The initiative is spearheaded by William Jenkins, president emeritus of LSU and a South African emigre. He told me in an interview that his passion for providing practical schooling stems from his first-hand experience seeing apartheid:
“I was born into and grew up in apartheid South Africa,” he says. “A large number in that country were excluded from participating in a trained workforce. That was in many ways the Achilles’ heel of the country. South Africa still has a long way to go [to train nonwhites] to be able to fully engage in industry and commerce, and to have careers.
“I have a deep concern about, as a society, how we advance and how we compete nationally and internationally, absent a fully trained workforce."
I also wrote about independent pharmacist Claud Derbes (prounounced "derby"), who found some clever ways to trump big-box competition:
Derbes vies with chains such as Walgreens and CVS by offering flu shots, shingles and pneumonia vaccinations, and a quick customer response despite being a compound-prescription pharmacy, meaning his technicians mix medicines by hand.
He says customers drop off orders and then zip down to shop at Walmart, where they chide friends who wait an hour for medication that takes 15 to 20 minutes to get at Derbes’ store, despite the old-fashioned preparation method.
“They see friends and say: ‘Well, you’re a fool. What are you doing that for?’” Derbes says with a laugh. “We’ve been very fortunate. Business has grown very well.”
And, I wrote about a stimulus bill plan that provides discounts for companies that want to buy buildings, land and related assets in order to expand locally, rather than relocate in order to grow. That article on the Small Business Administration's 504 loans is here.
The Baton Rouge Business Report and I appreciate your clicks.
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