BusinessReport.com

Setting it straight

To the editor:

I want to clarify a point made by Lane Grigsby (“Citizen Lane,” July 3). He in no way had a hand in starting Arrighi Simoneaux LLC or GROUP Contractors LLC.

David Miller and I started the company together in 1996. We left our former employer and second-mortgaged our houses and used that capital to start our company while we lived off of our savings. We had offers from numerous individuals as well as other companies to invest in our company as partners or silent investment owners. We listened to all offers and almost accepted a couple as our money was running short, but ultimately we turned them all down and followed our dreams.

In the early days, we cut every corner in an effort to make ends meet, including not taking a salary for eight months. During that time, Scott Simoneaux bought into the company and he also mortgaged his house and lived off of a limited income. We had one period in our second year where we thought it would all come to an end but we barely survived, tightened our bootstraps and moved forward. To say it was tough is an understatement.

Since then we have had great success and recently celebrated our 10th year in business. We now employ about 350 people and had revenues over $100 million for 2006. Our company is strong financially and we have enjoyed the ability to diversify into different markets and territories. And for the past several years we have been proud to be a part of Business Report’s Top 100 Private Companies list.

Over our decade in business, I bought out both of my partners, Scott just recently. While David works for another company we occasionally talk and I have the greatest respect for him as a person as well as his business talents. Scott has stayed on board with the company and we enjoy a great relationship personally as well as professionally. Along the way there were also a lot of family members and employees, past and present, who made numerous sacrifices and passionately committed their time and energy to making it all work, and they too are part of our success story.

It is because of the sacrifice and struggles made by so many that I feel compelled to write to clarify that Lane Grigsby did not have a hand—financial or otherwise—in starting Arrighi Simoneaux or GROUP Contractors. To some, this may seem like it is not a big deal and the issue should not be brought up, but to those of us who invested so much time, energy and passion to realize a dream it is an important clarification to make. I would dare say that most everyone else who made your Top 100 would also agree with me.

David Arrighi

President, GROUP Industries, LLC (GROUP Contractors and Arrighi Simoneaux)

To the publisher:

I would like to commend you on your editorial (“Hometown Pride and Progress,” July 3). It pointed out good things about downtown Baton Rouge in the eyes of a visitor.

I have come to see something like a cottage industry in Baton Rouge dedicated to pointing out everything wrong in Baton Rouge and Louisiana. Emphasis is usually placed on bad politics, which I think is no worse than many other places. If you have been many other places, you will see Baton Rouge and Louisiana as a delightful place to live and do business.

I do not mean to be Pollyannish about this but I would like to see more positive comments. We can always do better but our downtown area by the river is a gem. True, our city has had to grow away from the river, but the river and downtown area with its government and historic places is still a gem that defines Baton Rouge to the world.

Let us be positive and unbeat and define Baton Rouge for what it is and can grow into.

Charles W. Hair Jr.

Baton Rouge

To the editor:

Thanks, Sir Ball, for raising the red flag (“Random Thoughts,” July 3). I am so confounded by the lack of outrage for what this last session of the Legislature did (and more importantly, did NOT do) as to just wonder if everybody is asleep. Or did she pay off the whole state? I’m waiting for my money, but the mailbox stays empty.

I’m reminded of what our dear Mr. Edwin Edwards did on his way out the door, sinking Dave Treen before his ship even launched.

Now if the bottom would just fall out of the economy in a year or two, Ms. Babineaux-Blanco’s master plan will be complete. I’ll start the band. You break out the lifejackets.

Thanks for noticing.

Mike Bertaut

Baton Rouge

Wal-Mart beware

To the editor:

Let us all beware: Nowhere has the phrase “Caveat Emptor” been more applicable than for the almost 900 home-owners of the Bluebonnet Highlands subdivision. (That’s roughly 1,800 votes for those of you counting!) It’s a shame to hear a board member of the Planning Commission state: “I’m always for developers!” And it’s alarming to know that the vice chairman of the Planning Commission is the executive VP of the Greater Baton Rouge Realtor Association. The fox is guarding our hen house and once again our chicken coup has been raided!

With Wal-Mart’s overwhelming (6 to 3) approval of their site plan for a new Supercenter at the corner of Bluebonnet and Burbank, Charles Landry and Jim Percy have surely earned their keep for the family from Bentonville. Mr. Percy stated Wal-Mart went through the “trouble” of meeting with members of our neighborhood, but he was also quick to point out our property was zoned C-2. I guess what Mr. Percy was saying, on behalf of Wal-Mart, is tough sh*t, you shouldn’t have bought a house in an area zoned C-2.

If the real estate agencies, developers, appraisers, title attorneys, mortgage lending institutions and our city-parish officials won’t fight to protect the interests of the public (i.e., allow the development and sale of single-family houses in an area zoned “heavy commercial”), but who will continue to line their pockets while fancifully calling it “economic development.” The rich will get richer, the public will pay the cost and those who can afford it will leave in search of a better place to raise their families.

Mr. Percy had a letter from the office of our acting sheriff, Greg Phares, that this Wal-Mart will not increase crime in our neighborhood. I don’t think Vicki Wax would agree with this claim and am amazed that everyone has forgotten her so quickly. It didn’t take Wal-Mart very long to evacuate that “blight” box on the corner of Perkins Road and Acadian Thruway, leaving her bloodstains on the floor and the eyesore that remains to this day, as perfect example of Wal-Mart’s commitment to being a responsible corporate neighbor to Baton Rouge.

Rolfe McCollister is right. Baton Rouge is better than this—or is it?

Pinnacle anyone?

Patrick Stutes

Springlake subdivision homeowner

Shooting not a surprise

To the editor:

Your magazine talks a great deal about Baton Rouge creating its own Austin-like downtown atmosphere. It’s a noble idea for sure, but I think the Fourth of July shootings show just how far away Baton Rouge is from becoming like Austin (or even Lafayette, for that matter).

Not even the overwhelming police presence down on the river, the strategically placed riot cops in their cool knee boots, and at least one armored riot vehicle I saw (apparently built for the Red Stick apocalypse) could hold down Baton Rouge’s real finest: the aspiring teenage gun-toting gangsters. Ahh, so this is what poverty and inept school systems do for a community. The cops obviously knew what to expect that night judging by their numbers and their well-polished gear and yet, as I write this, two kids are in the hospital with serious bullet wounds and there are no suspects. The witnesses were busy running for their lives I suppose. Luckily, my gang already had enough of Baton Rouge’s promising future by the time the fireworks ended. We didn’t stick around for the really exciting show. I was not all that surprised when I saw the news later.

Could Baton Rougeans behave themselves for something on the scale of Lafayette’s Festival International or Austin’s South by Southwest festival? Would anyone dare to find out? I think it’ll take a lot more than a couple of hot-shot developers and a coat of paint to bring Baton Rouge its so desired class and sophistication. It’s going to take a damned cultural renaissance.

Phil Stagg

Baton Rouge

Drop your pants

To the editor:

I was shocked and dumbfounded about “Baggy pants laws sweeping state” (Daily Report, July 5). Don’t the yahoo officials who are creating these ridiculous ordinances legislating how people dress have more pressing, critical issues at hand? How about our health care system for one?

This morning I had to drive a friend to a community health clinic in North Baton Rouge. My friend doesn’t drive and there is no reliable public transportation. He has no health insurance, even though he works nearly full time. I drove him to a depressing inner-city cinder block building that lacked air conditioning. The sweltering waiting room was about 10 by 30 feet with a couple of dozen plastic chairs all facing the same direction classroom-style with a single electric fan on the floor. Every chair was occupied, so I stood. The clinic’s fees are based on a sliding scale according to income for those who do not have insurance but who make too much (yet still below poverty level) to qualify for Medicaid or government assistance. The facility was not particularly clean but the staff seemed competent and friendly enough (given the atrocious working conditions), even though it was obvious they were understaffed and lacked an adequate number of examination rooms (my 36-year-old friend was seen in the pediatric dentistry room). The physician ordered blood work, for which there was another fee, and my friend was given a prescription. The clinic’s pharmacy assistance services down the hall was closed because the staff was out today doing “community outreach.”

I’d rather see my tax dollars be spent fixing our screwed-up health care system than wasting taxpayers’ time and money dictating how people wear their clothing. If these hayseed politicians don’t want to see underwear, stop looking. Ignore a fashion trend and it will eventually go away. Ignoring our pathetic health care system will not make it go away and should be considered a crime for those who are in a position to help remedy it.

Michael S. Johnson

Baton Rouge

Right on

To the editor:

You have very appropriately covered a topic (“Legal Beagles,” July 3) that has not been discussed nearly enough in our state. Like Ms. Newsom, I am also a 2006 graduate of the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center. I am very proud of my education and believe the law center is an outstanding educational institution. However, the one complaint I have always had about the LSU Law Center is its lack of support in career services and post-graduate assistance and most of my classmates would agree.

I have always wanted to seek a “non-traditional” law career in governmental affairs and have been lucky enough to find a job in that field. I never felt this was supported by the law center and its career services department. Through our legal education, we have the ability to serve in many different fields and in this era of lawyer over-saturation, that should not only be acknowledged but encouraged. By simply reaching beyond law firms into the general business community, there are many internship and clerkships that could be made available for law center students.

It is a hard sell for recent law graduates and career services representatives to encourage the non-legal business community to consider hiring recent grads. It seems that our law school education and experience is often undervalued by everyone but those who have endured the rigors of law school. Further, most companies believe they can’t afford a law graduate and so immediately dismiss the possibility. However, it is worth the effort to encourage Louisiana’s business community to consider hiring state-educated attorneys. For example, these non-legal businesses should be invited to law center career days and seminars and more courses should be offered to promote non-traditional careers. By simply establishing an environment that encourages and educates on these alternative careers, we open the door for greater possibilities.

I love this city and am committed to staying in Baton Rouge. However, I do wish I would have read this article before I began law school. Like Ms. Dendy, who was interviewed in the article, I feel the LSU Law Center exaggerated the ability of its graduates to find work. We leave with thousands of dollars in loans and the pressure to make enough money to pay those back while maintaining a decent standard of living. I had no idea how hard that would be. In fact, your estimate that the average law debt was $50,000 seems incredibly low to me. I’ve been saddled with over $80,000 in loans and can’t imagine what students at the state’s private institutions, Loyola and Tulane, owe upon graduation.

Though I am not surprised Ms. Evans with the law center’s career services department did not respond to your request for a comment, I would hope that someone associated with the school will respond. They also should disclose how much each person in the career services department earns, their duties and their success rates in assisting students. Our law school tuition, which I will be paying for decades, goes toward paying their salaries, so they should be held accountable to those same students. And I don’t believe putting on monthly seminars, grammatical proofing of resumes and providing a printing portal for students is nearly enough to be effective in their positions. I would like to see real accountability and student satisfaction. Law school students are their customers, right?

Finally, I would like to encourage future law school students to begin early in their quest for finding a job in Louisiana’s tough legal job market. I also encourage those students, along with the faculty and staff of our state’s law centers, to consider alternative careers. The dream of graduating from law school and immediately landing a well-paying job in a successful law firm in Louisiana is just that, a dream—there is very little reality in it. For those very few at the top of their class, it is achievable. For everyone else, it is an uphill battle to find any job at all.

Hayley Bush Little

Baton Rouge