In transition: After more than 50 years in practice, architect Jerry Watts is retiring from the Baton Rouge firm that bears his name. Watts Didier Architects has announced that Watts will retire his post June 30. Derryl Didier, a partner in the firm, will assume sole ownership of the the company at that time. The firm will continue to be known as Watts Didier Architects. Watts joined the architect firm, which decades earlier was established by Lewis P. Manson, in 1964. He took over in 1980, expanded its client base and eventually renamed it Jerry L. Watts & Associates. Didier joined the firm in 1996, becoming partner in 2004. The firm became Watts Didier Architects in 2011.
In control: Louisiana’s colleges and universities can still set—and raise—their own student fees. The Associated Press reports Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed into law a bill that gives Louisiana universities and colleges the authority to continue to set and modify their fees until mid-2020. The schools’ governing boards have had that fee-hiking ability, but it was set to expire on June 30. The four college management boards will have to report their fee changes each year to state lawmakers, under the new law sponsored by Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond. Several higher education leaders have said they may raise some fees for the upcoming 2017-18 school year, even though they’ll escape budget cuts for the first time in nearly a decade.
Own it: Renewable Energy Group has completed the $20 million acquisition of roughly 82 acres near to its Geismar biorefinery. The seller is Lion Copolymer. REG previously leased the land as well as roughly 61 acres the company plans to improve and use to support the Geismar facility’s existing production capacity and for future expansion opportunities. The lease terminated at the closing of the sale. REG says the purchase will save the company approximately $35 million in future lease payments through 2033. The biorefinery produces 75 million gallons annually of renewable hydrocarbon diesel and also produces renewable naphtha and renewable liquefied petroleum gas. Read more.
