Blue Marble Imaging has joined the Louisiana Technology Park. Blue Marble is a professional, full-service photofinishing laboratory that also is developing a tool that combines the different software programs photographers utilize into one overarching interface.
Dottie Belletto, the founder/CEO of New Orleans Convention Company, has formed a Capital Region division that will operate as the Baton Rouge Convention Company. The expansion is a result of business growth and development throughout the state’s cultural economy, including meetings and conventions, tourism and hospitality and film industries.
Future Fitness has opened a 3,000-square-foot addition that doubles the size of the Caddo Street training facility and retreat. The facility now boasts a separate stretching area and cardio room with treadmills, elliptical trainers, recumbent bikes and spin bikes as well as a training room that will house Hammer Strength and Life Fitness equipment.
Grace & Hebert Architects has been selected to design the renovations and additions to LaSalle Elementary School. The project will include renovations to the existing building as well as a 27,500-square-foot expansion that will provide an additional 12 classrooms, increase cafeteria space, a learning resource center and additional administrative offices. The firm also has been selected to design the new Gonzales police headquarters.
HSoft Consulting held a grand opening for its Perkins Computer Center on Perkins Road. HSoft Consulting has provided onsite and offsite computer service, including network and server administration, software development and Web-based programming, Web site and e-mail hosting, and Internet support, for 15 years.
K-fx2 has designed a Web site for the Pastime Restaurant, pastimerestaurant.com. The restaurant has locations on South Boulevard underneath the Interstate 10 bridge over the Mississippi River and on Drusilla Lane in the Drusilla Shopping Center. The Web site includes a history of the restaurant, menu, entertainment schedule, online store, contact information and directions and a photo gallery.
The U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion, Baton Rouge held a grand opening for its Tiger Town recruiting station on Aug. 26. The station, at 257 Lee Dr., recruits men and women between the ages of 17 and 42 for active and reserve service.
The Southern University Law Center held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its $4.1 million building addition on Aug. 20. The 13,400-square-foot addition includes classrooms, faculty offices and seminar rooms.
The YMCA of the Capital Area broke ground on Aug. 13 on a 23,500-square-foot facility at 72nd Street and Howell Place Boulevard in north Baton Rouge. The facility will include a workout room, cardio equipment, kid’s zone, multipurpose room, aimasium, swimming pool and group exercise room. Meanwhile, ExxonMobil announced it would donate $1 million for construction of the facility.
AWARDS/HONORS
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber has received the Southern Economic Development Council’s Best of Show, Best of Class and Superior awards for its 2008 Annual Report. BRAC received seven awards, the most by any organization in the country, including a Superior award in the Newsletters and Newspapers category for Catalyst, the quarterly publication about The Campaign for a Greater Baton Rouge; a Superior award in the Thinking Outside the Box category for a live newscast from the BRAC Impact 2009: Results annual event; an Excellent award in the Websites/Other category for its Welcome Back to Baton Rouge workforce recruitment campaign Web site; and a Merit award in the Printed Report category for BRAC’s 2009 Agenda: Geared for Innovation.
Baton Rouge native and former LSU basketball player Tyrus Thomas has been nominated for the Jefferson Award for Public Service by an athlete. The national award recognizes community and public service and serves as a call to action for volunteers. Thomas established his Tyrus Thomas Foundation in 2007 to help improve the lives of children in Chicago and Louisiana.
Cox Communications has been awarded the 2009 North American Broadband Customer Value Leadership Award by Frost & Sullivan. The honor recognizes Cox for providing the most economical, secure packages for high-speed Internet customers. Cox provides service to the Baton Rouge, Lafayette and New Orleans metropolitan areas.
Dionne Viator, the executive vice president/CFO for Baton Rouge General/General Health System has received the Outstanding CPA in Business and Industry Award from the Society of Louisiana CPAs. The honor recognizes the contributions of a CPA to the business success of an employer and the individual’s contribution to the profession through involvement with the organization.
The Greater Baton Rouge Industry Alliance has elected two board members. They are: Thomas Yura, vice president/general manager, BASF; and David Brignac, refinery manager, Motiva Enterprises.
Fifteen attorneys from Taylor Porter have been named in the 2010 issue of The Best Lawyers in America. They are: David M. Bienvenu, mass tort litigation; John S. Campbell Jr., corporate law, gaming law, mergers and acquisitions law; Robert L. Coco, environmental law; Vicki M. Crochet, labor and employment law; Bonnie “Jeanne” Davis, intellectual property law; Paul O. Dicharry, environmental law; James L. Ellis, energy law; Eugene R. Groves, commercial litigation; Mary C. Hester, trusts and estates; Amy C. Lambert, commercial litigation; W. Shelby McKenzie, insurance law; John Michael Parker, mass tort litigation; Patrick D. Seiter, health care law; Fredrick R. Tulley, commercial litigation; and Gerald L. Walter Jr., environmental law.
The Highway Safety Research Group at LSU’s E.J. Ourso College of Business has received two awards from the Association of Transportation Safety Informational Professionals. The group received first place for Best Web site, lhsc.lsu.edu, and honorable mention for Best Practice for its project titled Crash Data Backup, Disaster Recovery and Replication, and Reporting System Solution.
Kassie Freeman, the interim president of the Southern University System, has been named to the board of directors for the Baton Rouge Area Chamber.
Keep Louisiana Beautiful has named S. Talmadge Singer II to its board of directors. Singer currently is a senior associate with Advantage Capital Partners.
The La Capitale chapter of the American Business Women’s Association has elected its officers for 2009-10. They are: Lois LeBlanc, president; Carol Newman, vice president; Christy Artigue, recording secretary; Melba LaFargue, corresponding secretary; and Mary Williams, treasurer.
Louisiana Economic Development has received the Southern Economic Development Council’s Excellent Award in the Magazines and Advertorials category for EQ, Louisiana Economic Quarterly and two Merit Awards in the publication advertising: campaigns category for two national print campaigns.
The LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business’ undergraduate program has been ranked No. 35 among public institutions by U.S. News & World Report in its 2010 “America’s Best Colleges.” This year’s placement marks an overall jump of 17 spots from last year in the overall rankings and a jump of 14 spots in the public ranking of undergraduate business programs. The college’s undergraduate program has now ranked in the magazine’s top 50 for the last five years.
The LSU Manship School of Mass Communication has received the inaugural Diversity and Equity Award from the Association of Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The school was cited for its comprehensive diversity plan, fundraising for diversity, organized efforts to recruit faculty and students, constant attention to the classes it offers; faculty research and service to other universities’ journalists and the public through its Forum on Media Diversity Web site.
The NeuroMedical Center Surgical Hospital has been ranked as the No. 1 hospital in Baton Rouge and tied for No. 7 in Louisiana by Consumer Reports in its Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. The ratings are based on the federal government’s survey of more than 1 million patients regarding their recent experiences during a hospital stay.
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center has been redesignated a Center of Blue Distinction for Cardiac Care by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. The honor recognizes the ability to provide a broad spectrum of cardiac care services, including inpatient, rehabilitation, catheterization and surgery.
Rep. Steve Carter, a Baton Rouge Republican, has been named Legislator of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce Southwest Louisiana. The honor recognizes Carter’s efforts to pass a package of school board reform aimed at improving the quality of Louisiana’s public education.
The staff of the Comprehensive Medical Rehabilitation Unit at North Oaks Rehabilitation Hospital in Hammond has received a 2009 Top Performer Award from the Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation. This award ranks the CMR Unit among the top 10% of more than 800 rehabilitation facilities in the nation.
Stephen Maher, co-founder of Ritter Maher Architects, was recently elected as president-elect of the Louisiana state chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Maher previously served as a member of AIA Louisiana’s legislative affairs committee and most recently as Political Action Committee chairman.
Three attorneys from Baker Donelson’s Baton Rouge office have been named in the 2010 issue of The Best Lawyers in America. They are: Alton E. Bayard III, trusts and estates; Warner J. Delaune, intellectual property law and technology law; and Dickie Patterson, government relations law. The firm also ranked No. 1 in 12 categories.
ACCREDITATION/CERTIFICATION
Three members of Grace & Hebert Architects have earned professional designations. Joel D. Fontenot became licensed after completing the Louisiana Architectural Registration Examination. Michael Bourque and Jennie Aubert Kelly have earned LEED accreditation from the U.S. Green Building Council.
NONPROFITS
Following disaster services delivered by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge and others to families affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008, Catholic Charities USA has been selected to provide disaster case management services nationwide. CCUSA’s first federal contract is aimed at helping victims of disaster quickly access critical services and provide the ongoing support they need to recover.
PHILANTHROPY
The Entergy Charitable Foundation has donated $355,000 to Teach for America, the national corps of top recent graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools. The grant will help fund 650 teachers in public schools in south Louisiana. The gift brings the foundation’s total investment to Teach for America to $1.3 million since 2002; the bulk of that investment, $1 million, has been given since Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
