A 30,000-square-foot shopping center is scheduled to open this fall at the site of the old University Shopping Center, just outside the North Gates of LSU. College Row at Northgate will feature tenants such as CVS, PJ’s Coffee, Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt, Shanghai Tokyo Restaurant and Pita Pit. Officials with Philadelphia-based Campus Apartments, which is developing College Row, say the center is about 70% leased.
Baker Donelson has launched a gaming industry service team. This multidisciplinary group of attorneys and advisers from across the firm’s offices and practice areas represents domestic and international gaming clients before state gaming commissions and other state government bodies. Paul S. West, who has joined as a shareholder in the firm’s Baton Rouge office, will serve as the Louisiana vice chair of the gaming group. West previously served as chair of the gaming practice at McGlinchey Stafford.
Baton Rouge-based Aquaterra Engineering has changed its name to Terracon Consultants, six months after it merged with the Kansas firm of the same name. The firm will continue to provide geotechnical and environmental construction materials, engineering and testing, and solid waste consulting services. Victor R. Donald, who was Aquaterra’s president before the merger, will continue to oversee Terracon throughout the South; Stephen E. Greaber will continue as Baton Rouge office manager.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana has been awarded a contract to administer the state Office of Group Benefits’ self-insured HMO plan, a move that will add up to 200 new jobs across the state over the next few months. Blue Cross will administer the plan effective July 1. OGB, which offers health insurance for state workers, local school employees and college and university workers and their dependents, has nearly 114,500 people enrolled in the HMO system.
Geaux Social, a consulting firm that assists businesses with social networking, has opened at 4005 Nicholson Dr., Ste. 3210. The company is offering training sessions to help business owners develop a sustainable marketing presence on social networks. For more information, call [888] 673-6199 or visit geauxsocial.com.
Invensys Operations Management, an IT company that specializes in working with the petrochemical industry, has expanded its offices off South Sherwood Forest Boulevard. The company has combined two offices in the same building and added about 4,000 square feet, bringing its Newcastle Avenue operations up to 14,000 square feet.
LSU’s Stephenson Disaster Management Institute at the E.J. Ourso College of Business has received a state contract to begin developing a business plan for the Louisiana Command College, an emergency management and homeland security training program.
Walk-In Lab, which provides confidential laboratory testing services, has opened a location at 7474 Corporate Blvd., Ste. 104. The office is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday. For more information, call 341-6767.
Wayne Stabiler, who closed his City Café on Perkins Road east of Siegen Lane in May 2009, has reopened the facility as South Perkins Market and Deli. The restaurant serves a full breakfast, home-cooked plate lunches and boiled seafood, and catering also is available.
APPOINTMENTS/MEMBERSHIPS
Cindy Rougeou, executive director of the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System, has been elected president of the Louisiana Association of Public Employees’ Retirement Systems. LAPERS is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that brings together individuals employed by pension plans to exchange information, ideas and experiences with others facing the same challenges. Rougeou has served as its vice president since 2008.
LSU Associate Professor Renee Casbergue has been elected as the 2010 senior member-at-large for the American Educational Research Association Early Education and Child Development Special Interest Group. The association, founded in 1916, promotes research that has implications for theory, policy, practice and teacher development in the diverse contexts serving children from birth to age 8.
LSU’s Louisiana Business and Technology Center has elected new board members for 2010. They are: Elif Acar-Chaisson, Doris Carver, Thomas Cotten, Craig Davidson, Eric Monday and Thomas Sawyer.
The Coastal Conservation Association of Louisiana has inducted four people into its hall of fame. They are: Jeff Angers, Jimmy Jenkins and the late Albert Bankston, all of Baton Rouge, and Rusty Vincent of Lake Charles. CCA also named U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, a Baton Rouge Republican, as its Conservationist of the Year; Bill Bass of Lafayette as the Albert Bankston Volunteer of the Year; and Doug Blanchard of Star Charters as Charter Captain of the Year.
William F. Staats, who has been on the faculty of LSU’s Graduate School of Banking since 1971, has been elected to a two-year term as vice chair of the Texas Lutheran University Board of Regents. Staats has been a board member since 2007.
AWARDS/HONORS
Albemarle has made the Corporate Responsibility Magazine list of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens. The chemical company came in at No. 64, its first appearance on the list. The list looks at several factors, including philanthropy, employee relations and environmental stewardship.
An LSU Center for Energy Studies project, “History of the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry in Southern Louisiana,” has received the Cooperative Conservation Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior. The honor recognizes achievements in collaborative activities among diverse groups.
LSU Libraries staff members Sigrid Kelsey and Angela K. VandenBroek have been named the 2010 recipients of the Association of College and Research Libraries’ College Libraries Section ProQuest Innovation in College Librarianship Award. The honor recognizes an American Library Association member who has demonstrated a capacity for innovation in her or his work with undergraduates, instructors and/or the library community
MAPP Construction has received a 2009 Contractor Safety Award from Shell Chemical’s Geismar plant. MAPP was honored for its work on the Shell Chemical Administration Building, which included 5,691 man hours and zero recordable incidents. The honor recognizes contractors and vendors that operate on a Shell Chemical site for a minimum of 5,000 man hours with zero OSHA recordable incidents for the year.
Nicole Colvin, formerly with Alzheimer’s Services of Baton Rouge, and Marc Goldstein of Creative Video Productions have received regional Lantern Awards given annually by the Southern Public Relations Foundation. Colvin and Goldstein, who are members of the Public Relations Association of Louisiana Baton Rouge Chapter, were honored in the Broadcast Production-Video category for the Alzheimer’s Services of Baton Rouge campaign, “I Will Remember You.” They were the state’s only Lantern Award winners.
Randy Herring, an agent with Sealy & Falgoust Real Estate, has been named the top producer for 2009 in commercial real estate. Herring, a member of the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute and a member of the commercial investment division of the Greater Baton Rouge Board of Realtors, has been an associate of the firm since August 2003.
Scott Angelle, secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, has been named Professional Conservationist of the Year by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation. The honor recognizes Angelle’s efforts to preserve the Atchafalaya Basin.
NONPROFITS
The Istrouma Area Council, Boy Scouts of America unveiled its Web site, myistrouma.com, with support from design studio K-fx2 and Mattress Direct. The site promotes fund-raising events and activities for IAC-BSA programs.
