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Friday, November 20, 2009
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BUSINESS TODAY
Business Today for November 18, 2009
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Jindal: CenturyLink to add 350 jobs
Monroe-based telecommunications firm CenturyLink Inc. will add 350 jobs to its Monroe headquarters as the company expands following a merger with Embarq earlier this year. Gov. Bobby Jindal made a late-morning announcement today as he met with the company’s board and joined 1,400 CenturyLink employees for their annual Thanksgiving dinner. The $70 million Monroe headquarters’ annual payroll will gain 350 jobs, paying an average $45,000 plus benefits, by 2013, with 100 jobs added next year and 150 in 2011. “Today’s announcement is a huge win for Monroe and Northeast Louisiana — and it caps off a historic year of job creation in northeast Louisiana,” Jindal said in a news release. CenturyLink resulted from the merger of the former CenturyTel company based in Monroe and a larger Midwest competitor, Embarq. Combined, they make CenturyLink Louisiana’s third Fortune 500 company — with The Shaw Group and Entergy — and the company now has 7.1 million phone access lines and 2.1 million broadband customers in 33 states. Total employment is 20,000. CenturyLink will receive grants from the Governor’s Rapid Response Fund of $5 million over four years for personnel relocation costs and integration expenses associated with creating the new jobs. The company must produce the agreed-upon jobs to keep the grants, and CenturyLink agreed to keep its headquarters in Louisiana through 2019. It will gain up to $600,000 over two years to defray air transportation expenses associated with the merger, and the company is expected to use the state’s Quality Jobs and tax equalization programs.
Home sales rise against Gustav effect
The Baton Rouge area saw 555 homes sold in October, up from 532 that month the year before, though the gain likely stemmed from depressed 2008 numbers related to Hurricane Gustav. For the year, for example, there have been 5,799 homes sold, down 10 percent from the 6,462 sold in the first 10 months of 2008. The valuation of homes sold during this period is down 15 percent to $1.12 billion. Despite the increase in the number of homes sold in October, the total valuation fell. Valuation was $103.9 million in October, down slightly from $104.6 million that month in 2008. The figures come from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors’ Multiple Listings Service.
Shaw grabs Chinese chemical customer
Baton Rouge-based Shaw Group Inc. has won a new Chinese chemical customer, the company reported today. Shaw will supply Yulin Energy and Chemical Co. Ltd. with design services and technology for a catalytic cracking unit producing 1,500 kilo tons per year of ethylene and propylene. Work will take place in the Shaanxi province in north China, Shaw said. Shaw didn’t disclose the value of the contract, which is with a subsidiary of Yanchang Petroleum Group Co. — a state-owned enterprise that’s one of four oil and gas exploration companies in China.
Feds send La. $30 million in mineral funds
Louisiana received nearly $30 million in federal mineral revenues for the fiscal year that ended in October, the U.S. Minerals Management Service reported today. The revenue represents part of the money the Department of Interior office collected from energy production on federal and American Indian lands in the states. All told, the Interior Department raked in $10.7 billion for fiscal year 2009, with $5.74 billion going to the U.S. Treasury, $1.9 million to 35 states and $449 million to 34 American Indian tribes and individuals. Another $1.45 billion went to a reclamation fund for water projects, $899 million to a land and water conservation fund and $150 million to a federal historic preservation fund, the minerals service reported. Among the states, Louisiana’s $29.6 million paled in comparison with a quartet of Western states, led by Wyoming with $957 million, New Mexico with $389 million, Colorado at $187 million and Utah at $129 million.
State gets funds for labor market study
Louisiana's Office of Occupational Information Services Research and Statistics Division received a $2.3 million grant from the federal Labor Department. The money will be used to support the collection and distribution of labor market information. The grant was part of nearly $55 million in green job grants, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Louisiana and other grant recipients will be able to employ strategies that help job seekers to connect with green job banks and help ensure that workers find employment after completing training.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS
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