Business Briefs for Feb. 19, 2012
Retailer opening Donaldsonville store
Discount retailer Steele’s is opening March 1 at 3465 Highway 1 South in Donaldsonville.
The retailer sells apparel, accessories and home decor.
Steele’s is headquartered in New York City and operates as a stand-alone division of Stage Stores Inc., which operates department stores under the brands Bealls, Goody’s, Palais Royal, Peebles and Stage. Stage Stores Inc. has 805 stores in 40 states.
Hicks acquires stake in Lafayette firm
Hicks Equity Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm, has acquired a majority interest in Directional Rentals Inc., a privately held oilfield services company with headquarters in Lafayette.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Directional Rentals also has offices in Houston; Casper, Wyo.; and Bakersfield, Calif. Directional rents tools primarily to directional drilling companies. The company’s rental equipment portfolio consists of nearly 5,000 drill collars, stabilizers and sub-assemblies in a wide range of sizes made from non-magnetic, nickel-based specialty metal and basic carbon steel.
Directional’s previous owners, Mike Domino Jr. and Ronnie Russo, retained minority equity stakes in the company. Domino, who joined Directional in 2009 and has been instrumental in the company’s recent growth and success, has been named Directional’s chief executive officer. Russo, who founded the company in 1984, will remain involved in the business. In addition, Wesley DeHaven has joined Directional as chief operating officer and chief financial officer.
Insurance agency helps get $5.3 million
The Louisiana Department of Insurance reviews of consumer complaints helped state residents get more than $5.3 million in insurance payments in 2011.
The department handled 13,208 consumer inquiries and 3,453 official consumer complaints.
The payments resulted from insurance claims disputes in which the department worked with insurance companies and consumers to recover monies above what the insurance companies originally offered to settle claims. Funds recovered are from formal complaints regarding property and casualty, health insurance, life and annuities and consumer advocacy claims.
The department’s life and annuities division drew the most questions, with 8,257 inquiries, and nearly half of the recoveries, $2.5 million. However, consumers filed only 471 formal complaints.
The office of property and casualty drew the most formal complaints, 1,731, and was second in inquiries, 4,257, and recoveries, $1.7 million.
The office of health had 672 inquiries, 1,248 formal complaints and $1.1 million in recoveries.
Hospital expands rehab, therapy
The Greater St. Francisville Chamber of Commerce and the West Feliciana Parish Hospital and the St. Francis Rehabilitation Services celebrated the completion and expansion of the hospital’s rehabilitation department and the addition of the Aquatic Therapy Program.
The center provides services for occupational, hand and speech therapies and land-based physical therapy.
The Aquatic Therapy pool helps patients who have physical disabilities and are unable to use regular physical or occupational therapy.
Seminar steers business to LSU
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber is holding a Small Business Education Series panel discussion titled “How to do Business with LSU” from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 29 at the L Club of the LSU Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The $10 seminar includes refreshments, networking and a ticket to the LSU men’s basketball game at 8 p.m.
For more information, contact Nancy Little at (225) 381-7135 or email nancy@brac.org.
Southern Law Center lecture set March 27
Courtenay Griffiths, of London-based Garden Court Chambers, will present the closing lecture of the Southern University Law Center Speakers Series at 6 p.m. March 27 in 130 A.A. Lenoir Hall.
Griffiths, who made Queen’s Counsel in 1998, will discuss “International Criminal Law, an Expanding Area of the Law in the 21st Century.”
The lecture is free and open to the public.
ARC Job Fair planned in Gonzales March 16
The Gonzales ARC Job Fair has been schedule for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 16 in the Gonzales Civic Center at 219 South Irma Blvd. in Gonzales.
Area businesses of all types are being encouraged to participate in the free job fair geared for local veterans and residents with disabilities who are looking for employment.
The 10 a.m.-noon period is reserved for veterans and individuals with disabilities only. Veterans must present their DD-214 discharge papers, VA card or military identification to participate.
Beginning at noon, the general public will be admitted.
The Louisiana Workforce Commission is cosponsoring the job fair along with the Community Opportunities of East Ascension ARC, Ascension Chamber of Commerce and Ascension Economic Development.
For more information or to register a booth space, contact Lynn Champagne with the Ascension Business and Career Solutions Center at (225) 647-5557.
Crunch Time Cafe opens in Thibodaux
Crunch Time Cafe has opened at 800 South Acadia Road in Thibodaux. Siblings Derek and Kimberly Thomas are the owners.
The student-oriented cafe serves coffee and other drinks and has computer tables. The cafe also has movie projectors, multiple computer stations and video gaming. The owners are targeting Baton Rouge and New Orleans for new locations.