In 2018, the U.S. wedding industry was worth an estaimted $75 Billion. The average wedding set the happy couple, or their parents, back by a whopping $44,000. That’s nearly double the average cost of a just a year or two earlier. But, for every action there’s an opposite and equal reaction. Today, brides are balking…

Although we all agree that education is the key to success in so many areas of life, getting an education isn’t as straightforward and easy as we’d like. That’s why Stephanie Riegel’s guests on this edition of Out to Lunch Baton Rouge do what they do. Nancy Cadwallader is owner of Collegiate Advisory Placement Service,…

Crime is one of the biggest problems facing Baton Rouge at the moment.  In 2017, the city had one of the highest murder rates on a per capita basis in the country. It’s a problem that’s holding the community back, and affecting economic development. But efforts are under way to address the crime and the…

Seafood is something we do well here in south Louisiana. We’re fortunate to be blessed with an abundance of mollusks, crustaceans and fin fish that not only keep our local population well fed but have enabled Louisiana cooks and chefs to be recognized around the world for their culinary exploits. So you might think there’s…

The rising cost of health care is one of the biggest challenges facing Americans today. Between 1996 and 2015, health care spending in the United States rose over a trillion dollars. And there is no end to this trend in sight. Locally, businesses and patients certainly feel the pressure. So do insurers and providers who…

Conscious capitalism has become a popular buzzword around the country. It refers to companies and businesspeople who are about more than making money they re about making a difference. Like Dave Treppendahl, right here in Baton Rouge. Dave is a real estate broker in the Baton Rouge area with NAI Latter and Blum and has…

Conscious capitalism has become a popular buzzword around the country. It refers to companies and businesspeople who are about more than making money – they’re about making a difference. Like Dave Treppendahl, right here in Baton Rouge. Dave is a real estate broker in the Baton Rouge area with NAI/Latter and Blum and has more…

Here in Baton Rouge we really think of ourselves as a big small town, where everybody knows everybody else. And Baton Rouge circles do tend to overlap, particualry in business. But there are so many small businesses out there you’ve likely never heard of doing really cool things and making their mark – literally –…

In just 10 years, America will cross an important demographic threshold: all of the country’s Baby Boomers will be 65 or older. This will expand the size of the nation’s elderly population so that 1 in every 5 adults will be retirement age. What are we doing to prepare for this? And, who’s looking ahead…

Living in the shadows of New Orleans, one of the great tourist destinations of the country, if not the world, Baton Rouge isn’t typically thought of as a hot spot for the leisure traveler.  But that has started to change in recent years, as the city and industry associations have begun marketing the Baton Rouge…