Local help: The Downtown Development District and the Small Business Development Center at LSU will offer no-cost, one-on-one consulting services for existing and prospective downtown businesses on Fridays, starting Oct. 3. The SBDC will be at the DDD offices on Florida Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The SBDC services include assisting with access to capital, financial management, sales and marketing assistance, cybersecurity, business plan and startup assistance, and AI adoption. Little change: The number of U.S. job openings was relatively unchanged last month amid economic uncertainty arising from President Donald Trump’s trade policies and an impending government shutdown. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that job openings blipped up to 7.23 million from 7.21 million in July.