Time to upgrade: Hood Container of Louisiana is installing new equipment at its St. Francisville paper manufacturing facility in a two-phase project that will create 10 new jobs with average salaries of $51,450, plus benefits, according to Louisiana Economic Development. The project will also result in 30 new indirect jobs and 80 temporary construction jobs, LED estimates, and it will retain 237 existing jobs. Hood Container will install a modern press section on the facility’s H1 paper machine and a recycling plant for reuse of corrugated containers. The upgrades will allow the mill to increase containerboard production. The company has received an incentive package that includes a Modernization Tax Credit of $640,000, and it is expected to benefit from the state’s Quality Jobs and Industrial Tax Exemption programs. Hood Container acquired the St. Francisville paper mill from Amzak Capital Management last October. LED has more details.
Back in business: The Pilot Travel Center at 2601 South Range Ave. in Denham Springs is reopening on Saturday after being closed for repairs due to the August flood. The rebuilt facility includes 60 parking spaces, five diesel fuel lanes, three showers, 10 cooler doors, annd Subway and PJ Fresh restaurants, according to a news release. The reopening of the gas station also will bring back 40 local jobs, the release says. Pilot Flying J, The Pilot Travel Center’s parent company, also has donated two trailer loads of drywall, collectively valued at $17,000, to Convoy of Hope, a humanitarian organization providing help to the impoverished persons recovering from disasters.
Stamp of approval: Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has endorsed fellow state office holder and Republican John Kennedy in the U.S. Senate race, the USA Today Network of Louisiana reports. Kennedy, Louisiana’s state treasurer, is facing Democrat Foster Campbell in the Dec. 10 runoff election. Campbell, meanwhile, is being touted as the Democrats last chance to flip a U.S. Senate seat. Landry touts Kennedy as a partner for President-elect Donald Trump. “President-elect Trump needs people in Washington to help him affect change,” Landry says. “John Kennedy is best suited to help President-elect Trump grow our economy, protect our nation and secure our values. Read the full story.
