture you need, to setting up your internet network. One of the clients they worked with in 2019, for example, was setting up the new New Orleans International Airport. So Ashley is in a good position to look at the what might be the future of the office.  is this whole work-from-home period going to be something we look back on as just a temporary phase? Or are we looking at a permanent change to our relationship with the office? Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur are at our website. More conversation about the Louisiana Covid economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 continuing to exist in a parallel universe, beyond Covid 19. Coffee Coffee is the 2nd largest traded commodity in the world. Behind oil. After what's been happening in the oil market over the last few weeks, it's probably safe to say that, as of right now, coffee is the biggest commodity in international trade. Drew Cambre is a professional coffee taster. It wouldn't be surprising if you didn't know "coffee taster" was an actual job. With the popularity of coffee drinking at a generational high and unemployment running at record levels, you might be thinking this is the kind of job you could do. Is it as fun and easy as it sounds? Take a listen to this conversation and see what you think. Technically, Drew is Coffee Quality Manager at The Dupuy Group, a global logistics company headquartered in New Orleans. Grass Whenever somebody has a brilliant new idea for a business that's going to make everybody rich, they pitch it as a version of another brilliant idea that is supposed to make everybody rich. Like, say, Uber. The fact is, that even before this current economic downturn, Uber was losing billions of dollars a year. But that doesn't stop entrepreneurs coming up with concepts based on Uber's gig-economy model. There's Hampr, an app that's “the Uber of laundry.” Bambino is “the Uber of baby sitting.” And now, from Baton Rouge, there's Block Lawncare – the Uber of grass cutting. The co-founder of Block Lawncare is Matthew Armstrong.  What started out as “the Uber of grass cutting” is poised to be more than just a grass hook-up. Block Lawncare has its sights firmly set on world domestic services domination. A Better You Whatever you do, however successful you are, it seems to be human nature to want to do better. To have a better job, a better house, a better car…   At the same time, even the most materialistic among us would probably say, we'd also like to be a better person. To better ourselves in a non-material sense, we normally make a choice. We either go the secular route – go to therapy - or we go the spiritual route and join a church, or follow some other spiritual self-development philosophy. Mary Margaret Camalo doesn't believe you have to make that choice. Mary Margaret is a Transpersonal Psychotherapist who practices an approach to mental and spiritual health, called Psychosynthesis. We typically think of mental health as having short term goals - like getting over depression – and spiritual growth as being a lifetime journey. Mary Margaret's Psychosynthesis balances these two seemingly opposed approaches to self-improvement. As we look toward returning to some sort of normalcy, it's good to remind ourselves that there's life beyond the virus. And now for something completely different... Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur, and more, are at our website. If you're looking for more "And now for something completely different" business distractions from Covid 19, try this. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 continuing to exist in a parallel universe, beyond Covid 19. Coffee Coffee is the 2nd largest traded commodity in the world. Behind oil. After what's been happening in the oil market over the last few weeks, it's probably safe to say that, as of right now, coffee is the biggest commodity in international trade. Drew Cambre is a professional coffee taster. It wouldn't be surprising if you didn't know "coffee taster" was an actual job. With the popularity of coffee drinking at a generational high and unemployment running at record levels, you might be thinking this is the kind of job you could do. Is it as fun and easy as it sounds? Take a listen to this conversation and see what you think. Technically, Drew is Coffee Quality Manager at The Dupuy Group, a global logistics company headquartered in New Orleans. Grass Whenever somebody has a brilliant new idea for a business that's going to make everybody rich, they pitch it as a version of another brilliant idea that is supposed to make everybody rich. Like, say, Uber. The fact is, that even before this current economic downturn, Uber was losing billions of dollars a year. But that doesn't stop entrepreneurs coming up with concepts based on Uber's gig-economy model. There's Hampr, an app that's “the Uber of laundry.” Bambino is “the Uber of baby sitting.” And now, from Baton Rouge, there's Block Lawncare – the Uber of grass cutting. The co-founder of Block Lawncare is Matthew Armstrong.  What started out as “the Uber of grass cutting” is poised to be more than just a grass hook-up. Block Lawncare has its sights firmly set on world domestic services domination.A Better You Whatever you do, however successful you are, it seems to be human nature to want to do better. To have a better job, a better house, a better car…   At the same time, even the most materialistic among us would probably say, we'd also like to be a better person. To better ourselves in a non-material sense, we normally make a choice. We either go the secular route – go to therapy - or we go the spiritual route and join a church, or follow some other spiritual self-development philosophy. Mary Margaret Camalo doesn't believe you have to make that choice. Mary Margaret is a Transpersonal Psychotherapist who practices an approach to mental and spiritual health, called Psychosynthesis. We typically think of mental health as having short term goals - like getting over depression – and spiritual growth as being a lifetime journey. Mary Margaret's Psychosynthesis balances these two seemingly opposed approaches to self-improvement. As we look toward returning to some sort of normalcy, it's good to remind ourselves that there's life beyond the virus. And now for something completely different... Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur, and more, are at our website. If you're looking for more "And now for something completely different" business distractions from Covid 19, try this. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 continuing to exist in a parallel universe, beyond Covid 19. Coffee Coffee is the 2nd largest traded commodity in the world. Behind oil. After what's been happening in the oil market over the last few weeks, it's probably safe to say that, as of right now, coffee is the biggest commodity in international trade. Drew Cambre is a professional coffee taster. It wouldn't be surprising if you didn't know "coffee taster" was an actual job. With the popularity of coffee drinking at a generational high and unemployment running at record levels, you might be thinking this is the kind of job you could do. Is it as fun and easy as it sounds? Take a listen to this conversation and see what you think. Technically, Drew is Coffee Quality Manager at The Dupuy Group, a global logistics company headquartered in New Orleans. Grass Whenever somebody has a brilliant new idea for a business that's going to make everybody rich, they pitch it as a version of another brilliant idea that is supposed to make everybody rich. Like, say, Uber. The fact is, that even before this current economic downturn, Uber was losing billions of dollars a year. But that doesn't stop entrepreneurs coming up with concepts based on Uber's gig-economy model. There's Hampr, an app that's “the Uber of laundry.” Bambino is “the Uber of baby sitting.” And now, from Baton Rouge, there's Block Lawncare – the Uber of grass cutting. The co-founder of Block Lawncare is Matthew Armstrong. What started out as “the Uber of grass cutting” is poised to be more than just a grass hook-up. Block Lawncare has its sights firmly set on world domestic services domination. A Better You Whatever you do, however successful you are, it seems to be human nature to want to do better. To have a better job, a better house, a better car…   At the same time, even the most materialistic among us would probably say, we'd also like to be a better person. To better ourselves in a non-material sense, we normally make a choice. We either go the secular route – go to therapy - or we go the spiritual route and join a church, or follow some other spiritual self-development philosophy. Mary Margaret Camalo doesn't believe you have to make that choice. Mary Margaret is a Transpersonal Psychotherapist who practices an approach to mental and spiritual health, called Psychosynthesis. We typically think of mental health as having short term goals - like getting over depression – and spiritual growth as being a lifetime journey. Mary Margaret's Psychosynthesis balances these two seemingly opposed approaches to self-improvement. As we look toward returning to some sort of normalcy, it's good to remind ourselves that there's life beyond the virus.  Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur, and more, are at our website. If you're looking for more "And now for something completely different" business distractions from Covid 19, try this. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 pillar, even more central to the US economy, The Fed really immutable? Starkly, is Doomsday possible?      The Fed Whenever we get into any kind of real serious financial trouble – like the recession in 2008, or the economic slow-down we're in now – we're confident that the world is not coming to an end. The reason we're so certain that the financial system is not going to crash, is because we believe The Fed is not going to let it. The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. It's actually a series of 12 Federal Reserve banks. Here in Louisiana we're in the Federal Reserve's 6th District, anchored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The Vice President & Regional Executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is Adrienne Slack. In this conversation Peter Ricchiuti takes Adrienne back to a statement by the Chairman of the Fed, Jerome Powell, on April 9th. Powell said, "The Fed will provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans to support the economy. This funding will assist households and employers of all sizes, and bolster the ability of state and local governments to deliver critical services during the coronavirus pandemic.” In other words, on April 9th The Fed gave the United States $2.3 trillion. The Fed is not actually printing money, but on April 9th it did in fact create $2.3 trillion that didn't exist on April 8th. Adrienne explains how this works, and discusses the bigger question: could gthere be a day when it stops working? Oil Nothing sums up the strange and unprecedented economic times we're living in more than a simple, three-letter word: Oil. Maybe there's a fiction writer somewhere who imagined the day oil became a worthless commodity that you had to pay someone to haul away, like garbage. But it's doubtful there is an economist on earth who saw that day coming. Or even the days we're living in now, where we're discussing what's called “$20 oil.” That is, oil that sells for $20 a barrel. What does it cost to produce a barrel of oil? In Louisiana the common wisdom has always been, around $60. Over the last couple of years though, the oil field seems to have been staying alive with prices of around $35 a barrel. Is $20 oil finally going to kill off the energy business in Louisiana? Keep in mind that the reason this matters is, the energy industry in Louisiana employs over a quarter of a million people. And it pays over $2billion in annual state taxes. So whatever happens to the oil business in Louisiana affects all of us. One good thing about a business that is continually in a cycle of boom or bust, is predictability. A bust is always followed at some point by a boom. Or it has been. This time, though, it looks like we're going to need a more robust survival strategy than “Wait for better times to come around.” Do we have that strategy? Gifford Briggs is the lucky person who gets to answer that question. Gifford is President of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. Crisis Leadership No matter which part of Louisiana you live in, you've survived disasters. From catastrophic downturns in the oil business, to biblical floods, and storms. One of the most cataclysmic of these in our lifetime was Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was brought to its knees in a way that, till it happened, had only existed as a theoretical “worst case scenario.” Beyond the threat to life itself, hardship like that - and the crisis we're going through now - creates enormous suffering. It also creates heroes. After Katrina, one of those New Orleans heroes was Blake Haney. Blake is the owner of a business called Dirty Coast. Dirty Coast makes hip T-shirts with a New Orleans flavor. After Katrina, they also made a sticker. The sticker said, “Be A New Orleanian wherever you are.” Dirty Coast was then a small store. But demand was so great for those stickers that Blake gave away around one million of them. That slogan united a far-flung diaspora of New Orleanians and captured the resilience that directly led to the rebuilding of New Orleans. Today, Dirty Coast has 4 outlets and a significant e-commerce component. Blake Haney still runs the company. He's also the co-founder of locally.com, a nationwide e-commerce site that drives consumers to brick and mortar stores, and Bayou Brands, an e-commerce and product development consultancy.  There are very few thought-leaders who have actually been on the front-line of rebuilding a shattered economy. Blake is one of them. Can the lessons he learned  last time be applied now to rebuild the local, state and national economy? Photos by Jill Lafleur and more info is at our website. More examination of the current Louisiana economy is here.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 pillar, even more central to the US economy, The Fed really immutable? Starkly, is Doomsday possible?      The Fed Whenever we get into any kind of real serious financial trouble – like the recession in 2008, or the economic slow-down we're in now – we're confident that the world is not coming to an end. The reason we're so certain that the financial system is not going to crash, is because we believe The Fed is not going to let it. The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. It's actually a series of 12 Federal Reserve banks. Here in Louisiana we're in the Federal Reserve's 6th District, anchored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The Vice President & Regional Executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is Adrienne Slack. In this conversation Peter Ricchiuti takes Adrienne back to a statement by the Chairman of the Fed, Jerome Powell, on April 9th. Powell said, "The Fed will provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans to support the economy. This funding will assist households and employers of all sizes, and bolster the ability of state and local governments to deliver critical services during the coronavirus pandemic.” In other words, on April 9th The Fed gave the United States $2.3 trillion. The Fed is not actually printing money, but on April 9th it did in fact create $2.3 trillion that didn't exist on April 8th. Adrienne explains how this works, and discusses the bigger question: could gthere be a day when it stops working? Oil Nothing sums up the strange and unprecedented economic times we're living in more than a simple, three-letter word: Oil. Maybe there's a fiction writer somewhere who imagined the day oil became a worthless commodity that you had to pay someone to haul away, like garbage. But it's doubtful there is an economist on earth who saw that day coming. Or even the days we're living in now, where we're discussing what's called “$20 oil.” That is, oil that sells for $20 a barrel. What does it cost to produce a barrel of oil? In Louisiana the common wisdom has always been, around $60. Over the last couple of years though, the oil field seems to have been staying alive with prices of around $35 a barrel. Is $20 oil finally going to kill off the energy business in Louisiana? Keep in mind that the reason this matters is, the energy industry in Louisiana employs over a quarter of a million people. And it pays over $2billion in annual state taxes. So whatever happens to the oil business in Louisiana affects all of us. One good thing about a business that is continually in a cycle of boom or bust, is predictability. A bust is always followed at some point by a boom. Or it has been. This time, though, it looks like we're going to need a more robust survival strategy than “Wait for better times to come around.” Do we have that strategy? Gifford Briggs is the lucky person who gets to answer that question. Gifford is President of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. Crisis Leadership No matter which part of Louisiana you live in, you've survived disasters. From catastrophic downturns in the oil business, to biblical floods, and storms. One of the most cataclysmic of these in our lifetime was Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was brought to its knees in a way that, till it happened, had only existed as a theoretical “worst case scenario.” Beyond the threat to life itself, hardship like that - and the crisis we're going through now - creates enormous suffering. It also creates heroes. After Katrina, one of those New Orleans heroes was Blake Haney. Blake is the owner of a business called Dirty Coast. Dirty Coast makes hip T-shirts with a New Orleans flavor. After Katrina, they also made a sticker. The sticker said, “Be A New Orleanian wherever you are.” Dirty Coast was then a small store. But demand was so great for those stickers that Blake gave away around one million of them. That slogan united a far-flung diaspora of New Orleanians and captured the resilience that directly led to the rebuilding of New Orleans. Today, Dirty Coast has 4 outlets and a significant e-commerce component. Blake Haney still runs the company. He's also the co-founder of locally.com, a nationwide e-commerce site that drives consumers to brick and mortar stores, and Bayou Brands, an e-commerce and product development consultancy.  There are very few thought-leaders who have actually been on the front-line of rebuilding a shattered economy. Blake is one of them. Can the lessons he learned  last time be applied now to rebuild the local, state and national economy? Photos by Jill Lafleur and more info is at our website. More examination of the current Louisiana economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 pillar, even more central to the US economy, The Fed really immutable? Starkly, is Doomsday possible?      The Fed Whenever we get into any kind of real serious financial trouble – like the recession in 2008, or the economic slow-down we're in now – we're confident that the world is not coming to an end. The reason we're so certain that the financial system is not going to crash, is because we believe The Fed is not going to let it. The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. It's actually a series of 12 Federal Reserve banks. Here in Louisiana we're in the Federal Reserve's 6th District, anchored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The Vice President & Regional Executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is Adrienne Slack. In this conversation Peter Ricchiuti takes Adrienne back to a statement by the Chairman of the Fed, Jerome Powell, on April 9th. Powell said, "The Fed will provide up to $2.3 trillion in loans to support the economy. This funding will assist households and employers of all sizes, and bolster the ability of state and local governments to deliver critical services during the coronavirus pandemic.” In other words, on April 9th The Fed gave the United States $2.3 trillion. The Fed is not actually printing money, but on April 9th it did in fact create $2.3 trillion that didn't exist on April 8th. Adrienne explains how this works, and discusses the bigger question: could gthere be a day when it stops working? Oil Nothing sums up the strange and unprecedented economic times we're living in more than a simple, three-letter word: Oil. Maybe there's a fiction writer somewhere who imagined the day oil became a worthless commodity that you had to pay someone to haul away, like garbage. But it's doubtful there is an economist on earth who saw that day coming. Or even the days we're living in now, where we're discussing what's called “$20 oil.” That is, oil that sells for $20 a barrel. What does it cost to produce a barrel of oil? In Louisiana the common wisdom has always been, around $60. Over the last couple of years though, the oil field seems to have been staying alive with prices of around $35 a barrel. Is $20 oil finally going to kill off the energy business in Louisiana? Keep in mind that the reason this matters is, the energy industry in Louisiana employs over a quarter of a million people. And it pays over $2billion in annual state taxes. So whatever happens to the oil business in Louisiana affects all of us. One good thing about a business that is continually in a cycle of boom or bust, is predictability. A bust is always followed at some point by a boom. Or it has been. This time, though, it looks like we're going to need a more robust survival strategy than “Wait for better times to come around.” Do we have that strategy? Gifford Briggs is the lucky person who gets to answer that question. Gifford is President of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association. Crisis Leadership No matter which part of Louisiana you live in, you've survived disasters. From catastrophic downturns in the oil business, to biblical floods, and storms. One of the most cataclysmic of these in our lifetime was Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was brought to its knees in a way that, till it happened, had only existed as a theoretical “worst case scenario.” Beyond the threat to life itself, hardship like that - and the crisis we're going through now - creates enormous suffering. It also creates heroes. After Katrina, one of those New Orleans heroes was Blake Haney. Blake is the owner of a business called Dirty Coast. Dirty Coast makes hip T-shirts with a New Orleans flavor. After Katrina, they also made a sticker. The sticker said, “Be A New Orleanian wherever you are.” Dirty Coast was then a small store. But demand was so great for those stickers that Blake gave away around one million of them. That slogan united a far-flung diaspora of New Orleanians and captured the resilience that directly led to the rebuilding of New Orleans. Today, Dirty Coast has 4 outlets and a significant e-commerce component. Blake Haney still runs the company. He's also the co-founder of locally.com, a nationwide e-commerce site that drives consumers to brick and mortar stores, and Bayou Brands, an e-commerce and product development consultancy.  There are very few thought-leaders who have actually been on the front-line of rebuilding a shattered economy. Blake is one of them. Can the lessons he learned  last time be applied now to rebuild the local, state and national economy? Photos by Jill Lafleur and more info is at our website. More examination of the current Louisiana economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 down practically every store in the country. If you weren't an online shopper before all of this, you probably are now. So, now that we've all discovered how easy it is to order online and have everything show up at our door two days later, what happens to our mom and pop stores, our art galleries, and everything else that has typically relied on foot traffic? In Lafayette, we're in the process of finding out the answer to this question, as stores are beginning to re-open. Anita Begnaud is CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority. Anita, with Lafayette being one of the earliest parts of the state and the country to open back up, you're a witness to history. What are you seeing in Downtown Lafayette? Real Estate One of the changes that has come with this health crisis, is the discovery many of us have made about working from home. At first it was something of a novelty. It felt like a long weekend. But now that we've mastered video meetings and found strategies for balancing work and family, we've discovered that not commuting has distinct advantages. As businesses open up, many people who have unshackled themselves from the office are looking to continue the work-from-home habit. And from the employer side, if productivity stays the same and you don't need office space, well, that's a significant saving. This might all sound great, but if even just 20% of us stayed home, and office space and everything that goes with it shrinks by 20% – like attendance at the food court and the nearby gym – what does that knock-on effect do to the economy? Let's start with what it might do to the commercial real estate market... Matthew Laborde, commercial real estate broker at Elifin Realty in Baton Rouge, looks into the future of working from home and has some insightful, evidence-based predictions. Education If you're in college or you have kids in school, over the past couple of months you've learned a new word. And a new skill. The word is, “Zoom.” And the skill is, “Distance Learning.” Up until sometime in March 2020, if you wanted to get an education you had to get out of your house and go to a classroom. Now you just have to go to your computer - or even your phone – and click on “Join Zoom Meeting.” And there you are, with the same teacher, the same lesson, even the same kids in your class. And it's all going on in the comfort of your own home. Why would you ever go back to a classroom again? Peter Ricchiuti puts this question to Tania Tetlow, President of Loyola University in New Orleans. Is the Zoom classroom revolution going to have a permanent effect on education? Or is it just a Covid convenience? Find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at our website  More analysis of the future of the Louisiana economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 down practically every store in the country. If you weren't an online shopper before all of this, you probably are now. So, now that we've all discovered how easy it is to order online and have everything show up at our door two days later, what happens to our mom and pop stores, our art galleries, and everything else that has typically relied on foot traffic? In Lafayette, we're in the process of finding out the answer to this question, as stores are beginning to re-open. Anita Begnaud is CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority. Anita, with Lafayette being one of the earliest parts of the state and the country to open back up, you're a witness to history. What are you seeing in Downtown Lafayette? Real Estate One of the changes that has come with this health crisis, is the discovery many of us have made about working from home. At first it was something of a novelty. It felt like a long weekend. But now that we've mastered video meetings and found strategies for balancing work and family, we've discovered that not commuting has distinct advantages. As businesses open up, many people who have unshackled themselves from the office are looking to continue the work-from-home habit. And from the employer side, if productivity stays the same and you don't need office space, well, that's a significant saving. This might all sound great, but if even just 20% of us stayed home, and office space and everything that goes with it shrinks by 20% – like attendance at the food court and the nearby gym – what does that knock-on effect do to the economy? Let's start with what it might do to the commercial real estate market... Matthew Laborde, commercial real estate broker at Elifin Realty in Baton Rouge, looks into the future of working from home and has some insightful, evidence-based predictions. Education If you're in college or you have kids in school, over the past couple of months you've learned a new word. And a new skill. The word is, “Zoom.” And the skill is, “Distance Learning.” Up until sometime in March 2020, if you wanted to get an education you had to get out of your house and go to a classroom. Now you just have to go to your computer - or even your phone – and click on “Join Zoom Meeting.” And there you are, with the same teacher, the same lesson, even the same kids in your class. And it's all going on in the comfort of your own home. Why would you ever go back to a classroom again? Peter Ricchiuti puts this question to Tania Tetlow, President of Loyola University in New Orleans. Is the Zoom classroom revolution going to have a permanent effect on education? Or is it just a Covid convenience? Find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at our website. More analysis of the future of the Louisiana economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 down practically every store in the country. If you weren't an online shopper before all of this, you probably are now. So, now that we've all discovered how easy it is to order online and have everything show up at our door two days later, what happens to our mom and pop stores, our art galleries, and everything else that has typically relied on foot traffic? In Lafayette, we're in the process of finding out the answer to this question, as stores are beginning to re-open. Anita Begnaud is CEO of the Lafayette Downtown Development Authority. Anita, with Lafayette being one of the earliest parts of the state and the country to open back up, you're a witness to history. What are you seeing in Downtown Lafayette? Real Estate One of the changes that has come with this health crisis, is the discovery many of us have made about working from home. At first it was something of a novelty. It felt like a long weekend. But now that we've mastered video meetings and found strategies for balancing work and family, we've discovered that not commuting has distinct advantages. As businesses open up, many people who have unshackled themselves from the office are looking to continue the work-from-home habit. And from the employer side, if productivity stays the same and you don't need office space, well, that's a significant saving. This might all sound great, but if even just 20% of us stayed home, and office space and everything that goes with it shrinks by 20% – like attendance at the food court and the nearby gym – what does that knock-on effect do to the economy? Let's start with what it might do to the commercial real estate market... Matthew Laborde, commercial real estate broker at Elifin Realty in Baton Rouge, looks into the future of working from home and has some insightful, evidence-based predictions. Education If you're in college or you have kids in school, over the past couple of months you've learned a new word. And a new skill. The word is, “Zoom.” And the skill is, “Distance Learning.” Up until sometime in March 2020, if you wanted to get an education you had to get out of your house and go to a classroom. Now you just have to go to your computer - or even your phone – and click on “Join Zoom Meeting.” And there you are, with the same teacher, the same lesson, even the same kids in your class. And it's all going on in the comfort of your own home. Why would you ever go back to a classroom again? Peter Ricchiuti puts this question to Tania Tetlow, President of Loyola University in New Orleans. Is the Zoom classroom revolution going to have a permanent effect on education? Or is it just a Covid convenience? Find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at our website  More analysis of the future of the Louisiana economy is here.     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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's hard to think of a part of our life that it hasn't affected. But of all the changes, the biggest casualty - other than health - is employment. Currently, the number of unemployed people in the United Sates is hovering around a staggering 22 million. Although this is a nationwide problem, the stop-gap solution to unemployment – the payment of unemployment compensation – is left to the states. Unemployment compensation is structured like insurance. It works on the assumption that only a relatively small number of people will be unemployed at any one time. So, when 20 million people suddenly lose their job on the same day, how do states keep funding unemployment insurance and paying compensation? Here in Louisiana, there's a division of the Department of Labor that handles all aspects of unemployment. It's the Louisiana Workforce Commission.  The Assistant Secretary of Unemployment Insurance at the Louisiana Workforce Commission is Robert Wooley. It's possible that the massive number of people who found themselves out of a job can get re-hired just as quickly when things open up. But what happens if it doesn't work out that way? What if the economy comes back slowly? How does the state keep paying unemployment benefits to tens of thousands more people than it budgeted for? A Rare Opportunity For Self Reflection 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 now that it's really happening, it's providing us with an un-imagined opportunity. Self-reflection. When things start back up, do you want to jump back into the exact same life you were living? Or could you use this period of suspended animation to reassess, and make some changes? These are questions Dr Stephen Barnes is asking. Except he's asking them about the State of Louisiana. Dr. Barnes is Director of The Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. And he's a member of a select group of economists and advisers on the Louisiana Revenue Estimating Conference – a government panel that determines income projections that create the state budget. Now that we've been forced to stop every non-essential business in the state, when we start up again, Dr Barnes is thinking we could do a few things differently. There Are Still Job Opportunities out There Even though there are more than 20 million people in the US right now who are not working, and that is an extremely high number, it's not everybody. The total size of the US workforce is over 157 million. Companies who remain open through this crisis, are hiring. Reportedly, Amazon is still looking after already hiring 100,000 people, and WalMart is aiming to hire 150,000. Here in Louisiana, workforce recruiters are actively looking for people to fill positions. One of those recruiters is Henry Shurlds. Henry is Partner and Vice President of One Source Professional Search. On the company's website there's a home page message that says, “We've weathered multiple economic and natural disasters during our 17 years in business, each time emerging stronger, and are confident our trusted client partners and candidates will do the same.” We're all looking for good employment news about now. Believe it or not, Henry sees local companies in Louisiana emerging stronger from this crisis. See photos from this show by Jill Lafleur on our website https://itsacadiana.com/2020/04/21/where-to-now-louisiana/ Last week's Louisiana economic analysis of Louisiana and the global economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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's hard to think of a part of our life that it hasn't affected. But of all the changes, the biggest casualty - other than health - is employment. Currently, the number of unemployed people in the United Sates is hovering around a staggering 22 million. Although this is a nationwide problem, the stop-gap solution to unemployment – the payment of unemployment compensation – is left to the states. Unemployment compensation is structured like insurance. It works on the assumption that only a relatively small number of people will be unemployed at any one time. So, when 20 million people suddenly lose their job on the same day, how do states keep funding unemployment insurance and paying compensation? Here in Louisiana, there's a division of the Department of Labor that handles all aspects of unemployment. It's the Louisiana Workforce Commission.  The Assistant Secretary of Unemployment Insurance at the Louisiana Workforce Commission is Robert Wooley. It's possible that the massive number of people who found themselves out of a job can get re-hired just as quickly when things open up. But what happens if it doesn't work out that way? What if the economy comes back slowly? How does the state keep paying unemployment benefits to tens of thousands more people than it budgeted for? A Rare Opportunity For Self Reflection 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 now that it's really happening, it's providing us with an un-imagined opportunity. Self-reflection. When things start back up, do you want to jump back into the exact same life you were living? Or could you use this period of suspended animation to reassess, and make some changes? These are questions Dr Stephen Barnes is asking. Except he's asking them about the State of Louisiana. Dr. Barnes is Director of The Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. And he's a member of a select group of economists and advisers on the Louisiana Revenue Estimating Conference – a government panel that determines income projections that create the state budget. Now that we've been forced to stop every non-essential business in the state, when we start up again, Dr Barnes is thinking we could do a few things differently. There Are Still Job Opportunities out There Even though there are more than 20 million people in the US right now who are not working, and that is an extremely high number, it's not everybody. The total size of the US workforce is over 157 million. Companies who remain open through this crisis, are hiring. Reportedly, Amazon is still looking after already hiring 100,000 people, and WalMart is aiming to hire 150,000. Here in Louisiana, workforce recruiters are actively looking for people to fill positions. One of those recruiters is Henry Shurlds. Henry is Partner and Vice President of One Source Professional Search. On the company's website there's a home page message that says, “We've weathered multiple economic and natural disasters during our 17 years in business, each time emerging stronger, and are confident our trusted client partners and candidates will do the same.” We're all looking for good employment news about now. Believe it or not, Henry sees local companies in Louisiana emerging stronger from this crisis. See photos from this show by Jill Lafleur on our website https://itsneworleans.com/2020/04/21/where-to-now-louisiana/ Last week's Louisiana economic analysis of Louisiana and the global economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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's hard to think of a part of our life that it hasn't affected. But of all the changes, the biggest casualty - other than health - is employment. Currently, the number of unemployed people in the United Sates is hovering around a staggering 22 million. Although this is a nationwide problem, the stop-gap solution to unemployment – the payment of unemployment compensation – is left to the states. Unemployment compensation is structured like insurance. It works on the assumption that only a relatively small number of people will be unemployed at any one time. So, when 20 million people suddenly lose their job on the same day, how do states keep funding unemployment insurance and paying compensation? Here in Louisiana, there's a division of the Department of Labor that handles all aspects of unemployment. It's the Louisiana Workforce Commission.  The Assistant Secretary of Unemployment Insurance at the Louisiana Workforce Commission is Robert Wooley. It's possible that the massive number of people who found themselves out of a job can get re-hired just as quickly when things open up. But what happens if it doesn't work out that way? What if the economy comes back slowly? How does the state keep paying unemployment benefits to tens of thousands more people than it budgeted for? A Rare Opportunity For Self Reflection 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 now that it's really happening, it's providing us with an un-imagined opportunity. Self-reflection. When things start back up, do you want to jump back into the exact same life you were living? Or could you use this period of suspended animation to reassess, and make some changes? These are questions Dr Stephen Barnes is asking. Except he's asking them about the State of Louisiana. Dr. Barnes is Director of The Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. And he's a member of a select group of economists and advisers on the Louisiana Revenue Estimating Conference – a government panel that determines income projections that create the state budget. Now that we've been forced to stop every non-essential business in the state, when we start up again, Dr Barnes is thinking we could do a few things differently. There Are Still Job Opportunities out There Even though there are more than 20 million people in the US right now who are not working, and that is an extremely high number, it's not everybody. The total size of the US workforce is over 157 million. Companies who remain open through this crisis, are hiring. Reportedly, Amazon is still looking after already hiring 100,000 people, and WalMart is aiming to hire 150,000. Here in Louisiana, workforce recruiters are actively looking for people to fill positions. One of those recruiters is Henry Shurlds. Henry is Partner and Vice President of One Source Professional Search. On the company's website there's a home page message that says, “We've weathered multiple economic and natural disasters during our 17 years in business, each time emerging stronger, and are confident our trusted client partners and candidates will do the same.” We're all looking for good employment news about now. Believe it or not, Henry sees local companies in Louisiana emerging stronger from this crisis. See photos from this show by Jill Lafleur on our website https://itsbatonrouge.la/2020/04/21/where-to-now-louisiana/ Last week's Louisiana economic analysis of Louisiana and the global economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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-highest ranking elected official, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser is responsible for our connection to the rest of the world through the offices of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism. Louisiana's Tourist Global Economy The reason people visit Louisiana is primarily to experience what for us is everyday life. Our food. Our music. Our outdoors. Our Southern Hospitality. And so, it's fitting that in this state these elements of our life, grouped together in the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, under the leadership of the state's second highest ranking elected official. Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser may well have thought that when he was President of beleaguered Plaquemines Parish in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he was fighting the biggest economic battle of your life. Now he's in the position of leading the State in what is going to be an even more daunting recovery, of unprecedented and monumental importance. Louisiana's Fashion Global Economy Ellie Schwing has a foot in two Coronavirus hotspots. New Orleans and Italy. Originally a New Orleanian, Ellie moved to Rome, in 2014. That's where she founded and has grown a successful fashion business, BENE Handbags and Scarves. BENE manufactures high end leather handbags and silk scarves that are Italian in style and quality, but retain a New Orleans sensibility, as a result both of Ellie's background and her continued design collaboration with New Orleans artists. Louisiana's Oil Global Economy In Acadiana, Ragen Borel has an oil and gas engineering and manufacturing business called MAP Oil Tools. MAP does business with oil producers around the world, and has more employees in China and Dubai than here in the U.S. Since Ragen was last a guest on Out to Lunch Acadiana, only a few short months ago, everything about the oil business and her business, has changed. See photos from this show by Jill Lafleur, and more, on our website https://itsneworleans.com/2020/04/14/the-global-economy-here-at-home/ Previous coverage of the Covid Economy is here.       See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As this pandemic unfolds, we're hearing about how it's affecting the global economy. That might sound like an oxymoron because “the global economy” might feel far removed from our daily lives. But for all three of our guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana, it's an integral part of their lives. As the state's second-highest ranking elected official, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser is responsible for our connection to the rest of the world through the offices of the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism. Louisiana's Tourist Global Economy The reason people visit Louisiana is primarily to experience what for us is everyday life. Our food. Our music. Our outdoors. Our Southern Hospitality. And so, it's fitting that in this state these elements of our life, grouped together in the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, under the leadership of the state's second highest ranking elected official. Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser may well have thought that when he was President of beleaguered Plaquemines Parish in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he was fighting the biggest economic battle of your life. Now he's in the position of leading the State in what is going to be an even more daunting recovery, of unprecedented and monumental importance. Louisiana's Fashion Global Economy Ellie Schwing has a foot in two Coronavirus hotspots. New Orleans and Italy. Originally a New Orleanian, Ellie moved to Rome, in 2014. That's where she founded and has grown a successful fashion business, BENE Handbags and Scarves. BENE manufactures high end leather handbags and silk scarves that are Italian in style and quality, but retain a New Orleans sensibility, as a result both of Ellie's background and her continued design collaboration with New Orleans artists. Louisiana's Oil Global Economy In Acadiana, Ragen Borel has an oil and gas engineering and manufacturing business called MAP Oil Tools. MAP does business with oil producers around the world, and has more employees in China and Dubai than here in the U.S. Since Ragen was last a guest on Out to Lunch Acadiana, only a few short months ago, everything about the oil business and her business, has changed. See photos from this show by Jill Lafleur, and more, on our website https://itsacadiana.com/2020/04/14/the-global-economy-here-at-home/ Previous coverage of the Covid Economy is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 international business and management. After that, he got a Doctor of Science degree from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. You might well imagine that when Steve pursued these two very disparate avenues of academic study – business and tropical medicine – there were people who wondered if one would ever be able to use those two skillsets at the same time. Well, that time has arrived. As Executive Director of the Baton Rouge Health District, Steve Ceulemans is uniquely qualified to understand how this pandemic is undermining our economy. Festival Fun Is Most Definitely Over Remember the days before the Covid Economy? When you could go out to a restaurant? Or a bar? Or a music festival? In Louisiana, we have over 400 festivals every year. From the internationally renowned – like Jazz Fest in New Orleans and Festival International here in Lafayette – to unique local favorites like the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival in Morgan City, or the Rice festival in Crowley. And then there's the literally thousands of bars and restaurants across the state, with regional specialties like smoked meat in Ville Platte, boudin in Broussard, or the muffuletta in New Orleans. For now though, our Louisiana way of life has come to a grinding halt. It's tough times for all of us, but especially for folks in businesses that rely on social gathering. Not just because they're closed down, but also because of the uncertainty of what their businesses will look like when we get back to normal. Gus Rezende owns seven food and drink establishments in Acadiana, including Tula Tacos and Central Pizza, and through his company, Social Entertainment, he's the promoter of a handful of festivals, among them the Acadiana Poboy Festival. How is Gus positioning his businesses for re-opening, and is he getting and Federal help through the Cares Act? In New Orleans the Party Is On Pause New Orleans might not have invented the concept of partying, but the city has certainly perfected it. Before it became an alleged virus incubator, Mardi Gras in New Orleans was one of the most celebrated parties on earth. There are free parties every single night on Bourbon Street, and Frenchmen Street. Even in the business world, New Orleans is known for socializing. Although conventions are meant to be places for doing business, there's a reason Las Vegas and New Orleans are the country's biggest convention destinations. In New Orleans the worlds of tourism and conventions meet in the offices of an organization called New Orleans & Company - a city body that was formed by the recent combination of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation and the Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of New Orleans & Company is Mark Romig. Mark has been a guest on Out to Lunch before, under happier circumstances. Back then we would never have imagined that we would be discussing the details of turning the New Orleans Convention Center into a hospital. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur and more info is on our website https://itsbatonrouge.la/2020/04/07/the-covid-economy-april-7th-13th/ Last week's Covid Economy update is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remember the days before the Covid Economy? When you could go out to a restaurant? Or a bar? Or a music festival? In Louisiana, we have over 400 festivals every year. From the internationally renowned – like Jazz Fest in New Orleans and Festival International here in Lafayette – to unique local favorites like the Shrimp and Petroleum Festival in Morgan City, or the Rice festival in Crowley. And then there's the literally thousands of bars and restaurants across the state, with regional specialties like smoked meat in Ville Platte, boudin in Broussard, or the muffuletta in New Orleans. For now though, our Louisiana way of life has come to a grinding halt. It's tough times for all of us, but especially for folks in businesses that rely on social gathering. Not just because they're closed down, but also because of the uncertainty of what their businesses will look like when we get back to normal. Gus Rezende owns seven food and drink establishments in Acadiana, including Tula Tacos and Central Pizza, and through his company, Social Entertainment, he's the promoter of a handful of festivals, among them the Acadiana Poboy Festival. How is Gus positioning his businesses for re-opening, and is he getting and Federal help through the Cares Act? In New Orleans the Party Is On Pause New Orleans might not have invented the concept of partying, but the city has certainly perfected it. Before it became an alleged virus incubator, Mardi Gras in New Orleans was one of the most celebrated parties on earth. There are free parties every single night on Bourbon Street, and Frenchmen Street. Even in the business world, New Orleans is known for socializing. Although conventions are meant to be places for doing business, there's a reason Las Vegas and New Orleans are the country's biggest convention destinations. In New Orleans the worlds of tourism and conventions meet in the offices of an organization called New Orleans & Company - a city body that was formed by the recent combination of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation and the Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of New Orleans & Company is Mark Romig. Mark has been a guest on Out to Lunch before, under happier circumstances. Back then we would never have imagined that we would be discussing the details of turning the New Orleans Convention Center into a hospital. The Dr is In: Will Curing The Public Health Crisis Cure The Economic Crisis? Meet Steve Ceulemans. Steve is originally from Belgium, where he got a degree in international business and management. After that, he got a Doctor of Science degree from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. You might well imagine that when Steve pursued these two very disparate avenues of academic study – business and tropical medicine – there were people who wondered if one would ever be able to use those two skillsets at the same time. Well, that time has arrived. As Executive Director of the Baton Rouge Health District, Steve Ceulemans is uniquely qualified to understand how this pandemic is undermining our economy. Photos from this show by Jill Lafleur and more info is on our website https://itsacadiana.com/2020/04/07/the-covid-economy-april-7th-13th/https://itsacadiana.com/show/out-to-lunch/ Last week's Covid Economy update is here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hear or see on the news, you'd be forgiven for thinking that nothing goes on here but politics. That's far from the truth. And it's the reason the slogan of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber is, “There's more to Baton Rouge than you might think.” For starters, there are over 1,500 businesses and organizations that are members of the Chamber. The function of the Chamber is to support those member-businesses, help them grow, and to make Baton Rouge such a great place to do business that other people will be attracted to start or move companies here. But, what does a Chamber of Commerce do when there is no commerce? Stephanie puts that question to the President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Adam Knapp. Covid Economy Acadiana In Acadiana, Lafayette is often referred to as “Hub City.” The reason for that is, Lafayette is the economic hub of the region. The population of Acadania residents who shop in Lafayette, or go there to do business, is about 600,000. Once you figure in the oil and gas industry that pays $800m annually in local wages alone, plus the tech sector, the medical sector, and manufacturing – including one of the biggest jewelry manufacturers in the country - the economic impact of shutting down Lafayette rivals New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Lafayette's version of a Chamber of Commerce is the Lafayette Economic Development Authority, more often referred to by its acronym, LEDA. The President and CEO of LEDA is Gregg Gothreaux. Out to Lunch Acadiana host Christiaan Mader spends a good part of his day reporting on the impacts of Covid 19 in his role as publisher of the local independent news organization The Current. As a result, this conversation between Mader and Gothreaux is particularly insightful and illuminating. New Orleans Unique Covid Economy New Orleans' last total economic collapse wasn't all that long ago. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina brought the city to a standstill. A large part of New Orleans' economic recovery from that shutdown was driven by a Louisiana State initiative, called the Katrina Small Business Recovery Program. That program was headed up by Michael Hecht. Michael is now President and CEO of an organization called Greater New Orleans Inc, a kind of super-charged Chamber of Commerce. Hecht is typically self-deprecating about his role in saving New Orleans after Katrina, but a lot of people credit him personally with saving small business in the city. Once again, we're all looking for someone to tell us what to do to save small business in Louisiana, and beyond. Hecht's advice may, once again, turn out to be invaluable. You can find further discussion about Louisiana's Covid Economy here. Find photos by Jill Lafleur from this show and more information at our website itsbatonrouge.la     See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the second week of Out to Lunch host Peter Ricchiuti linking up with Out to Lunch Acadiana host Christiaan Mader and Out to Lunch Baton Rouge host Stephanie Riegel for a statewide look at our business and financial life in Louisiana in what has become this unprecedented Covid Economy. New Orleans' last total economic collapse wasn't all that long ago. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina brought the city to a standstill. A large part of New Orleans' economic recovery from that shutdown was driven by a Louisiana State initiative, called the Katrina Small Business Recovery Program. That program was headed up by Michael Hecht. Michael is now President and CEO of an organization called Greater New Orleans Inc, a kind of super-charged Chamber of Commerce. Hecht is typically self-deprecating about his role in saving New Orleans after Katrina, but a lot of people credit him personally with saving small business in the city. Once again, we're all looking for someone to tell us what to do to save small business in Louisiana, and beyond. Hecht's advice may agin turn out to be, literally, invaluable. Baton Rouge's Unique Covid Economy If you live outside of Baton Rouge, and everything you know about the city comes from what you hear or see on the news, you'd be forgiven for thinking that nothing goes on here but politics. That's far from the truth. And it's the reason the slogan of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber is, “There's more to Baton Rouge than you might think.” For starters, there are over 1,500 businesses and organizations that are members of the Chamber. The function of the Chamber is to support those member-businesses, help them grow, and to make Baton Rouge such a great place to do business that other people will be attracted to start or move companies here. But, what does a Chamber of Commerce do when there is no commerce? Stephanie puts that question to the President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Adam Knapp. Covid Economy Acadiana In Acadiana, Lafayette is often referred to as “Hub City.” The reason for that is, Lafayette is the economic hub of the region. The population of Acadania residents who shop in Lafayette, or go there to do business, is about 600,000. Once you figure in the oil and gas industry that pays $800m annually in local wages alone, plus the tech sector, the medical sector, and manufacturing – including one of the biggest jewelry manufacturers in the country - the economic impact of shutting down Lafayette rivals New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Lafayette's version of a Chamber of Commerce is the Lafayette Economic Development Authority, more often referred to by its acronym, LEDA. The President and CEO of LEDA is Gregg Gothreaux. Out to Lunch Acadiana host Christiaan Mader spends a good part of his day reporting on the impacts of Covid 19 in his role as publisher of the local independent news organization The Current. As a result, this conversation between Mader and Gothreaux is particularly insightful and illuminating. You can find further discussion about Louisiana's Covid Economy here. Find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur and more information at our website https://itsneworleans.com/show/out-to-lunch/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's the second week of Out to Lunch Acadiana's host Christiaan Mader's link-up with Out to Lunch New Olreans host Peter Ricchiuti and Out to Lunch Baton Rouge host Stephanie Riegel for a state-wide look at our business and financial life in Louisiana, in what has become this unprecedented Covid Economy. In Acadiana, Lafayette is often referred to as “Hub City.” The reason for that is, Lafayette is the economic hub of the region. The population of Acadania residents who shop in Lafayette, or come here to do business, is about 600,000. Once you figure in the oil and gas industry that pays $800m annually in local wages alone, plus the tech sector, the medical sector, and manufacturing – including one of the biggest jewelry manufacturers in the country - the economic impact of shutting down Lafayette rivals New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Lafayette's version of a Chamber of Commerce is the Lafayette Economic Development Authority, more often referred to by its acronym, LEDA. The President and CEO of LEDA is Gregg Gothreaux. Out to Lunch Acadiana host Christiaan Mader spends a good part of his day reporting on the impacts of Covid 19 in his role as publisher of the local independent news organization The Current. As a result, this conversation between Mader and Gothreaux is particularly insightful and illuminating. New Orleans Troubled Past & Current Covid Economy New Orleans' last total economic collapse wasn't all that long ago. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina brought the city to a standstill. A large part of New Orleans' economic recovery from that shutdown was driven by a Louisiana State initiative, called the Katrina Small Business Recovery Program. That program was headed up by Michael Hecht. Michael is now President and CEO of an organization called Greater New Orleans Inc, a kind of super-charged Chamber of Commerce. Hecht is typically self-deprecating about his role in saving New Orleans after Katrina, but a lot of people credit him personally with saving small business in the city. Once again, we're all looking for someone to tell us what to do to save small business in Louisiana, and beyond. Hecht's advice may agin turn out to be, literally, invaluable. Baton Rouge's Unique Covid Economy If you live outside of Baton Rouge, and everything you know about the city comes from what you hear or see on the news, you'd be forgiven for thinking that nothing goes on here but politics. That's far from the truth. And it's the reason the slogan of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber is, “There's more to Baton Rouge than you might think.” For starters, there are over 1,500 businesses and organizations that are members of the Chamber. The function of the Chamber is to support those member-businesses, help them grow, and to make Baton Rouge such a great place to do business that other people will be attracted to start or move companies here. But, what does a Chamber of Commerce do when there is no commerce? Stephanie puts that question to the President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Adam Knapp. You can find further discussion about Louisiana's Covid Economy here. Find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur and more information at our website https://itsacadiana.com/show/out-to-lunch/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Acadiana host Christiaan Mader.   On this inaugural edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana, Stephanie 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. Christiaan Mader 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. 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.

Out to Lunch is  linking up with Out to Lunch Acadiana 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, Peter Ricchiuti co-hosts the show along with New Acadiana host Christiaan Mader and Baton Rouge host Stephanie Riegel.  On this inaugural edition of Out to Lunch Louisiana, Peter 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? Christiaan Mader 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 & 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. Out to Lunch Louisiana will continue as a statewide program for the duration of the Coronavirus public health crisis. 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.

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.

Normally on Out to Lunch we're talking about for-profit businesses. But here in Acadiana - maybe more than anywhere else in the country - there are organisations and people dedicated to making a difference rather than a profit. On this edition of Out to Lunch Christiaan Mader is talking with folks who run nonprofit organizations that fill an important gap in community services, saving birds and saving schools.  Even if your heart's in the right place, you still need to be able to find your wallet. Lafayette is not necessarily an easy place to raise money. People are generous here, no doubt about that, southern hospitality is certainly a local specialty. But people around here value independence and self-determination. Plus, they like a business idea to make business sense, which means they ought to make money and survive on their own.  That presents a challenge to nonprofits large and small. How do you make big impact on a lean budget? How do you build for the long term when all the money you get goes to the important and expensive work that you're doing now.  Abi Broussard Falgout is the Executive Director the Lafayette Education Foundation. For close to 30 years, L-E-F has filled funding gaps for Lafayette's schools and educators. The foundation is primarily a granting organization, with a tiny staff, and is best known for the annual Teacher Awards, a glitzy gala that celebrates the best teachers in Lafayette Parish. Abi took over as Executive Director in 2019. She's also an entrepreneur who's worked in marketing, real estate and hospitality.  Letitia Labbie runs a wildlife rehabilitation center out of her house in Youngsville. Letitia founded her tiny but effective nonprofit, Acadiana Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation, in 1998. AWER has taken in more than 6,000 birds and small animals over the years, which she treats at often enormous cost, and often entirely on her own. Letitia is currently raising money to establish a permanent treatment center that's not her house. Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded over lunch at The French Press in Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Travis Gauthier and more, at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're in the music business and you can get a dollar for every time somebody says "The music business is changing," you'll probably make more money than however you're making it now in the music business.  Yes, Acadiana is rich with music, but music makes hardly anybody rich. And getting rich is besides the point. For the most part, the people who play the music that makes South Louisiana famous do so part-time. That includes all those Grammy winners you hear about.  Sure enough people get by. There's never a shortage of gigs. And playing Zydeco or Cajun music can be good supplemental income. Plus it's a great time.  But long term, it's tricky if not impossible to build a safety net or nest egg that most American workers accumulate over their careers.  Musicians can't really retire — not that they would want to — and that means major needs can go unfunded and unmet in the twilight of most careers.  Christiaan Mader's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana are both dealing with this problem, albeit from different angles.  Major Handy is by all accounts a  living legend in blues and Zydeco. A world traveler. A raconteur, and an auto mechanic. At 72 years old, he's deeply familiar with the challenges of being a working musician past the traditional retiring age. But he's a consummate pro and fighter. He suffered a stroke at the beginning of 2020 but is already back on the beat, set to play some gigs in France later this year. Major is also involved with the Music Makers Relief Foundation, a nonprofit that supports and documents traditional musicians in the Deep South. John Williams is president of Love of People, a nonprofit started by his family in the 1990s, but is best known for Blue Monday, a program he launched in 2016. Blue Monday raises money to help aging musicians pay for medical care and living expenses through an monthly concert and dinner series staged at Rock and Bowl here in Downtown Lafayette. Love of People runs several different initiatives including Musicians Etude, We Care and the Lending Closet, which compensates local musicians who donate their talents to benefits with credits to buy goods and professional services. John is also Executive Director of the Upper Lafayette Economic Development Foundation. Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded over lunch at The French Press in downtown Lafayette.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Maybe you think Boudoir Photography - intimate, seductive portraits taken for romance or personal empowerment - is something that happens in other places. After all, we're pretty conservative around here. Aren't we? Well, apparently not.  April Courville got a masters in marketing in college and wound up in Minnesota where she fell into boudoir photography. When April moved back to Lafayette she  built a big enough book of business to strike out on her own full time with a boudoir photography business called A. Danette Photography. Here's a photography cliche. Why hire a photographer when a phone can do the job? That was already the conventional wisdom 13 years ago when the iPhone debuted. Since then, the lenses have only gotten better and people have started making millions taking pictures of their lives on Instagram. But the professional photographer never went obsolete as predicted.  That's because there are plenty of circumstances that require a professional touch — weddings, portraits, magazine features and commercial photography that requires special skills to make the ordinary look extraordinary. That doesn't mean making a living behind the camera isn't a hustle. Success in photography takes relentless self-promotion, creativity and maybe a little luck.  Paul Kieu detoured into photography while on a path toward law school. Taking pictures was a hobby until he figured out he could get paid to do it and he stuck with it after graduating from UL with a degree in political science. He worked as a photojournalist for the Daily Advertiser for several years until leaving to work on his own. Taking a particular interest in culture, Paul's work captures Acadiana's boucheries, festivals and celebrations in vivid detail. You can find his photos in several local and regional publications.  Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded over lunch at The French Press in downtown Lafayette. And talking of photographs, if you'd like to see photos from this show by Travis Gauthier you can find them at https://itsacadiana.com/show/out-to-lunch/ More conversation over lunch about Acadiana photography here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The term "Silicon Bayou" has been around for some time. It's the promise of a new economy for Louisiana, sometimes thought of in New Orleans. Beyond the confines of the Crescent City, the Louisiana Silicon Bayou stretches well into Acadiana. When you think about it, this area has always been the frontier when it comes to business, and that attitude was put on the map by oil speculators who came to be known as "wildcatters." Today we call that, "entrepreneur." These are the risk takers. The folks hunting for the next big idea and hoping to strike gold.  Christiaan's lunch companions on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana both work in the world of startups — the new business frontier with a different kind of wildcat.  Kyle Boudreaux, more often called Skip, got into the startup world early. By 25 he was the CEO of an innovative diaper company. He went on to work in the world of investment capital and he recently launched the first venture capital firm in the area, called Acadian Ventures.  Bill Dalton has worked in digital marketing since the dot-boom. He launched Firefly Digital in the late 90s with his partner Mike Spears. The company was one of the first ad agencies in the area to build and design marketing campaigns for the web. People still called it the world wide web back then. Firefly Digital incubated the startup Smart Choice Technologies to a successful exit. Now re-branded as Firefly Marketing, Bill's team provides full-service digital marketing for clients near and far.  Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded over lunch at The French Press in Lafayette. There are photos from this show by Gwen Aucoin and lots more info on our website https://link.chtbl.com/Vj_kXlwb See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Writers are hustlers. When you get paid cents per word, you've got to write a lot of words to make ends meet. And that's getting harder to do in a crowded market. Anyone can blog. We all learn to string a few sentences together in high school. What's the point in paying a professional?  In journalism, there's actually a crisis because of that dynamic. There are as many reporters working today in the United States as there were 40 years ago. The machines that made publishing a lucrative business — actual printing presses — are rusting over. It's not that there's a lack of writing. There's a lack of money to pay anyone to do it. For most folks writing for a living, that means writing whatever, whenever and however.  Christiaan's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana both write to pay the bills — and that's not an easy thing to do. They wear a lot of hats to make ends meet and satisfy their curiosities.  Writer Charles Garret has led a curious life himself. He's been a firefighter, a salesman, a mixed martial artist and a poet. Coming this year he's launching a new venture Tora Arts that will turn back the clock on the communications industry – ditching the digital age for the honest touch of snail mail.  As a journalist, Chere Coen is a travel writer humping around the south for adventure and good eats. As Cherie Claire she's a writer of romance novels— and a prolific one at that — publishing as many as two e-books each year.  Whatever medium they work in — journalism, poetry, advertising — today's writers are hustlers, ready for the gig economy.  Out to Lunch is recorded over lunch at The French Press in downtown Lafayette. You can see photos from this show by Lucius Fontenot, and more, at our website https://link.chtbl.com/Vj_kXlwb See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Acadiana, business is a tradition and tradition is a business - often the family business. There's a long heritage of musical families around here, dynasties of fiddlers and accordion players handing down the tools and tricks of the family trade to generation after generation.  It's one of our greatest exports. Lafayette practically pumps out ranks of acclaimed Zydeco and Cajun musicians and most of them are carrying on something they learned from their parents and their parents' parents. Throw a rock in any direction. You'll probably hit a Grammy nominee. Throw another, you'll hit her momma.  Christiaan's guests on this edition of ut to Lunch Acadiana are both internationally celebrated musicians from famous Cajun families.  Virginia-born Ann Savoy married into the Savoy family of Eunice and has toured internationally with her band the Magnolia Sisters which explores the feminine side of the Cajun tradition — they're not actually her sisters. Ann is a writer and will soon publish the second volume of her archival work Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People.  Louis Michot grew up in a big, sprawling Cajun music family. Since 1999, he's toured internationally with Lost Bayou Ramblers, a band he started with his brother Andre 20 years ago. Lost Bayou won a Grammy for their 2017 record Kalenda. Recently, Louis launched Nouveau Electric Records, a label that puts out experimental artists rooted in Louisiana French musical traditions.  Out to Lunch is recorded over lunch at The French Press in downtown Lafayette. See photos by Lucius Fontenot and more at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There can be a lot of pressure to take on the family business, especially when the family name becomes synonymous with the industry they work in. Imagine what it must be like to be a Hilton or a Disney or a Manning. Everybody copes with it differently. Some embrace it. Some make their own mark on it. Some leave it all behind and do something else entirely. Christiaan's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana come from Acadiana's wide world of sports.   Christian Willeford is the son of Beau Willeford, the legendary boxing coach and operator of the Ragin Cajun Boxing Club. Willeford's dad trained scores of boxers in Acadiana over the years and brought the prestigious boxing championship, the  Golden Gloves, to Lafayette. Sadly, Beau passed away in 2019 after a brief bout with cancer. Christian recently announced that he will close the club after a nearly four-decade run but is keeping the Golden Gloves going.  Leigh Hennesy Robson first made a name for herself as a world trampoline champion. Leigh was coached by her father, Jeff Hennesy, a prominent name in competitive trampolining. For the last two decades, however, Leigh has made a second name for herself, this time in the movie business. Leigh is a stunt double and stunt coordinator. She was Demi Moore's double in GI Jane and Lucy Liu's in Charlie Angels. Leigh is one of only a few hundred stunt women working in the film industry today. Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded live over lunch at The French Press in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Lucius Fontenot and more info about the show on the It's Acadiana Website. More conversation with remarkable Acadiana sportswoman, racecar driver Sarah Montgomery, here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

History is a messy business. It's full of mixed and conflicting perspectives. It's subject to revision — for the right or wrong reasons  And while it's tempting to think of it as a collection of facts, history is really a collection of perspectives.  This holds especially true for histories of people. Think about it: there are competing biographies, or authorized biographies, even unauthorized biographies - and, of course,  autobiographies.  Christiaan's guests on this episode of Out to Lunch Acadiana are both writers of history.  Jason Theriot is a freelance author, a New Iberia native, and an academic. He's written on a number of subjects, not just about people, including World War II histories and works about the environment, particularly the Gulf Coast. Jason is a former fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School where he worked on Environmental Policy. He's currently working on a history of tank barges.  Deirdre Gogarty Morrison wrote her own history. She published an autobiography about her career as a boxer called “My Call to the Ring.” Deirdre was born and raised in Ireland and moved to Lafayette to work with the legendary boxing coach Beau Williford. Irish law prohibited women from boxing professionally but that didn't deter Deirdre. She was to become Ireland's first women's world champion and has been inducted into the international women's boxing hall of fame. Deidre is retired from professional bouts now and spends her boxing time coaching both men and women.  Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Chopsticks restaurant in Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Lucius Fontenot, and more, at our website.  Find out more about extraordinary Acadiana women in sports here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Oil is still big business in Acadiana, even if it's not quite as big it used to be. The IT business is quietly growing here too, specially in Lafayette. What's interesting about both the natural resource industry and the broadband-based-business is the way they're growing beyond our borders. We're now looking at Acadiana-based oil, gas, and IT from China to Houston. Christiaan's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana  both run successful operations that have business portfolios that have managed to succeed and even grow in tough times by diversifying what they do and staying inventive.  Ragen Bourel runs her family business — an international oil services company Map Oil Tools. Her father founded Map in Texas but moved it to New Iberia. On her way to the top job, Ragen dropped out of college, hopped on at the warehouse and worked her way up to CEO. Today, Map is a small company with an international footprint with operations in the U.S., China and Dubai. In fact, Map has more employees in China than New Iberia. Like Steve Jobs and Apple, Ben Johnson launched his company, Techneaux, in a garage. Ten years ago, he had one client and one co-worker. Since then, Techneaux has added new divisions and dozens of employees with operations in Denver and Houston. In 2019, Techneaux was named one of the state's top growth companies. It supplies IT and data services for big industry on an innovative business model.  Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded live over lunch at Chopsticks restaurant in Lafayette. Find photos from this show by Lucius Fontenot and more at our website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How often is it that we aim for one career and land in another? You go to college to be a painter and you end up a graphic designer, or you study philosophy and end up a lawyer. For most of us, we're lucky if we can do work we love on nights and weekends. Finding meaning in your work and the opportunity to express yourself - and get paid - is the career path less traveled.  Christiaan's guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana both thrive in careers that are perhaps only slightly different than the ones they imagined for themselves. The basic elements of their ambitions and skills are in place — artfulness, creativity, compassion and taste.  Virginia Goetting wanted to be an art therapist. She got her degree in fine arts but left school a nomad. She hitched a ride to a brief career in Louisiana's film industry but ultimately landed in cosmetology and has worked in aesthetics for the last 10 years.  For every client in her chair at Salon NV in Downtown Lafayette, she gets to sculpt new looks and lend a sympathetic ear. Sounds like art therapy, wouldn't you agree?   Mia Sandberg got her start in interior design, but she didn't find her calling till her husband bought her flowers. The arrangement was a funky little thing, unusual and earthy. It spoke to her. When they landed back in Lafayette, Mia needed a new gig. "Why not flowers?" she thought. Mia launched Root Floral Design in a shack behind her parents' house in Carencro. The firm has grown into an in-demand florist for weddings and big events. Mia has a knack for unconventional arrangements with rich textures and unusual blossoms. This is interior design with living, breathing materials. And business is growing.  This edition of Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded at Spoonbill Watering Hole and Restaurant in downtown Lafayette. You can see photos from this show by Lucius Fontenot at It's Acadiana.com Find a very different perspective on happiness and the wedding flower business, here.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everybody likes a pretty picture, and a good cheese. Well, maybe not everybody likes cheese, but when you team it up with grapes, chocolate, and other goodies it becomes something altogether different - an edible work of art. Running a startup in any industry is building a plane in midair. You might think you know how fly, but then you hit turbulence. Or you figure out that you need to also know how to sell plane tickets. These days, it's not enough to know the work, you've got to know how to sell it. When you're an entrepreneur that means selling yourself - more often than not on social media.  Christiaan Mader's guests today have both taken the plunge into startup life, in their own ways. What they have in common is that they both sell whimsy and imagination, and in most cases they have to sell it themselves.  Denise Gallagher got her start in advertising, working for 15 years as the art director at BBR, a well-established ad and marketing firm. She bet on herself and left the company in 2013, pursuing a second act as an illustrator for hire and a children's book author. Her most recent book, Peg Bearskin: A Traditional Newfoundland tale, was published earlier this year.  Mandy Osgood co-founded Graze Acadiana in early 2019, in partnership with her mom. Graze Acadiana creates what they call "foodscapes" - custom, seasonal sharing platters for social gatherings, corporate thank yous, or maybe an evening at home with a big appetite. It's food that makes you feel good, and the designs are beyond appetizing. The contents of the foodscapes are all fresh and wherever possible locally sourced, but the Graze Craze itself is imported from Down Under — New Zealand and Australia.  Out to Lunch is recorded over lunch at Chopsticks restaurant in Lafayette. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you don't have hours to spare in a doctor's waiting room, or you live in a remote spot of Acadiana, you're going to love the advent of Tele-Health: You can get first-class healthcare anywhere in Acadiana. Now. We're getting a lot of what we need from the internet these days. You can pick up your iPhone, unlock it with your face, and get a month's supply of dog food delivered in two days. That's convenience. E-shopping is nothing new, even as it's gotten faster and offered more stuff. But over the last decade, better and faster broadband has made it possible to network services that aren't just about making it easier to be lazy.  And that's well on display in the healthcare industry where advances in telemedicine are tackling serious quality of life issues with fantastic results.  Over miles of fiber optic cable hospitals now come to you. Telemedicine programs bring doctors, nurses and  counselors where the patients are — at work, at school or even miles from the nearest hospital in areas where geography is a big hurdle in getting good health care.  Chistiaan Mader's lunch guests on this edition of Out to Lunch both work in extensively in telemedicine, advocating and advancing its benefits to the work place and to community health in general.  Attorney Nadia de la Houssaye, launched one of Louisiana's first teleradiology networks, with her husband, a radiologist, more than 20 years ago. Nadia served as the company's general counsel. Today, Nadia is a partner at law firm Jones Walker where she's also the head of Telehealth. Lafayette General Health is one of the major players locally in telemedicine. The system introduced a telemedicine clinic on site at jewelry manufacturer Stuller in 2012, offering on-the-job healthcare access to the jewelry maker's 1,200 employees. Lafayette General's program has since grown to serve public school systems and Lafayette Consolidated Government, where it provides care for more than 2,200 government workers.  Cian Robinson has been one of the big reasons for Lafayette General's wins in that space. Cian ran the Lafayette General Foundation for several years and now serves as the health systems' executive director for innovation, research and real estate investments. You can see photos from this show recorded over lunch at Chopsticks restaurant in Lafayette here. Hear more from Cian Robinson on past Out to Lunch shows here and here. Meet Matt Stuller from Stuller Inc here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recent research indicates that local media outlets are trusted by a majority of Americans even as trust in national outlets has declined. It's easy to understand why Acadiana has trust in our local media; in addition to providing us with important information about our area, they are active participants in our community. So who better to answer our questions about “the media” than our own local experts. Here tonight to share their insight and answer some of your questions about the sometimes elusive media industry, we have On today's episode, our guest is Christiaan Mader, Executive Editor, The Current.

The legendary Scottish poet Robbie Burns wrote, in old Scots Brogue, "The best laid schemes o mice n men, gang aft a gley." The Scots brogue was the British equivalent of Cajun French. In English we ve translated it as, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." Burns frequently wrote about innocent country creatures. Especially the way their lives can be impacted by the forces of our world without them even being aware of our existence. By extension, Burns was talking about us. How we, like the innocent creatures of the countryside, go about our lives with the best of intentions but somehow and we don t necessarily know why things just don t turn out how we planned. When that happens in business we ve invented an upbeat word for it. Pivot. For example, if you re selling widgets to companies that dig oil wells and the oil business collapses, you might want to pivot and figure out a way to sell those widgets to companies that dig swimming pools. That kind of pivot is pretty straight forward. Aileen s guests on today s show are dealing with pivoting businesses in ways in which there are no simple answers. No well worn paths to tread. And very little wisdom to follow. Tyler Woerner started his company in 2007. He called it Pixelbrush. It was a website company that designed, built and maintained websites. By 2016, Tyler had learned that he had actually started, and was trying to run, three companies. It turns out that website design, website building, and website maintenance are three very different businesses. And when you get successful, they require three very different types of people to run them. So Tyler pivoted. Now Pixelbrush is three different companies. Daysite. Eight Hats. And a new alignment with an existing company, Bizzuka. Christiaan Mader is a talented Lafayette based writer and journalist. You ve probably read Christiaan s work in IND Magazine and in A Biz. 2017 had already been a big year for Christiaan. He won the Louisiana Press Association s Freedom of Information Award the highest prize that the association confers and he was named Managing Editor of a new magazine called The Current. Then, later in 2017, the company that owned IND magazine, Abiz, and The Current went out of business. Leaving Christiaan more or less pivoting in the wind. Being a print journalist in the 21st Century is not for the faint of heart. Photos at Cafe Vermilionville by Gwen Aucoin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.