The U.S. General Services Administration, on behalf of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, announced yesterday the selection of Maryland-based Smartronix Inc. for the redesign of the Recovery.gov website. The site is www.recovery.gov
US Army Corps
The Corps has completed the environmental compliance necessary to improve the La Branche Wetlands Levee Project Area for the east bank of St. Charles Parish. New Orleans District Commander, Colonel Alvin Lee, has signed the environmental document refining the Corps’ plan to reduce risk from a storm surge that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year.
“Now that we have environmental compliance, we’ll be sending out a solicitation to construct the Almedia and Walker Drainage Structures in St. Charles Parish,” said Carl Anderson, project manager.“Several other risk reduction projects are expected to begin for the St. Charles Parish later this summer.”
Individual Environmental Report 1 Supplemental, “Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity, La Branche Wetlands Levee, St. Charles Parish, LA” described the impacts of and general design plans associated with refinements to the proposed action which included altered construction access routes, the shift of a levee alignment in order to avoid airport safety lighting and the adjustment of two water control structures.Overall, the proposed changes, as outlined in the supplemental, will result in fewer impacts to the neighboring wetlands.
Alternative arrangements allow the Corps to expedite the environmental process required for this federally funded project while fully complying with the intent of the National Environmental Policy Act.
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana (BCBSLA) announced that it has promoted Greg Cross to State Sales Director.
Cross joined BCBSLA in 1999 and has most recently served as Regional Director of Group Sales for the Baton Rouge area. Prior to joining BCBSLA, he spent more than 12 years with Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. In his new role, Cross will oversee the operations of the company’s sales divisions including group, individual, ancillary, self-funded and national accounts.
Tobacco Free Grants
TFL has announced the new grant recipients for the 2009-10 fiscal year. More than half a million dollars has been granted to 45 community organizations and Louisiana colleges to support tobacco prevention and control programs that facilitate youth empowerment, promote advocacy, and engage special populations that are disproportionately impacted by tobacco. All TFL grant recipients will take part in a two-day orientation and training series on July 14-15, to learn how to incorporate tobacco prevention and control practices into their existing programs. Click here to see the list of grant recipients
LRA
State officials are hosting outreach fairs in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lake Charles this weekend in an effort to reach families who will transition off of the Disaster Housing Assistance Program on August 31, as well as those who are exiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency's trailer housing.
While outreach efforts have been ongoing since the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development agreed to extend the program in February, some DHAP residents could not be contacted or have not reached out for further assistance.
"It is critical that everyone in DHAP and those who are leaving FEMA trailers learn about these programs that can assist their transition to permanent housing," said Paul Rainwater, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. "With the last DHAP payments being made in August, and the FEMA trailer program having ended in May, we encourage anyone who does not have permanent housing in place to attend."
The fairs will be held at the following times and locations:
New Orleans Saturday, July 11, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Lindy C. BoggsInternationalConferenceCenter at UNO 2045 Lakeshore Dr.
Lake Charles Sunday, July 12, 1-5 p.m. Lake Charles Civic Center
Jean Lafitte Room, 3rd Floor 900 Lake Shore Dr.
Participating state agencies include the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the Office of Community Development, Department of Social Services, Department of Health and Hospitals, Louisiana Workforce Commission and the Louisiana Housing Finance Agency. Representatives from HUD and FEMA will also be present.
Families who cannot attend a resource fair can call 1-866-808-3487 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to have their questions answered.
There are currently 12,085 DHAP families in the state, with the majority - 6,526 households - in Orleans Parish and the surrounding areas. Jefferson parish has 2,295 families; St. Bernard has 975. There are 558 families in East Baton Rouge Parish receiving DHAP assistance, and 279 in Calcasieu Parish.
(LRA Press Release)
Shaw Group
The Shaw Group Inc. (NYSE: SGR) today reported net income of $7.9 million, or $0.09 per diluted share for the three months ended May 31, 2009. Net income excluding the Westinghouse segment was $48.2 million, or $0.57 per diluted share.
In comparison, the prior year quarterly period results including the Westinghouse segment were net income of $52.0 million, or $0.62 per diluted share, and excluding the Westinghouse segment were net income of $56.7 million, or $0.67 per diluted share.
Earnings before interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the third quarter of fiscal year 2009 including the Westinghouse segment were $71.5 million and excluding the Westinghouse segment were $98.3 million. In comparison, for the third quarter of fiscal year 2008, Shaw reported EBITDA of $113.7 million including the Westinghouse segment and EBITDA of $112.7 million excluding the Westinghouse segment.
Earnings for the third quarter of fiscal year 2009 were negatively impacted by increased costs on two fossil contracts within the company’s Fossil & Nuclear segment.
Revenues during the three months ended May 31, 2009, were $1.8 billion, essentially unchangedfrom the third quarter in the prior fiscal year.
The company’s backlog of unfilled orders at May 31, 2009, was a record $22.9 billion compared to $19.0 billion for the second quarter of fiscal year 2009 and $15.6 billion at the end of fiscal year 2008. Approximately $5.3 billion, or 23 percent, of the current backlog is expected to be converted to revenues during the next 12 months.
New awards for the quarter totaled $5.7 billion, driven primarily by the addition of the full nuclear engineering, procurement and construction contract for Georgia Power Company’s Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, a maintenance and modification services contract with Entergy Corporation and multiple new awards in the Environmental & Infrastructure segment.
Net cash provided by operating activities totaled a record $431.8 million during the third quarter of fiscal year 2009 compared to net cash provided by operating activities of $34.4 million in the third quarter of fiscal year 2008. Shaw’s total cash balance was a record $1.3 billion, the first time cash balance has exceeded $1 billion in the company’s history.
“While performance was relatively strong across most of our businesses, we are disappointed with two underperforming projects that impacted the results of our Fossil & Nuclear segment. Nonetheless, our record backlog along with record cash flow demonstrates long-term strength throughout our company,” said J.M. Bernhard Jr., chairman, president and chief executive officer of Shaw. “We continue to see momentum with our nuclear projects, and we are anticipating additional growth opportunities in our Environmental & Infrastructure segment through increased funding on existing projects and the potential for additional dollars through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“We expect full year 2009 earnings per diluted share, excluding the Westinghouse segment, to be approximately $2.00,” continued Mr. Bernhard. “However, given our strong cash generation in the third quarter, we are increasing our full year 2009 guidance for operating cash flow to approximately $525 million.”
