Sweet success: More than 20,000 youths across Louisiana participated in the fourth annual Lemonade Day event in early May, setting up lemonade stands to learn about entrepreneurism, make a little money and have some fun. Awards are handed out by region for the best overall stand, best business plan and top producer. This year’s Baton Rouge winners are: Erielle, Ethan and Evan Curtis, who won the best overall stand award; Anna Dodd, who won for best business plan; and Reese and Demond Thomas, who were named top producers with a profit of $378.54. See the full list of Louisiana Lemonade Day winners.
A rising tide: Port of Lake Charles officials estimate that vessel traffic is expected to increase by more than 50% over the next five years and double within the decade. As The American Press reports, the port released the second of three reports on Tuesday studying the current traffic and future projections of traffic on the Calcasieu Ship Channel. With more than $67 billion worth of capital investments in southwest Louisiana, the growth in channel use is attributed to expanded operations of existing terminals and the construction of several proposed facilities.
Flocking in: Ouachita Parish’s tourism industry—boosted by “Duck Dynasty” fans, business travelers serving CenturyLink and aggressive event scheduling by the Monroe-West Monroe Convention and Visitors Bureau—is on the rise in 2014. Gannett Louisiana reports hotel occupancy is up more than 3%, while hotel-motel sales tax collections are up 6% through May of this year, compared to the same period in 2013. “The biggest influence is still definitely people who want to see where Duck Dynasty is filmed,” says Alana Cooper, executive director of the visitors bureau, said. Read the full story.
