Thirty years ago, a young, high-energy entrepreneur left his private sector job to create the Louisiana Business and Technology Center on the LSU campus, a business incubator for small startups. In the three decades since, the LBTC has helped launch hundreds of  businesses and has spawned the creation of the much larger LSU Innovation Park,…

 Andrea Leyerle is a Baton Rouge-based entrepreneur who has created an online and retail nutraceutical business, Andi Lynn’s Pure and Custom Formulary.   Andrea started the company in 2010 in her kitchen, where she began making her own version of elderberry syrup, known for its cold- and flu-fighting properties. In the years since, Andi Lynn’s…

We’ve all heard about the Amazon Effect and how ecommerce is seriously disrupting the retail world. Savvy entrepreneurs are figuring out how to carve a niche for themselves, whether by offering unqiue products or that special personal touch you can’t get online, creating a unique shopping experience , or, by creating a whole new business…

Workplace accidents cost American companies some $60 billion every year. But, unlike the trajectory of most workplace costs, accident expenses are actually going down. The reason is better training and more proactive safety measures that come from the public and private sectors. Kathy Trahan is president and CEO of the Alliance Safety Council, a 60-year-old…

Seven out of 10 American households own a pet, generally a dog or cat. This has created a huge pet care industry and unlimited opportunity for creative, animal-loving entrepreneurs. It has also led to an unfortunate side-effect: little-loved animals, particularly cats, wandering our streets.  Angela Schifani is Development Director of Cat Haven, a non-profit cat…

“The disruption economy” refers to the fact that technology is changing the traditional constructs of our capitalist economy. Amazon is one of the most obvious examples. Uber is another. Closer to home, local companies are part of that disruption economy, changing the rules of the game for everyone. Chris Meaux is founder and CEO of…

In 2015, Louisiana lawmakers joined their counterparts in a growing number of states to legalize medical marijuana for a long list of diseases and disorders, including cancer, cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, epilepsy and muscular dystrophy. Today, therapeutic cannabis is opening up all sorts of new and promising business opportunities for physicians, pharmacies that can dispense…

Health and wellness is big business today—between 2013 and 2015, the global wellness industry grew nearly 11 percent —from 3-point-3 trillion to more than 3-point-7 TRILLION dollars. And it is continuing to grow. For local entrepreneurs, that is creating a lot of opportunities – but that also means there’s a lot of competition.   Nicole…

Local Baton Rouge companies are carving out an amazing space in the tech sector. They’re designing impressive software platforms and tools that are attracting worldwide attention.   Steve McKinney  is the Chief Operating Officer of Cell Control, a Baton Rouge company that, in 2009, came up with technology to help eliminate distracted driving. In the…

One of the chief goals of technology is to improve efficiency—to make it quicker and easier to do our jobs and to make money. Baton Rouge is home to a growing number of tech companies that are coming up with software products and services that increase efficiency in a variety of sectors.  Joel Costonis is…