Booking the best for outdoor enthusiasts

IT ALL STARTED with a 2019 Oklahoma hunting trip gone wrong. Logan Meaux, a Lake Charles native, showed up for a three-day trip with the accommodations lacking, the lodge overbooked and the hunting way below par. He knew there had to be a solution. With an outdoorsman Airbnb in mind, this LSU finance major created a business plan for his senior class project of what was to become Mallard Bay.

“I started looking to find co-founders to help solve this problem in the outdoor industry,” says Meaux, whose father, Chris Meaux, founded Waitr (now ASAP) and is chairman and CEO of BoomNation. “We now have a fast-growing team and business, and we are always on the lookout for fresh talent.”

The Mallard Bay team, in addition to Meaux, now includes co-founders Tam Nguyen, Joel Moreau and Wyatt Mallett. These four, with a slew of others on their team, are creating a solution to what has been a fragmented market for those looking to book trips with reputable outfitters and charters providing services.

Mallard Bay started with 12 outfitters in late 2021, and they now have roster of 250 outfitters in 30 states and counting. It’s a site where sportsmen, sportswomen and guides can connect on a frictionless online platform. On the outfitters side, Mallard Bay helps with calendar management, payment processing, website development, marketing and client relations.

“Change is growth,” says Mallett. “Everything in our business is constantly evolving, and there’s always a challenging project to tackle, which is fun.”

In the past year, Mallard Bay has seen significant change for the good. In April 2022, the members of the tech startup company were the first entrepreneurs from LSU to compete in the Rice Business Plan Competition, the world’s largest student startup competition, and took home more than $200,000 in prizes. They acquired Bourbon Media, an outdoor excursion marketing firm, allowing Mallard Bay to bring web development and marketing services in house. In September, they closed a $1.8 million funding round led mostly by angel investors. The Mallard Bay team aims to be the market leader in the next three years.

“There’s so much opportunity for startup innovation here in Louisiana, it’s exciting to see it unfolding right in front of us,” says Nguyen. “There’s no better time to be a venture- and angel-backed startup from Louisiana.”

GOOD WORKS Investing in tomorrow’s workforce

Nicholls State University received $131,000 from T. BAKER SMITH, LLC—an engineering, surveying and environmental consulting company—to support Nicholls’ Geomatics program. With this donation, the College of Sciences and Technology plans to hire a full-time assistant or associate professor for spring 2023 and two adjunct professors for fall 2023. “Donating to Nicholls is a no-brainer due to the return on investment we receive,” says Kenneth Smith, CEO of T. Baker Smith. “So many of our associates are alums from all disciplines at Nicholls. Investing in Nicholls means investing in our community.”

JOB CREATOR On the Horizon

The Louisiana State Bond Commission unanimously passed a resolution granting its final approval of up to $1.5 billion of tax-exempt bonds for the financing of the construction of Origin 2, ORIGIN MATERIALS first worldscale manufacturing facility to be located in Geismar. The plant in Ascension Parish will use sustainable wood residue—sourced partly from Louisiana’s timber mills and managed forests—to produce plant-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) used in packaging, textiles, apparel and other applications. “The availability of this funding to support the build–out of the plant will strengthen our ability to create local jobs, and to meet growing demand for our products in the United States and internationally,” says John Bissell, co-founder and co-Chief Executive Officer of Origin.

BUSINESS FOCUSED Remote emergency solution

A $450 million investment from Apple’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund provides the critical infrastructure that supports Emergency SOS via satellite for iPhone 14 models—enabling messaging with emergency services when outside of cellular and Wi-Fi coverage. A majority of the funding goes to GLOBALSTAR, a global satellite service headquartered in Covington, with facilities all over the United States. The investment provides critical enhancements to Globalstar’s satellite network and ground stations, ensuring iPhone 14 users are able to connect to emergency services when off the grid. “The launch of Emergency SOS via satellite direct to iPhone is a generational advancement in satellite communications,” says Jay Monroe, Globalstar’s executive chairman, “and we are proud that Globalstar’s satellites and spectrum assets will play a

SMART WORKS Power Up

LIGHTSOURCE BP is developing a solar farm in St. Landry Parish on a 900acre site in a rural area north of Opelousas. Prairie Ronde Solar, a privately funded $170 million renewable energy project, will create 230-280 direct construction jobs and will provide a more than $20 million boost to St. Landry Parish public services without a tax increase to its citizens. This solar farm will deliver electricity into the local grid, helping with Louisiana’s energy independence and energy security. Construction will begin this year and the project is expected to be operational by the end of 2024.

MOVING FORWARD Here We Grow

The largest public relations firm in the Gulf South, THE EHRHARDT GROUP has opened a second office—outside of New Orleans—in Baton Rouge. This new office will greatly expand the firm’s capabilities to offer public relations, issues management and marketing services to its clients including Fortune 500 corporations, national and regional institutions and public entities. “We’ve had a concentration of work in Baton Rouge and the Capital region for more than 25 years,” says Marc Ehrhardt, president of The Ehrhardt Group. “This new office was the logical next step for TEG and will allow us to continue those efforts in a more immediate and expansive manner.” TEG’s new office is downtown at One American Place, within walking distance of the Capitol.