Business Briefs for Feb. 12, 2012

Seminar to help recession-proof jobs

An East Baton Rouge Parish Library Career Center seminar titled “How to Recession-Proof Your Job and Career” will be from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday at the Bluebonnet Library branch at 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd.

The seminar will include a “Job Survival and Success Scale” inventory to measure how participants perform in a number of soft skills and attitudes crucial to workplace success.

The seminar will be presented by Anne Nowak, certified job and career development coach and program director of the Career Center.

Registration is required. Call [phone] or email [e-mail].

Econometrics event being held at LSU

The annual Advances in Econometrics Conference will be held Friday through Sunday at the Lod Cook Alumni Center at LSU.

The focus is on research related to and inspired by the work of Jerry Hausman.

The LSU Department of Economics, together with the Division of Economic Development, the Real Estate Research Institute and the LSU Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, will host the conference.

For more information, visit http://www.bus.lsu.edu/economics or call [phone].

Series of workshops set for entrepreneurs

LSU’s Louisiana Business and Technology Center and the Louisiana Small Business Development Center are co-hosting free workshops for emerging entrepreneurs.

All workshops will be from 5-6 p.m. at the Louisiana Emerging Technology Center at Building 340, E. Parker Blvd. Sign-in starts at 4:45 p.m.

The remaining workshops will be Legal Structure and Intellectual Property on Feb. 15; Entrepreneurial Marketing on Feb. 29; Entrepreneurial Finance and How to Structure a Deal on March 14; and Pitching Your Idea on April 4.

Register at http://www.lsbdc.org/lsu or contact Daniel Vlosky at [e-mail] or [phone].

Rental firm serves event, studio clients

Event Rental will open in March off of Siegen Lane at 11134 Cedar Park Ave.

The business will provide services for weddings and corporate events and its local film and television clients like “Breakout Kings,” said Baton Rouge General Manager Jordan Miguez.

The location will house the company’s new offices, as well as a public showroom that will feature its range of production inventory, including tents, lighting, linens, sound equipment, decor, furniture and more. Design, delivery, setup and pickup services also will be offered.

Event Rental’s flagship showroom is in Gretna. Owner Richard Young opened a second location in Lafayette in 2010.

Grassland program deadline approaching

The deadline is Friday for applications to be considered in the first evaluation period of the federal government’s 2012 Grassland Reserve Program, announced Kevin Norton, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service state conservationist.

The Grassland Reserve Program helps landowners and operators restore and protect grasslands, rangelands, shrublands and pastureland while maintaining the land as grazing lands.

More information is available from a local USDA Service Center/Natural Resources Conservation Service office or at the NRCS website at http://www.la.nrcs.usda.gov.

Work-related injuries, deaths down

Louisiana’s private industry rate of work-related injuries and illnesses dropped in 2010 to the lowest level since the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration revised its record-keeping rules in 2002, the Louisiana Workforce Commission reported.

Louisiana ranked fourth in the nation, tied with New York and Texas in the 2010 Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses.

The survey found non-fatal work-related injuries and illnesses in Louisiana dropped to 2.7 per 100 full-time workers, down from 2.8 the prior year, and remains below the national rate of 3.5.

Of the estimated 11,400 cases requiring days away from work in 2010, a third were due to sprains and strains of the shoulder, chest, back, abdomen and pelvis.

The most common sources associated with work-related accidents were floors, walkways and ground surfaces, accounting for one in five accidents. Preliminary 2010 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries data show the number of work-related fatalities in Louisiana dropped to 104, compared to the 2009 revised total of 140 deaths.

Industries reporting the most fatalities included trade, transportation and utilities, 32; followed by natural resources and mining, 22; and construction, 16.

Flip Flop Shops open in Perkins Rowe

Flip Flop Shops has opened in Perkins Rowe at 10001 Perkins Rowe.

The store, which sells flip flops and sandals, is open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.

The phone number is [phone] and website is http://www.flipflopshops.com.

Gene Rogers plans to open a second location in Lafayette. A separate team plans to open in Metairie.

Flip Flop Shops has more than 50 locations operating throughout the United States, Canada, Guam and the Caribbean, with 70-plus shops in development.

Lane Behavioral opens Baker location

Lane Regional Medical Center has opened Lane Behavioral Health Services at 5550-A Thomas Road in Baker, its second location.

Lane Behavioral Health offers outpatient treatment for adults experiencing life-altering emotional crises, such as depression, anxiety, panic, stress, fear and other personal disorders.

Call [phone] in Baker or [phone] in Zachary 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday to schedule assessments.

Trahan designing project in China

Trahan Architects has been commissioned to design an $880 million mixed-use development in Zhengzhou, a transportation hub linking east and west China.

The Henan Hongguang Industry Group chose Trahan to design the 4.3 million-square-foot project, which will integrate hotel, office and living space with a retail component.

Forbes speaking at two LSU events

Steve Forbes, president and chief executive officer of Forbes Inc., will make appearances at two upcoming events in Baton Rouge in March.

In addition to speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Business Education Complex at LSU, Forbes also will be the keynote speaker for the college’s 2012 Hall of Distinction Banquet & Donor Recognition Ceremony.

Both events will be held March 2.

Workforce agency starts fraud hotline

The Louisiana Workforce Commission has combined resources within its Office of Unemployment Insurance Administration and the Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration to create a toll-free hotline and a Web portal for reporting suspected fraud.

Fraud can be reported by calling [phone] or by visiting http://www.laworks.net and clicking “Report Fraud.”

Examples of fraud include employees who aren’t eligible but who collect worker’s compensation or unemployment insurance benefits.

Other kinds of fraud occur when employers do business without carrying the required worker’s compensation coverage, or when they try to avoid paying their unemployment insurance taxes by improperly classifying employees as independent contractors.

Dollar General opens on Scenic

Dollar General has opened a store at 6315 Scenic Highway.

The store layout has seasonal products displayed in the center of the store, and departments are marked by visible signage. Coolers are located at the front of the store.

The store employs six to 10 people.

Dollar General has 9,800 stores in 38 states.

Worker’s comp council meeting set

A public meeting of the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Medical Advisory Council will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 22 in the fourth-floor auditorium of the Louisiana Workforce Commission Administrative Office at 1001 North 23rd St.

The purpose of the meeting will be to review the current medical treatment schedule and discuss possible updates.