Business today is increasingly about information, technology, and service. Before this era, business wasn’t so much people making things happen, it was simply about making things. Today on Out to Lunch Peter Ricchiuti is talking about people who make things. With robots. And steam.

At the beginning of the 21^st Century Missy Rogers and her husband Scott founded Noble Plastics with a bunch of employees who had no experience whatsoever making plastic products. Noble Plastics has continued on this path of local groundbreaking, creating a state of the art manufacturing plant that today includes robotic plastic molding machines, automated monitoring, a design studio, and an Acadiana Small Business of the Year Award.

Jim Phillips calls himself the Founding Evangelist and Information Officer of The Incubatrix. The Incubatrix is a free community building program based on STEAM – Science, Technology, Education and Art Makers. THE INCUBATRIX was launched in 2014 at the Lafayette Science Museum during The STEAMpunk and MAKERS Fair which celebrates Art and Science through performance, presentation and hands-on interactivity. 

Peter met Spanky Meche, today’s Entrepreneur du Jour on this edition of Out to Lunch through One Acadia, the organization that’s leading economic development in Acadia Parish. 

Spanky is the founder of Spanky’s Small Engine and Mower Sales in Church Point, Louisiana. Since its founding in 2010 Spanky’s has grown and become a focal point for other businesses. In 2015 Spanky’s won the Rising Star Award for outstanding sales and service from international power equipment manufacturer and distributor SCAG.

Photos taken over lunch at Social.

For more information about Acadiana entrepreneurs – Innov8 Acadiana and The Opportunity Machine.