There are two things we know a lot about in New Orleans: partying and hurricanes. For a long time those weren’t unrelated. The hurricane party was a New Orleans institution — you’d ride out the storm with your neighbors, a case of beer, and a sense of invincibility. These days, after Katrina and Ida, hurricanes aren’t quite the occasion they used to be.
But there’s still a connection between the two — just a more businesslike one. Now, the connection shows up after the storm, not during it.
When you drive around New Orleans after a big storm, you see a lot of blue roofs. They’re tarps. When you drive around any other time, you see houses draped in tarps in other colors, covering houses that are being fumigated, mostly for termites. All of these tarps, plus many others used in places like grain ships, in transporting seafood, and for keeping ammunition weather-proof for the US military, are manufactured in Ponchatoula by a New Orleans company – J&M Industries. The Managing Owner and President of J&M Industries is Maurice Gaudet IV.
Maurice Gaudet IV, Managing Owner and President of J&M Industries, the company that makes the official government-issued tarps you see on roofs around here and across the country after a natural disaster, as well as tarps for a wide range of industrial, athletic and military uses. J&M is headquartered in Ponchatoula.
After the hurricane’s blown through and you get back to partying, there’s another local manufacturer you might want to know about. The company and their product are both called Louie Louie: cans of effervescent drinks, in flavors like Hurricane Punch, Ginger Cucumber and Blackberry Lemon. But it’s more than the flavor that sets these drinks apart from a regular seltzer. Louie Louie describes itself as a, “cannabis infused beverage.” Each can has 5 milligrams of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis that, when you smoke it, gets you high. And 5 milligrams of CBD, the cannabis derivative that promotes relaxation.
When you drink Louie Louie it’s reportedly quicker acting and not as long lasting as eating a gummy and, according to the company’s marketing, gives the drinker “a relaxed buzz.”
Marie LaFrance is a Co-Founder of Louie Louie.
Marie LaFrance, Co-Founder of Louie Louie, “The drink you never knew you always wanted,” containing THC to get you high and CBD to mellow you out, the effervescent soda delivers “a relaxed buzz.”
Anyone who has had any contact with the news media over the last decade has heard politicians from every party and at every level – federal, state, and local – talk about “manufacturing.” Once you hear that word, the next part of the conversation is usually about China, Canada, the Midwest or northeast of the US. It’s very rare, if ever, that you hear about manufacturing in New Orleans. And yet, here we are.J&M Industries has been around for over 50 years and are are showing no signs of slowing down.Louie Louie has been only been around a few years and every indication is they’re just getting started.
Maurice Gaudet, Marie LaFrance, Peter Ricchiuti, Out to Lunch at Columns on St Charles Avenue in Uptown New Orleans
Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. Photos by Jill Lafleur.
