The Louisiana Business Group on Health and several other local groups on Mon., Oct. 5, will host an educational symposium entitled “The Effect of Healthcare Reform on Louisiana Businesses” at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 4728 Constitution Avenue in Baton Rouge.
The keynote speaker is Alan Levine, Secretary, Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. From 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Levine and experts from business and the healthcare industry will present updates on the healthcare reform debate and how it will affect local businesses.
The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and registration is requested. To register, please call Doug Wilkinson at 225.578.0477 or e-mail doug@wilkinsonfoy.com.
The other groups co-hosting the event are the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Louisiana Association of Health Underwriters.
In addition to Secretary Levine, speakers at the healthcare reform symposium will be:
Mike Reitz, President and CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana
Michael Bertaut, Senior Healthcare Intelligence Analyst, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana
Daniel L. Juneau, President, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry
Mike Mitternight, President, Factory Service Agency, Inc., of Metairie and Past Chairman of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (2006)
Diane Davidson, incoming chair of the Louisiana Business Group on Health, will give brief opening and closing remarks. Light refreshments will be available from 11:30 a.m. to noon, with Levine’s keynote presentation to begin at 12:05 p.m.
Small Business Opportunities
On Thursday, United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Mary Landrieu, D-La., led a Committee roundtable examining minority entrepreneurship programs and opportunities for expansion. The largest source of contracting opportunities in the world, the federal government is obligated to spend 23 percent of its contracting budget solely on small businesses. The roundtable was focused on ensuring that minority-owned businesses are included in the process and receive their fair share of contracting dollars.
The roundtable, “Minority Entrepreneurship: Evaluating Small Business Resources and Programs,” focused on the difficulties minority-owned businesses have in obtaining contracting dollars, and also highlighted programs available specifically to them.
“One of our nation’s greatest assets is our diversity. We are literally the only nation that looks and speaks like every other nation on earth,” Senator Landrieu said. “That is a strength that allows us to be the most competitive nation in the growing global marketplace. The number of businesses in our minority communities continues to grow, adding to our competitive advantage. Minority business enterprises accounted for more than 50 percent of the two million new businesses over the last 10 years.”
“Minority-owned small business participation in the Federal contracting arena is essential to the health of our economy,” said Ranking Member Snowe. “Participants at today’s roundtable provided our Committee with insight on what works and what should be improved for minority-owned and other socially disadvantaged small businesses. I remain optimistic that we can continue our longstanding tradition of working in a bipartisan fashion to pass comprehensive contracting legislation that addresses the critical issues highlighted today.”
(Press Release)
Louisiana Women
United States Senators Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, tomorrow morning will offer keynote remarks at the Inaugural National Women’s Leadership Summit in New Orleans.
The Senators will address the importance of women in leadership positions, delivering energy security for America and the key role coastal states play in increasing the nation’s domestic energy production.
The Summit is sponsored by the LouisianaCenter for Women and Government at NichollsStateUniversity and focuses on balancing our energy needs while protecting the environment.
Ray Nagin, Tavis Smiley
The National Black MBA Association will honor black luminaries Friday night at its NBMBAA Awards Program, which will bring its 31st Annual Conference to a close —media personality Tavis Smiley and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin will attend and are among the noted individuals who will be recognized, along with the winners of the Chrysler NBMBAA National Case Competition.
During the day, motivational speaker Simon T. Bailey will encourage attendees to connect and reconnect at the Friday luncheon. Black entrepreneurs and inventors will also be recognized during the “Why Didn’t I Think of That?” plenary, which will be moderated by Randal Pinkett, founder, chairman & CEO of consulting firm BCT Partners and season 4 winner of NBC’s.
Shaw
The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SHAW) announced today it has amended its credit agreement to provide new and extended lender commitments totaling $1.0 billion, the entire amount of which is available for the issuance of performance and financial letters of credit and/or borrowings for working capital needs and general corporate purposes.
The credit agreement also enables Shaw to seek additional secured commitments of up to a total of $400 million under this facility and other supplemental credit facilities. Shaw also may pledge up to $300 million of its unrestricted cash to secure additional letters of credit, subject to certain conditions, in addition to amounts available under the credit facility.
The agreement is secured by a first priority security interest in all of Shaw’s tangible and intangible assets, including equipment, real estate and intellectual property; a pledge of all of the capital stock of the company’s material domestic subsidiaries; guarantees by the company’s material domestic subsidiaries; and a pledge of 66 percent of the capital stock of certain of the company’s foreign subsidiaries.
Upon attaining a one-level increase from the company’s current corporate credit ratings to BBB- from Standard & Poor’s and Baa3 from Moody’s and the release of liens securing supplemental credit facilities, the credit agreement will become unsecured.
“These commitments signify the continued confidence lenders have in Shaw’s business, both current and projected,” said Brian K. Ferraioli, Shaw’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. “The amended credit agreement gives Shaw the flexibility to take necessary actions to continue our long-term growth objectives.”
A form 8K regarding the credit agreement will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Sept. 25, 2009. The filing will be available via Shaw’s Web site at www.shawgrp.com under the Investor Relations section.
LRA
Representatives from the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Louisiana Office of Community Development joined with lawmakers and representatives from Dallas-based private developer Provident Realty Advisors in a grand opening ceremony held Thursday at the Lakeside Apartments in Slidell.
The Lakeside Apartments is a new construction, mixed-income housing development in the Lakeshore Estates area that offers 150 market-rate and 100 affordable units, for a grand total of 250 rental units.
To help finance the nearly $46 million project, the developer used $22 million in Community Development Block Grants from a pool of federal disaster recovery funds earmarked for low-to-moderate income households, which were "piggybacked" onto equity generated through the sale of $17 million in GO Zone Housing Tax Credits administered through the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency.
Paul Rainwater, LRA executive director said, "It is vital to Louisiana's recovery that we replace the rental stock lost in Hurricane Katrina. Mixed-income properties like the Lakeside Apartments provide quality affordable developments in attractive neighborhoods, helping to restore critically needed rental housing to a valued workforce that drives our rebuilding efforts."
Matthew Harris, managing director of the multi-family division of Provident Realty Advisors, said "We are proud to partner with the LRA, OCD, and LHFA in developing Lakeside Apartments and being a part of Louisiana's recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Lakeside Apartments is a beautiful, high-quality housing development located in the prestigious Lakeshore Estates. Market response to the community has been very positive, with more than 80 percent of the apartment homes leased since the leasing office opened in March, 2009."
A master-planned and gated-entry community, Lakeside Apartments offers spacious floor plans and resort-style amenities, including a saltwater swimming pool with sun deck; clubhouse; resident activity center; after-school program for children; business center; fitness center; sports court; garages; storage facilities; individual alarm systems in all apartment homes; washer/dryers provided in all apartment homes; two-inch faux wood blinds; ceiling fans in all rooms; stainless steel appliances and laminate wood flooring.
Louisiana has awarded a total of 57 Piggyback projects in areas of the state most impacted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, amounting to more than $580 million. In total, the Piggyback program will create more than 8,100 rental units to help replace housing stock lost in the storms. Nearly 7,000 units, or more than 80 percent, will be built in the New Orleans metro area.
It's nice to see that the Louisiana Business Group on Health will have Alan Levine as their stand-up comedian for the evening. Well worth the price of admission -- free and open to the public. This is almost as funny as The National Black MBA Association recognizing C. Ray Nagin. I would think they would try NOT to recognize him. I'm sure he'll keep his infamous style of "branding" New Orleans alive at this event. Perhaps they'll be giving him the first "Who I Never Want to Emulate Award."
Written by CWM
on 9/26/2009
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