Jindal says workforce reforms 'most important priority'
Gov. Bobby Jindal and others unveiled their cure this morning for what ails Louisiana's workforce. The governor referred to the package of bills that will be introduced at the legislative session beginning Monday as "the single most important priority going into the session." Among other things, the strategy calls for replacing the existing Department of Labor with a workforce commission charged with coordinating all relevant state agencies in integrating education, training, employment and apprenticeship programs. A 29-member Louisiana Workforce Investment Council will replace the existing Workforce Commission in the governor's office and develop an overriding vision for workforce efforts. Business leaders will be tapped to lead the state's Workforce Investment Boards. Also on the table is a $4 million program that would let high school students earn credits for college and workforce training, and another $4.5 million for industry-based certification programs in high schools. There's also a proposed Day One Guarantee for Louisiana employers, which means if workers don't have the necessary skills after graduating from a community or technical college program, they'll be retrained for free. The Board of Supervisors of Community and Technical Colleges could adopt that measure as soon as April. "It's need-based, " Labor Secretary Tim Barfield says. "We need industry to get involved and stay involved."--Penny Brown
The Pastime Restaurant and Lounge, a popular downtown hangout, has been serving novel and tasty Cajun food from its one location on South Boulevard underneath the Interstate 10 Mississippi River bridge since 1941. But co-owners Jamey Travis and Randy Wesley have decided it’s time to act on customers’ continual requests for additional locations. A second location, called Pastime Jr., is scheduled to open in May next to Drusilla Seafood in the Drusilla Shopping Center. Unlike the downtown location, the new one will offer delivery service. “Everyone knows the name, and we can grow it into something special,” Travis says. “We get calls everyday from people asking for locations in their neighborhood. With a thriving business in the downtown, I feel confident we’ll do well with our Cajun dishes that have resulted from more than 60 years of home cooking." A third Baton Rouge location is being discussed, possibly on Coursey Boulevard, in one to two years. Locations in Hammond and Lafayette could follow in the next five years.-- Anna Thibodeaux
LSU gets plateful of pork in record-setting year
LSU is among many colleges and universities around the country with reason to celebrate a record-breaking number of federal pork projects for higher education this fiscal year. LSU A&M and the LSU system office scored $19.1 million in noncompetitive federal grants for fiscal year 2008, ranking 12th nationally in terms of congressional earmarks they don't have to share with other institutions, according to a study by the Chronicle of Higher Education. It's less than 2003, when LSU ranked sixth for its $26.1 million share of projects. Still, LSU is seeing its share of projects funded, including $12.5 million from the Office of Homeland Security for preparing first-responders for a WMD attack; $2 million from the Department of Defense for research at Pennington Biomedical Research Center focused on "personal readiness and warfighter performance"; and $1 million to research Formosan termites. The biggest winner for 2008 is Mississippi State University, ranked first in the nation with $43 million in non-shared federal earmarks. The Chronicle notes the number of colleges and universities receiving earmarks "has shot up despite growing worries that the noncompetitive grants undermine the American scientific enterprise, and in spite of promises by some lawmakers to cut back."--Steve Clark
Newspaper lists B.R. as one of the boom spots
Baton Rouge has been included in a Christian Science Monitor article about cities that are booming while the rest of the U.S. might be slipping into a recession. Mayor-President Kip Holden is quoted about the city's aggressive efforts to attract movie productions and how Baton Rouge is moving up in national rankings of the best cities for jobs. Holden notes the movie business now pumps $75 million into local restaurants, hotels, equipment companies and labor. Other cities mentioned in the article include Mobile, Ala., which has seen a boom thanks to foreign investment, and Chattanooga, Tenn., which has diversified its economy. Read the article here. To read the Business Report cover story on reasons Baton Rouge shouldn’t fret about a recession, at least not right away, click here.
Shaw awarded contract for Chinese nuclear station
The Shaw Group's Nuclear Division has signed a contract to provide engineering service support to a nuclear power plant on China's eastern coast. Shaw and Westinghouse already had a deal to provide nuclear units for the plant in Haiyang, but the new contract expands the services to include design of the turbine islands. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
LSU-Arkansas football game moved to day after Thanksgiving
In what has become an annual event, LSU's 2008 football game against Arkansas, originally scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 29 in Little Rock, Ark., has been moved to the day after Thanksgiving so that it can be televised by CBS, the Southeastern Conference announced this morning. The teams will meet at 1:30 p.m. in War Memorial Stadium. LSU and Arkansas have met on the Friday after Thanksgiving 12 straight years, with the Tigers winning eight of those games. The Razorbacks won last year’s game 50-48 in triple overtime in Tiger Stadium. LSU leads the series 33-18-2, including a 10-6 record against Arkansas since the Razorbacks joined the SEC in 1992. The LSU-Arkansas winner has represented the Western Division in the league’s championship game four times in the past seven years. The defending BCS champion Tigers open the regular season Aug. 30 at home against Appalachian State.
Tulane scholarship ban might not materialize
A Thibodaux lawmaker has filed legislation for the regular session that convenes at month’s end that would strip members of the Legislature of their long-held rights to award scholarships from Tulane University. But that doesn’t mean the bill will be debated. The full-tuition scholarships, presently valued at $33,000 per year, are perennial issues of contention in Louisiana. Rookie Rep. Jerome “Dee” Richard, an independent from Lafourche Parish, placed the giveaways on his hit list for the session, but feedback from his colleagues has been sharper than he anticipated. “At this point, I’m not 100% sure I’m going to go forward with the bill, but I wanted to get it filed to get a conversation going,” he says. Tulane scholarships under the steward of Louisiana legislators dates back to the late 19th century. In the mid-1990s media reports revealed that lawmakers were doling out the awards to family members. Since then, the general public has become increasingly curious about the decision-making process. As a result, some lawmakers have allowed Tulane to pick students from their respective districts while others have opened up competitive contests. Richard’s House Bill 272, if ultimately debated and passed by the Legislature, would not take effect until 2012, so that any scholarships promised during the ongoing term can still be delivered.--Jeremy Alford
Real Estate Weekly: Would historic designation affect Spanish Town?
Real Estate Weekly is out with news on the affects that a historical designation would have on Spanish Town. Also: the first tenant in a new Central retail center is announced, Hollingsworth Richards Automotive Group purchases a Prairieville site for a collision center and columns from Brian Andrews and Tom Cook. To read the newsletter, click here.
News roundup: Survey shows talent shortage top problem; unclaimed tax returns mounting up; Girl Scouts changing image; Red Sox win earliest MLB season opener
Looking for a few good workers: A survey says the top concern among employers is finding skilled and talented workers, instead of the longstanding problem of health care costs. More than 400 human resource managers participated in the survey, conducted by Deloitte Consulting and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists. Another top concerns include the willingness of employees to pay a bigger share of their benefit plan coverage. Does the IRS owe you? It seems nearly impossible to fathom, but the IRS says 21,600 Louisiana residents are still owed tax refunds because they didn’t file a 2004 return. Louisiana's average estimated refund due is $562, compared with the national average of $552. Overall, the IRS is sitting on $1.19 billion of unclaimed tax refunds for that year. Of that total, $20.9 million belongs to non-filing Louisianans. To collect the money, a 2004 return must be filed with the IRS by April 15. More than just cookies:The Girl Scouts are set to hire their first chief marketing officer in an effort to modernize the image of the organization and reverse declining troop numbers, The Wall Street Journal reports. The group, which has 2.8 million scouts has bee losing 1% to 2% of its membership a year for the past decade. Changes include an effort to reach out to more Hispanic and Asian girls, since both groups are underrepresented in Girl Scouts, attract more mothers and ditching the trademark green skirts in favor of khaki pants. Boston has a blast: Manny Ramirez hit his second two-run double in the 10th inning, and the Boston Red Sox began their World Series title defense by beating the Oakland Athletics 6-5 in Tuesday night's major league season opener in Tokyo. Ramirez posed at the plate to watch his drive off Huston Street (0-1), thinking it was a three-run homer. Instead, the ball hit the center-field wall. In the earliest major league opener, and the third in Japan, Jonathan Papelbon struggled before getting the save. He walked Daric Barton leading off the bottom of the10th and gave up a one-out RBI double to Emil Brown, who was tagged out in a rundown between second and third. After a pair of singles, Kurt Suzuki hit a game-ending groundout, sealing the win for Japanese reliever Hideki Okajima (1-0).
Influential Women in Business nominations now open
Nominations are now open for Business Report's annual salute to Influential Women in Business. The awards go to women business owners or managers who are making a noticeable difference in the Capital Region. Winners will be spotlighted in a special issue of Business Report. All nominations must be made online here. The deadline for nominations is 5 p.m. on Friday, April 25.
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