The Baton Rouge Area Chamber has come out with a report promoting continued efforts to strengthen ethics reform laws in Louisiana. Adam Knapp, BRAC president and CEO, says there's a need to keep pushing the issue despite a sweeping ethics package that was passed only weeks after Gov. Bobby Jindal took office. "For ethics to have a lasting effect as an economic development tool for the Baton Rouge area and the state, we must have a sustained commitment to high standards," Knapp said in a statement. BRAC says its ethics priorities for the current session are to make sure that current laws are not repealed or weakened, a strong conflict of interest law for all branches of state government is established, consistency and common sense are applied to financial disclosure requirements for boards and commissions and the definition of a lobbyist is clarified. To read the report and see what bills BRAC endorses, click here.
Stine Lumber, the largest Louisiana-based home improvement chain, plans to build a 120,000-square-foot store in Walker. The store, which will be on La. Highway 447 between Interstate 12 and U.S. 190, is scheduled to open in early spring 2009, says Dennis Stine, who heads the company. "We're excited about the growth in Walker; it's an expanding market," he says. Stine Lumber has 10 locations in Louisiana and Mississippi. The company has been out of the Baton Rouge market since the early 1980s, when it closed a store at Florida Boulevard and Airline Highway. The store will cater to both contractors and do-it-yourselfers and feature a garden center. Plans are to hire up to 90 employees.--Timothy Boone
Movie tax credits being vetted
The Louisiana Entertainment Industries Association, a trade group representing everyone from studio heads and producers to actors and grips, was expected to present a resolution this morning during a state-sponsored public hearing on the industry’s much-ballyhooed tax incentives. Louisiana Economic Development scheduled the gathering to gain public input specifically on the production and infrastructure programs. LEIA’s board of directors plan on opposing any effort to force producers to make all related expenditures prior to the end of this year to qualify for the infrastructure credits, and any move to make the applicant pay for the cost of additional audits. LEIA also wants to make sure that hotel rooms do not qualify for the infrastructure tax credit. But more than anything else, the group feels it has come time for a set of strict rules to be applied to the popular program. “LEIA recognizes that the absence of rules has required its membership to act in good faith reliance upon the enabling legislation,” the resolution reads, “and that this good faith reliance has resulted in the state of Louisiana enjoying the benefit of becoming the third most highly utilized location (in the U.S.).”--Jeremy Alford
Shaw awarded contract to clean up old Air Force bases
The Shaw Group's Environmental & Infrastructure division has been awarded a contract from the Air Force to clean up England Air Force Base in Alexandria and Myrtle Beach Air Force Base in South Carolina. The bases were shut down in the early 1990s. Shaw has been working at Myrtle Beach for the past 10 years, cleaning up contaminated soil and helping turn the property back over to the public. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
B.R. ranks low for foreclosures
Baton Rouge ranks near the bottom of a report that measured first-quarter foreclosure activity in the 100 largest metro areas. The city finished 94th in RealtyTrac's report despite a 41% jump in foreclosures from the last three months of 2007. There was one foreclosure for every 889 households in metro Baton Rouge, far below the national average of one for every 194 homes. Stockton, Calif., had the highest foreclosure rate, with one out of every 30 homes being seized. Allentown, Pa., had the lowest, with one foreclosure for every 12,328 homes. RealtyTrac says foreclosures went up an average of 23% from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the first quarter. In the state rankings, Louisiana was 37th, with foreclosures happening on one out of every 944 houses. Nevada once again led the list, with one foreclosure for every 54 households.
Hub International acquires C.P. Grace
Hub International Limited has acquired C.P. Grace & Associates, a Baton Rouge agency specializing in surety bonds. Cathy Grace, principal of C.P. Grace and three other staff members will join Hub's Gulf South office in Baton Rouge. Hub, a Chicago-based insurance brokerage, says the deal enhances its bonding capabilities and allows it to enter the construction industry. Details of the deal were not released. Earlier this month, Hub acquired certain assets of Bass & Associates, a Baton Rouge-based insurance agency specializing in group benefits and administration.
United Plaza gets Fresh Salads location
Fresh Salads and Wraps plans to open a second location in United Plaza early this summer. The 800-square-foot store, next to United Plaza II, will offer some seating and wi-fi service, co-owner Pat Fellows says. Fellows says he wanted to move into the location, which had been occupied by Brew Ha Ha, because of the fast pace. "It's got the same sort of volume as downtown," he says. Along with offering the salads and wraps found at Fresh's Main Street Market location, the new restaurant will sell KNUBLU, a low-fat, low-calorie frozen yogurt. Fellows and business partner Scott Johnson hope to open more Fresh locations across the city. "We're looking for smaller 800- to 1,200-square-foot spaces," he says. --Timothy Boone
Study shows Louisiana has lowest nursing home costs
An annual study of long-term care costs show that Louisiana has the lowest average price for a nursing home stay. It costs $45,539 for a one year in a private nursing home, according to the report from Genworth Financial. Over the past five years, nursing home costs have increased by 4% in Louisiana, compared with 17% nationwide. Alaska was the most expensive state for nursing home care, with a year in a private room costing nearly $188,000. For an interactive map of long-term care costs, click here.
Ascension officials to market Pointe Sunshine at Calif. meeting
The Ascension Economic Development Corporation is hitting the road with a new marketing presentation to promote its 1,000-acre Pointe Sunshine deepwater "megasite" on the Mississippi River near Donaldsonville. AEDC staff will give what they describe as a state-of-the-art marketing presentation at the Corenet Global Meeting in San Diego next week in hopes of getting the attention of national site selection consultants and real estate executives. Corenet is the leading national organization for corporate real estate execs and site consultants. Also attending will be LED Secretary Stephen Moret and officials with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. AEDC's animated presentation features key facts and features GIS maps on the Pointe Sunshine site illustrating utility, zoning, waterway and transportation information. See the presentation at deepwatermegasites.com.--Steve Clark
Real Estate Weekly: Area surrounding Bass Pro starting to take shape
Real Estate Weekly is out with news about the restaurants and retailers going in around the Bass Pro Shops in Denham Springs, what's going on at the Kress at Third & Main building and the latest columns from Tom Cook and Brian Andrews. To read the newsletter, click here.
Record highs defy auto, construction slump: Steel prices have increased dramatically in the past year, reports MarketWatch. The price of one common product, hot-rolled coil steel, has gone up 72% from its 2007 peak to more than $1,000 a short ton. Cold rolled steel has increased 62%, to $1,100 per ton. The increase in prices comes despite a slowdown in the automobile and construction industry. Analysts say the increase comes from strong global demand, a drop in imports and continued activity in some construction sectors. Where to go: TripAdvisor, the online travel community, has handed out its first Travelers' Choice Destination awards to the spots that are most popular with members. Milford Sound, New Zealand was selected as the most popular world destination, while Rhodes, Greece was the favorite spot in Europe and Lake Tahoe, Calif., topped the U.S. list. New Orleans was ranked sixth among U.S. destinations. To look at the list, click here (Registration required). Gloomy times: Soaring gas prices and weaker job prospects made Americans gloomier about the economy in April, sending a widely watched measure of consumer sentiment to a five-year low, a private research group said today. The New York-based Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index, which had plummeted in March, fell again to 62.3 in April, down from the revised 65.9 last month and 76.4 in February. The index remains at its weakest point since March 2003, when it registered 61.4, ahead of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
