LED hires Georgia official to head new workforce solution program

Jeff Lynn has been hired to oversee Louisiana FastStart, a new program that will provide customized employee recruitment, screening and training for new and expanding companies, Louisiana Department of Economic Development announced today. The program is modeled after Georgia Quick Start, which is considered one of the top workforce-training programs in the country. Lynn previously served as the director of regional project operations for the Georgia program, and his hiring is a coup, LED Secretary Stephen Moret says. Louisiana FastStart will complete several pilot projects before going into full production late next year. The service eventually will be free to any manufacturing or research-and-development facility that commits to creating at least 15 new jobs, or any service operation that creates 50 jobs. To read a longer version of this story, click here. To read a Q&A with Jeff Lynn, click here.—David Jacobs

Who are the Capital Region’s rising young stars of 2008?

Throughout the Capital Region, men and women under 40 years old are achieving success and influencing decisions. Who are these rising business stars? They are doctors and lawyers, educators and entrepreneurs, community leaders and government leaders, architects and accountants, environmentalists and engineers. They are the recipients of Business Report’s Forty Under 40 award. And the winners are … here. Send comments to editors@businessreport.com.

Cortana anchor expected to go out of business

Steve & Barry's, which has a store at the Mall at Cortana, is set to announce this week that it is going out of business, The Wall Street Journal reports. The discount retailer, which offered clothing lines from celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Venus Williams, is on the brink of liquidation. This comes less than three months after a private equity firm bought Steve & Barry's and shut down 103 locations. The move will be a blow for Cortana; mall officials had boasted about Steve & Barry's, saying that the retailer was a good fit because it offered family-oriented, high quality merchandise at a value price. Steve & Barry's has been in Cortana since September 2004 when it moved into the empty Service Merchandise space. Cortana officials say they are aware of the report, they are waiting to see what happens to the local Steve & Barry's. "In this international retail climate, we would not be shocked if the company did close, but we hope they can resolve their problems for the sake of the 5,000 people the company employs nationwide," mall officials said in a statement.

Grigsby named airport board chairman

Cajun Industries board chairman Lane Grigsby was named chairman of the new board of the Louisiana Airport Authority in a unanimous vote this morning. Grigsby was one of Gov. Bobby Jindal's appointees to the board, which was downsized from 27 to 11 members. Dale Hymel Jr., president of St. James Parish, was unanimously re-elected as vice chairman. Hymel, one of three members Jindal kept from the old board, was appointed to the commission at its inception by former Gov. Edwin Edwards in 1992. The LAA's was created to study the feasibility of a large cargo airport on the Mississippi River near Donaldsonville. The Department of Economic Development has taken over the task of determining the project's feasibility.—Steve Clark

10/12 Weekly has an exclusive interview with beleaguered mayor

In an exclusive interview with 10/12 Weekly, embattled Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price—now under state and federal criminal investigation—admits he made some mistakes, like talking his way out of a possible DWI arrest and accepting expensive gifts from the Police Department's Christmas toy fund. But he blames the media for most of his problems. Price says he recently completed a 12-week outpatient alcohol abuse program. He insists he hasn't had a drink in five months, but denies he had a serious drinking problem. "I'm not an alcoholic," Price says. "I've just been a very poor social drinker." And he insists taking all-expense-paid trips to Pebble Beach, Calif., with St. Tammany real-estate developer Don McMath were perfectly legal. “There is no violation for Don McMath to take me on a trip,” he says. “None.” To read the full story, click here.—Chuck Hustmyre

Deadline for Tech Park U extended until Friday

The Louisiana Technology Park is looking for rising entrepreneurs to participate in its third class at Tech Park U. The nine-month program, created in connection with Business Report, is designed for promising technology businesses. Applicants receive training on how to develop a business plan, along with a discount on space at the Tech Park and access to all of the office's resources. After the program is completed, the applicant with the best business plan will receive a $2,000 grant and possible acceptance into the park's business incubator. The deadline to apply for the classes is Friday. Applications can be obtained at TechParkU.com.

Baton Rouge home prices ahead of SEC average

LSU might be the third- or fourth-best football team in the Southeastern Conference this year, but Baton Rouge ranks in the middle of SEC cities when it comes to housing affordability. A home that would cost $263,000 in Baton Rouge would sell for $186,383, in Starkville, Miss. (Mississippi State), according to a Coldwell Banker survey of housing prices in major college football towns. Starkville was the cheapest SEC market, just ahead of Columbia, S.C. (South Carolina), where a typical home would cost $189,262. Oxford, Miss. (Ole Miss), was the most expensive market, with the average home going for $329,000. The average home price for all 12 SEC cities was $253,169. Akron, Ohio (Akron) was the most affordable college town; the average home cost $135,780. That same home would cost $1.7 million in Palo Alto, Calif. (Stanford), the most expensive college market.

Financial roundup: Consumer prices drop record 1% in October … U.S. home construction sinks to record low … Gas falls to half of record high

Largest decrease in 61 years: The Labor Department said this morning that consumer prices fell by 1% last month, the biggest one-month decline on records that go back to February 1947. The drop was twice as large as the 0.5% decline analysts expected. The big drop in inflation reflected not only a huge fall in gasoline and other energy costs, but also widespread declines in other areas. Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy, fell by 0.1% last month, the first drop in core prices in more than a quarter-century. There were price declines for clothing, new and used cars, and airline fares. Analysts predicted further declines in the months ahead as retailers struggle to attract consumers who are being battered by rising unemployment and the weak economy.

Builders cut back: The Commerce Department reported this morning that construction of new homes and apartments fell 4.5% in October, the fourth straight monthly decline. Construction sank to an annual rate of 791,000 units from an upwardly revised September rate of 828,000 units. The results were the lowest on government records dating back to January 1959. Previously, the slowest pace had been in January 1991, when the country was in recession and going through a similar housing correction. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected construction to fall even further to a rate of 780,000 units. Applications for building permits, considered a good sign of future activity, fell by 12% in October to an annual rate of 708,000 units, the weakest on records dating to early 1960. New permits for single-family houses fell 14.5% to 460,000, the lowest level since February 1982.

63rd straight day of falling prices: Gasoline prices dropped to below half of the record high today, declining for the 63rd straight day in a national survey. The national average fell 2.1 cents to $2.05 per gallon of regular gasoline, according to the daily survey conducted for the American Automobile Association. The price of gas is less than half the record high of $4.114 per gallon reached in mid-July. Prices were down more than $1.04 per gallon from a year ago and 87.6 cents from a month ago. Prices at the pump have slipped below an average of $2 a gallon in 21 states; the average price in Louisiana is $2.03, according to Louisianagasprices.com. It was cheapest in Missouri, at an average of $1.754, according to AAA.

Poll: 40% say they stuck with the Tigers until the end

Forty percent of the respondents to a Daily Report survey hung in with LSU’s football team during its historic comeback Saturday night over Troy, not leaving Tiger Stadium or turning off the TV or radio until the 40-31 victory had ended. Thirty-one percent say they didn't watch or listen to the game, and 11% say they gave up on the game at halftime, when the Tigers were down 24-3. Ten percent say they left the stadium or tuned out in the third quarter, after LSU fell behind 31-3 against the Trojans of the Sun Belt Conference. The Tigers scored 30 points in the fourth quarter for the biggest comeback in school history. More than 2,150 people participated in the survey.

Today's question: How do you anticipate paying for most of your holiday purchases?

News roundup: Oil groups expect prices to drop to $40 a barrel … CEO optimism drops to 16-year low … Louisiana Tech, SLU professors rank high on survey

Good for drivers, bad for the Louisiana budget: The world’s national oil companies expect oil prices to fall further and will cancel most planned investment projects even at current levels, according to the head of a Chinese state-owned group, The Financial Times reports. A recent meeting of the national oil companies in Beijing had predicted oil prices would fall to about $40 a barrel, Fu Chengyu, chief executive of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, told a conference in Barcelona, Spain. “Nobody knew where it would be but most of them said around $40,” he says.

Outlook cloudy: A third-quarter survey of CEOs in the nation's fastest-growing private companies showed that only 17% have a positive outlook for the U.S. economy over the next year. That's a 16-year low in the PricewaterhouseCoopers' Private Company Trendsetter Barometer. CEO optimism has steadily dropped since reaching 64% in the second quarter of 2007. The percentage of CEOs who are pessimistic about the U.S. economy over the next 12 months hit 41%, up from 15% in the same period last year.

Top-rated teachers: Louisiana Tech and Southeastern Louisiana made RateMyProfessors.com list of universities with the highest-rated staffs. Tech was ranked second on the list, which comes from more than 7.5 student-generated ratings of 1 million college professors. The Tech faculty finished 17th in last year's survey. SLU was ranked fourth on the list, which was led by the University of South Alabama.

Are you the fittest exec in the Capital Region?

Business Report launches its first Fittest Execs competition, in which Capital Region business executives compete in four categories (men under 50, men over 50, women under 50 and women over 50). The competition is limited to C-level, president, vice president, owner, partner, executive director or retired executives of companies or corporations with more than five employees. Fitness appraisals will take place at Bally Total Fitness Baton Rouge through Friday, Dec. 19, with the results to be announced in the Jan. 13 issue of Business Report. The deadline to enter is Monday, Dec. 15. Click here to register or for more information.