Adam Knapp named BRAC CEO
Adam Knapp, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s new CEO, plans to pick up where former BRAC head Stephen Moret left off. “Stephen Moret and I have a very similar economic development philosophy,” Knapp says. “You have to have a very balanced approach,” focusing on retention of existing businesses, attraction of new ones and diversification. BRAC announced this morning that Knapp, 34, would take over as head of the agency. Knapp is currently the deputy director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. He will officially start his new job April 21. In his first 100 days, Knapp plans to meet with as many of BRAC’s stakeholders as possible, including its board and members and economic development leaders throughout the nine-parish region. Knapp, a Lake Charles native, says his Louisiana roots and his work with two governors and the Louisiana Recovery Authority mean he already has strong ties both throughout the Capital Region and to the other metropolitan regions of the state. For the full version of this story, click here.--David Jacobs
Births losing ground to deaths in Louisiana
If you wonder why Louisiana has as many as 100,000 jobs it can’t fill, consider what the latest Census estimates have to say. Basically, the state isn’t getting any bigger—at least not the natural way. Statistics out today indicate the birth-to-death ratio dropped significantly in most of the state’s urban areas in a single year. According to population estimates for 2007, Baton Rouge is down to 1.71 births for every death, compared to a previous seven-year ratio of 1.78 births for every death.
The most dramatic decline occurred in Lafayette, where the rate is down to 1.86 from 2.38. New Orleans now is practically at a break-even point, which means any population gains must come largely from people moving in. Lake Charles and Monroe are down slightly but still low; respectively, there are 1.48 and 1.56 deaths for every birth. Shreveport and Alexandria experienced negligible gains, to 1.50 and 1.39, respectively.
By comparison, the birth rate for the nation as a whole is 1.69, and for Louisiana, 1.52. Elsewhere in the South, Georgia is at 2.09 and Mississippi, 1.88. Meanwhile, Utah weighs in at 3.86.
“When you have these kinds of drops in a place that also has a long-standing, proven outmigration problem, then you have the worst of all worlds,” says Shreveport-based demographer and political analyst Elliott Stonecipher, who crunched the data. “Whatever the reasons are for this, and we know them but we just don’t want to talk about them, those are the ills that must be fixed before any of the resulting problems we’re talking about. It’s why 80% of us are native born and it’s why we have the workforce problems. We’re literally talking about what it would take and how we can get to a place where we are in-migrating a bunch of new people.”--Penny Brown
It's official: Delta service to D.C. ends June 4
Baton Rouge Metro Airport officials have received confirmation from Delta Air Lines that passenger service to Washington, D.C., will end June 4. Airport spokesman Ronnie Pickard says the air carrier is slashing point-to-point flights and focusing on service to its Atlanta hub in response to soaring fuel prices. "It's a mere cost issue to the Delta folks," he says. "They've been charged to pull down well over 5% of their fleet." People flying Delta from Baton Rouge will still be able to get to D.C., they'll just to stop over in Atlanta. "They're not going to pull Atlanta," Pickard says. "It would be ludicrous for them to do that."--Steve Clark
Jazz Fest menu includes Capital Region entries
Down Home Creole Cookin’ of Baton Rouge, Wally Taillon of Gonzales and Fatty’s Cracklins of St. Francisville are among more than 60 vendors who will be selling food at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The event’s menu includes everything from duck po-boys to sushi as well as longtime favorites such as crawfish bread and Crawfish Monica. To read the full list of food vendors, click here. Jazz Fest will be held April 25-27 and May 1-4 at the Fair Grounds.
Remembering Richard Gill
Richard Gill, a top executive at The Shaw Group and longtime LSU supporter, died last week at age 64. Business Report executive editor JR Ball says he was proud to call Gill a friend. "The cruelest irony is this: A man of incredible compassion and heart left us because his heart simply stopped working," Ball says. Read the column here. Send comments to editors@businessreport.com.
Influential Women in Business nominees sought
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.
News roundup: Calongne gets backing of Livingston officials; Amedisys closes TLC deal; students, parents have different dream colleges
Backed by council members: Four Livingston Parish officials have endorsed Laurinda Calongne's Congressional campaign. Livingston Parish Council member Thomas Watson, Denham Springs City Council members Lori Lamm-Williams and Jerry Denton and Walker Alderman Gary Griffin are supporting Calongne, a Republican in the 6th Congressional District race. She faces former state Rep. Woody Jenkins in the runoff election April 5. A little TLC: Amedisys has closed a $395 million deal to purchase TLC Health Care Services Inc., the country's largest private home health provider. The move now gives Baton Rouge-based Amedisys more than 480 agencies in 35 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. Ivy League schools lead lists: A survey of high school students and their parents found that the dream college most of the children want to get into is Harvard, but Princeton tops the parental list. The survey of more than 10,000 people was done by the Princeton Review. Stanford was the second choice for both parents and students. New York University, which had been on top of the list of dream colleges for students for three consecutive years, was fourth.
