McNeese Spotlight: Small Business Development Center

McNeese Spotlight: Small Business Development Center

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) – Many Lake Area business owners may not be aware of a free service to help them at the Small Business Development Center at Mcneese. Joining us today is Dean Day who is the business consultant with the development center. The Business Development Center serves the five-parish area which includes Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, & Jeff Davis. it is a partnership program with the S Small Business Administration, Louisiana Economic Development, and participating universities with additional funding from SASOL. They are also the only nationally accredited small business provider in Louisiana. They offer free services for small businesses such as one on one counseling, business start-up, scaling up, as well as management and technical assistance. They also offer low-cost continuing education and act as an informational resource center. Currently, they are providing ongoing monthly training via in-person and web video-conferencing. The Small Business Development Center is located at 4310 Ryan St Ste 162 and can be reached at (337) 475-5529 . Copyright 2023 KPLC. All rights reserved.

Lessons from the Trenches: Social media use in business

Lessons from the Trenches: Social media use in business

When social media was in its infancy, it was mostly used by teenagers and college age people to share pictures, communicate with friends, and troll for dates. It has come a long way since then. If social media isn’t a big part of your business now, you’re getting left behind. Not only does social media make the world aware of your business, it’s also a great recruiting tool and way to attract new customers and suppliers. I did a post on LinkedIn a few years ago of one of our trucks loaded with fabricated rebar, heading to a jobsite. A few days later a contractor from Illinois contacted me and said he needed rebar for an upcoming job in North Carolina and he didn’t know any suppliers of rebar in that area. He sent me the plans, we got him a quote, and we ended up with a $675,000 sale. If I hadn’t posted that picture we’d likely have missed out on that order. We also use social media in our recruiting efforts. About four years ago I was looking for a CFO and I posted the opening on LinkedIn. About six hours later our current CFO responded and […]

Measurement Looks Like A Recession-Proof Business For DoubleVerify

Measurement Looks Like A Recession-Proof Business For DoubleVerify

DoubleVerify (DV) reaped the benefits of a cautious Q4 for ad spending – and it will continue to benefit as measuring performance remains a priority for advertisers. The measurement company reported a 27% growth rate (at $133.6 million, up from $105.5 million last year) in Q4. That growth came during a rough quarter for publishers and ad tech companies , which largely saw revenue drop or remain flat. “Media quality, which is what we measure and verify, is the basis for all performance,” DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski told investors on Wednesday. “In good times, it resonates. And in times in which ad budgets may be a little tight, it resonates even more.” Well, clearly, it’s resonating: DV’s stock jumped roughly 14% in after-hours trading. By the numbers For total 2022 revenue, DV saw a 36% growth rate to the tune of $452 million. The company measured 5.5 trillion ad transactions over the course of the year. Activation revenue, which is how DV describes revenue from its brand safety and suitability products, accounted for $75.5 million in Q4, up 40% YOY. DV is continuing to add products to its safety and suitability suite. Earlier this week, it launched a solution […]

How to turn an open source project into a profitable business

How to turn an open source project into a profitable business

Despite the premise of open source software distribution being “free,” multibillion dollar companies like RedHat, MongoDB, GitLab and Elastic have already broken ground building profitable businesses with open source at their core. But is it possible for a smaller open source project to find its way into this land of commercial opportunity? COSS is accelerating In general, the trends in commercial open source (COSS) are encouraging. New products like Meilisearch and Supabase are gaining traction exponentially faster than the legends of COSS like MongoDB, which were founded much earlier. Image Credits: GitHub Star History (opens in a new window) Let’s give some more context to the graph above. From 2010 to today, the number of GitHub users has exploded from 500,000 to 103 million. It might be tempting to suggest that this influx of new users into the community would be the driving force behind the increase in stars. Your open source project can begin as a pet project but only if you can devote time to it. But, at the same time, the number of projects (repositories) has grown at an even higher rate: from 600,000 to 359 million. And investments in open source products have almost tripled […]

Why United's Polaris Business Class Is Worth the Upgrade on Its New Nonstop Flight to Australia

Why United’s Polaris Business Class Is Worth the Upgrade on Its New Nonstop Flight to Australia

In recent months—after nearly three years of COVID-imposed lockdowns—travelers have finally been able get back to Australia . The timing couldn’t be more ideal. After all, it’s peak Aussie summer travel season, while here in Northern Hemisphere winter, spring remains elusive. For U.S. travelers looking to get Down Under, a number of flight options are roaring back to life or being launched for the very first time. United is flying its largest Australian seasonal schedule with 41 flights per week, the most of any airline. From its San Francisco hub, the airline is now serving three major Aussie cities: Sydney, Melbourne , and as of this past fall, Brisbane, the capital of Australia’s Queensland state. “We’ve continued to see strong demand for travel to Australia,” says Patrick Quayle, United’s senior vice president of international network and alliances. Quayle says that with 20 transpacific routes already, “growing the network further” is all part of the plan. Earlier in 2023, I flew on United’s new Brisbane flight in business class, a cabin and ground experience that the airline brands as Polaris. The route is not only a major milestone for United and Queensland, but it’s also an additional option for travelers […]

Billionaire investor issues warning over China’s ‘crazy’ business tactic: Be 'very careful'

Billionaire investor issues warning over China’s ‘crazy’ business tactic: Be ‘very careful’

Mark Mobius: Be ‘very, very careful’ when investing in China 00:00 00:0006:05GO LIVE Facebook Twitter Email Embed SpeedNormal Autoplay Mark Mobius, who allocates capital all over the world, has raised a red flag about doing business – or trying to bow out of your business – with China. "I’m personally affected because I have an account with HSBC in Shanghai. I can’t get my money out. The government is restricting the flow of money out of the country," Mobius told FOX Business host Maria Bartiromo. "So I would be very, very careful investing in China ." On " Mornings with Maria " Thursday, the Mobius Capital Partners founder noted that China’s bottom line is moving "in a completely different direction" than its former open-minded-market revolutionary leader Deng Xiaoping. "Now you have a government which is taking gold in shares in companies all over China. That means they’re going to try to control all these companies," Mobius explained. "So I don’t think it’s a very good picture when you see the government becoming more and more control oriented in the economy." CHINA ANNOUNCES NEW SANCTIONS AGAINST LOCKHEED MARTIN, RAYTHEON FOR TAIWAN MILITARY SALES China has made a "very significant" effort […]

Congressman hosts small business administrator in Las Cruces

Congressman hosts small business administrator in Las Cruces

Congressman Vasquez and Administrator Guzman with Grounded owners, Tony (father) and Kendra (daughter) Espiritu. U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M., visited local businesses along Main Street in downtown Las Cruces Feb. 22 before hosting a small business roundtable with U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman. “The roundtable featured a diverse array of small businesses, who discussed their successes, challenges and ways the SBA could better support small businesses,” Vasquez’s office said in a news release. “There are over 150,000 small businesses in our state, and they account for 99 percent of all businesses in New Mexico,” Vasquez said. “Our national economy – and our local economies – are built on the backs of small businesses. That’s why I’ve hosted a series of small business roundtables in diverse communities over the last month. My goal is to ensure that we can build local, generational wealth by supporting entrepreneurship. Understanding their challenges, as well as their successes, allows me to support policies that directly impact job creation in New Mexico. One thing is clear – we need to ensure that SBA’s resources are well-known and accessible to all of New Mexico, especially our rural communities across the district,” he […]

Subway officially opens new headquarters in Waterford Business District. Here's a look inside. (Photos)

Subway officially opens new headquarters in Waterford Business District. Here’s a look inside. (Photos)

Subway, one of the world’s largest restaurant brands, has officially opened its new dual headquarters in Miami’s Waterford Business District. The 64,000-square-foot office will be at 1000 Sub Way (1000 NW 57 th Court renamed) and features the first-in-Subway-history Innovation Center and Mock Restaurant as well as multiple collaborative spaces and premier fitness center. The Innovation Center and Mock Restaurant will serve as a “think tank” for food innovation, allowing employees to collaborate and experiment with the culinary team on new sandwich products, sauces or proteins, the company said. Subway serves made-to-order sandwiches, wraps, salads and bowls to customers across more than 100 countries in nearly 37,000 restaurants every day. “Opening the new Miami headquarters marks a significant milestone for our company and reaffirms our commitment to enhancing the workplace experience for our employees,” said Bill Ekstrom, Subway Director of Business Services. As the building’s largest tenant, Subway occupies two and a half floors across six, seven and 10, offering views of the city. The office is home to approximately 150 Miami-based Subway employees and includes consumer-facing functions and its Latin American regional office staff. New York-based architect, HLW led architecture and design for the new space. The company […]

Alibaba Stock: An Opportunity Of A Lifetime Or A Tragic Mistake?

Alibaba Stock: An Opportunity Of A Lifetime Or A Tragic Mistake?

Summary After a customary post-earnings drop, Alibaba’s stock has given up nearly 50% of its rally off of October-lows. On paper, Alibaba appears to be a fundamentally-solid stock that’s trading at just ~12x P/FCF. Furthermore, we will run Alibaba through TQI’s Quantamental Analysis process to see if the pullback in BABA stock is a good buying opportunity for long-term investors. Spoiler Alert: I rate Alibaba a "Strong Buy" in the $80s. We’re currently running a sale at my private investing ideas service, The Quantamental Investor, where members get access to portfolios, market alerts, real-time chat, and more. Learn More » maybefalse/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images Introduction Despite reporting an earnings beat last week, Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE: BABA ) has seen its stock drop by more than 5% in a couple of sessions to deepen the recent reversal in Chinese stocks. As you may already know, Chinese equities have experienced a significant surge off of their October lows, with the likes of Alibaba doubling in a matter of months. However, the wind seems to be blowing in the opposite direction now, with many of these Chinese stocks pulling back down. Data by YCharts After rallying from $60 in […]

Young People Will Now Only Go to a Restaurant if There Is an Instagram Photo Opportunity

Young People Will Now Only Go to a Restaurant if There Is an Instagram Photo Opportunity

( RestaurantNews.com ) CJ Digital, a leading restaurant marketing agency , has released data that shows how young people are likely to visit a restaurant if it provides an Instagrammable photo opportunity. The CJ Digital team surveyed 1,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 24 to find out how important an Instagram photo opportunity was when they were dining out. The results showed that an impressive 73 percent of the participants said they were more likely to visit the restaurant if they could take an Instagram-worthy photo. The survey also found that nearly half of the participants said they would take a photo of their food before eating it. Over a quarter of those surveyed said they would post their photos to Instagram, while 20 percent said they would post their photos to Snapchat or Facebook. CJ Digital’s Managing Director, Calum Ward, said the survey results highlighted how important social media is for young people when it comes to dining out. “Young people today are more connected than ever before, and they want to share their experiences with their friends and followers,” Ward said. “The survey results show that if a restaurant provides an Instagrammable photo opportunity, […]