Where did those crawfish come from?

Most people are quick to reject labels. That is, unless you’re a crawfish farmer. For more than a generation, Louisiana’s commercial fishermen and processors have been pushing the federal government to implement a country of origin labeling system that would clearly indicate where the mudbugs are being sold come from. In particular, the Bayou State industry has been brought to a boil by foreign competitors labeling their bags with Cajun misnomers that imply their crawfish are domestic, but aren’t from our waters at all. Just in time for Lent, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is now enforcing a new rule that will require such labeling on the retail level. For David Savoy, president of the Crawfish Farmers Association, the country of origin labeling program, known as COOL, helps the local industry on one important front. “The COOL rules will help promote our Louisiana crawfish,” Savoy says. “It will make everyone aware that our product is homegrown Louisiana crawfish as opposed to Chinese crawfish.” Louisiana crawfish producers and processors have long complained that Chinese crawfish dealers are using unfair trade practices to flood seafood markets and undercut the value of homegrown crawfish. Chinese labor costs are significantly lower than Louisiana’s, and often, frozen Chinese crawfish may be found in supermarkets at prices cheaper than domestic crawfish, Savoy says. It’s so bad that many Louisiana crawfish processors have gone out of business during the last 15 years because of the cheap crawfish imports, of which 95% of the product dumped on Louisiana can be traced back to China. If the labeling debate sounds familiar to you, that’s because it probably is. Last year, the state legislature passed legislation that Gov. Bobby Jindal eventually endorsed that makes it unlawful for a Louisiana restaurant to misrepresent the crawfish or shrimp they serve as Louisiana-raised if it’s not. - Jeremy Alford

Tommy Screen is all grown up

Tommy
Screen

Though he's only 33 years old, Tommy Screen has had more than a quarter of a century of experience in Louisiana politics. He was just five years old when his father, Pat Screen, was elected mayor of Baton Rouge, and he spent his childhood following his dad around City Hall. He had an internship with famed political consultant James Carville before he even started college, and his first job after graduating was with the state's senior senator, John Breaux. So it seems only fitting that Screen has taken over the reins at Loyola University's esteemed Institute of Politics. To read the rest of Stephanie Riegel's profile in the latest issue of 10/12 Magazine, click here.

Ducks Unlimited rescues coastline

Ducks Unlimited is taking the lead in restoring a portion of the corridor's coastline. The conservation organization signed an agreement this week with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority to restore and protect nearly 2,500 acres of coastal marshland in Southwest Louisiana at a cost of $3.26 million. The money - a combination of government appropriations and grants as well as private donations - will be used to construct nearly 250,000 linear feet of marsh terraces in areas plagued by saltwater intrusion and waves from hurricanes Rita and Ike. The project will also restore the natural habitat for the 10 million waterfowl that fly to the state's coastal marshes each year. Ducks Unlimited Executive President Don Young says the agreement "represents yet one more tangible example of Ducks Unlimited's commitment to protecting this vital coastline for wildlife and people."

InfiniEDGE opens tech center

InfiniEDGE and nStrumental have moved into the first building of what will eventually be part of an eight-acre tech park in Prairieville. The software development and graphic design firms owned by Brad and Czarina Walker celebrated the grand opening of their new $1 million two-story digs yesterday with a Super Bowl-themed party for 125 guests. The couple plan to start construction on the first of three more buildings sometime in 2010. They're also considering the addition of a training facility on some additional acreage behind the park. The site has generated a lot of interest, but unfortunately, not for any tech firms yet. "We have medical companies and doctors left and right wanting to move in here because St. Elizabeth Hospital is building a facility down the road," Brad Walker says. "But we've halted that. We're saving it for technology." Brad is meeting next week with an architect to design a floor plan for the next building. He adds that the firms, which were operating out of an old house on the site, are "real excited about the opportunity to grow" in their new 6,100-square-foot offices. InfiniEDGE and nStrumental added 14 employees last year, bringing the staff to 40. The new facility has room for 24 software developers, double what InfiniEDGE currently employs. - Penny Brown Font

Legislative caucus nominates women of excellence

The Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus has nominated 33 corridor candidates for its Women of Excellence Awards. The annual awards recognize professional achievements and contributions. Nominees are Margo Jackson DuBos, Charmaine Caccioppi, Yvette Jones, Alexina Medley, Lisa A. Blakes, Frances L. Hawkins, Madeline Doucet West, Carol McMichael Reese, Florence W. Schomstein, Gabrielle Freels and Shivani Gupta of New Orleans; Renea Duffin, Rachel L. Emanuel, Jacquelyn Reed, Kimberly Lewis Robinson, Julia Chan, Beth Courtney, Charlotte D. Placide, Ollie S. Tyler, Cary Biggs Kearny, Deborah A. Roe, Laurinda Calongne, Cheri LeBlanc, Frances B. Bennett, Pinki Diwan and Sadie Roberts-Joseph of Baton Rouge; Patricia Flad Edmiston of Covington; Patrice Pujol of Donaldsonville; Sarah Miller of Lafayette; and Destani Len Parker of Baker. Winners will be announced Feb. 27; the awards gala is set for May 6.

Last chance for Leadership Forum tickets

Stephen
Moret

10/12 magazine is bringing five of the most influential leaders in state government to your region to discuss the year past and the year to come over breakfast or cocktails. The Louisiana Leadership Forums are set for Feb. 11 in Covington and Lafayette. Speakers include Department of Transporation & Development Secretary William Ankner, Workforce Commission Executive Director Tim Barfield, Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis, Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals Secretary Alan Levine and Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret. The Southeast Forum is a continental breakfast scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at the Tchefuncta Country Club in Covington. The Southwest Forum is set for 4 p.m. at The City Club at River Ranch in Lafayette, followed by a cocktail hour. Sponsors include Business First Bank, Postlethwaite & Netterville and and Jones Walker. Cost is $20 per event. For more information or to purchase tickets, click here.

Poll: Respondents undecided on Price

Eddie Price

10/12 Weekly readers are undecided about whether the investigations into Mandeville Mayor Eddie Price's dealings are hurting economic development in that community. Thirty-six percent of those who responded to a 10/12 poll say they don't know whether the probes are having a negative effect. Another 35% say they are. The remaining 27% say the investigations are having no effect. The 10/12 poll is not a scientific survey and reflects only the responses of the people who choose to participate.

This week’s question: What is your view of the 10/12 corridor economy this year?

Places to be on the corridor

:: Feb. 4: Check out a virtual visualization of Louisiana's coastline at the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise, or LITE, open house from 3-6 p.m. Other activities include virtual fly-throughs of a 675-foot pipe-laying vessel, an oil rig decommissioning and one of the Wonders of the World. For more information, call 337-735-LITE or visit www.lite3d.com.

:: Feb. 19: The St. Tammany Economic Development Foundation presents What's In A Name?, a business assistance forum about intellectual property rights and how to protect them. The hour-long seminar begins at 8:15 a.m. in Room 330 of the Southeastern Louisiana University St. Tammany Center, 21454 Koop Drive in Mandeville. Speaker is Juan Lizarraga of Milling Benson Woodward law firm. The event is free, but registration is required. Call 985-809-7874 for information.

Faces to know: Rod West

Rod
West

Rod West has been president and CEO of Entergy New Orleans for two years. Before that, he was the company's director of electric distribution operations, where he led its rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. West was an attorney for Vial, Hamilton, Koch & Knox and Jones Walker before he joined Entergy in April 1999 as a senior regulatory counsel. A few months later, he became responsible for the company's regulatory and financial outcomes. West is the past chairman and a current member of the Louisiana State University System Board of Supervisors, and also serves on the board of Allstate Sugar Bowl, First Bank and Trust and is a commissioner of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad and Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. He has also taught sports law courses at Tulane University. The former outside linebacker and tight end for Notre Dame recently was considered to head the NFL player's union.

Viewpoint: We must do more with less in 2009

Sean
Reilly

What a difference a year makes. It’s a cliché, but particularly applicable today. For Blueprint Louisiana, a citizen-driven, nonpartisan effort to identify and implement essential changes to fundamentally improve our state, 2008 was a year of accomplishment. The list of positive developments was substantial—ethics reform, universal access to LA 4 (pre-kindergarten), workforce development reform, accountability in health care spending, additional sustained funding for transportation and one-time funding for coastal restoration. Much credit goes to the Jindal Administration and lawmakers for their leadership and follow-through on these important issues.

He notes the state embarks on 2009, however, with a new set of challenges, mainly financial. Plummeting energy prices and the trickledown effects of a battered national economy have turned the state’s finances upside down, leaving a mid-year budget deficit that must be patched immediately and a projected shortfall for the budget year beginning July 1 in the $1 to $2 billion range. To read the rest of the column, click here.

Sean Reilly is chairman of Blueprint Louisiana and president and chief operating officer of the Outdoor Division of Lamar Advertising Company.