Addison running for state House seat

Metro Councilman Ulysses "Bones" Addison is set to announce his plans to run in a special House election May 1 to fill the seat formerly held by Rep. Avon Honey. Addison will hold a press conference to announce his candidacy at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Metro Council Chambers. Addison, a Democrat, is the first candidate to announce plans to run for the House District 63 seat. Honey, a Democrat, died Feb. 12, at the age of 62; he was in his second term representing District 63, in the House seat once held by Mayor Kip Holden. Qualifying for the seat will be held March 24 to March 26.

B.R., N.O. officials still working on high-speed rail

Economic development officials in Baton Rouge and New Orleans are still looking at ways to link the two cities with high-speed rail, despite opposition from Gov. Bobby Jindal, reports The Times-Picayune. Adam Knapp, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, told the newspaper that BRAC and Greater New Orleans Inc. are looking at matching federal rail funds and paying the annual cost of operating the service. Last week, federal transportation officials announced a $45 million grant to New Orleans for a Loyola Avenue streetcar line. That streetcar would tie in with the Union Passenger Terminal and could be a French Quarter connection to any Baton Rouge-New Orleans rail line. Read the full story here.

Celtic Media Center building new stage, set shop

Construction has started on a 31,000-square-foot soundstage at the Celtic Media Centre. Once the stage is completed—by July 1, if all goes well—there will be more than 127,000 square feet of studio space at the media center. "We're confident we can bring in enough business to keep it filled," says Patrick Mulhearn, director of studio operations for Raleigh Studios, which runs the Celtic space. The expansion will also include a 23,000-square-foot mill shop for creating sets for filming.

IT firm opens B.R. office

RedMane Technology, a Chicago-based IT firm, has opened an office in II United Plaza. This is the first major outside office for the 10-year-old firm, which has the state Department of Health and Hospitals and the state Department of Social Services as clients. Colin Michaelis, a founder and principal, says RedMane opened the office as a way of better serving its state government clients. RedMane has about 10 employees locally and plans to hire more.

Seminar seeks to boost Caribbean exports

Want to explore exporting opportunities? Try the Caribbean, says Robert Jones, a U.S. Department of Commerce counselor for commercial affairs. Jones spoke to a group of business owners at a seminar sponsored by the LSU Louisiana Business & Technology Center this afternoon. Proximity to the U.S. is one major advantage of doing business in the Caribbean. Another advantage is CAFTA, a trade agreement that removed duties on U.S. goods coming into the Caribbean. More than 80% of U.S. products that enter the Caribbean come in duty-free. The Department of Commerce is arranging a trade mission to the Dominican Republic and Jamaica in June. The department also provides "Gold Key" opportunities that allow interested business owners to meet potential contacts in Caribbean countries. Those meetings give company owners a chance to learn about potential industries and markets where they may be able to expand, Jones says. "We want them to learn about existing opportunities and resources, especially on the local level," he says. "Few even know we exist." —Emma James

Study: States must fill $1 trillion pension gap

States may be forced to reduce benefits, raise taxes or slash government services to address a $1 trillion funding shortfall in public sector retirement benefits, according to a new study that warns of even more debilitating costs if immediate action isn't taken. The Pew Center on the States released a survey last week of state-administered pension plans, retiree health care and other post-employment benefits in all 50 states; it concluded that a decade's worth of policy decisions are to blame for leaving many states shortchanged. The result for some states will be "high annual costs that come with significant unfunded liabilities, lower bond ratings, less money available for services, higher taxes and the specter of worsening problems in the future," the study says. Louisiana was ranked as a state with "serious concerns" because 70% of the accrued liabilities were funded. The Louisiana State Employees Retirement System issued a statement, noting that Pew found the state was one of the 10 best for paying the actuarially required rate. The state has also taken steps to reduce the debt, such as reducing the unfunded liability by $500 million last year and raising the minimum retirement age.

'Business Report' planner: LSU patent workshop set for this evening ... SeNSE wants your pitches ... Web-site optimization seminar planned ... Alila to address ACG Louisiana

Today — A patent workshop will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 203 Coates Hall on the LSU campus. The event is sponsored by the Louisiana Small Business Development Center Technology Center at LSU's E. J. Ourso College of Business and the LSU Libraries. The event will provide basic information about patents and search techniques. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To sign up, click here.

Tuesday — The Society for Emerging Networkers & Serial Entrepreneurs will hold its second pitch night at 7 p.m. at Avoyelles downtown. Entrepreneurs will have a chance to pitch their business plans to an audience. For more details or to sign up, click here.

Friday — A seminar on how to optimize your Web site to appear on search engines will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gio's Mezza Luna in Prairieville. Will Boudloche, who has more than a decade of experience fixing Web sites, will be the speaker. Admission is $35, which covers lunch. To register, e-mail kelly.swarm@infiniedge.com.

March 2 — Dr. Hector Alila, president and founder of Esperance Pharmaceuticals, will be the guest speaker at the Association for Corporate Growth Louisiana's monthly luncheon. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. at the Baton Rouge Hilton Capitol Center. Admission is free for ACG members and $50 for non-members. To register, click here.

For the full list of upcoming events, click here.

Executive spotlight: John Milazzo Jr.

John Milazzo Jr. is attached to his wheels. The president and CEO at Campus Federal Credit Union can often be found tinkering under the hood of his 1966 Ford Mustang convertible—a key ingredient to getting to work on time and in style during his 100-mile- plus daily commute. It should then come as no surprise that traffic is one thing Milazzo would change about Baton Rouge. Improving infrastructure tops a list of initiatives he would like to see tackled, including education and the attraction of young people to the area. How to accomplish that? Milazzo says his hope is that the “citizens of our great city come together and put differences aside for the betterment of this place we call home.” Read the full Q&A with Milazzo here. Here is a sample:

What is the best advice you've ever received?

“Do the right thing!” As simple as that sounds, it’s something that I’ve tried to live by, sometimes more successfully than other times.

News roundup: Section of Highland closed for Green Light work ... LSU moves up to No. 1 in 'Collegiate Baseball' poll ... Monroe speedway seized by sheriff's office

Temporary detours: A section of Highland Road near Interstate 10 will be closed Saturday through Monday. The road will be closed to all traffic at the Kansas City Southern Railroad Crossing, beginning at 12:01 a.m., according to city-parish officials. The closure is needed to install new railroad crossing panels. Traffic will be detoured onto Perkins Road East, Perkins Road and Airline Highway.

Tigers on top: LSU has moved up to the top spot in Collegiate Baseball’s first regular season poll. The Tigers, who were ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll, now are placed in the lead position after starting off the season with a three-game sweep of Centenary. Meanwhile, Texas, the preseason No. 1, began the season by dropping two of three at home to New Mexico. The Tigers host McNeese State Wednesday afternoon.

St. Patrick's Day sale: Louisiana's only NASCAR-sanctioned racetrack has been seized by the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office and is scheduled for auction March 17. A statement on the Monroe Motor Speedway's Web site says it plans to file for Chapter 11 reorganization March 2 in federal bankruptcy court and to open its second racing season April 17. BizCapital BIDCO II Inc. of New Orleans asked the state court in Monroe to authorize confiscation. The Nov. 24 filing said it is owed almost all of the $4.5 million it lent North Louisiana Motor Speedway LLC, plus nearly $29,000 in interest and late charges. The U.S. Department of Agriculture guaranteed up to 70% of the loan. BizCapital must recover as much money as possible before the government pays.