Optimism among Louisiana’s small businesses continued to slide in the 1st Quarter of the year. The National Federation of Independent Business maintains a Small Business Optimism Index, which shows a 15th straight month of decline. NFIB state director Dawn McVea says inflation, labor shortages and a post-pandemic lack of customers are the main reasons why…
Cut 10 (12) “…about the future.”
43-percent of owners reported job openings were hard to fill.

It’s been difficult year for strawberry farmers, who have battled too much rain at times and a fungus that infected one particular berry plant. Livingston Parish Strawberry producer Rhonda Poche says inflation has also been a problem, but she loves what she does…
cut 6 (05) “…labor of love”

Fewer students are receiving the TOPS scholarship. That’s according to Higher Education Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed, who says eight-thousand TOP eligible students last year did not continue their education after high school and another 14-percent of eligible students, enrolled out of state. Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance Executive Director Sujuan Bouttee says other states are luring TOPS students…
cut 15 (12) “….costs lower”

New federal data shows suicide rates increased four-percent in 2021 after two years in decline. LSU Health New Orleans Chair of Psychiatry Doctor Rahn Bailey reminds those in need there’s a new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number 9-8-8…
cut 9 (04) “…best advice”
The federal data also shows the suicide rate for men is four times that of women.