Former state Rep. Ted James has raised roughly $200,000 more than incumbent Sharon Weston Broome for this fall’s mayoral race, according to campaign finance reports filed on Thursday.  James… Already an INSIDER? Sign in. We are glad you enjoy reading Business Report. Continue reading this story and get ACCESS to all our content from any device with a subscription now. Click to become an INSIDER for under $2.00 a week Get access to more than a decade of story archives. Get access to our searchable data center of TOP LISTS. Get exclusive content only available to INSIDERS. Already ..read more

Free training: Baton Rouge Community College has partnered with ChargerHelp! to host a Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Operations and Maintenance Training course for free. Trainees will learn standard electrical practices to become repair technicians for electric vehicles. Texas gold: Crude oil futures rose this week, recovering losses from earlier in the session as U.S. crude inventories fell. Oil prices found support after U.S. commercial crude stockpiles declined by 1.4 million barrels in the first week of May, according to official data from the Energy Information Administration. The dec ..read more

A tenant in a commercial building purchased the property for $1 million, according to a deal filed Thursday with the East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court. Thomas and Ursula Laville purchased … Already an INSIDER? Sign in. We are glad you enjoy reading Business Report. Continue reading this story and get ACCESS to all our content from any device with a subscription now. Click to become an INSIDER for under $2.00 a week Get access to more than a decade of story archives. Get access to our searchable data center of TOP LISTS. Get exclusive content only available to INSIDERS. Already a ..read more

In a new commentary released on Friday, the Public Affairs Council of Louisiana urges state senators—currently in charge of the budget bills—to prioritize early childhood education and coastal restoration work with the updated income projections.  On Thursday, lawmakers learned they had more money than they thought to spend after state revenue projections were adjusted upward through June of next year.  Along with funding early childhood education and coastal restoration initiatives, PAR suggests lawmakers focus on paying down debts, such as retirement debt, to lessen the fiscal clif ..read more

Following tens of millions in recent investment along Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge’s redevelopment authority is in the midst of creating a master plan for the 12-mile roadway, an important historic commercial corridor for the city that spans downtown to the parish line. Underway since last June, the Florida Corridor Plan should be completed at the end of the summer, says Build Baton Rouge Vice President for Planning and Policy Gretchen Siemers. The plan is being funded through a tax increment financing district established in 2021 around the Amazon fulfillment center on the site of the forme ..read more

Field trip: Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and a delegation of nine state lawmakers on Thursday visited Louisiana National Guard troops deployed to the U.S. southern border in Texas, where they praised their home state’s soldiers and blasted Democratic President Joe Biden for what they contend are failed federal immigration policies. Read more from USA Today Network.  Rehearing: Attorneys representing those opposed to the incorporation of the city of St. George filed the necessary paperwork Thursday to request a rehearing of the matter before the Louisiana State Supreme Court. The attorneys w ..read more

As the courts continue to wade through our congressional map drama, some donors, consultants and others who spend or make money on Louisiana politics are in limbo waiting to either cut checks or get them. “It’s hard for people to give you money when you don’t know what the district is,” says consultant Roy Fletcher, who adds that political professionals should be prepared to pivot, especially as we inch closer to the July qualifying period. That said, money isn’t exactly staying in pockets for all candidates. Sen. Cleo Fields has raised in excess of $600,000 for his bid for Louisiana’s second ..read more

A property that has previously been home to several restaurants has changed ownership, according to a deal filed this week with the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court’s office. Hialiang Lin purc… Already an INSIDER? Sign in. We are glad you enjoy reading Business Report. Continue reading this story and get ACCESS to all our content from any device with a subscription now. Click to become an INSIDER for under $2.00 a week Get access to more than a decade of story archives. Get access to our searchable data center of TOP LISTS. Get exclusive content only available to INSIDERS. Already an ..read more

New Orleans-based SafePush took home the $100,000 investment prize at the High Stakes Pitch Competition that closed out Baton Rouge Entrepreneurship Week on Thursday night. SafePush is a biomedical product development company that is developing a disposable device that regulates how quickly a medication is injected into a patient. The device, which attaches to the tip of a syringe, is intended to eliminate human error when administering high-alert medications. Currently, the flow rate of an injection is often left in the hands of the nurse holding the syringe. When medications are injected to ..read more

What started in Kurt Ainsworth’s Baton Rouge backyard has grown into a company worth hundreds of millions. Marucci Sports solidified its position as one of the Capital City’s fastest-growing companies in 2020 when it sold to Compass Diversified Holdings for $200 million. Then, in 2023, the company was sold again—this time to Fox Factory Holding Corp. for a staggering $572 million. “I never could’ve imagined this,” says Ainsworth, a former Major League Baseball player who now serves as CEO of Marucci Sports. “It’s been a really fun run.” So now that Marucci Sports is once again under new owner ..read more