Entrepreneurship Week focuses on small businesses succeeding

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Small businesses are the heartbeat of the Baton Rouge area economy.

Over the past few years, the Capital Region has been one of the most entrepreneurially-minded metro areas in the country.

One in every four East Baton Rouge businesses currently open has opened since the beginning of 2020, showing just how quickly entrepreneurs have impacted the economy in the area.

“I believe Louisiana should be the premiere place for start-ups and entrepreneurship,” said Gayle Benson, owner of New Orleans Saints and New Orleans Pelicans.

The doors of Social Coffee opened in downtown Baton Rouge in March of 2022 and Dillon Farrell has been brewing ever since.

“Being raised in south Louisiana, you grow up with coffee,” said Farrell. “I’ve traveled other places and learned about people over coffee.”

Louisiana is home to a small business boom. In the last year, more than 180,0000 Louisianans opened a business.

”The opportunity to start a small business in Baton Rouge was a way to impact the culture,” added Farrell.

Depending on how much success he brews, expansion could be the next step for Farrell, but he knows it won’t be easy.

“It is tough. Not having a financial background, I’m learning on the go, figuring out what is right,” explained Farrell.

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