BusinessReport.com

All Star Automotive Group has an agreement to buy Graves Chevrolet in Baker. According to a Graves official, the dealership will change its name to All Star in March. Financial details of the sale were not disclosed. All Star, which was founded in 1987, has 10 locations and annual sales of $450 million.

Antares Technology Solutions, an IT consulting and software design firm, has opened an office in Houston, where it has clients in the energy and health-care industries. The company currently has three employees in Houston and plans to add more.

Baton Rouge General has begun using NexTalk, which allows deaf and hearing-impaired patients to link to an online sign-language interpreter, allowing communication 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The technology is available at the Bluebonnet and Mid City hospitals, including the emergency departments.

Baton Rouge Spay/Neuter Clinic, which offers low-cost sterilizations of cats and dogs, has opened on Greenwell Springs Road. The clinic, across from Greco Pet Supply, charges between $25 and $75 to spay or neuter pets.

Chemtech Chemical Services has created a Houston-based process-chemical division, Chemtech Performance Services, which began operating Jan. 1. CPS provides chemical-treatment programs and engineering services to refining and petrochemical industries in North America.

Franklin Industries has created an environmental-affairs division consisting of experienced state-agency personnel who are specialized in public policy and science. The division, which seeks to encourage environmental improvements and efficiency through lobbying, activism and education, will be led by Vice President Chuck Carr Brown.

Lofton Staffing Services has created a division, Lofton Energy Services, for oil-and-gas clients that need supplemental support. The company has more than 30 years’ experience in providing personnel to the oil-and-gas industry, including offshore and land-based exploration and production support, and has crews working in seven states and the Gulf of Mexico.

LSU has been named to the Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of the Best 100 Values in Public Colleges for 2009-10. The school ranks No. 47 for in-state students and No. 51 for out-of-state students. The rankings are based on academics and affordability. Data from more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities are used to prepare a list of 120 schools based on academic quality. The magazine then ranks the schools on cost and financial aid, with academic quality carrying more weight than cost.

The NeuroMedical Surgical Center has opened a Neurosurgery Satellite Clinic at 10292 Gould Dr., in St. Francisville. Dr. Scott W. Soleau, an adult and pediatric neurosurgeon, will see patients at this location twice a month. The NeuroMedical Surgical Center also has closed its satellite clinic in Vidalia.

Philip Mayeux has opened All Access Agency as an expansion of The Mayeux Group, offering auto, homeowners, renters, flood, life, health, commercial and RV insurance policies.

Piggly Wiggly has opened its sixth Baton Rouge location, in the former Winn-Dixie store on Government Street between Jefferson Highway and South Foster Drive. The 40,000-square-foot store features a bakery, butcher counter, delicatessen and pharmacy. Skip Jones purchased the site in October 2009 and overhauled the interior and exterior of the store, which will serve as a prototype for future locations.

The Public Affairs Research Council is accepting orders for its Guide to the 2010 Louisiana Legislature, a pocket-sized booklet with key information about legislators, other state-elected officials and agencies. PAR members will receive a free copy; nonmembers can order copies for $10 each plus tax. Order forms are available at PAR’s Web site, la-par.org. Orders can be placed by mailing a completed form to PAR at P.O. Box 14776, Baton Rouge, La., 70898-4776. Forms also can be faxed to 926-8417, or requests can be sent by e-mail to connie@la-par.org.

Sealy & Company has signed a long-term lease with Mohawk Carpet Distribution for 23,604 square feet in Lightstone Group’s Baton Rouge 12 distribution facility in the Industriplex. Jennifer A. Lee, Sealy’s director of marketing and leasing, handled the negotiations for Lightstone Group.

ACCREDITATIONS/CERTIFICATIONS

Greg LeBlanc, the clinical director of the Brittany Drive location of Baton Rouge Physical Therapy-Lake Rehabilitation Centers, has completed the Evidence in Motion Executive Program in Private Practice Management and has obtained his doctorate in physical therapy.

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center has achieved Magnet designation for excellence in nursing services by the American Nurses Credential Center’s Magnet Recognition Program. Only 5% of hospitals achieve Magnet status, which recognizes health-care organizations that demonstrate excellence in nursing practice and adherence to national standards for the organization in the delivery of nursing services.

APPOINTMENTS/MEMBERSHIPS

Andy Kopplin, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, is one of 14 people selected to participate in the 2010 Broad Superintendents Academy, a 10-month executive management training program run to prepare leaders from education, military, business, nonprofit and government sectors to lead urban public-school systems.

Arend Van Gemmert, an assistant professor in the Kinesiology Department in the LSU College of Education, has been elected 2011 president-elect of the International Graphonomics Society for a two-year term. Van Gemmert joined the division of motor behavior in the Kinesiology Department in 2008 and teaches classes in motor learning.

The Capital Region Builders Association has announced its 2010 board of directors. Officers are: Jerry Passman, president; Thomas W. Ashley Jr., chairman; Wayne Dodge, president-elect; Tricia Guitreau, vice president of financial affairs; Willie Martin, vice president of commerce and development; Rusty Golden, vice president of government and public affairs; Kevin McCleary, vice president of associate affairs; and John Holmes, vice president-elect of associate affairs. Board members are: Patrick Allain, Frank Alpandinar, Gladys Broussard, Ronny Champlin, Jimmy A. Forrest Jr., Jeff Howard, Tim Kinchen, Robert Lynch, Eric Mautner, Richard Ourso, Wilson Reado, Tom Robb, Carol Smith, Dennis Smith, John Smith, Nathan Spicer, M.D. Stewart and Dick Whitehead.

Dek Terrell, the director of LSU’s Division of Economic Development, has had his chair, the Freeport-McMoRan Corporation Endowed Chair in Economics, renewed. The chair provides Terrell with basic funds for an extensive research agenda.

Gregory Price, director of consulting solutions for Texas-based Pannell Kerr Forster, has been named to the advisory board of the LSU Stephenson Entrepreneurship Institute. Price is a certified public accountant with 30 years’ experience in accounting, information technology and consulting.

The Louisiana Good Roads and Transportation Association has announced its officers for 2010. They are: Ken Perret, president; David Huval Sr., vice president; Johnny Bradberry, vice president; Ken Naquin, secretary-treasurer; and W.P. Wray Jr., immediate past president.

Nancy Crawford, senior vice president of medical staff services for Woman’s Hospital, has been named 2010 chair of the American Hospital Association’s Section for Maternal and Child Health. The governing council is a 15-member body consisting of CEOs and senior executives from the nation’s women’s and children’s health-care providers. As chair, Crawford will lead the section’s governing council on public-policy issues concerning women and children’s health, hospitals serving that patient population, and AHA member-service strategies.

The Pelican Chapter of Associated Builders & Contractors has announced its 2010 board of directors. Officers are: John Schempf, chairman; Mike Moran, chair-elect; Bryan Haymon, secretary; Jeff Gould, treasurer; Jerome Mabile, vice chair of education and manpower; Troy Allen, vice chair member growth; Stephanie Lorio, vice chair member services; Johnny Barbo, vice chair outlying area; Todd Grigsby, vice chair governmental relations; and Scott Barringer, past chairman. Board members are: Ben Bourgeois, Ronnie Gulino, Bryan Knost, Chet Ferachi, Sarah Taylor, Kenny Freeman, Harvey Hilburn, Glen Redd, Thad Rispone and Stephen Toups. Bayou Chapter representatives are: Dwayne Mayeux and Phil Shuler.

Stirling Properties has added Robert C. Feldman and Mark Salvetti to its board of directors.

T. Gilmour Reeve, the Helen “Bessie” Silverberg Pliner Professor and chair of the Kinesiology Department in the LSU College of Education, has been elected president of the American Kinesiology Association for a two-year term. Reeve has been chair of the department since 2008.

Vance Gibbs, a partner at Kean Miller, has been appointed to the national board of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, which is dedicated to finding a cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Woman’s Hospital has announced its medical leadership for 2010. They are: Jan Benanti, chief of staff; Yolunda Taylor, vice chief of staff; Ann Lafranca, secretary-treasurer; Terrie Thomas, chief of the department of clinical and support services; Timothy Maher, chief of anesthesiology; Marshall St. Amant, chief of maternal-fetal medicine/high-risk obstetrics; Kenyatta Shamlin, chief of medicine; Steven Spedale, chief of neonatology; Cheree Schwartzenburg, chief of obstetrics/gynecology; Beverly Ogden, chief of pathology; George Schwartzenburg, chief of pediatrics; James Ruiz, chief of radiology; Cecilia Cuntz, chief of surgery; and Henry Hollier, chief of urology.

AWARDS/HONORS

Baker Donelson ranks No. 77 on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. The magazine partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America. Two-thirds of a company’s score is based on the results of the Institute’s Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company. The remaining one-third is based on responses to the Institute’s Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring, communication and diversity.

John Maxwell Hamilton, dean of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication, has been awarded the Goldsmith Book Prize by Harvard University’s Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy for his book Journalism’s Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting. The prize honors the book that best contributes to the improvement of the quality of government or politics through an examination of the press or the intersection of press and politics in the formation of public policy.

Lewis O. Unglesby of Unglesby & Marionneaux has been listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America for the 23rd consecutive year. Unglesby has been recognized in five categories: personal-injury litigation, criminal defense: white-collar, criminal defense: nonwhite-collar, product liability and mass-tort litigation.

Louisiana Public Broadcasting has received two awards from the National Education Telecommunications Association. Return to the Forest Where We Live, a documentary about the importance of urban forestry, was honored for outstanding outreach for a licensee’s product. Fats Domino: Walkin’ Back to New Orleans, a biography of the legendary musician, won for best historical production.

Melanie Gall, a member of the LSU Disaster Science and Management program in the Department of Geography and Anthropology, has been awarded a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to develop a multi-hazard mitigation plan in accordance with state and federal standards for the LSU System. The grant is worth about $680,000 over a three-year period.

Ray Kothe of Kothe Construction has been inducted into the Louisiana Home Builders Association Hall of Fame for his lifetime achievement in the industry. Jerry Passman of Passman Homes was named 2009 LHBA Builder of the Year, and Tom Ashley Jr. of Expand Inc. was chosen as the 2009 LHBA Remodeler of the Year.

Trahan Architects has been selected to receive the P/A Award, presented by Architect magazine, for its design of a new River Center library. Less than 10 projects have been selected from more than 300 submissions worldwide. Winning projects typically range in budget, location, program, scale and architectural intent, and “demonstrate overall design excellence and innovation,” according to the magazine.

William Heine, the founder of Associated Benefits Consulting, an employee-benefit consulting firm, has been honored for 50 years of service in the group-insurance business. He is the first person in Louisiana to hold a Certified Life Underwriter and Certified Employee Benefit Specialist designation.