Holden hires Jenkins as education consultant

William Jenkins, former LSU president and chancellor, has been hired by Mayor Kip Holden as an educational consultant. Jenkins has been hired to serve as a liaison with LSU, Southern University and Baton Rouge Community College, coordinating research between the institutions and Baton Rouge's sister cities. Holden says it was a natural to hire Jenkins, who is a well-respected educator and community leader. "He can bring all these tools to the table," Holden says. Jenkins will also work on educational projects with the East Baton Rouge Parish School System and serve as an economic development liaison with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber. "We want to broaden the appeal of the mayor's office to work with education and cultural developments," Holden says. Jenkins was hired under a $20,000 special services contract that runs from Sept. 1-Dec. 31. Holden says he wants to talk to Jenkins in the next few weeks about extending the contract.

Jenkins was named LSU chancellor in 1996 and president in 1999. He stepped down in 2006, but served as interim chancellor in 2008. Jenkins is also involved in planning a public-private education partnership with several area business leaders. The Capital Education Center would create a place for middle- and high school-age students and beyond to get vocational training that high-tech companies say they need in their employees. The charter school, which would give students Baton Rouge Community College certification along with a diploma, could launch in a couple of years for about 1,000 enrollees and would follow the model of the Central Education Center in Georgia.

B.R. loses 2,200 jobs since Sept. 2008

Metro Baton Rouge saw a slight decrease in the number of jobs in September, according to preliminary data from the state Workforce Commission. There were 369,800 jobs in the Capital Region last month, compared with 372,000 in September 2008. Statewide, Louisiana was down from 1.928 million jobs in September 2008, to 1.91 million. The metro area’s unemployment rate was 7.1%, compared with 5.7% in September 2008. That was slightly lower than the state unemployment rate of 7.4%.

Credit union to buy, lease back space in Piccadilly HQ

Pelican State Credit Union has struck a deal to purchase, and then lease back, a portion of Piccadilly’s headquarters on South Sherwood Forest Boulevard. Pelican State will close on the 42,000-square-foot building in December and lease back 15,000 square feet to Piccadilly. Both companies will operate their corporate offices out of the building. Officials with Pelican State would not disclose terms of the deal. Pelican State, which was formerly the Department of Hospitals Credit Union, has eight branches across the state and is currently headquartered on Lake Sherwood Avenue. Mark Hebert of Kurz & Hebert represented Piccadilly in the deal, while Roger Clark of Labarre Associates represented Pelican State.

Editor: Economic development, jobs depend on downtown

The economic future of East Baton Rouge Parish hinges on bringing in more young, educated people and the development of knowledge-based business sectors, says Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball. But these two things won't happen until there is a vibrant and thriving downtown. "Scoff all you want about the magnitude of downtown’s role in our future, but then explain why it is that every wildly successful economic region in our country has scrambled to have a downtown that breathes life 24 hours a day?" Ball says. Read his column here. Send comments to editors@businessreport.com.

Public-records request seeks detailed data about Lottery head

An exhaustive public-records request has been filed with the Louisiana Lottery Corp., seeking three years worth of information regarding Rose Hudson's tenure as head of the organization. Lottery officials received the request Thursday, asking for items such as Hudson's time sheets, phone records, calendar and leave time. The request also seeks information such as contributions made by the Lottery to organizations. Hudson says the Lottery board takes the request seriously and will respond with the information as quickly as possible. "We welcome the review," she says. Hudson has been president of the Lottery since 2006.

Bercen opens relocated HQ in Denham Springs

Bercen, which provides specialty chemicals for paper-related industries, has opened its new corporate headquarters in Denham Springs following their relocation from Rhode Island. State economic officials say the $5 million relocation and expansion project has created 20 high-paying professional jobs, 18 of which already are in place. In addition to its headquarters, Bercen relocated its research and development laboratories from Cranston, R.I., to Denham Springs. "Bercen's move to Louisiana is another example of why Louisiana's economy has outperformed the South and the U.S. during a difficult national economic period," says Gov. Bobby Jindal. The company agreed to move in June 2008. Bercen is using a $500,000 state incentive for relocation and site expenses. The company is expected to apply for the state's industrial tax exemption program.

La. initial jobless claims drop slightly

First-time claims for jobless benefits dropped slightly last week in Louisiana. The Louisiana Workforce Commission says, that for the week ending Saturday, there were 4,771 of the newly unemployed seeking benefits. That's down from the previous week's total of 4,826. For the comparable week ending Oct. 18, 2008, there were 3,181 first-time claims. Continuing claims were down slightly, from 60,601 for the week ending Oct. 10 to 60,575.

Voodoo Fest gets technical

Tech-savvy concertgoers will have an opportunity to connect even closer to the artists at Voodoo Fest this year. Zehnder Communications, an advertising and marketing firm based in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, is helping in the development of an “augmented reality” application using the Layar Reality Browser 2.0. Using a cell phone’s camera, the program provides up-to-date schedules, artist profiles, food vendors and even crucial information about facilities like ATMs and bathrooms, all based on which way the phone is pointing. For example, aim the phone at a stage and Layar tells you who is playing. Ask where the restrooms are and it will send you in the right direction. The data for the app is kept in real time by Voodoo Experience organizers and streamed live to phones. Zehnder is working with festival organizers to provide mobile signal boosters to help avoid the kind of dodgy data connections often experienced at festivals and major sporting events. Voodoo Fest, which features performances by Kiss, Eminem and Jane's Addiction, will be held Oct. 30 through Nov. 1. To read the whole story in this month's 225 magazine click here.

Are you the Fittest Exec in the Capital Region?

Think you are more fit than your peers? Business Report launches its second Fittest Execs competition, in which Capital Region business executives compete in four categories (men under 45, men over 45, women under 45 and women over 45). The competition is open to executives (C-level, president, vice president, owner, partner, executive director or retired executives) and mid-level managers. In addition, companies with a minimum of five participants are eligible for a team competition. Fitness appraisals will take place at Bally Total Fitness Baton Rouge through Friday, Nov. 20, with the results to be announced in the Dec. 29 issue of Business Report. The deadline to enter is Monday, Nov. 16. Click here to register or for more information.

News roundup: IberiaBank expands mortgage business ... Jindal to appear on Hannity ... Shaw reaches milestone with storm-surge barrier

Opens five offices across Alabama and Georgia: IberiaBank has opened three new mortgage offices in Alabama and two in Georgia. The Alabama offices are in Montgomery, Auburn and Prattville. The Georgia offices are in Valdosta and Columbus. Lafayette-based IberiaBank now has 43 mortgage offices in 10 states. The company recently acquired the assets and liabilities of CapitalSouth Bank, a Birmingham, Ala.-based company shut down by federal regulators.

Prime-time player: Gov. Bobby Jindal is set to appear on Sean Hannity's Fox News political talk show at 8 p.m. today. Jindal will discuss health-care reform and give his 10 recommendations to fix the system. Jindal has written editorials for the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal recently, outlining his recommendations for fixing the health-care system. They include such things as establishing voluntary insurance purchasing pools for individuals and small businesses, allowing people to carry insurance coverage when they change jobs or move and offering refundable tax credits to the uninsured.

Big job: The Shaw Group has driven the final pile of the world's largest storm-surge barrier, designed to protect New Orleans from 100-year hurricanes. The company drove 1,271 piles as a foundation for the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Surge Barrier. The two-mile floodwall on the Intracoastal Waterway should be completed in 2011.