Top 100
Business Report's list of the 2008 top 100 private companies
Education Secretary Arne Duncan proposes that college teams graduating fewer than 40% of their student-athletes should be banned from postseason play. Is this a good idea?
Issue: July 15, 2008
StartUp
July 15, 2008 issue
Former ethics board showed no class
The media was in a tizzy over the fact that 10 of the 11 members of the Louisiana Board of Ethics recently resigned. But that may not be a bad thing, given the board's checkered past. Plus: PAR fails to notice education reform, Parmount comeback, United Way Campaign Kick-off and congratulations to the Business Report team.
Walker center planned
Kent Walker with Donnie Jarreau Real Estate Company brokered a 1.77-acre tract on the west side of La. Highway 447 in Walker between Interstate 12 and U.S. Highway 190.
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No givesies backsies
With another tidy surplus on the way, why isn’t Louisiana seriously considering a tax rebate?
Chugging along
Rising rail costs are eroding companies’ profit margins, worsening an already stressed relationship between shippers and the railroad industry.
Going downtown
A look at some of the ambitious projects that have not—and might not—come to fruition.
Tara firma
The 40-year-old subdivision holds its own despite homes that are too old to have the latest amenities but not old enough to have charm.
Be our guests
Capital Region tourist attractions hope to take advantage of high gas prices by luring local residents who aren’t planning to vacation too far from home.
This old house
Nottoway Plantation, the South’s largest remaining antebellum home, undergoes structural, grounds and management renovations.
Many happy returns
BRAC’s ‘Welcome Back to Baton Rouge’ campaign aims to lure back young, talented Louisianans who went away.
Let’s make a deal
East Baton Rouge Parish considers a rapid response fund that would help entice businesses considering relocation.
Staffing solutions
A clinical staff shortage complicates the effort to bring Baton Rouge General’s hospital expansion fully online.
Branching out
B.R. restaurateur ‘Rocco’ Moreau plans to franchise his popular po-boys by the end of the year.
A plan for Baton Rouge
Massachusetts-based urban design and planning firm Chan Krieger Sieniewicz leads the consulting team for the next phase of Plan Baton Rouge.
Pioneering spirit
A growing group of B.R. workers takes a swing at everything from gas bills to global warming to overhanging guts by bicycling to work.
Wheelin’ and dealin’
From cruisers to cross-country and road bikes to mountain bikes, there are plenty of choices for the bicycle enthusiast.
No ordinary Joes
Starbucks and other java chains might be putting pressure on mom-and-pop operations, but many independent coffee shops are perking right along.
Packaging preparedness
With $11 million pledged from its namesake donors, LSU’s Stephenson Disaster Management Institute takes off.
Casting a wide net
Capital Region online retailers generated their share of more than $175 billion that was spent over the Internet in 2007.
With friends like these
Who needs enemies? B.R.-based ReputationHawk is part of an emerging industry that manages the online character of a business or individual.
Going for the score
State officials have convinced the nation’s top rating agencies to upgrade Louisiana’s credit score, but the fight for fiscal soundness is just beginning.
Huff and puff
But as Hurricane Katrina showed, there isn’t much that will blow down a concrete house.
High five
With good pay, flexibility, female mentors and recruiting commitment, five fields stand out for women in the Capital Region.
How not to screw up
A development center teaches budding entrepreneurs the right way to start and run a small business.
Loud and clear
A mass filing of lawsuits against employers for hearing loss could be the next big wave engulfing the court system.
Going for a spin
Thought to be extinct, vinyl LPs make a modest comeback in the age of CDs and digital downloads.
It’s contagious
Since its inception last year, the Volunteer Health Corps has grown to more than 100 members of the Capital Region medical community.
A virtual teacher
With help from the state’s fiber optic network, LPB adds a much-needed ‘wow’ factor to the digital classroom.
A huge hire for WAFB
WAFB-TV has a new general manager, and the only real question about the appointment of Sandy Breland to the top spot at the local CBS affiliate is whether the station will merely maintain its commanding lead over the other stations in the market or increase it.
A smart experiment
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber's next canvass trip is set for Richmond, Va. But local leaders ought to look at what's going on in Sacramento, Calif., where city planners have an aggressive smart growth proposal to combat sprawl and counter rising gas prices. Isn't that worth checking out?
An older, wiser Jindal
Gov. Bobby Jindal was flummoxed by voter outrage over the legislative pay raises. He was saved in the end, by bending to the will of the people. Now, he needs greater cooperation with the Legislature to make sure he doesn't find himself in the same situation again.
Letters
July 15, 2008 issue
Permits
July 15, 2008 issue
Company News
July 15, 2008 issue
Moving up
July 15, 2008 issue
I hereby announce my resignation...
Here is a list of people who resigned from state positions in the wake of more stringent financial disclosure:
Entrepreneur: Bret Esquivel and Darren Kattan
Before Immense Networks got its name from searching the dictionary and thesaurus and before it moved into a 600-square-foot office complete with coffee pot, water cooler and demotivational posters, there was the computer club meeting at Holy Cross School in New Orleans.
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