Moving along: Southern Lifestyle Development of Lafayette has announced that R.J. Daigle & Sons Contractors, of Gonzales, has been selected to be the contractor in charge of installing the infrastructure at the planned mixed-use Conway development located on La. 44 in Gonzales. That work is expected to take at least 12-14 months. In a statement, Prescott Bailey, area president for SLD’s Baton Rouge division, says construction of Conway’s residential homes will begin once the infrastructure is completed. The $325 million lifestyle community sits on 356 acres. Conway will have a town square and will include 950 single-family homes, 550 apartments as well as 200,000 square feet of commercial space. A groundbreaking for the development took place in May.
Sounding off: Forum 35 is giving Baton Rouge’s mayoral candidates a soapbox to sound off on their key platform issues and to reach young professionals. Forum 35’s Baton Rouge Mayor-President Candidate Soapbox Social will take place from 5:30-8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Tin Roof Brewing Co., 1624 Wyoming St. All 12 candidates have been invited to attend and mingle with young professionals. The candidates also will be given five minutes on a soapbox to share their ideas and vision for the future of Baton Rouge. Forum 35 says each candidate’s speech will be streamed live via Facebook. Also, Forum 35 is partnering with the LSU Public Administration Institute Student Association to host a runoff forum from 6-8 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 14, at LSU’s Business Education Complex Auditorium, Room 1510. Both events are free and open to the public.
Extra time: The deadline to apply for the Small Business Administration’s physical damage loans has been extended from today to Monday, Nov. 14. The SBA’s physical damage loan covers flood-related property damage that is not fully covered by insurance or other sources. Businesses and private nonprofit organizations can apply for up to $2 million to repair or replace business assets. The SBA also is providing economic injury loans for businesses. The working capital loan is designed to help businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private nonprofits meet financial obligations that cannot be met as a result of the disaster. The application period for the SBA’s economic injury disaster loan will extend into next year, with a final deadline of May 15, 2017. Both loans have interest rates as low as 4%, and terms up to a maximum of 30 years.
