In the pipeline: The LSU College of Engineering will use a $1 million gift from The Valero Energy Corporation to enhance engineering research and education to create a pipeline of ready-to-work engineers at the university. The Valero Fund at the LSU Foundation will be used to acquire state-of-the art equipment for undergraduate research laboratories. A state-of-the-art Valero Capstone Design studio, located in Patrick F. Taylor Hall, will be a catalyst for students’ interdisciplinary education and exploration. The fund also will provide tech support for research by College of Engineering faculty. In a statement announcing the gift, College of Engineering Dean Judy Wornat says industry partnership helps strengthen the college’s curriculum and training so students graduate ready to enter the workforce.
Cool to the touch: The U.S. Department of Agriculture has granted the Port of New Orleans approval to join a new pilot program that reduces the transit time of perishable cargo. Under the USDA’s Southeast U.S. In-Transit Cold Treatment Pilot Program, time-sensitive products are treated to meet customs compliance in-transit rather than after it arrives to the U.S from South America. Prior to joining the program, refrigerated cargo had to flow through specialized treatment facilities in the Northeast U.S. to be cleared for distribution. The port says it is fully equipped to handle refrigerated items. The pilot program includes blueberries, citrus, apples, pears and grapes from Peru, Uruguay and Argentina. Read more.
The bottom line: Lafayette Parish isn’t going bankrupt after all. The Advertiser reports Mayor-President Joel Robideaux and an auditor are walking back the auditor’s statement last week that the parish’s general fund “is going bankrupt.” Robideaux’s office released a written statement on May 19—three days after an independent auditor told the city-parish council “the parish general fund is going bankrupt”—saying Lafayette Parish “is not facing bankruptcy and is not in jeopardy of defaulting on any lines of credit or loans.” However, the parish’s fiscal outlook is grim, and it has been for some time, the statement adds. On Tuesday, Burton Kolder of Kolder, Champagne, Slaven & Co. was quoted in another Lafayette Consolidated Government new release as saying his bankruptcy comment “should not have been included in my original comments.” Read more.
