SBA Loans

The Southern University at New Orleans-Small Business Development & Management Institute will hold a "SBA Community Express Loan Program" workshop for small businesses on Thursday, July 10, 2008 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the Lake Campus (formerly the North Campus) at 6801 Press Drive in Building 43.

Army Corps of Engineers

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, has rescheduled a public meeting at CF Rowley Alternative School, 49 Madison Ave., in Chalmette to Jul. 17, 2008. The meeting was originally scheduled for Jul. 10.

Meeting presentation will detail the Bayou Bienvenue and Bayou Dupre Control Structures, Caernarvon Floodwall, Chalmette Loop Levee and the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal surge protection barrier as discussed in Individual Environmental Reports 8, 9, 10 and 11 Tier 2 Borgne.  The meeting will also briefly discuss the potential areas from which borrow materials may be obtained (IERs 25 and 26).

The meeting will begin with an open house at 6 p.m. during which Corps project managers and subject matter experts are on hand to answer questions citizens may have about proposed actions and alternatives under consideration.  A presentation about the hurricane system begins at 7 p.m. and is followed by a discussion period. 

New Orleans Population

New Orleans, hard-hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, was the fastest-growing large city in the nation between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007. This follows the city having the largest rate of population loss since 2000.

Houston, another city near the Gulf Coast, led the nation’s cities in numerical increase during the period. New Orleans had the fifth largest numerical growth.

U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today show New Orleans’ population rose by 13.8 percent to 239,124 during the one-year period, to lead all cities with populations of 100,000 or more in rate of increase. New Orleans was followed by Victorville, Calif., whose population climbed 9.5 percent to 107,221. Victorville, in Southern California’s San Bernardino County, saw its population pass the 100,000 mark for the first time in 2007.

Three Texas cities made the fastest-growing top 10: McKinney and Denton (near Dallas, ranking third and 10th, respectively) and Killeen (near Austin, ranking sixth). Rounding out the top 10 were North Las Vegas, Nev. (fourth); Cary, N.C. (near Raleigh, ranking fifth); Port St. Lucie, Fla. (on the Atlantic coast, seventh); Gilbert, Ariz. (near Phoenix, eighth); and Clarksville, Tenn. (on the Kentucky border, ninth). (See Table 1.)

Houston added 38,932 residents between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, to lead the nation in numerical population increase. Houston, which reached 2.2 million, was joined by three other Texas cities: San Antonio (third), Fort Worth (fourth) and Austin (eighth). North Carolina also contributed multiple cities to the list: Charlotte (ninth) and Raleigh (10th). Rounding out the top 10 were Phoenix (second), New Orleans (fifth), New York (sixth) and Atlanta (seventh). (See Table 2.)

New York continued to be the nation’s most populous city, with 8.3 million residents. This was more than twice the population of Los Angeles, which ranked second at 3.8 million. Chicago, with 2.8 million, was third, followed by Houston and Phoenix (1.6 million).

Lafayette Medical

LHC Group, Inc. of Lafayette Louisiana, one of the largest providers of home nursing services in the United States, announced today that it entered into a joint venture relationship, effective July 1, 2008, with Grant Memorial Hospital, a 61-bed hospital located in Petersburg, West Virginia, to provide home health and hospice services in Petersburg and the surrounding areas. All home health and hospice services currently provided by Grant Memorial Hospital will continue without interruption under the new partnership.

Grant Memorial Hospital, a regional healthcare facility located in the heart of the Potomac Highlands nestled between the Potomac River and the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, employs over 360 professionals that provide the nurturing care to those needing hospital services.

The primary service area has an estimated total population of 33,000, with almost 17% over the age of 65. Total revenue for 12 months for this agency is approximately $554,000. This joint venture is not expected to add materially to earnings in 2008.

Robert L. Harman, Chief Executive Officer of Grant Memorial Hospital, said, “We are very pleased to be a partner with an experienced national company like LHC Group. We have provided home health and hospice services in the tri-county area for over 20 years and believe that this partnership will ensure the continuation and even enhancement of these services to the citizens of the area that we serve.”

Keith G. Myers, Chief Executive Officer of LHC Group, said, “We are proud to be partnering with a provider with such an outstanding reputation and tradition of excellence as Grant Memorial Hospital. We look forward to working with the hospital to further expand services and to demonstrate LHC Group’s commitment to helping people in its communities by providing the highest quality home nursing services available.”

LWCC

For the seventh consecutive year, Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation (LWCC) has been named one of the 50 top-performing property-casualty insurers in America.

LWCC was selected as one of the Ward’s 50 from more than 3,000 property-casualty insurance companies nationwide. The designations are issued annually by Ward Group, a Cincinnati-based management consulting firm acknowledged as the leading authority on benchmarking and best practices services for the insurance industry.

“The fact that LWCC has attained this high standard for seven straight years demonstrates our commitment to providing the very best service to our policyholders, injured workers and agents,”

said Kristin W. Wall, LWCC’s president and chief executive officer. “As the only Ward’s 50 property-casualty company from Louisiana, we are proud to receive this designation that is based on safety, consistency and performance.”