LABI Newsroom.

• Trick or Treat

  November 1, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack Halloween has come and gone…or has it? We are still surrounded by scary characters belting out bone-rattling sounds that send chills down every spine and fear through every heart.  Safety seems impossible to find and danger still lurks… (Continue)

• The Scores Are In

  October 25, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack Last week, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) released its annual legislative scorecard, now available at www.labi.org. Each year, we release an analysis to illustrate exactly how lawmakers voted on the issues most critical to… (Continue)

• Small Business Recovery is No Small Matter

  October 19, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack In August, Louisiana experienced a flooding event of historic proportions. Estimates are that 109,000 housing units were damaged, 20,000 businesses were interrupted, and property damages totaled $8.7 billion. Two months after the event, Louisiana families and employers are… (Continue)

• Manufacturing is the Key

  October 4, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack When you think of the American worker, what picture immediately comes to mind? For most Americans, it is someone working hard to provide for their family at a manufacturing facility. Don’t agree? Try searching on Google for the… (Continue)

• Sue or Get Out of the Way

  September 27, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack On September 21, 2016, a letter was signed and sent by Governor John Bel Edwards to multiple coastal parishes in the state of Louisiana to “encourage” them to sue oil and gas companies in their parishes, as… (Continue)

• Guest Column: When Demand Exceeds Supply

  September 19, 2016

  By: Camille Conaway Sitting in an empty committee hearing room in the US Senate in Washington, it struck me. We really are on our own with flood recovery. Three small business representatives traveled to DC to deliver powerful personal testimony… (Continue)

• A Reminder to Never Forget

  September 14, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack This week is the fifteenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks that forever changed this country on September 11, 2001. I was living in Washington DC at the time, working as a Congressional aide. Our offices were located right… (Continue)

• A Good Reminder

  August 24, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack Why again do we live here? Summers in Louisiana can be brutal, with oppressive heat and swarms of mosquitoes an annual tradition. Our coastline is eroding, our topography is flat and many of our communities are threatened by… (Continue)

• Funding Choice is a Matter of Choice

  August 5, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack For the first six months of the year, a constant barrage of state budgetary doom and gloom littered news reports and incessantly occupied the airspace. This political messaging machine was revved up and driven hard to stress… (Continue)

• Guest Column: Made in Louisiana

  July 21, 2016

  By: Camille Conaway So I’m a Dow baby. That’s right. Like so many in Louisiana, my dad spent three decades “at the plant,” joining the multi-national manufacturer fresh out of Glen Oaks High School and with the help of a… (Continue)

• The Quest for Common Ground

  July 15, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack “I do not like that man. I need to get to know him better.” Abraham Lincoln is credited with this quote that simply reinforces something we were all taught as a kid but too often forget as… (Continue)

• Back to the Drawing Board for Small Businesses

  July 6, 2016

  By: Renee Amar While Louisiana's tax code issues have remained at the forefront of employers and the Legislature for the past six months, the legislative activity has not stopped the federal government from meddling in the state's private sector. Many times,… (Continue)

• The Deficit That Won’t Die

  June 27, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack No matter what they seem to do in Baton Rouge, the deficit in the budget of state government won’t go away. A legislative session was dedicated to raising taxes in 2015. In that session, new taxes on employers… (Continue)

• It’s Time to “Chill-Ax”

  June 10, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack The school year has ended and children across Louisiana are beginning to enjoy their summer break. My three boys each have their different opinions on the best way to do so. My oldest is soon heading off to… (Continue)

• Beating the Piñata

  May 31, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack Some sobering jobs numbers were released this week. The Houma-Thibodeaux area lost 4,600 jobs over the last 12 months. Lafayette is down 7,700 jobs and has entered its 15th consecutive month of job losses. New Orleans is down… (Continue)

• The Other Side of the Story

  May 20, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack These are challenging times for many in Louisiana, including our employers. The state budget deficit has dominated the headlines for months, with several articles unfairly targeting the private sector to shoulder most of the blame for public sector… (Continue)

• Reputations and Rankings

  May 11, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack Reputations can be hard to earn and even harder to keep. This week, a few important rankings came out that provide insight into some aspects of Louisiana’s reputation. Chief Executive magazine released its annual rankings of the Best and… (Continue)

• June is Too Soon

  May 4, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack Here we go again. This week, the drumbeat is ramping up for yet another special session to be held in June to increase yet another round of taxes. As a reminder, this will be the third session in the… (Continue)

• Jobs Worth Saving

  April 25, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack Louisiana is a sportsman’s paradise outfitted with world-renowned hunting, fishing and countless other outdoor pastimes. Our people clearly understand how fortunate we are to have this bounty of recreational treasures at our fingertips and go to great… (Continue)

• Ready for a New Story

  April 19, 2016

  By: Stephen Waguespack And the hits just keep on coming. Employers in Louisiana have felt the pinch over the last year of an economy in recession, billions of dollars in more state taxes and a host of new mandates proposed that… (Continue)