In 2000, an LSU engineering professor named Kevin Kelly got an idea – to build compact, efficient heat exchangers that would help engines perform better. Today, Mezzo is one of the leading companies in the country in the area of micro tube heat exchanger technology, and the company’s products are used in dozens of applications…

If you drive around Baton Rouge, chances are you’ve had your car washed at Benny’s Car Wash. The locally owned company has 14 locations around the area and is as well known for its quick oil changes and B Kwik convenience stores as it is for its automated car washes, which can be had for…

South Louisiana is one of the true food capitals of the world, known for both its Creole and Cajun fare, and, more recently, it’s contemporary twist on classic southern dishes. And though New Orleans often gets top billing for its famous restaurants and innovative chefs, Baton Rouge has a growing food scene that is vibrant…

When the State created the tax incentive program in the early 2000s to attract movie and TV producers to Louisiana, the hope was to turn Louisiana into Hollywood South. 15 years later, more movie and TV shows are shot in Louisiana than in almost any other state in the country. A big chunk of those…

We live in a world today where content is king, everyone can be an expert on the Internet, and building your own personal brand is the secret to success in our post-modern digital age. While all of that may be second nature to those who were born during the Clinton presidency, some of us need…

If you’re driving down the highway almost anywhere in this country you’re likely going to see a Lamar Billboard. And while you may know  that Lamar is one of Baton Rouge’s biggest companies, you might not realize it’s also one of the largest outdoor advertising companies in the U.S. Lamar has more than 144-thousand billboards…

South Louisiana is famous for its seafood – but can you harness our passion for poisson and turn it into a fast-food fish biz, like Popeye’s and Cane’s have done with chicken? That’s what Tyler Pizzolatto is banking on. Around a year ago Tyler, whose family is steeped in the Baton Rouge fish biz, opened…

You may know about Baton Rouge’s growing tech industry. What you may not know is that one of the pioneers of internet retailing is right here in the Capital Region. Shopperschoice.com was founded in 1998 and  has grown from a mom-and-pop store selling barbeque equipment to one of the 300 biggest online retailers in the…

If you’re so much as an occasional jogger around Baton Rouge you know Jenni Peters. Even if you’ve never donned a pair of running shoes, you know the Varsity brand and the slogan emblazoned on the back of the t-shirts that are almost a uniform around Baton Rouge: Run Hard Live Easy. Jenni Peters is…

When it comes to entrepreneurship, you won’t find many people who know more than John Elstrott.   Recently retired as professor of entrepreneurship and director of the Levy Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship at Tulane, John is chairman of the board of directors of Whole Foods, originator of Celestial Seasonings, and runs Elstrott, Maurer and Hunnewell, a…