Baton Rouge Business Report

Think escape rooms are just weekend fun for thrill-seekers or puzzling adventures for families? Think again.  In Baton Rouge, these immersive experiences are being reimagined as powerful tools for learning, development—and yes, even leadership training.  In this episode of Business Report’s Bottom Line, we explore how both local institutions and major employers are leveraging escape rooms to boost performance and engagement. At Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University, or FranU, what looks like a typical medical...

Travel elsewhere around the country, and it’s hard to find the abundance of family-owned independent supermarkets that thrive across the Capital Region. Outlets like Calandro’s, Calvin’s Bocage Market, Matherne’s, Alexander’s and Oak Point Market are among the scores of retailers across the Baton Rouge area that lure shoppers with local and gourmet items alongside competitively priced staples. As Business Report writes in its latest issue, many similar independent supermarkets across the nation were unable to...

Born in Sonsón, Colombia, in 1938, the late Jairo Alvarez was the second-born of 11 children. He and his siblings helped their Papacito, Mario, and Mamacita, Adela, tend to corn and potato crops and raise animals on their farm tucked against a mountain. Alvarez, one of Business Report’s 2025 Hall of Fame laureates, would eventually go on to found one of the state’s largest residential construction companies. At 52 years old, Alvarez launched his construction...

Louisiana is known for its culinary icons, and one Baton Rouge company is turning a classic favorite—the boudin ball—into a nationwide business.  Crave-A-Ball, launched by the Pizzolato family, aims to revolutionize the boudin ball market with a focus on innovation, quality and expansion. In this episode of Business Report's “Bottom Line,” we talk with Crave-A-Ball chef Yvette Bonanno about the company's current operations and future plans.

Situated a mere stone’s throw from the Gulf of Mexico, Port Fourchon has always been intimately tied to Louisiana’s offshore oil and gas industry—servicing more than 95% of all Gulf deepwater activities. But these days, the port is intentionally pursuing a more diversified agenda with a focus on all things energy. Check out our exclusive original video, Port Fourchon: Louisiana’s Power Outlet.

After more than 10 years of planning, work has started on the Livingston Parish Executive Airport.  In the latest episode of Business Report's Bottom Line, we dive into some of the lesser-known barriers the Livingston Parish Airport District traversed to make the project a reality. Besides acquiring the land and getting environmental impact statements, federal legislation was revised, allowing the project to be greenlit.   

The Louisiana Energy Outlook, presented by 10/12 Industry Report and Baton Rouge Business Report, explores emerging trends for 2024 and 2025: Energy transformation, oil and gas production, innovation and digitalization, workforce challenges and more. Panelists include Regina Davis, ExxonMobil Baton Rouge refinery manager; Lee Stockwell, national leader for carbon capture at Shell; and Brad Ives, director of the LSU Institute for Energy Innovation. The virtual event is sponsored by Alliance Safety Council and Bradley Murchison. Watch the webcast.

Baton Rouge's Amazon Fulfillment Center, BTR 1, officially opened its doors where Cortana Mall once stood. The facility has been in operation for months.  BTR 1 is a “first of its kind” Amazon robotics facility with robots like the Hercules and Pegasus working alongside humans.  We take viewers on a tour of Amazon's newest facility and a full walk-through of the life of a package.  Watch The Life of an Amazon Package.

Walk into a breeding room at Fluker Farms in Port Allen and no surprise, it’s crickets. Thousands of screened boxes in this 90-degree warehouse hold live crickets waiting to be shipped across the U.S. to pet stores, educational institutions, zoos and direct to consumers for feeding their pet reptiles. Founded in 1956 by Richard Fluker, the company spent many years as a cricket supplier to south Louisiana bait shops. A lot has changed since then. 

There hasn't been a hockey team in Baton Rouge in 20 years, not since the Kingfish left in 2003. Now, the Zydeco hockey team is here. In this episode of Bottom Line, we talked to the officials behind the new team's agreement with the Raising Cane's River Center. They walked us through their three-year lease agreement and what that entails. Watch the full episode for stats on their ticket sales and attendance along with a...

In this episode of Bottom Line, we take a closer look at the Comite River Diversion, an ambitious effort to mitigate flooding risks from the Amite and Comite rivers. This 12-mile canal project aims to redirect the river away from residential areas, reducing the threat of flooding. Completion on the full project is slated for the latter half of 2025.

While some believe crime in the Capital Region is at an all-time high, a security camera program may offer hope. The Page/Rice Public Safety Initiative supplies schools and businesses with security cameras. Some can even zero in on firearms and alert authorities. In this episode of Bottom Line, we talked to the company behind those cameras, Zero Eyes.

In the latest episode of Bottom Line, Business Report traveled to one of the sources of Louisiana’s beloved crawfish: Four Oaks Farms in Morganza. The farm sits on over 1,500 acres of land. There, they harvest sugarcane, soybeans and crawfish. 

Season Two of Business Report's Strictly Business series with business leaders across the Capital Region premiers with LSU Institute for Energy Innovation Director Brad Ives. The January 2024 episode takes a deep dive into the energy transition and what it means for Louisiana. We explore groundbreaking research initiatives happening here, economic opportunities and workforce development initiatives. Founded in 2022, the LSU Institute for Energy Innovation coordinates LSU’s R&D, service and outreach efforts related to the energy...

In the latest episode of Business Report’s The Bottom Line, Oscar Tickle talks with Mark Goodson of CSRS, which is overseeing the University Lakes Project to get an update on how things are going.

As the heat in Louisiana continues its record-breaking onslaught, workers whose jobs require them to brave the outside inferno are being forced to acclimate.