Closing the gaps: The Louisiana Department of Education, working in partnership with LSU, has received a $6 million State Personnel Development grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The grant will allow the department to provide professional development opportunities for educators in grades three through five to help improve literacy outcomes for students with disabilities. In partnership with the state, LSU and the Louisiana Parent Training and Information Center will provide training and other supports to eight-partner school systems. Participating school systems include Algiers Charter School Association, Bossier Parish, Calcasieu Parish, Pointe Coupee Parish, Sabine Parish, St. Bernard Parish, Vermilion Parish, and West Baton Rouge Parish. Louisiana is one of seven states to be awarded a SPDG grant. Get more information.
Newly elected: Four LSU alumni were elected to the LSU Alumni Association Global Board of Directors during a Nov. 18 meeting at the Lod Cook Alumni Center. The new members are David Braddock, cofounder and current board member of Dallas-based Broad Oak Energy II; Mario Julien Garner, the inaugural senior vice president and chief executive officer of Memorial Hermann Pearland Hospital in Pearland, Texas; Jeffrey “Jeff” Mohr, president of Lewis Mohr Real Estate and Insurance Agency in Baton Rouge; and Bart Schmolke, an independent financial adviser with Financial Solutions Group based in Alexandria. All candidates were elected to at-large positions. They will serve three-year terms beginning on Jan. 1. Broad Oak Energy was recognized as No. 1 in the LSU 100: Fastest Growing Tiger Businesses.
Getting ahead: With Black Friday sales slipping, U.S. retailers are offering pre-Thanksgiving deals even earlier than in recent years to draw shoppers, as the day after the holiday no longer marks a spending peak at brick-and-mortar chains, Bloomberg reports. The number of Thanksgiving weekend shoppers fell by nearly a third to 102 million in 2015, from 147 million in 2012, according to the National Retail Federation. But U.S. retailers have redoubled efforts this year to boost sales. Retail pricing and data analytics firm Market Track says an analysis of 15 top U.S. brick-and-mortar retailers and their Black Friday circular announcements online showed they were about three days earlier than last year. Retailers are trying to beat each other to the punch and are starting their promotions earlier, Market Track Senior Vice President Traci Gregorski tells Bloomberg. Read the full story.
Editor’s note: The offices of Business Report will be closed on Thursday and Friday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday and Daily Report will not be published. Daily Report will return on Monday, Nov. 28. Have a safe and happy holiday.
