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Saturday, November 21, 2009
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BUSINESS TODAY
Business Today for November 20, 2008
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Nerjyzed kicks off national ad campaign
Baton Rouge-based Nerjyzed Game Studios will debut the console edition of the Black College Football Experience (BCFx) video game from 9 p.m. to midnight on Nov. 28 at the Superdome during the 35th Annual Bayou Classic festivities. The event will kick off Nerjyzed’s national advertising campaign for the game. The campaign will include commercial time during NBC’s broadcast of the Bayou Classic, which begins at 1 p.m. Nov. 29. Nerjyzed will also host the first BCFx Sideline Video Game Zone during the Bayou Classic, where gamers will compete live on NBC. The debut event will feature ESPN anchor Stan Verrett, who will serve as host. Grambling State University alum Doug Williams, the Super Bowl XXII Most Valuable Player and first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl championship, and Southern alum and chairman and CEO of Nerjyzed, Jacqueline S. Beauchamp, will also be on hand along with football players, administrators and alumni of historically black colleges and universities.
Tech Park approves $2.2 million budget
The board that oversees the Louisiana Technology Park on Florida Boulevard approved a $2.2 million budget for 2009 that includes nearly $159,000 for nine months of a new chief executive officer’s salary and benefits. The Tech Park budgeted that money to give itself the flexibility to hire a new chief executive, although the board isn’t considering any candidates at this point, said Tech Park president Stephen Loy. The budget also includes $200,000, the park’s share of the estimated cost to develop a strategic plan for all of the parish’s tech incubators. The majority of the funds, close to $1.3 million, will come from the park’s share of the tax on hotel and motel rooms rented in East Baton Rouge Parish. The biggest expense, $906,600, is for data center services for the park’s tenants. In other action, the board re-elected Terrell Brown as chairman. Issac Thomas was elected vice chairman, Adam Knapp as treasurer and Cornelius Lewis as secretary.
Shaw wins U.S. Postal Service work
The Shaw Group Inc. today announced its award of a U.S. Postal Services contract for architectural and engineering services at postal facilities in the Washington, D.C.; Virginia; and Maryland areas. Shaw didn’t disclose the value of the contract, and Gardner Jones, a Postal Service environmental facilities specialist, said the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract has no current value and would deliver work to Shaw on an as-needed basis. The contract would be renewed annually for up to five years and is capped at $9.5 million. Though there’s the potential for a lot of work, Jones said, the total value won’t approach $9.5 million. Shaw’s George Bevan, president of the company’s Environmental & Infrastructure Group that draws heavy business from the federal government, said Shaw entities have worked with the Postal Service for more than 20 years, managing more than 100 major tasks in environmental engineering, emergency response and decontamination services.
Investar Bank building Port Allen branch
Investar Bank said it has started construction on its second branch. The building is at 3761 La. 1 South in Port Allen. John D’Angelo, the bank’s president and chief executive officer, said the 2,300-square-foot branch will open early next year.
Insurance exec appointed to Citizens board
Eric Berger, senior vice president of The Gray Insurance Co., was appointed today to the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. board of directors by Gov. Bobby Jindal. Berger, a Metairie resident, was nominated to the board by the Property Casualty Insurers Association. Citizens is the state’s property insurer of last resort. The 15-member board has struggled to muster a quorum in recent months, as several board members resigned due to the state’s new financial reporting requirements. The governor appoints nine of the members. Berger marks Jindal’s fifth appointment to the board.
LSU finds bacteria source in making rain, snow
An LSU science professor and fellow team members have discovered bacteria in clouds plays a key role in creating rain and snow. Brent Christner, assistant professor of biological sciences at LSU, recently found evidence that bacteria and biological cells are the most efficient ice-forming catalysts in precipitation. The formation of ice in clouds is important in the processes that lead to snow and rain, and ice-nucleating bacteria may be significant triggers of freezing in clouds and influence the water cycle. A news release from LSU said the findings take a major step toward filling the gaps in scientific understanding of ice nuclei in the atmosphere. They were published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Christner’s team, which includes Kevin McCarter and Rongman Cai of LSU’s Department of Experimental Statistics, and collaborators at INRA in France and Montana State University had previously demonstrated the presence of ice nucleating bacteria in precipitation. But the source remained elusive. The study found that vegetation and soils are an important source of biological ice nuclei to the atmosphere at some geographical locations. Though they were detected in snow from places as remote as Antarctica, ice nucleating bacteria may also exist in the ocean, or alternatively, are able to travel large distances in the atmosphere.
Distribution center set for Port of N.O.
The Port of New Orleans has given final approval for a new $11 million distribution center built by a private developer. Commercial real estate developer Edwards Avenue Partners will build the facility, which will include a 150,000-square-foot warehouse and a containerized depot, on a 28-acre tract west of the Industrial Canal. The port said the project is expected to bring about 80 new jobs to New Orleans in the next three years. Christopher Kane, an attorney for Edwards Avenue Partners, said private financing of the project would be leveraged with New Market Tax Credits. Construction could begin in March 2009.
Corps of Engineers holding seminar
Construction, engineering, design and project management firms interested in working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a West Bank project are invited to attend an Industry Day event at 10 a.m. Friday at the New Orleans Marriott Metairie at Lakeway hotel at 3838 N. Causeway Blvd. The event focuses on design considerations, construction techniques and material availabilities that will expedite construction of the Western Tie In, which will be constructed to connect the Lake Cataouatche Levee to the Mississippi River Levee. The project will reduce the risk of storm surge for the western portion of Jefferson Parish and the eastern portion of St. Charles Parish. For those interested in attending the forum, register for the event at www.FedBizOpps.gov. The solicitation number is W912P8-09-SN-0004. Non-registered guests can also attend.
Haynesville expo slated Friday in Shreveport
On Friday, the Haynesville Shale Expo in Shreveport will plumb the current state of the natural gas play that has led to millions of acres being leased for shale exploration roughly two miles below the ground in the Shreveport area. The 1:15-7 p.m. free public event will be at the Shreveport Convention Center, with the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce and a series of oil and gas industry sponsors playing host. In addition to more than 100 expo booths, guests will participate in breakout sessions on the Haynesville Shale in general, mineral rights, water usage and pipelines. At 11:30 a.m., an invitation-only energy luncheon kicks off the expo with featured speaker Ray Perryman, who conducted an economic impact evaluation of the 14-county Barnett Shale region in the Fort Worth, Texas, area. Perryman is now evaluating the Haynesville Shale area and will offer insights into the future impact on the Shreveport-Bossier City economy.
NATIONAL\INTERNATIONAL NEWS
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