The bottom line: As expected, the Metro Council on Wednesday evening OK’d pay raises for thousands of city-parish employees, including police, firefighters and some of its lowest-paid workers. Under a pay increase plan that Mayor Kip Holden’s office negotiated with several unions, city-parish employees will receive an across-the-board pay raise of 2% or $500, whichever is greater. Minimum wage will rise from the current $7.25 per hour to $9.30 or $9.65, depending on the position. The pay hike will cost the city-parish an estimated $6.6 million annually, and about $4.9 million for the remainder of this year. To offset the raises, employees hired after July 1 will see a reduction in the retirement and sick leave benefits that current employees receive.
On display: Baton Rouge-based automations solutions firm Setpoint Integrated Solutions has announced plans to open an interactive, industrial process showroom called the Integrated Technology Center at its new 113,000-square-foot headquarters at 19151 Highland Road. The center will open on April 16, coinciding with the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony for the company’s headquarters building. “This $400,000 investment is more than a showroom,” says Sandro Esposito, vice president of process automation & marketing. “It is an enabler for our customers to experiment and validate various solutions to ensure they select and get the most efficient products that meet their needs.” Setpoint has more details.
Cranking it up: Former LSU students’ Mark Gabriel and Erik Durr have created a new line of hand-power generated cases for smart phones and other devices that provides for power in emergency situations. Gabriel says he got the idea for CrankCase and CrankBox, the technology for which is patent pending, following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. British newspaper The Daily Mail features CrankCase in an online feature about new tech products. The duo hopes to start shipping out orders as early as October. Read the full story.
