Dow to close production unit at Plaquemine plant

Dow Chemical is set to close a production unit at its Plaquemine plant as part of a shift away from basic chemicals toward the lucrative business of specialty chemicals. The chemical company says it will shut down the ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer units in Plaquemine by the third quarter of 2011, a move that will affect about 45 employees. The company will take steps to find jobs for those workers at other plants. Dow also plans to close two units at its Hahnville plant, including one that has been idle since January. More than 60 workers in Hahnville will be affected by the closings. Earlier this year, Dow cut 160 jobs in Plaquemine, part of a move to cut costs because of the worldwide recession. The chemical giant is also trying to save money after it bought Rohm & Haas in April for more than $16 billion. Dow has about 1,460 employees at its Plaquemine plant.

Stanford investors’ accounts to be unfrozen by Aug. 3

In a court order issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey, assigned to the Stanford International Bank case in Texas, has ordered the receiver to release the remaining qualifying accounts by Aug. 3. Stanford receiver Ralph Janvey originally requested in his summary to the court a 10-week period in which to continue reviewing frozen investor accounts, but Godbey stated in his order that the “freeze has lasted long enough to permit the receiver to assess whether he has viable claims against the various individual investors, and that it is time now for those claims to be asserted and tested.”

Godbey said in the document that there was a concern for the financial hardship being impressed upon thousands of investors, especially considering the alleged “legal lack of justification for such a freeze.” Investors who spoke to the Business Report for a feature on Stanford said they were unsure how they were going to continue to make ends meet. Troy Lillie, an Exxon Mobil retiree, who was living day-to-day off his remaining company stock, told the Business Report in an e-mail, “I leave Thursday morning to go work on an offshore oil rig.”

To read more about Stanford and local investors, read the recent Business Report cover story here. Some Stanford accounts will still be frozen according to Godbey. Those include any former Stanford senior management, financial advisors or investors with outstanding debts to the estate. To read the full court order, click here.—Olivia Watkins

Are state residents getting skinnier?

The obesity rate in Louisiana dropped by 0.6% this year, enough to fall four spots in the ranking of the fattest U.S. states. According to the report released today by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 28.9% of Louisiana residents are classified as obese, down from the 29.5% last year. Louisiana now ranks as the eighth-fattest state. But don't break out the diet drinks just yet: A spokeswoman for the Trust for America's Health says the state's percentage drop isn't statistically significant, since it falls within the margin of error based on population estimates. Mississippi continues to rank as the fattest state, with 32.5% of the population classified as obese, while Colorado is the skinniest state with 18.9% of the population being obese.

Publisher: Louisiana, B.R. not participating in recession

Despite the national recession, Louisiana continues to add jobs, says Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister. In recent weeks, state leaders have made three big economic development announcements, which mean thousands of good-paying jobs in Iberville Parish, Monroe and Shreveport. Meanwhile, the Brookings Institute, a national think tank, issued a report that called the Baton Rouge economy the eighth strongest in the nation. McCollister credits the good news to strong leadership. "Gov. Bobby Jindal and Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret have laid the foundation, reduced taxes, assembled a team, put training programs in place, used the megafund wisely, negotiated with integrity and worked relentlessly to get the job done," he says. Read his column here. For Business Report coverage of the big economic development announcements, click here. Send comments to editors@businessreport.com.

Shriners hope LSU partnership can save hospital

Members of the board that oversees Shriners Hospital in Shreveport are discussing a partnership with LSU Health Sciences Center in hopes of keeping the facility open. Representatives of each group met Tuesday in anticipation of the Shriners upcoming annual meeting in San Antonio, where delegates will decide the fate of the Shreveport hospital and five others. The Shriners' endowment for hospitals has been dwindling during the recession and the fate of six of the fraternal organizations' hospitals is uncertain. Delegates are set to vote on closing the hospitals Saturday. Bryant Yopp, a Louisiana delegate who will attend the annual meeting, says he believes the Shreveport Shriners Hospital will continue providing orthopedic care for children from throughout the region with the help of hospital partners and contributors.

Study looks at in-demand local jobs

If you’re a bus or truck mechanic looking for work in Baton Rouge, you're in luck. Wanted Technologies, a Quebec-based firm, says out of scores of professions, there's a bigger imbalance between the supply of mechanics and the demand locally. Other in-demand careers include customer service representatives and business operations specialists. On the other hand, if you're a computer system analyst in Baton Rouge, things aren't so good for you. Wanted says the local supply of computer systems analysts far outstrips the demand for workers. Personal and home care aids are similarly overstocked, along with food preparation managers. Wanted says it bases its findings on job ads posted online, compared with the number of people in that city who fall under the occupation, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics figures.

Poll: Too much Michael Jackson

An overwhelming number of respondents to a Daily Report poll says there's been too much TV coverage of Michael Jackson's death. Eighty five percent of the people who participated in the poll say the cable news networks have been covering the singer's death too much, while 14% say there's been the right amount of attention. Just 1% say there's been too little coverage. More than 1,500 people participated in the survey.

Today's question: Do you plan to fly anywhere for a vacation this summer?

News roundup: Lockwood chairwoman-elect of American Heart Association ... Summer airfares plunge ... Accord, Civic top vehicle searches

Have a heart: Debra Lockwood of Baton Rouge has been named chairwoman elect of the American Heart Association. Lockwood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Provident Group, spent the past two years as secretary-treasurer for the organization. She has been volunteering with the American Heart Association for more than a decade.

Time to fly: If you've been waiting for the lowest possible airfare for a trip this summer, it may be time to get off the fence. Fares have dropped for months while travelers held off buying tickets because they were afraid of losing a job or worried about affording even a scaled-back vacation. But with July Fourth fast approaching and jet fuel prices rising, some fares could be set to climb again. Memorial Day usually signals the end of the best time to book travel, but this year was different. With fewer people traveling, the sales continued. A Travelocity survey shows fares down 17% for travel between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day. Leisure fares from the South were 12% lower than at the same time last year.

The cars people are interested in: The Honda Accord was the most searched for new vehicle during the first half of the year, according to Kelley Blue Book. The second most searched for vehicle on line was the Honda Civic, followed by the Toyota Camry. Honda and Toyota held eight of the top 10 spots, the only other models to break the list were the Nissan Altima at 7 and the Ford Mustang at 10.