A small business owner honors his family’s legacy of advocating for the working class.
NFIB/Louisiana Member Profile: Mike Coullard
Lake Providence, the small, waterside town on the northeast corner of Louisiana, was once named “The Poorest Place in America” by Time magazine. It’s also home to Panola Pepper Corp., a family-run business established to help combat the local poverty epidemic.
Serving the Working Class
Today, Panola’s president and CEO Mike Coullard upholds the legacy his father-in-law Grady “Bubber” Brown started by remaining local and remembering the company’s roots.
“In 1983, my father-in-law started the company,” says Coullard. “He farms cotton, rice and soybeans. During the wintertime after you harvest the crops, everybody had to go on government assistance. Basically, you’re laid off. We had some good, hardworking Americans that didn’t want to do that.”
In result, Brown found a recipe for his mother’s prized Panola Pepper Gourmet Hot Sauce. On his own dime, Brown hired his employees back for the winter to manufacture the sauce and sold it to whoever walked by. In three months, they sold out of the entire supply and the year-round business was born.
Strengthening the Local Economy
Since then Panola Pepper expanded to include a variety of hot sauce and Worcestershire flavors. Additionally, the 40-person business provides private label and co-packing services for area entrepreneurs.
“We’re taking on lots of small companies,” says Coullard. “These people have the drive and passion about the product they are making in their kitchen or business incubator lab. [But] they can’t afford to build a facility to bottle their product according to Food and Drug Administration standards. We’re manufacturing for them and they’re selling and marketing their business.”
With all of Panola’s successes, Mike Coullard continues to plan for the future.
“One of the best things is that we’re growing,” he says. “We added about 15 people since we’ve been here and last year was our largest sales that we’ve had in the business. We’d like to continue to provide jobs [and add] a little more modernization. A lot of things are still done by hand and there’s a certain element that we like about that, but we’re also wanting our efficiencies increased.”
Giving Words of Advice
To share the wealth, Coullard has advice for fledgling small business owners.
“Keep your debt low, work hard, have a passion for what you’re doing and express your goals in writing,” he says. “Remind yourself of that everyday and make sure that all of your decisions are based on those expressed goals and visions.”
