Vigor Industrial sees the light, adds $850K LED upgrade to Swan Island yard

The arrival of Vigor Industrial’s 960-foot drydock created quite a stir when it arrived last August, but a less-noticed investment promises impressive returns for the Portland-based ship building and repair giant.

Vigor completed an $850,000 lighting upgrade in December at its Swan Island yard.

Financed in part by the Energy Trust of Oregon, the project replaced more than 1,000 older fixtures with energy-efficient LED ones to address safety concerns for its graveyard and swing shifts.

Vigor projects…

Baker Hughes layoff hits home for Mineral Wells with 110 jobs lost

The Baker Hughes Inc. layoffs have hit North Texas as the Houston-based oilfield service company has cut 110 jobs in Mineral Wells.

The announcement came from a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice letter released Monday. The layoffs were effective Feb. 5.

Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) will layoff 7,000 workers worldwide as it deals with slumping oil prices and completes its $35 billion acquisition of Houston-based Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL).

These companies employ the workers who man the drilling…

Fair Board lays out timeline for convention center expansion

The Kentucky State Fair Board now has a road map for completing a multimillion dollar expansion of the state-owned Kentucky International Convention Center, which it manages in downtown Louisville.

The KICC expansion is set to start in August 2016 with an anticipated completion date of summer 2018. That would put it slightly ahead of schedule, according to a news release. The project had been expected to wrap later in 2018.

In the release, Kentucky State Fair Board president and CEO Clifford “Rip”…

Plans surface for 110-acre mixed-use lifestyle center in Chanhassen

A major mixed-use project would bring shops, restaurants, offices, apartments, a hotel and a movie theater to Chanhassen.

Scott Carlston of Level 7 Development LLC wants to transform 110 acres of farmland near Hazeltine National Golf Club into a lifestyle center.

“The city has done a good job of getting young families out here, and we have a survey showing there is a real void in this market,” said Carlston, who lives in nearby Eden Prairie.

The project is called The Quadrant and has launched…

SABJ welcomes Katie Burke to reporting staff

Katie Burke has joined the San Antonio Business Journal’s news staff as the paper’s new commercial and residential real estate, retail and legal reporter.

The San Francisco native will bring fresh eyes to the paper and looks forward to reporting on breaking and investigative news within the San Antonio business community. She is replacing Stephanie Guzman, who left the paper to pursue new opportunities in New Mexico.

Burke comes to San Antonio after working for the San Francisco Business Times,…