Over the next few years, the disaster management industry in the United States alone is expected to top $122 billion dollars, which points to a lot of problems with our climate, but also to the many opportunities that exist for companies able to respond to the needs of city, state and local governments when they’re hit hard by natural disaster.

Louisiana has a growing expertise in the disaster management arena and is home to a handful of companies that are carving out a space in the field and helping to define it as it becomes more specialized. At the same time, the state’s tech industry is become more sophisticated and competitive, and local companies are providing services to clients in newer, different and more effective ways.

Bart Farmer is co-founder and managing partner of The Workforce Group, a local company that provides claims, staffing and disaster assistance to private clients and state and local governments.   

Rob Wise is CEO of IT Inspired, a local IT company that helps businesses with all their IT needs, including data—analytics, storage, security and networking;  cloud services and voice—phone systems, telecom services and VOIP. In other words, any service that has to do with anything technical. IT Inspired approaches what can be a technical and intimidating field with humor and a human touch: Rob, unlike some in IT, actually interacts really well with his fellow humans. He’s a former LSU cheerleader and, better yet, Mike the Tiger, who enjoys working with people as much as working with computers. 

You can see photos from this show by Karry Hosford, and more, recorded live over lunch at Mansurs On The Boulevard, here.