New jobs: S-RAM Dynamics, a Nashville-based energy technology company, has announced it will open a new prototype research and development facility in the Louisiana Business and Technology Center at LSU’s Innovation Park. The company’s expansion into Baton Rouge is expected to result in the hiring of more than 20 engineers and machinists over the next two years. The staff will develop and commercialize “next generation energy systems,” according to a news release. Currently, the company is developing natural refrigerant carbon dioxide compressors, expanders refrigeration and heat pump systems and high efficiency internal combustion axial engines for power generation applications. Jason Hugenroth, S-RAM’s vice president of research and development, will lead the new office. Hugneroth is a graduate of LSU and Purdue University.
Hard times: With December sales tax receipts down sharply, Lafayette Mayor-President Joel Robideaux has ordered a complete review of the current 2015-16 budget. The Advertiser reports sales tax collections for the parish general fund are $307,000 under budget for the first three months of the fiscal year that began Nov. 1, according to Chief Financial Officer Lorrie Toups. Year-to-date, parish sales taxes are nearly 32% below year-to-date collections from 2014-15. The city general fund is doing better than the parish. The city is $538,000 under budget for the first three months of 2015-16. Year-to-date, city sales tax collections are down 4.8% from last year. Robideaux this week told The Advertiser that Lafayette Consolidated Government may need to consider budget cuts, freezes and even dipping into its reserve funds if revenues continue to decline.
Taking off: A public charter airline will add a seasonal nonstop service from New Orleans to Destin, Florida, The Associated Press reports. GLO Airlines announced Thursday the service from Louis Armstrong International Airport to Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport will begin March 25 and will run through Sept. 5. The flights are scheduled for Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. GLO’s founder and chief executive Trey Fayard says the company wanted to expand its services to cities in the region. The airline launched in New Orleans last November with a focus on increasing the number of nonstop flights connecting destinations in the Gulf of Mexico and the mid-South region. Read the full story.
