News

EAP closes successful year The Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program (EAP) reports 157 startups screened from Jan. 1 to the close of its fiscal year, Sept. 30. Since inception, 347 startups and business ideas have been screened by EAP, and the program has provided direct services to more than 120 companies looking to launch and grow locally. “This program launched two years ago as a public/private partnership between BRF, the Caddo Parish Commission and the City of Shreveport is yielding higher than originally anticipated results based on similar programs around the U.S., such as Tech Columbus, Ohio, and others during their first two years of operation. We are well above our goals in job creation, companies launched and local investment,” said Dave Smith, EAP Executive Director. “EAP is 116.7 percent over its goal metric for finding funding for these business ideas. We are 35 percent over our job creation goal. Thanks to the vision and support of the groups that joined with us to help grow an entrepreneurial ecosystem here, we are spurring economic development in the region and seeing real results.” EAP currently has under contract and is providing services to 24 local companies that have so far contributed 66 local […]

On Oct. 28, Sen. Greg Tarver made a number of comments at the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget in Baton Rouge about University Health that are inaccurate. Below are some of the statements Tarver made, and our response to his comments. These comments were shared at a University Health Employee Management Council Update on Thursday, Nov. 3. Tarver claims: Minorities get second class treatment in Shreveport at University Health. Our response: Since BRF took control of the old charity hospital system from LSU in October of 2013, the hospital has seen more patients, dramatically reduced wait times for patients to get care, and improved levels of service. Statistically, the majority of University Health’s patients at the Shreveport campus are African-American and classified as indigent. Patient satisfaction with University Health is at an all-time high and continuing to improve according to independent patient satisfaction surveys. There is no way this record of serving the community can be categorized as second class treatment. Tarver claims: University Health built Provenance Clinic in an area of million dollar homes and they are stopping people from coming there from other parts of the city. The people they are turning away from that building are black. […]

An introduction to funding opportunities from the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Agency To increase regional entrepreneur services for your company Join BRF’s Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program (EAP) to learn more about federal grant funds that can provide free services to grow your business. This session will feature U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy. The informational session will outline: • What EAP is and what EAP can do for you • EAP outcomes to date • Federal funding opportunities that EAP can pursue toward providing identified services to your company • Elements of the potential/initial funding request We also will solicit feedback on your needs to ensure the most robust funding request. The webinar is hosted by EAP, a division of BRF – see registration link below. For general inquiries, please email [email protected]. DATE: Nov. 2, 2016 TIME: 10: 30 a.m. (Central) REGISTER NOW: http://www.tinyurl.com/eaplawebinar Disclaimer: BRF is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and webinar attendance is free.

BRF, formerly Biomedical Research Foundation, will continue to own and operate North Louisiana’s safety net hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe under a new collaborative partnership agreement we have reached with the State and LSU. We are very pleased that through negotiations we were able to reach an agreement similar to those executed with the other private partners, leading to a more balanced and sustainable financial model for the hospitals and LSU. We are also optimistic that the Memorandum of Understanding will serve as a platform in working collaboratively with LSU and the State to reach our highest and best potential. Under the new agreement, BRF strongly renews its commitment to the LSU School of Medicine Shreveport and the shared mission of meeting the public purpose by advancing healthcare delivery and medical education, optimizing resources, and improving access to a full range of clinical care services for the citizens of North Louisiana. In delivering on our public purpose over the first three years of partnership, BRF has vastly improved the quality of care offered at the region’s safety net hospitals while saving the state’s taxpayers more than $100 million. Through these negotiations, we have achieved what we believe will be adequate […]

BRF was a team sponsor at the fourth annual Federal Bar North LA Chapter Clay Shoot fundraiser to benefit Operation Bright Holiday at Barksdale Air Force Base. Operation Bright Holiday sends first term airmen stationed at Barksdale home for the holidays. The Barksdale Company Grade Officers Council initiated Operation Bright Holiday in 2008 as a morale booster for young airmen. Many first term airmen are away from home for the first time and do not have the means to travel home for the holidays. Often, they have not seen their families for one to two years. Airmen who are selected must demonstrate exceptional job performance to be nominated by their supervisor. In 2015, Operation Bright Holiday was able to send over 100 airmen home to be with their families for the holidays. Barksdale’s new 2nd Bomb Wing Commander, Colonel Ty Neuman, participated in the shoot along with 30 volunteer airmen and 17 teams. The BRF team consisted of Captain Joseph Arora, EAP Executive Director Dave Smith, and EAP Financial Analysts Julie Gilley, Michael Mazur and Kiley Grant.

With broad growth in many business categories, our brand is evolving. Biomedical Research Foundation is now BRF. Together, we are Building our Region’s Future.

Biomedical Research Foundation unveiled its new name, logo and other updated branding at its Annual Meeting hosted Tuesday, Sept. 20 at East Ridge Country Club in Shreveport. The organization’s new name is BRF, accompanied by tagline “Building our Region’s Future.” “We’ve decided to embark on a comprehensive rebranding effort in order to more accurately communicate who we are and what we do,” said John F. George, Jr., M.D., President and CEO of BRF. “We have a new name, logo and tagline, along with new statements of our mission, vision and values so that the way we present ourselves is more in line with the greater capacity we’ve achieved as an organization.” BRF’s mission remains to diversify the region’s economy, the organization’s original charge when it was founded in 1986 as an initiative to spur economic progress after a downturn in the region’s oil industry. In the past 10 years, BRF has added six new business units, grown its total assets from $63 million to $382 million, operating budgets from $15 million to $500 million, and total employees from 51 to over 3,300. “While biomedical research remains a very important part of our overall mission, we’ve experienced growth across many other […]

On Wednesday, Sept. 8, Shreveport Mayor Ollie Tyler and Jon Whitehead, Director of Business Development for Planet Aqua Group (PAG), announced that the city would be home to EAP portfolio company PAG’s pilot aquarium. From The Shreveport Times: A Shreveport landmark will soon have a new life as an aquarium. Mayor Ollie Tyler made the announcement Wednesday during an afternoon news conference. The long vacant Barnwell Center on Shreveport’s downtown riverfront will become the location for the area’s first aquarium, with a projected opening date in the summer of 2017. The development is in line with the promises Tyler made to the city’s citizens to bring more family-friendly entertainment to downtown. “We’re growing economically and attracting businesses that will enhance the quality of life for our citizens as well as our visitors,” Tyler said in a Wednesday afternoon news conference that outlined the project. The Shreveport Aquarium will be in the Barnwell Center on Clyde Fant Parkway and will feature interactive displays. According to the website ShreveportAquarium.com, visitors will be able to touch sea stars, sea urchins, shrimp, sting rays, sharks, sea jellies and more – including a  touch tank where visitors can feel sting rays and sharks and learn how these animals adapt and survive in their environments. Guests […]

EAP marks two years of launching high-growth local startups The Entrepreneurial Accelerator Program (EAP) celebrated its second year of operation and successful launch of local high-growth startups with the unveiling of the EAP Wall of Entrepreneurial Achievement. The newly installed wall, located at Biomedical Research Foundation’s (BRF) InterTech 1 facility, 2031 Kings Highway in Shreveport, features 13 of EAP’s portfolio companies that have been established in Caddo Parish and completed a capital raise and/or received capital investment from local accredited investors. “The companies we’re recognizing as we celebrate two years of helping entrepreneurs are those that have received EAP services, we’ve worked closely with to create good, high-paying jobs, that have solid business plans, good mentors and that are working to advance key milestones to continue growth and add to the local tax base and diversify Northwest Louisiana’s economy,” said Dave Smith, EAP Executive Director. In two years, EAP, a BRF initiative and public/private partnership between BRF, the Caddo Parish Commission and the City of Shreveport, has screened 326 companies and provided services to 112. The companies EAP has helped launch have created 76 local jobs. “The City of Shreveport saw the need for EAP and has partnered with them […]