By james art This October, BRAC launched the BTR Dinner—a revived version of Around the Table, a dinner series that fosters community and connection between business leaders and community members in Baton Rouge.
The first BTR dinner, part of the revived BRAC dinner series, took place on October 17 – the first event of its kind since 2018. The format involved 12 dinner gatherings at various homes and businesses in Baton Rouge, with groups of 6 to 12 guests randomly assigned to each location. The evening included networking opportunities and activities led by local business leaders.
This year’s hosts represented a diverse range of industries in the city, including Ann Milnek, owner of Red Stick Spice Company; Christina Melton, executive director of the Knock Knock Children’s Museum; Christy Reeves, vice president of Ochsner Health; Sarah Joy Hayes, owner of CounterspaceBR; and Seth Irby, chief strategy officer at LWCC.
“We know we’re losing young adult talent and millennials at a rapid rate,” BRAC Director of Talent Development Maggie Spurlock says. “We have multiple colleges and universities in our city and the opportunity for those students to connect with the city is so important. How do we share with them what those opportunities look like in the city to help them build a place so that they don’t just think of Baton Rouge as a place to go to school? The more events we have like this to support young people in the city, it helps us keep that talent and diversity of experience and thought in our city, which helps our city grow.”
BRAC plans to host two more BTR Dinner events in 2025, with host recruitment and applications for the spring dinner beginning in January or February.
“There are some amazing executives in our city who have a great story to tell and would make excellent hosts,” says Spurlock. “So if that’s something they’re excited about, helping people connect with the city, they can contact us when we open registration for hosts and participants.” Although we want people in homes, if you have a meeting room or a conference room, you can also host.”