BREW heating up entrepreneur spirit

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Chef Jay Ducote is at home in a kitchen.

"Really my mission is to celebrate food and culture of food where ever I travel and especially at home here in Baton Rouge," said Ducote.

In between a radio show, TV appearances and teaching cooking lessons, Jay runs foodie blog BiteandBooze.com, but his background in political science and economics is as far away from culinary inspiration as you can get.

"All I really learned was that I didn't want to be a political scientist for the rest of my life," laughed Ducote.

Unsatisfied in his work, he pursued his passion for food.  Eventually he left his day job and turned his blog into a full time living.

"It's a risk. It's a risk to leave a job and start your own thing," said the entrepreneur. "It was a risk worth taking in my opinion."

It's that spirit of taking the nontraditional path to success, that the Baton Rouge Entrepreneurial Week is all about.

"It's part of a global effort to celebrate entrepreneurship, and for me, entrepreneurship is not just about starting a business. It's about that spirit of innovation inside our companies here," said BREW Chair Stafford Kendall.

For five days, BREW brings together the people with that entrepreneurial drive and the resources to help make dreams into a reality.  The weeklong event helps cultivate business and innovation with a series of lectures, meetings and even a high stakes pitch night where one lucky contestant will walk away with $125,000 to fund his or her idea.

Kendall says Baton Rouge has a lot of resources for entrepreneurs, and more opportunities are on the horizon.

"It's beginning. The exciting thing is with the tax credits and other initiatives going on this is the beginning of something that is going to be very special," said Kendall.

For more information on BREW, click here.

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