West Feliciana paper mill to reopen, hire up to 375

The Tembec paper mill, which shut down two years ago, is set to reopen and will hire a minimum of 200 workers by early next year. Gov. Bobby Jindal and state economic development leaders announced the sale of the mill to a private equity group this afternoon. PanAmerican Capital Group purchased the paper mill for $16 million and plans to spend at least $30 million upgrading the facility.

By early 2010, at least 200 people will be working at the paper mill, earning an average salary of $71,400, plus benefits. Jindal says as many as 375 people could work at the mill by 2012.

PanAmerican looked at purchasing several existing paper mills in other states before it chose Tembec, officials say they chose the West Feliciana site because of its flexibility and the state's incentive package. Louisiana Economic Development offered PanAmerican a performance-based grant of $4 million towards improvements, plus a one-year loan of $2 million, secured by a first mortgage. An LSU analysis says reopening the mill will create a minimum of just over 1,000 jobs in the area, including indirect jobs in West Feliciana. When the mill closed in July 2007, it put more than 500 people out of work.—Steve Clark

Oxy idling Geismar plant

OxyChem is temporarily idling its Geismar chemical plant because of weak overall demand. Stacey Crews, a company spokeswoman, says the plant will shut down production near the end of April. It's not known when production will resume, but Crews says the shutdown will continue "through much of May."

"We're just waiting for the economic climate to improve," Crews says. While the plant is idled, employees will perform maintenance work and go through training. The plant has about 400 employees and contract workers, Crews says. The Geismar plant produces chlorine and chlorinated organics, which are used as solvents.—Timothy Boone

Garcia Roofing buys property for B.R. location

Garcia Roofing and Sheet Metal, a fast-growing Prairieville business, has purchased a building near the East Baton Rouge-Ascension parish line for $1.1 million. The company bought the former Bailey Lumber building at Airline and Opportunity Drive, says Scott Guidry, an agent with Sealy & Falgoust. Jonathan Woolley, Garcia's CFO, says the plan is to remodel the building and move its re-roofing and commercial division in there. The work should be completed in about 90 days. The move allows Garcia to consolidate some of its operations. Woolley says the new location won't lead to additional hiring, but about 30 employees will work out of the 10,000-square-foot building, which has a 38,000-square-foot fenced lot. For a recent Business Report profile on Garcia Roofing, click here.—Timothy Boone

Citigroup, GE earnings lift hopes for economy

A flurry of better-than-expected bank earnings reports this week, coupled with some tentatively encouraging economic data, suggest the economy and the financial system might not be quite as sick as many had believed. Or are they?

Facing conflicting evidence, analysts are wrestling with whether the economy is making a fitful climb back up -- or whether the crisis will get worse before it gets better. "We're beginning to get a little visibility on how banged up corporate America has been," Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Corp., says of today's earnings reports from Citigroup Inc. and General Electric Co.

But the better-than-anticipated results from the banking giant and the diversified manufacturer -- among the most beleaguered companies in their industries -- buttress the notion "that just maybe we can see some light at the end of the tunnel now," says Vitner, who anticipates an end to the recession toward year's end but continued high unemployment well into 2010.

The number of Americans receiving jobless benefits has surpassed 6 million for the first time while housing construction unexpectedly plunged in March. Even those outwardly negative reports carried some silver linings suggesting the recession could be easing, namely a second straight drop in new jobless claims and some stability in new single-family homes.

LSU ranks eighth on Playboy 'party schools' list

LSU has been ranked as the eighth-best party school in America by Playboy magazine. The men's magazine says it based the ratings on "sports, nightlife, girls and, of course, a solid education." LSU was ranked in the Princeton Review's top 20 list of party schools for several years, topping the list in 2000, much to the chagrin of school officials. The University of Miami topped Playboy's party school list, while Florida was fourth and Georgia was seventh.

EPA takes step toward climate change regulations

The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases are a danger to public health and welfare. It is the first step to regulating pollution linked to climate change.

Congressional sources told the Associated Press that EPA will announce its proposed finding today and begin a comment period before issuing a final ruling. The EPA also will say tailpipe emissions from motor vehicles contribute to climate change. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the finding hasn't been announced.

Prompted the action was a Supreme Court ruling two years that said greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act and must be regulated if found to be a human health danger.

‘225’ tracks down long-lost Baton Rougeans

What ever became of newsmakers such as Tom Ed McHugh, David Duke and Pokey Chatman? Maybe someone sparks a memory at a cocktail party, or a story in the news snags in your mind and kicks up a face or a name, and you wonder, “Where are they now?” 225 magazine tracked down those familiar long-lost Baton Rougeans and learned what they’re up to now. Many of them are simply living low-profile lives, while a few have gone on to interesting and surprising jobs and places, with stories to match. Read the April cover story here.

News roundup: Gadhafi videoconference canceled ... Lawmakers file bill to make state accept all stimulus money ... Forecast calls for flat New Orleans job growth

Where's Moammar? Southern University's planned videoconference with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has been canceled. Southern University and Libyan officials blamed technical difficulties, but it was unclear whether the problems originated in Baton Rouge or Tripoli. The videoconference, scheduled for today, was to have included a speech from Gadhafi on health issues. Officials said it might be rescheduled for May.

Take the money: Two Democratic lawmakers have filed bills that would let Louisiana tap into $98 million in federal stimulus money to expand unemployment benefits, over the objections of Gov. Bobby Jindal. The governor has refused the unemployment money because he said the dollars could force businesses to pay more taxes. Companies' unemployment tax rates are tied to three years of their unemployment claims history. Jindal said if benefits are expanded, businesses' claims history could increase, driving up their tax rates. Reps. Cedric Richmond and Sam Jones are proposing similar bills that would make Louisiana eligible to receive the stimulus money. The bills were filed today and will be considered in the legislative session that begins April 27. Jindal has said he'll veto such a bill if it passes.

City continuing Katrina comeback: The New Orleans region won't see many new jobs this year and likely will add about 4,000 in 2010, according to a forecast issued by the University of New Orleans. The study says the region has recovered about 86% of the jobs and 88% of the population that it had before Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. UNO says the largest growth on annual basis from 2007 to 2008 was a 14.6% jump in state government, including the recovering public health and university sectors. Private health care and social services added about 3,000 jobs. The hotel industry gained 800. Most of the job losses in 2008 were sustained in administrative support, financial services and wholesale trade.