It’s Baton Rouge: Out to Lunch

Hosted ByStephanie Riegel

OUT TO LUNCH finds Baton Rouge Business Report Editor Stephanie Riegel combining her hard news journalist skills and food background: conducting business over lunch. Baton Rouge has long had a storied history of politics being conducted over meals, now the Capital Region has an equivalent culinary home for business: Mansur’s. Each week Stephanie holds court over lunch at Mansur’s and invites members of the Baton Rouge business community to join her. You can also hear the show on WRKF 89.3FM.

Goodwood and Upward – Out to Lunch – It’s Baton Rouge

Real estate is one of the largest sectors of the Baton Rouge economy. In the world of Baton Rouge real estate you don’t get any bigger than Mike Wampold.

Mike Wampold

Over the past three decades Mike’s Wompald Companies has established itself as the premier developer in Baton Rouge, with a portfolio that includes an extraordinary list of apartments, hotels, office buildings and planned unit developments. Mike’s devleopment, Harveston, is transforming the landscape of the southeastern part of the parish. 

mike hogstrum

A few chronological years behind Wampold Companies but no less ambitiouls and exciting is another Mike – Mike Hogstrom  – and his development company Onsite Design and Development. Onsite has completed  two infill projects in the Mid City area that exemplify the principles of smart growth, and is in the process of developing three other developments in the Old Goodwood area – including Adelia at Goodwood, which will be built on the site of the old Goodwood Plantation. 

katelyn comeaux 

Talking of Goodwood,  Goodwood Hardware is something of an institution in the local market. Defying industry trends and competition from big box retailers like Home Depot and Lowe’s, business is booming at Goodwood. So much so that the next generation is coming up and taking over, in the person of Katelyn Comeaux. Katelyn explains the art of mom-and-popism in the 21st Century. 

Stephanie Riegel

Photos taken over lunch at Mansur’s on the Boulevard by Ken Stewart