Tagged: development

Officials say construction of a $1.8 million pedestrian and bike path along West Causeway Approach that will help connect the east and west sides of Mandeville should be completed in two to three weeks.

Mayor Donald Villere tells The Times-Picayune plans are in the works to improve traffic signals around North Causeway Boulevard and Monroe Street to make it easier for bikers and pedestrians to cross the busy intersection.

City officials say the signals will ease traffic flow and remove a major hurdle for people who opt not to use motorized vehicles.

Gov. Bobby Jindal is backing nearly $14 million in state construction spending to build a new automobile technology training center at Baton Rouge Community College.

The center will educate students seeking careers in the auto industry, part of a local community effort to bolster skills training in the area.

The governor announced Wednesday that he'll ask the Bond Commission to back the funding through the state's construction budget, the final step to fund the project.

Construction on the training center is expected to begin in 2014.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's office and the city's Office of Economic Development have announced a new program to encourage small business expansion and job creation.

The new financing program is called the New Orleans Small Business Assistance Fund. A City Hall news release Tuesday said it's a $2 million fund that will provide 8 percent interest rate loans to for-profit and nonprofit businesses for operating capital and equipment purchases.

SBAF loans are expected to range from $10,000 to $100,000. The maximum term of the loan is up to 84 months.

Officials of Ameristar Casino say construction of a $500 million casino is moving ahead on schedule and the development should open in 2014.

The American Press reports that since July, Ameristar has removed trees, set a building foundation and completed a road that allows construction workers access to the site of its casino hotel in south Lake Charles.

Ameristar Vice President Jack Mohn said the new casino's neighbor — Pinnacle Entertainment, owner of L'Auberge Casino Resort — has been accommodating.

Louisiana Delta Community College is launching a campaign aimed at growing the middle class in the impoverished Delta country parishes of northeast Louisiana.

The News-Star reports the goals of the Delta Compact — the name given to the marketing, education and development campaign — are to increase the high school graduation rate in the three parishes to 70 percent, increase college attendance among graduating seniors to 50 percent, reduce the unemployment rate and increase access to the Internet.