Ready to launch: AST Marketing on Thursday launched a new division called AST Impressions, a move the company says will create a separate revenue stream for the young marketing firm. Carey Guglielmo Jr., president and owner of AST Marketing, says the company will take some of the high-end, branded merchandise Guglielmo and partner Billy Haile can access thanks to their 45 years experience at Nike, then act as middlemen and sell that merchandise to other distributors outside Louisiana. They got the idea from Guglielmo’s mentor from Boston, who sits on the company’s board of directors.
On the decline: The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. continues to drop, falling this week by 29 to 809. The Associated Press reports that 614 rigs were seeking oil and 195 explored for natural gas, according to the weekly rig count from oilfield services firm Baker Hughes of Houston. A year ago, with oil prices about double the prices now, 1,922 rigs were active. Among major oil- and gas-producing states, Oklahoma lost eight rigs, Texas declined by six, and Louisiana and New Mexico each lost four. The U.S. rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.
Making a claim: Unemployment claims in Louisiana increased to 2,342 for the week ending Sept. 26 from 2,307 the week before and skyrocketed from 1,887 the same week last year, according to the Louisiana Workforce Commission. Accommodation and food services saw the largest increase of all at 26 claims; mining claims, which include oil and gas exploration and extraction, jumped by 12. Data for workers in oil and gas support services is spread over other job sectors and not included in the mining total. The Louisiana Workforce Commission has the full breakdown.
