The lesser of two evils
From Day One, Southdowns residents haven’t been happy with Tommy Spinosa’s traditional neighborhood development, Rouzan, planned for Perkins Road. Each step in the process has been met with controversy.
Spinosa, however, hasn’t been entirely forthcoming about details for the old Ford property between Lee Drive and Pollard Estates. Plans change, or are released in pieces, and barely cover the information required to keep the project going.
When you add Spinosa’s problems with his Perkins Rowe and St. Tammany Parish mixed-use developments, the evidence mounts that Rouzan is—despite Spinosa’s claims to the contrary—ripe for the picking.
And that’s where the library debate comes into play. The East Baton Rouge Parish Library Board has signed an agreement to build a facility on donated land in Rouzan. The developers working with Spinosa also have been working with the library staff on the design and surrounding elements. Sources say that building the library is all but a done deal.
Opponents, however, have raised issues about Spinosa’s financing and legal troubles as well as a planned café and deli next to the library as a means to question the entire development. According to Carole Anne Brown, the vice president of the Southside Civic Association, the commercial components “are not legally possible for the library to have.” Brown insists the library would share walls with the coffee shop and the deli, raising a host of issues over land and liabilities.
But library board member Beth Tomlinson says the information Brown is providing is incorrect. Instead, Tomlinson says, the library is on a completely separate piece of property from the deli and the café. And while the plans might call for there to be an appearance that all three share the same roof, the structures would be completely separate.
The solution, some people say, is to build the library on donated land at Burbank and Lee drives—a site that’s been described as a wetland. If the library were to be built on that land, it would require extensive engineering for mitigation issues and agreements with the Army Corps of Engineers.
Library Board President Dan Reed says the mitigation costs for the property are still less than purchasing a new site for a library in south Baton Rouge, which was part of the original plan more than three years ago. And the donation of the site expires in December if the board does not decide to move forward with plans to build there. As it stands now, the board has voted to request enough money from the city-parish to build both libraries.
Sources close to the board say it’s financially impossible to build both locations because such a decision would bankrupt the library board by 2015. It’s also highly unlikely the mayor’s office would approve a budget for the library that includes both sites.
That means, essentially, the library must decide between Rouzan and Burbank. But since a Burbank facility would cost roughly $700,000 to $1 million more, the board’s decision might ultimately favor the controversial TND. The Nov. 18 committee meeting will look at both locations, and the Nov. 19 board meeting could lead to a decision on how best to move forward.
That’s where this story comes full circle. Metro Council member Smokey Bourgeois has used Spinosa’s financial problems to question the viability of Rouzan—an argument that creates doubt that a library would ever be completed on the site.
Bourgeois says he’s worried Spinosa would start the project, “then fold and leave the city with a mess.” But his attempt to re-evaluate Rouzan’s components was shot down by Mayor Pro Temp Mike Walker.
And those close to the issue quickly point out that Spinosa—who was not available for comment—has a separate company responsible for obtaining financing for Rouzan, perhaps avoiding the problems that have plagued him in Perkins Rowe and in St. Tammany Parish.
In the end, the library board must choose between two controversial sites—one fraught with questions over the developer and his financial woes, and the other with environmental challenges that might prove too expensive to overcome.—Olivia Watkins
Moo-ving northward
It’s hard to dislike a company that makes homegrown, ecologically conscious ice cream, especially with an affable head honcho running the publicity machine.
Recently crowned “Yambilee King” at Opelousas’ fall yam festival, President Jeff Kleinpeter of Kleinpeter Farms Dairy says he decided that instead of throwing beads at the event, he’d chuck small containers of his company’s hit ice cream.
“Something they could really sink their teeth into,” he says with a chuckle.
The tie-in was that Kleinpeter uses yams from Bruce Foods of New Iberia in his sweet potato-flavored frozen treats, just one example of the Baton Rouge-based dairy’s reliance on regional ingredients and the resulting low-carbon footprint that such production entails.
“It’s here. And it’s the best,” he says of such ice-cream constituents as Louisiana sugar cane and blueberries, Bergeron’s Pecans from New Roads and Aunt Sally’s Pralines from New Orleans.
As Kleinpeter’s reach grows, recently entering north Louisiana thanks to a partnership with Jones Distributing Co. of West Monroe that adds 600 retail clients and makes the dairy statewide, the company is keen to remain branded as environmentally conscious.
“Your children and grandchildren will pay for these decisions,” he says of freight involved in bringing out-of-state produce to local plants for processing. “I really do believe there’s something to this global warming.”
Along with using local foodstuffs to limit trucking pollution, Kleinpeter points to his 1,100-acre dairy farm opened in the late ’90s in St. Helena Parish. It houses 1,400 cows in barns on a 2-degree slope leading to an alley, where waste is flushed down to an extractor that separates out solids to be composted and used for cattle bedding. The liquid waste goes into a lagoon and is processed to provide water for irrigation and fertilizer for cattle feed.
It sounds like an unappetizing aspect of a foodmaker’s operation, but it gets the green-friendly job done. “Waste is not wasted,” Kleinpeter says.
At the company’s Airline Highway processing plant, he says the facility is “super energy-efficient” throughout, with particular care paid to keeping refrigerated air from leaking thanks to double-insulated panels.
Then there is the company’s support of recycling. Kleinpeter helped market the Recycling Foundation of Baton Rouge through a campaign that Foundation vice president Tammy Cheatham says boosted residential participation.
Despite the costs of keeping things green, Kleinpeter says his business is on a growth arc, adding 85 jobs at the plant in the last year and a half while supporting 20 independent dairy farmers in the state for additional milk supplies. “In a recession, are you crazy?” Kleinpeter says, adding that he is talking with major grocery chains about further increasing distribution along the Gulf Coast.
“My long-term plans are to be quite regional,” he says, although “expansion is not as important as taking care of every customer is.”—Todd R. Brown
Sweet tooth
Flavors currently available in Kleinpeter Farms Dairy’s ever-expanding line of ice cream:
Banana Pudding
Bananas Foster Made with Aunt Sally’s Pralines from New Orleans
Blueberry Cheesecake Made from Louisiana-grown blueberries
Buttered Pecan Made with Bergeron’s Pecans from New Roads
Café Au Lait Made with Community Coffee
Chocolate [also available with no sugar added]
Cookies and Cream
Egg Nog
Gold Brick Made with Elmer’s Gold Brick candy from Ponchatoula
Pralines & Cream Made with Aunt Sally’s Pralines from New Orleans
Rocky Road
Peach Made with Ruston peaches
Strawberry Made with Ponchatoula strawberries
Sweet Potato Pie Made with yams from Bruce Foods of New Iberia
Vanilla [also available with no sugar added]
Tweet heard ‘round the world
Jesse Engle, the CEO of CoTweet, a San Francisco-headquartered Web-based application for managing Twitter accounts, tells a story about how a mishap on Twitter allowed Southwest Airlines to snag a customer from Jet Blue.
As he explains it, Jet Blue’s Twitter account was managed by one person, day and night. So when that one person went on vacation, there was no one watching the tweets. It just so happened that a major social-networking blogger was sitting on a Jet Blue plane that day and the flight was very late. While sitting in the plane, the blogger pulled out his phone and tweeted how horrible the experience was. And Jet Blue’s Twitter manager, well, he or she wasn’t there to manage the crisis, manage the brand or prevent the blogger from bashing the company.
Just then, Southwest Airlines sends the blogger a message on Twitter. It went something like, “Dear blogger, if you’d like to walk across the terminal, we can get you on a plane and to your destination in no time.” With that, the blogger got off the Jet Blue plane and boarded a Southwest Airlines flight.
That’s the danger—and the reward—of Twitter. If you aren’t managing your brand 24-7, someone, somewhere might get mad at you. Within seconds, their followers know, and maybe even their followers’ followers will know.
Engle, who was in Baton Rouge recently for a seminar on CoTweet, says many major companies get on Twitter “almost from a fear perspective.” They soon discover that they can use the social tool to not only do damage control, but they can spread positive messages about themselves. Ultimately, he says, companies are on Twitter whether or not they are the ones posting it. They simply have to choose whether to control the message or to let it tweet free. —O.W.
Tweet Tips
Tips for managing a brand on Twitter, according to CoTweet CEO Jesse Engle:
1. Identify the Twitter team
2. Determine the branding and account model, and rules of engagement
3. Manage Twitter conversations
4. Define success
Bubbling up
Cassie Jo Gonzales gets into bubbles.
Gonzales, the owner of Casioka Bubble Factory, serves bubble tea and smoothies three days a week from her stand in the parking lot of Tiger Express, a gas station on College Drive near Highland Road.
Gonzales started selling bubble tea, a frothy drink flavored with tapioca beads, at festivals. A year of planning and one specialty-designed cart later, Casioka Bubble Factory opened in May. Gonzales has three employees and also works part time as a nurse.
The outdoor stand was cheaper in terms of startup costs and has begun to build a customer base, Gonzales says. She hopes to either be in a storefront or add more outdoor locations next year.
Carts and kiosk retailers make up an industry that generated $12 billion in sales for 2008, according to trade magazine Specialty Retail Report. Carts and kiosks are viable in high-traffic areas, from malls to parking lots near a busy intersection, as a method of building a business into either a storefront or a franchise.
Gonzales says her business has a different flavor than Smoothie King and similar franchises—no pun intended.
“It’s about the experience, saying hello and getting to know something about my customers,” she says. “Another business might not be as interested in establishing a rapport. Here, we’re getting into people’s bubbles while we’re making bubbles for them.”—Emma James
ExecutiveSpotlight
Wendy Pick Herschman
Executive director
The Red Shoes
Hometown: New Orleans
The rain might be pouring down and the wind might be thrashing, but Wendy Pick Herschman, the executive director of local nonprofit The Red Shoes, and her dog Spanky are going for a walk. Twice a day, rain or shine, the pair takes a stroll. “It clears my head and his bladder,” she says.
But it isn’t stress over a job she can’t stand or a worry that she hasn’t given enough of herself to help others. Herschman works with an organization that she not only loves, but that she helped create. No, Herschman isn’t escaping her work, merely taking a quiet moment to herself before she goes back to the business of building a stronger, healthier community.
“I love the community The Red Shoes builds around education, empowerment and understanding,” she says. “Helping people, primarily women, emerge with a greater sense of who they are and the potential they have to change the world is important to me.”
Want to read more of Herschman’s Q&A? Click here.
BookReview Rich: The Rise and Fall of American Wealth Culture
Author: Larry Samuel
Publisher: Amacom
Year: 2009
Pages: 308
That’s all you’d need to be happy. A measly $1 million … no wait, $2 million.
The problem is, though, that million or two doesn’t go very far, as you’ll see in Rich: The Rise and Fall of American Wealth Culture by Larry Samuel. Sometimes, big money isn’t big enough.
Barely 150 years ago, being a millionaire was rare. Not only were there just three of them in the U.S. in 1861, but also the word itself was new.
Within three generations, wealthy Americans were firmly ensconced in industry, philanthropy and society. The have-nots were fascinated by the European servants, hundred-room mansions, furs and jewelry of the Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Astors and their peers.
But then the stock market collapsed, which brought vilification upon the rich. Then came post-World War II, the tables turned and luxury became something the everyman could have.
But with all the drama over wealth and fortune following the 2008 financial-market collapse and excessive pay on Wall Street, someone has to explain what it is to be truly wealthy in America. Thanks to Samuel, Rich: The Rise and Fall of American Wealth Culture puts a lot into perspective.
Samuel shows how the average citizen’s perception has changed the way the rich and famous behave [and vice versa], and how both have actually altered society and policy. Along the way, Samuel muses about over-the-top ostentation, wealth in politics and the finer things money can [or can’t] buy. He also gives readers a subtle clue: Most millionaires made their money through stocks and real estate, not by scrimping and saving.
If the lives of the definitely haves have always fascinated you, pick up Rich: The Rise and Fall of American Wealth Culture. For historians, cash collectors, upper-crusters and wannabes, this book is right on the money.—Terri Schlichenmeyer
FastForward
Room of his own
When Business Report wrote about Ty Larkins in the Oct. 23, 2007, story “Laws of style,” he was working as an attorney and starting his own interior-design firm. Seemingly an odd combination of professions, Larkins was achieving success with his design work from some national clients and landing a spot on the HGTV series Dream House.
But Larkins also was fraught with controversy as he began pushing his design work. The state required that he be certified by the National Council for Interior Design before he call himself an “interior designer,” an argument Larkins didn’t entirely agree with. “What I tell people is I chose to be an attorney. Interior design chose me,” he said at the time. “I’m probably different than most/many interior designers to the extent that first of all, I don’t proclaim to have any formal training in interior design.”
More than two years later, Larkins doesn’t seem to have any issues practicing with his design business. Rather than calling himself an interior designer, he goes by the title of design consultant, and he’s opened a store at Park Boulevard and Government Street in Mid City.
Larkins says the store was a logical next step. “I really felt like I needed to put more skin in the game,” he says as he lounges on a sleek, sophisticated latte-colored couch that is for sale. “I really want to be taken seriously.”
But Larkins might already be there. He has a number of wealthy, private clients in the Baton Rouge area, and there are sold tags attached to almost every piece of furniture in the room.
Larkins, whose designs reflect an updated hint of 1940s French style, says he wants to expand his reach with a staff in the next few years. He also wants to take on bigger projects like bars and boutique hotels.
For now, Larkins has his residential clients and his store, a big step in the transition from law to design. “It’s one thing to tell somebody what I do,” he says. “It’s another thing to show them.”—O.W.
NonprofitSpotlight
Country Club of Louisiana
Mission: “Social club engaged in social activities,” including tennis, swimming and golf.
Ruling year: 1994
Total assets: $13,470,335
Income: $7,656,334
Expenses: $7,650,268
Program expenses:
Golf $2,248,047
Tennis $511,364
Swimming $61,203
Social $2,446,657
Highest-paid employee: Tommy Mansur, general manager, $187,54
Fortnight November 18 – December 1
On this day in 2008 – November 18 – Business Report reported in “An E-normous problem?” that E. Eric Guirard and Thomas Pittenger were facing permanent disbarment for allegedly letting employees who were not licensed attorneys practice law—even rewarding them financially for this work. Guirard and Pittenger were eventually disbarred and the name of their law firm was changed. Guirard later said he would not let the setback bring him down; he had a brand and he wasn’t afraid to use it.
On this day in 2007 – November 19 – The American Farm Bureau Federation released an unscientific report that the average turkey dinner for Thanksgiving would cost less than it had in 2006. When Daily Report followed up in 2008, however, they said the bird and trimmings would be more expensive. The most recent report from AFBF says the average cost of your turkey and cranberry sauce actually will decrease from $44.61 to $42.91.
November 20 – LSU women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor will speak at Forum 35’s Forum Friday from noon to 1 p.m. at Juban’s Restaurant. Chancellor, who has won four WNBA championships and an Olympic gold medal, will talk about winning on the court and how to apply that to transforming the Baton Rouge community. More information is available at forum35.org.
November 20 – Mid City’s annual White Light Night will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. along Government Street from Park Boulevard to Jefferson Highway. The free event features local food, art and music throughout the Mid City Art and Design District. More information is available at midcitymerchants.org.
On this day in 2007 – November 29 – Tommy Spinosa’s controversial Rouzan TND received approval from the Captial Section of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Planning Association. At the time, the group said Rouzan was a “good example of both land use and traffic management.” In the past two years, controversy regarding Rouzan has continued to swirl. For updates on the Perkins Road development, see pages 8 and 56.
December 1 – Baton Rouge’s second annual Literacy Week continues through Dec. 7. The week’s primary event will be the Entrée to Literacy Breakfast Fundraiser, featuring a public-service announcement written by a local high school student and produced by WBRZ-TV. According to the Greater Baton Rouge Literacy Coalition, as much as 20% of the adult population in the area struggles to “do simple things like read a prescription bottle [or] complete a job application.”
BusinessofPolitics
More for the money
If you haven’t heard, Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis is in the process of overhauling Louisiana’s budget process. In very basic terms, the new strategy requires department and agency heads to prove in their annual funding requests that their individual activities are worth the money being assigned to them. Known informally as “outcomes-based budgeting,” it’s a work in progress that started last year.
Statewide officials are concerned about an element of the system that sometimes allows departments to bid on each other’s services—if they can deliver them more efficiently, they can take them over, in theory. But sources close to the governor’s office contend “misinformation” and “hogwash” is being passed off as fact, causing them to stir without warrant about this bidding process.
When contacted for comment, Davis offered the same line, but with a diplomatic touch. “Nobody ever said that this budgeting process entailed taking away anyone’s constitutional authorities,” she says, “so it sounds like a whole lot of needless worrying based on misunderstanding.”
In the past year, Davis has required departments to submit more meaningful performance information based on this result-driven system, such as Activity Performance Reviews that prompt department heads to essentially list funding lines in order of importance.
Summer lovin’?
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission voted to officially “disagree” with proposed federal regulations that call for a ban on harvesting untreated oysters from the Gulf of Mexico beginning summer 2011. The resolution requests that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “reconsider” this policy, which is under review, and that all Louisiana agencies work together to lessen the burden of the costly regulations.
More than anything else, it’s a symbolic move, since the proposed regulations deal with federal waters, but LDWF Secretary Robert Barham says that taking no stance on the controversial proposal was not an option. “[The state] is committed to supporting our oyster industry, and it is my hope that the state can work with the FDA to arrive at a satisfactory resolution,” says Barham.
What’s likely to have more of an impact is legislation that was recently filed on the congressional level by Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans, and David Vitter, R-Metairie. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, is sponsoring the House version. The bill would prevent the FDA from using federal money to implement a ban on sales of oysters that don’t undergo the special sterilization process.—Jeremy Alford
Moving Mitsubishi
Gerry Lane Enterprises purchased the Big Mitsubishi dealership and has moved it to the company’s Reiger Road location (above). Vice President Eric Lane says the dealership will replace Saturn, which is being phased out by General Motors. “Basically, all our Saturn employees are being trained to sell Mitsubishis,” he says. “We’ve already got it set up, and we’re doing the training.”
Selling Mitsubishis is nothing new for Lane, who had a dealership in Gulfport, Miss., about 20 years ago. While the brand isn’t as popular in the U.S. as some of its Japanese competitors like Toyota or Honda, Lane says there are some exciting signs. The company’s MiEV electric car recently won the Japanese Car of the Year “Most Advanced Technology” award, and plans are under way to bring the plug-in vehicle to the U.S. Mitsubishi also ranked ahead of Lexus in Consumer Reports’ latest reliability study.
“A lot of people don’t understand that Mitsubishi sold 100,000 vehicles in the U.S. last year, but 900,000 in the rest of the world,” Lane says. The Big Mitsubishi building near Interstate 12 and Airline Highway is on the market for $2.4 million.—Timothy Boone
Second life
The former Living Foods store (right) near the Perkins Road overpass is undergoing extensive renovations and expansion to make room for Stella Boutique. Chris Town, whose construction company is handling the work, says the façade of the building has been removed, and about 1,300 square feet will be added. That will bring the building up to 3,300 square feet. Town wouldn’t disclose when the work would be completed, but says it’s on the “fast track.” “We’re getting a lot of cooperation from everyone, including the weather,” he says.
Plans are for Stella, a women’s clothing store currently in Towne Center at Cedar Lodge, to occupy 2,300 square feet. The remaining space will be available for lease, Town says. While the Living Foods building is separate from the redeveloped Perkins Road Hardware site, which is being converted to a mix of restaurants and condominiums by Donnie Jarreau, Town says there are similarities between the adjoining properties. “We’re going to fit in with the look of the Perkins Road Hardware site with that modern contemporary style,” he says.—T.B
ONTHEBEAT
American pie: Hungry Howie’s Pizza will open a location on Nicholson Drive near West Lee Drive by Jan. 15. The franchise has applied for a building permit for a spot in the Beau Chene Shopping Center, and construction is slated to start shortly on a 3,500-square-foot store that will have between 50 and 60 employees offering delivery and pick-up.
Internet sting: Cox is raising rates for cable and Internet customers, effective Dec. 8. Basic cable customers will pay an additional $2.58 per month, while expanded basic customers will have to put up an additional 42 cents, bringing the increase to $3 a month. Jacqui Vines, senior vice president and general manager for Cox Louisiana, says the price increases are because of higher retransmission fees and programmer fees from channels such as ESPN and Disney.
Get low: Louisiana residents pay the lowest property taxes in the nation, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data. Franklin Parish has the lowest median property tax at $117 a year, while St. Bernard Parish homeowners paid 0.11% of their median home value in property taxes, the lowest percentage in the country, according to the report by the Tax Foundation. Louisiana parishes took all of the bottom 10 spots for property taxes by any measure.
Mildly amusing: The Nickelodeon cable television network says it has ended its relationship with Southern Star Amusement to redevelop the abandoned Six Flags amusement park in New Orleans East (above). Southern Star Amusement President Danny Rogers says the company is going ahead with plans to reopen the park and could appear before the State Bond Commission later this year. Meanwhile, the company says it’s reviewing legal options against Nickelodeon, questioning if the network has the right to terminate the licensing agreement.
Topped off: Louisiana ranked 25th in Site Selection magazine’s list of states with the best business climates. The analysis looked at a number of factors, including opinions from corporate real estate executives and the number of new plants that have recently broken ground. For the eighth time in nine years, North Carolina topped the list, while executives say Texas is the most business-friendly state.
New developments: The Hilton Garden Inn in the Howell Place development in north Baton Rouge is set to change hands this month. Interstate Hotels & Resorts says it has a purchase agreement to sell the 131-room hotel to a fund managed by Fairwood Capital. IHR says it will continue to manage the hotel, which is located off Harding Boulevard across from Metro Airport.
