Westward expansion: Baton Rouge-based Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry entered the New Mexico market today with the opening of a 3,500-square-foot store in Albuquerque. The location is the ninth for the 40-year-old family-owned and operated business. “We continue to search for opportunities to expand into markets at the local, regional and national level,” says President Scott Berg in a prepared statement. Lee Michaels employs more than 150 people and posts annual revenues of more than $56 million, with stores in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and, now, New Mexico.
Lease battle: A federal judge has reinstated an oil and gas lease held by a Baton Rouge firm on land in northwestern Montana that’s considered sacred to some Native American tribes in the U.S. and Canada. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C. says in a ruling today that President Barack Obama’s Interior Department improperly canceled the 6,200-acre lease adjacent to Glacier National Park in 2016. The lease is held by Solenex, LLC of Baton Rouge. Solenex attorney William Perry Pendley says the Trump administration should let the company proceed with drilling. U.S. Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle says government attorneys are reviewing the ruling.
Moving on: Sunit Patel is leaving his position as executive vice president and chief financial officer at Monroe-based CenturyLink to become the new executive vice president, merger and integration lead at T-Mobile, the companies announced today. The News Star reports Patel’s resignation is effective Friday, and he’ll start at T-Mobile on Oct. 1. CenturyLink will initiate a search process for his replacement that will include internal and external candidates. Neel Dev, CenturyLink group vice president of finance, has been named interim CFO effective upon Patel’s departure. Read the full story.
