Business briefs for Aug. 5, 2012
Heaux Jeaux’s opens on Airline Highway
Heaux Jeaux’s has opened at 14241 Airline Highway, Suite 108, across from Kleinpeter Dairy.
The wine and spirits bar has live music at least twice a week and hosts an open mic night on Fridays and wine-tastings and other periodic art events.
Holly and Joe Carey are the owners. Hours are Tuesday-Friday 4 p.m. until closing and 5:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturdays. Hours during football season are 4 p.m. until closing Monday-Friday and noon-2 a.m. Saturday.
The phone number is (225) 388-5970 and website is http://www.heauxjeauxs.com. It also has a smartphone app.
Gerry Lane signs Payless Car Sales
Gerry Lane Enterprises has signed franchise agreements for two Payless Car Sales stores at 1025 Reiger Road and 4960 Florida Blvd.
The franchise offers the Payless Assurance certified pre-owned program, with a comprehensive limited warranty, vehicle inspection and reconditioning, CarFax vehicle history report, roadside assistance, rental reimbursement and travel protection.
Gerry Lane Enterprises is a family-owned business, with dealerships selling Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Saab and Mitsubishi.
Payless Car Sales Inc. and Payless Car Rental System Inc. are based in St Petersburg, Fla., and are subsidiaries of Avalon Global Group.
Blue Cross selected
for anti-fraud effort
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana has been selected to participate in the Federal Fraud Partnership, an effort between the government and private payers to fight health-care fraud.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana started a dedicated fraud investigation unit in 1992.
“We are honored that Blue Cross is seen by the highest-ranking officials in Washington as a major factor in the fight against health-care fraud,” said Mike Reitz, Blue Cross president and CEO.
He said fraud affects private insurance premiums and the state and federal income taxes that pay for Medicare and Medicaid, he said.
Other Fraud Prevention Partnership participants will include the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, America’s Health Insurance Plans and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. The government is represented by the Department of Justice, the FBI, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Department of Health & Human Services-Office of the Inspector General.
Economic developer course being held
Registration has started for the next course in LSU Executive Education’s Louisiana Economic Development Certification Program on strategic planning.
The course will be held Aug. 21–22 at LSU’s Business Education Complex.
The course is open to the public and may be used as an elective requirement in the Louisiana Economic Development Certification Program. Topics covered include the importance of strategic planning in community economic development; the similarities and differences between community and organizational strategic plans; the elements of an effective strategic plan in economic development; and tools for building consensus on community visions.
Registration is $500 per participant. Members of LIDEA and LMA receive a discounted registration fee of $450. Visit http://business.lsu.edu/executive-education/Pages/EDCP.aspx for more information. Registration can be completed at executive.lsu.edu or directly at http://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1019501.
Linked-In Health
joins LBTC
Link-In Health LLC has become a tenant at the LSU Louisiana Business & Technology Center’s business incubator.
Link-In Health is a consulting and implementation firm focused on simplifying the integration of electronic medical record software for physician practices. The firm helps practices with compliance with Medicare and Medicaid.
Link-In Health was founded by LSU alumni Chris Peters and Jay Babb and recently hired another LSU alumnus, Ryan Bowker, as vice president of business development.
LSU AgCenter makes facility available
Recently completed laboratory and animal handling space at the LSU AgCenter Isolation Facility is now available to any researcher who has a need for containment and isolation.
Phil Elzer, assistant vice chancellor for research, said the building was designed for any type of work that requires a project to be isolated or contained from the natural environment. This work may involve pathogens, plants, animals or insects. The setup is versatile and can be rearranged to fit research requirements, he said.
The facility is at the LSU AgCenter Central Research Station at 2310 Ben Hur Road.
Anthony Bridges, LSU AgCenter research associate and building coordinator, said the 15 rooms in the facility where research can be conducted are totally enclosed with their own system for control of temperature, humidity and directional airflow. There is a separate laboratory suite equipped for basic microbiology, tissue culture or molecular biology.
Teche opening in Lafayette Oil Center
New Iberia-based Teche Federal Bank is adding a branch in Lafayette’s Oil Center.
Teche will take over the space now held by Capital One at 124 Heymann Blvd. The new branch will be Teche’s 19th location in south Louisiana.
Teche is the fourth-largest publicly traded bank based in Louisiana and has more than $843 million in assets.
Metro Airport
gets taxiway funds
The Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport has been awarded a $5.8 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration as reimbursement for the costs associated with improvements to taxiways A and B.
The state will provide matching funds of $641,108, bringing the total project funding to $6.4 million.
The project has been phased in over two years to avoid completely shutting down the taxiways and disrupting airport operations.
Taxiways A and B are main arteries to the runways and various locations on the airport. They are heavily used by commercial airlines, corporate aircraft and the general aviation community.
AlwaysCare offering second vision plan
Baton Rouge-based AlwaysCare Benefits Inc. announced its new Preferred Choice Vision Plans in a joint venture VSP Vision Care.
The arrangement allows AlwaysCare to offer its vision plans side-by-side with plans from VSP Vision Care.
“With two choices, employees can select the plan with the network they prefer — a combination of independent eye doctors, plus local, regional and large national retail optical chains, or the nation’s largest network of independent eye doctors,” said Gene Sherman, AlwaysCare’s senior vice president of business development and provider relations.
Export workshop set at Gonzales library
An export workshop titled “Louisiana Going Global” will be 8–10:30 a.m. Aug. 14 at the Ascension Parish Library at 708 South Irma Blvd. in Gonzales.
LSU’s Louisiana Business & Technology Center, Ascension Economic Development Corp., Committee of 100, the Louisiana Office of Community Development-Disaster Recovery Unit and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are involved in the workshop. Topics include benefits of exporting to Latin America; creating an export plan; preparing products/services for international trade; international marketing and distribution; international trade and finance; and export controls, trade laws, and licenses.