Launching careers: Due to its relatively large share of residents aged 20 to 29, relatively low salary-to-average rent ratio and promising job prospects for those in management, business, science and arts occupations, Baton Rouge is ranked No. 17 on a new listing of the best U.S. cities for new college graduates. The ranking from personal finance website NerdWallet.com places Madison, Wisconsin, at No. 1, followed by Arlington, Virginia; Minneapolis; Boston and Washington D.C. See the complete rankings.
Up and running: Drax Biomass says work on its wood pellet storage, handling and loading facilities at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge is complete and pellets are now being loaded onto vessels for shipment to the United Kingdom, where they’ll be used for power generation. Drax and state officials announced a $120 million investment by the company in December 2012, which included Drax’s local facility and a manufacturing plant in Bastrop. The annual capacity at the company’s facility the Baton Rouge port is around 3 million tons.
Parks in a pinch: A $13.7 million backlog of maintenance work at national parks in Louisiana has slowed repairs at some historic sites and put off restoration work on important structures, including cabins built by slaves, park officials tells The News-Star. The Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve tops the state list, with $11.3 million in deferred maintenance, followed by the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park with $1.2 million. Both are headquartered in New Orleans. Nationwide, national parks have a $11.5 billion maintenance backlog—an increase of $190 million over last year’s estimate. Read the full story.
