Albemarle Corporation says it has formed a joint venture with a Saudi Arabian plastics firm to build a chemical plant in the Middle East. Under the deal with Ibn Hayyan Plastic Products Company, the companies will develop a production facility in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia, that manufactures organometallics, compounds that are a combination of organic material and metals. The plant, the first of its kind in the region, will start up in early 2012. The plant will annually produce 6,000 tons of tri-ethyl aluminum equivalents, a compound used for making polyolefins, which are used in flexible foam.
The Baton Rouge office of Jennifer Palmer & Company has relocated to 530 Shadows Ln., Ste. B. The vocational-rehabilitation company’s phone numbers and e-mail address remain unchanged.
The City-Parish Planning Commission received the 2009 Outstanding Planning Award for a Project/Program Tool for the Infill/Mixed Use Small Planned Unit Development Zoning District from the Louisiana Chapter of the American Planning Association. The honor recognizes a planning tool that has significantly advanced the cause of planning and that emphasizes implementation and results. The Planning Commission also received the 2009 Public Education Award for the Land Development Application Search Tool. The honor recognizes education efforts that increase public understanding and awareness of planning principles and practices, and encourage public participation in the planning process.
Crown Crafts has signed a licensing agreement to start producing Pampers-brand baby products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the first products with the Pampers brand should be available in stores in the spring. Some of the Pampers-brand products will include bedding, blankets, bibs and slings.
Entergy has introduced a new service that allows customers to receive text messages when there’s a power outage at their home or business. “My Account Anywhere” allows customers to send and receive information about outages on their cell phones, including how long electricity is projected to be out. The service is free, although some customers might be charged for receiving a text message, based on their wireless plan.
Fidelity Homestead Savings Bank has purchased just over an acre of land in Dutchtown, with plans to open a branch in the second half of 2011. The bank paid $650,000 for the tract on La. Highway 73, between Interstate 10 and U.S. 61. Fidelity Homestead plans to build a 3,500- to 4,000-square-foot, full-service branch on the site and employ between five to eight people.
Jacobs Engineering has been awarded a contract to manage construction for the $1.2 billion LSU Academic Medical Center in midtown New Orleans. The teaching hospital will replace Charity Hospital, which has not reopened since Hurricane Katrina. The project will include a 424-bed hospital, an ambulatory-care facility and a 1,350-space parking garage.
La Carreta, a Mid City Mexican restaurant, is scheduled to open a second Baton Rouge location next month on Bluebonnet Boulevard. The restaurant will open in the former On The Half Shell building during the first week of December. La Carreta on Bluebonnet will have about 25 employees and seating inside and outside for 100 people. This will be the eighth La Carreta, joining locations in Denham Springs, Hammond, Amite, La Place and Mandeville.
Learning Science Corporation, which specializes in developing tailored employee-learning solutions, has been awarded national contracts with Fox Network Group, NBC Universal and Sports Production Safety Group.
The Munson Group, a local political communications company, has purchased an Alexandria-based advertising firm. Bob Munson, who owns the Munson Group along with his son, Robert, says he was interested in buying KJA Communications Group in order to diversify his business. KJA, which has 13 employees in Alexandria, has clients across central and southwest Louisiana, including Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital and First Federal Bank.
Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge at the Celtic Media Centre has selected 1st Call Studio Equipment as its exclusive equipment provider for Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge at the Celtic Media Centre. 1st Call also serves as the exclusive equipment provider for Raleigh’s California studios in Hollywood, Manhattan Beach and Playa Vista.
The Shaw Group has been awarded a contract to expand an ethylene plant in Turkey. The value of the deal with Petkim Petrochemical Holding AS was not disclosed. Shaw built the plant in Aliaga, Turkey, in 1986 and performed basic engineering for an expansion in 1999, which brought annual production from 300 kilotons to 520 kilotons. The expansion will increase production of ethylene, the most-produced organic compound in the world, by about 10%.
Vivid Ink celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. The company, which provides wide-format, digitally printed graphics, was founded in November 1999 by Stephen St. Cyr and Collin Keller.
Armstrong Relocation, an agent of United Van Lines, has been named to the $1 million level of the President’s Club Award. The honor recognizes agents that have generated at least $1 million in sales in the past year.
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber has received a Critical Business Partner award from Blane, Canada Ltd. The honor recognizes BRAC’s retention and expansion program.
Four Capital Region residents have received the Angel Award from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation. The award recognizes extraordinary volunteers who improve the quality of life for the state’s at-risk children. The volunteers are: Bestey Baldwin of Gonzales, who founded a recreational league for children with and without disabilities; Vicki Ellis of Baton Rouge, who established the Heritage Ranch home in Greater Baton Rouge; and Jill Rigby Garner of Baton Rouge, who established the Manners of the Heart statewide program to teach good manners.
Fourteen attorneys from McGlinchey Stafford have been named to the 2010 issue of The Best Lawyers in America. The attorneys are: Rodolfo J. Aguilar Jr., commercial litigation, corporate law; Samuel A. Bacot, real estate; Richard A. Curry, commercial litigation; Michael D. Ferachi, commercial litigation; R. Marshall Grodner, equipment finance; Deborah D. Harkins, gaming, government relations; Mary T. Joseph, banking; Errol J. King, health care; R. Andrew Patty, intellectual property; Anthony Rollo, banking; Michael H. Rubin, appellate, banking, bet-the-company litigation, commercial litigation; Stephen P. Strohschein, bankruptcy, creditor-debtor rights; Dan E. West, commercial litigation; and Paul S. West, corporate, gaming.
J. Michael Parker, a partner with Taylor Porter, has been named a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. The fellowship is by invitation only to trial lawyers with a minimum of 15 years’ experience and who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality.
The Louisiana Business & Technology Center has received the 2009 Economic Development Administration Excellence in Economic Development Award for Rural Economic Development. The honor recognizes LBTC’s efforts in assisting businesses in rural areas with its Incubator on Wheels.
Louisiana Economic Development’s Business Expansion and Retention Group has received a national honor for its work. The division earned a 2009 Synchronist Award for Leading By Design, for business expansions, such as Coca-Cola Bottling building a new plant in Baton Rouge. Synchronist makes software used by economic development organizations to support business retention and expansion.
Mary T. Joseph, an attorney with McGlinchey Stafford, has received the 2009 Crystal Gavel Award from the Louisiana State Bar Association. The honor recognizes outstanding lawyers and judges who have been unsung heroes and heroines in their communities.
Mayor Kip Holden has received the Small Business Advocate Crystal Award from Partner America. The honor recognizes Holden’s support of the Capital Region’s small-business community.
Moore Planning Group has received a 2009 Outstanding Planning Award from the Louisiana Chapter of the American Planning Association. The honor recognizes the firm’s innovative land-use plan created for Iberville Parish, which preserves the parish’s character and culture while ensuring a positive growth environment.
Reads-Perkins Moving Systems, an agent of Atlas Van Lines, has received the Milton M. Hill Quality Award. The honor recognizes agents that have demonstrated a superior warehouse rating, hauling excellence and world-class commitment. Of the nearly 400 Atlas agents in the U.S., 64 received the award.
Stage 1 has received the Business Associate award from the La Capitale Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association. The honor recognizes Stage 1’s assistance during the chapter’s spring style show.
STAT Home Health has been named to the 2009 HomeCare Elite, a compilation of the leading home-health agencies in the U.S by OCS HomeCare. The annual review identifies the top 25% of agencies and further highlights the top 100, which are ranked by performance measures in quality outcomes, improvement and financial performance.
Ten Capital Region companies have been recognized by the American Heart Association as Start! Fit-Friendly Companies for promoting physical activity and health in the workplace. The companies are: Albemarle Corporation, Amedisys Home Health Services, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, Lane Regional Medical Center, Mockler Beverage Company, Ochsner Health System-Baton Rouge, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Spectrum Fitness, The Shaw Group and Turner Industries Group.
Woman’s Hospital has been selected as one of the 100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine. Woman’s is the only hospital in Louisiana to receive this honor, which is based on leadership and planning, culture and communications, role satisfaction, working environment, relationship with supervisor, training and development, pay and benefits, and overall satisfaction. More than 5,000 hospitals were eligible.
Terri McNorton, the vice president of marketing and communications for Baton Rouge General Medical Center, has been elected to a three-year term on the board of directors for the Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development. McNorton has been a member of the organization for seven years, serving on its conference-planning, member-experience and scholarship committees.
Vance Miller, a partner with Kean Miller, has been named to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation National Board of Trustees. The foundation is a volunteer-driven organization dedicated to finding the cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
LSU’s College of Basic Sciences has received $7.6 million in research grants from the federal stimulus bill. The money has been spread among the LSU Museum of Natural History and all six departments at the university: biological sciences, chemistry, physics and astronomy, computer science, geology and mathematics. Biological sciences and chemistry accounted for $5.7 million of the total funding.
The Slaughter Volunteer Fire Department is the recipient of a 2009 Georgia-Pacific Bucket Brigade grant. The department, which was chosen from more than 100 firefighting units in 28 states, will receive $10,000 to purchase a medical/command vehicle. The program recognizes the contributions of fire departments in communities with Georgia-Pacific facilities.
Amedisys Home Health Services has pledged $1 million to the Forever LSU Campaign for the construction of a new home for LSU’s E.J. Ourso College of Business.
