The Louisiana Healthcare Institute, a north Baton Rouge company that trains students in medical billing, coding and compliance, walked away with the $10,000 prize at a pitch night competition Wednesday for north Baton Rouge entrepreneurs.
LHI President Sherie Phillips Thomas told the four-judge panel about her three-year-old company’s mission to “put people in jobs” by providing affordable training in the increasingly complex field of healthcare back office operations.
Her firm was among 10 north Baton Rouge ventures that participated in the event, which was the culmination of a daylong boot camp sponsored by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation. The event was organized by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and put on by Jeff Cherry, the founder of Conscious Venture Lab, a Baltimore, Maryland firm that develops training programs for socially conscious entrepreneurs.
“I think this was a great way to talk to and connect with and be with entrepreneurs in north Baton Rouge,” says BRAC President and CEO Adam Knapp. “We had a great group of participants across a variety of industries and we were really pleased with the outcome.”
As Business Report detailed in a recent feature, Thomas has been a medical coder and health care reimbursement specialist since 2000. She opened LHI in 2014, initially training students online and in health care facilities. In 2016, she moved into her own building at 6220 Florida Blvd.
At Wednesday’s pitch night, she told the judges about how her firm aided flood victims last summer, some of whom were her own students. She said she will use the pitch prize money to grow her business.
Other north Baton Rouge ventures that competed in the competition were: Between the Lines Bookstore, Exquisite Cleaning Professionals, Jetstreame, Hanger, Soul Fresh Organic Company, Aroma Flame Candles, Chic International Travel, Tint Masters, and The Way to Work.
Judges included: Byron Clayton, CEO, Research Park Corporation; Derrick Warren, executive director, Southern University System Alumni Federation; Steven Perret, president, Lettermans; and Dustin LaFont, founder, Front Yard Bikes.
—Stephanie Riegel
