NATCHEZ — Jarett Rodriguez, a Natchez native, has been named project manager for the Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute at LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business.

He is a 1991 graduate of Adams County Christian School.

Rodriguez, who joined the staff on May 18, budgets projects for SEI and the Louisiana Business & Technology Center. He serves as a liaison between the two entities, bridging the research side with the hands-on side of business education. Additionally, Rodriguez will be in charge of special projects and will teach some entrepreneurship and franchising classes.

“When the opportunity presented itself for me to come onboard with the Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute, I was thrilled,” Rodriguez said. “Louisiana is a state that is very dependant on small and medium-sized businesses. I think that playing my part in the enhancement of this established institute will prove to be very rewarding. This institute and the LBTC are already full of very talented and knowledgeable people, and it is a thrill for me to be around them and to learn from them.”

Rodriguez recently sold his part of Dallas-based business, Technically Advanced Inc., and moved back to Baton Rouge with his wife and daughter to help rebuild Louisiana and to be closer to family. With a teaching background and IT experience, Rodriguez has much to offer the institute’s tech-oriented educational programs, which are geared toward entrepreneurship education, women in business, family businesses, and franchising.