We often hear people lamenting – mostly politicians – that manufacturing in America has hit an all-time low. The catch-cry you hear frequently repeated is, “we don’t make anything here anymore.” Here in Acadiana we know that’s not true. We make pretty much everything. On this edition of Out to Lunch Aileen Bennett sits in for…

If you travel around Louisiana, you see enormous differences from north to south. And even more from east to west. It’s always been this way, to some extent. But the differences have arguably never been as extreme as they are now. Here in Lafayette, and in Acadiana in general, we’re going through some pretty major…

Just 135 miles apart, a 2 hour sprint on the interstate or a scenic ramble on the 90, New Orleans and Lafayette are two of America’s most culturally interesting cities. Economically, though, they’re different. New Orleans is booming and growing while Lafayette is facing headwinds from a depressed oil economy and the continuing after-effects of floods…

If you had a dollar for every time someone on radio or TV said, “Here in Acadiana we’re known for our food,”  you probably would have made about a hundred dollars this month already. You wouldn’t be as wealthy, though, if you were collecting a dollar on the sentence, “Here in Acadiana there is a sizeable…

A few football seasons ago, after years of losing, the Saints suddenly started to become a winning team. People back then would explain the change of fortune with a knowing look and two words – “Drew Brees.” In Acadiana, people have recently started exchanging that same knowing look when they talk about the impressive number…

There’s a great deal of uncertainty in the oil business these days. When times are tough and margins are slim, oil producers find ways to trim costs wherever they can. But, no matter how big or small your company is, there are only so many people you can lay off. There are only so many wells…

If you’re a certain age and in business, you might have had a business mid-life crisis. It’s not about getting a tattoo and a Harley Davidson, it’s about being confronted with a massive change in the way business is done, and deciding what to do about it. If you started out before the internet, before…

This is a show about Acadiana business and, as you are probably well aware if you travel around Acadiana, there are no shortage of fascinating businesses to talk about in this part of the world. From oil and gas companies to jewelers and from accordion builders to app builders. From all these choices, we have…

Thomas Edison was the 19th Century’s Steve Jobs. He invented the motion picture camera, the record player, and the lightbulb. Incidentally, Edison was known as “The Wizard of Menlo Park” which is the same part of Northern California where Steve Jobs lived and worked too. Edison explained his genius as being “one tenth inspiration and…

Acadiana is different from pretty much every other place in the world. It’s even different from the rest of Louisiana. It’s hard to know exactly where on the I-10 the difference begins, but you know it when you see it. Because it doesn’t just feel different – which it does. And it’s not just because…