On second thought: Albemarle CEO Luke Kissam has told a TV station in Charlotte, North Carolina, that the specialty chemical maker would not have moved the company from Baton Rouge to Charlotte if it knew the state’s controversial House Bill 2 would be implemented. The bill was passed in late March in response to a Charlotte ordinance that extended anti-discrimination protections to the LGBT community. HB2 nullified the Charlotte ordinance and barred other cities from adopting similar measures, meaning transgender individuals must use the bathroom corresponding with the gender on their birth certificate in government buildings. It is being challenged in a pair of federal lawsuits. “We would not have moved with HB2,” Kissam told WSCO-TV during a forum with other Charlotte business leaders held last week. “We would not have come if we were not so far along.” Albemarle relocated to Charlotte about five months ago. In April, Kissam sent North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory a letter urging the state’s legislative leaders to repeal it. Read the full story.
Moving up: LSU Innovation Park Executive Director Charlie D’Agostino has been chosen to be a member of the Association of University Research Parks 2017 executive committee. The association represents more than 185 university research parks internationally, and its membership accounts for 380,000 direct jobs and a $9.4 billion impact on local economies, according to a news release. The new executive committee members were named at an international meeting held earlier this month. Joining D’Agostino on the panel are representatives from the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, Standard Research Park in Palo Alto, California, the University Science Center in Philadelphia, the New Orleans BioInnovation Center, and the North Carolina State University Centennial Research Park. D’Agostino served as AURP president for the 2015-2016 year.
Under new ownership: Lane Regional Medical Center in Zachary has paid $430,000 to bring the final building on its medical campus under its ownership. Julie McLin, the hospital’s spokeswoman, says there are eight buildings on Lane’s campus and now the hospital owns all of them with the purchase of the facility at 4819 W. Park Drive in Zachary. The hospital bought the building from CP & L Enterprises, represented by Charles G. Pollar. McLin says the building will continue to be used as a medical office. An OBGYN currently occupies the building, she says.
