Acadiana is famous for ingenuity. Look no further than a crawfish boat to see what I mean.

You might say that innovation is in the water. And that’s because the peoples who settled here needed to be clever to survive. Of course, these days, necessity isn’t the only mother of invention. We live in the sportsman’s paradise, after all.

Fishing is what led Brian Signorelli to his signature invention. He was out on his boat one morning, fishing in some familiar waters, juggling a handheld flashlight and trying to work the throttle to avoid a stump. He hit a stump. And an idea hit him. Basin Boat Lighting.

Basin Boat Lighting is a patented safety lighting and signal system for watercraft. It fixes right on to a boat and can be powered by an adaptable charger that can use whatever power tool battery pack you prefer.

The idea has been a hit with boating enthusiasts and kayakers and Brian has since expanded the line to include more sophisticated and powerful units. Everything he produces meets or exceeds Coast Guard standards and is made right here in the U.S. of A — and by veterans, too.

Brian is a Navy vet, a medical fraud investigator and a registered nurse, too.

Maybe on your way to your favorite fishing hole, you’ve noticed a lot more RVs cruising the highway. It’s not your imagination, the RV and camping industry has exploded, especially since the pandemic. And camp sites have popped up around the country. But here’s a problem: You could book a spot for your camper a year in advance, hit some bad traffic on the way in and miss your booking. That means you might need a spot that night. And until Terry Broussard developed the app Spot2Nite, you were pretty much out of luck.

Think of Spot2Nite as Priceline for RVs. It makes it easier for wayward campers to run down last-minute spots by marketing last-minute inventory at area camp sites.  It’s pretty much full service. It can filter availabilities based on the type of vehicle you drive, preferences for amenities and can even do the booking for you, with 24/7 customer support.

Terry and his son-in-law developed the business after Terry had retired from a long career in the healthcare industry. It’s since become the perfect retirement business. He can operate on the move in his own RV with a remote workforce.

Terry is also a veteran. He served for 21 years as an air force nurse and later became a veteran recruiter for Acadian Ambulance.

Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.

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