Self-sustaining: Nine veterans from around the country are taking part in the sixth annual Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities. The program, hosted by the LSU E. J. Ourso College of Business’ Executive Education program, begins today and ends March 19. According to a news release, the veterans will have the opportunity to engage in the classroom and network with local entrepreneurs. They will receive advice on small business development and learn how to face the challenges and opportunities in starting and sustaining a business for the long term. The EBV Consortium was formed in 2008 as a national educational initiative to help veterans with disabilities transition to self-employment, develop professional networks, and start and grow sustainable businesses.
Back at it: Don Briggs will be returning to his role as president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association following an injury in September, The Advertiser reports. Briggs suffered a head injury when he slipped on a stairway at a home in North Carolina. He was treated at Mission Health Hospital—an Asheville, N.C., facility where he had been airlifted—until he was well enough to be moved to Lafayette for further treatment. He was later moved to an inpatient rehabilitation facility in Houston, and in January he returned to Lafayette to continue outpatient rehabilitation. His son, Gifford Briggs, served as acting president of LOGA while his father recovered. Gifford Briggs will return to his role as vice president. Read the full story.
In crisis: Wall Street speculators are zeroing in on the next U.S. credit crisis: the mall. As Bloomberg reports, it’s no secret many mall complexes have been struggling for years as Americans do more of their shopping online. But now, they’re catching the eye of hedge-fund types who think some may soon buckle under their debts, much the way many homeowners did nearly a decade ago. Like the run-up to the housing debacle, a small but growing group of firms are positioning to profit from a collapse that could spur a wave of defaults. Their target: securities backed not by subprime mortgages, but by loans taken out by beleaguered mall and shopping center operators. Read the full story.
