>>> STAND ALONES
COMPANY NEWS-Stand Alones.GlenPost
AWARDS | HONORS
Glen Post III, president and CEO of CenturyLink (second from left), spoke to E. J. Ourso College of Business faculty, staff and students in February as part of the Flores MBA Distinguished Speaker Series. Pictured with him are Dean Richard White, Dana Hart with the Flores MBA Program and Krista Allen, director of the Office of Advancement.
COMPANY NEWS
Horizon Wealth Management has joined forces with Masters Private Client Group and its name will change to Masters Private Client Group – a division of Horizon Wealth Management. Teaming up will create synergies allowing both firms to expand their services to athletes in Major League Baseball and the National Football League. By joining forces, Horizon will grow to 25 financial advisors located in 10 states coast to coast. The combined entries have nearly $1B in Assets Under Administration.
ACCREDITATION | CERTIFICATION
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Akheil Shah recently completed his architectural registration exams, qualifying him for licensure as an architect in the state of Louisiana. He was a graduate of LSU’s Architecture School in 2009 and has been a full-time member of Cockfield Jackson Architects staff in Baton Rouge since 2010. Shah is involved as a design team member in a variety of commercial type projects, as well as new and renovated residential projects.
Volunteers of America Greater Baton Rouge has achieved its goal of receiving a three-year accreditation from CARF International, an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services. The accreditation comes as a result of an intensive, three-day survey conducted last November in which the organization was evaluated on 1,914 standards. Organizational strengths noted by the surveyors included staff members who have the needs and best interests of each person served at heart, an outcomes-focused and community-driven culture, a solid finance committee and governance board and an emphasis on collaboration in the community.
AWARDS | HONORS
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Jamey Firnberg, president and CEO of School Aids Inc., has been selected as the 2015 David McCurrach Distinguished Service Award by the Education Market Association. This is the association’s highest honor awarded each year to an active member. The association was formerly known as the National School Supply and Equipment Association. School Aids is headquartered in Baton Rouge and has retail outlets in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana.
La Divina Italian Café has been chosen as a winner of The American Small Business Championship hosted by SCORE, mentors to America’s small businesses, and made possible by the support of Sam’s Club. The championship awarded the title to 102 small businesses from 48 states for their sacrifices and dedication to the success of their business. The American Small Business Champions each receive a $1,000 Sam’s Club gift card, an all-expense paid trip to a training event, SCORE mentoring for one year and promotion throughout the year to showcase each Champion’s story.
LSU accounting graduates finished with a top-10 ranking among some of the nation’s largest accounting programs on the 2014 Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination. Out of the 40 universities in the United States with the most exam candidates, those from LSU taking the test for the first time averaged a pass-rate of 69.1% of the parts attempted—high enough to rank the university No. 8. Additionally, among Louisiana universities and colleges, LSU ranked the highest.
TEAM Honda was recognized with Honda President’s Award Elite honors for 2014. Each year, Honda recognizes dealerships for exceptional performance in all facets of their operations: profitability, sales, vehicle condition, customer experience, service retention and brand representation. In 2014, the Elite level of distinction was added to the Honda President’s Award program to recognize dealerships that achieve operational excellence and also rank among the top 10 in the nation in new-vehicle sales and customer satisfaction.
Greg Watson, undergraduate coordinator and associate professor for the LSU School of Architecture, has been named 2014-15 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Distinguished Professor. Watson teaches first-year architecture and landscape architecture students fundamental design principles, and he leads studios and seminars focused on materials, visualization and representation. Prior to working as a professor at LSU, Watson served as an associate professor at Mississippi State University, the University of New Mexico, the University of Minnesota and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In 2001, he was selected as a Nadine Carter Russell Chair in Design at LSU. As an architect, he has practiced in Chicago, Maine, South Carolina, Mississippi and Minnesota.
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Bobby Yarborough, co-owner and CEO of Manda Fine Meats, was chosen by the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society board of directors as the recipient of the 2015 Grace “Mama” Marino Lifetime Achievement Award. A native of Baton Rouge, Yarborough founded Manda Fine Meats shortly after graduating college with a bachelor’s in marketing from Southeastern Louisiana University. Community involvement includes working with the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, Family Road of Greater Baton Rouge, Metro Area YMCA, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Baton Rouge, and the Baton Rouge General Hospital Foundation. He is a past president of the Louisiana Grocers Manufacturers Representative Association, as well as a past board member for the Louisiana Meat Processors Association. He is currently chair-elect for the LSU Board of Supervisors.
APPOINTMENTS | MEMBERSHIPS
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LCTA Workers’ Comp recently announced the addition of John D’Angelo to its board of trustees. D’Angelo founded Investar Bank in Baton Rouge in 2005, and grew the full-service community bank to 11 locations and $800 million in total assets within eight years. He was responsible for all phases of operations and successfully led Investar through its initial public offering in July 2014. Prior to launching Investar Bank, D’Angelo had 30 years of financial experience including positions with the former Hibernia National Bank and KPMG Peat Marwick.
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Jacob Kantrow has been selected as 2015 board chair for the Louisiana Resource Center for Educators. Kantrow is a shareholding attorney with Kantrow, Spaht, Weaver & Blitzer Law Firm. Also serving on the board are Molly Quirk, grassroots specialist with State Farm, vice chair; Jimmy Sylvester, VP of Finance/CFO of Turner Industries Group, treasurer; Jody Kennard, associate director of college counseling at Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, secretary; Abigail Cook, site communications and community success manager at The Dow Chemical Company, immediate past chair; and Alfreda Diamond, professor at Southern University Law Center, emeritus.
Preston Kennedy, president and CEO of Bank of Zachary, was elected treasurer of the Independent Community Bankers of America for 2014-15. Kennedy has served in many leadership roles at ICBA. He is a member of the ICBA Executive Committee and the board of directors. In 2011-12, Kennedy served as at-large director on the Executive Committee. He also was an at-large member of the board of directors in 2013-14 and served on the Federal Delegate Board. In 2008, Kennedy was elected state director, and he was re-elected for a second three-year term in 2011. He serves as chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank Task Force. Kennedy served as an appointed director from 1997 to 1999 and was a member of the Federal Legislation, Regulation Review and Lending Committees. In 2010, he was elected to the ICBA Securities Corp. board of directors.
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The board of commissioners for the Port of Greater Baton Rouge has elected officers for 2015. They include Clint Seneca, chief deputy assessor for the Iberville Parish Assessor’s Office, president; Corey Sarullo, branch manager of the Bank of Maringouin in Grosse Tete in Iberville Parish, vice president; Bobby Watts, employed by the East Baton Rouge Parish Tax Assessor’s Office, secretary; and Evans “Jimmy” Sanchez, regional process safety management coordinator for Enterprise Products Company in Geismar in Ascension Parish, treasurer.
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Jane St. Amant has been elected president of the 2015 Council of Residential Specialists, Louisiana State Chapter. Also installed in January were Carolyn Webber, president-elect; Mary White, secretary; and Gladys Smith, treasurer. CRS awards the Certified Residential Specialists designation to top-producing Realtors who have met specific requirements related to experience, transactions and education.
Dr. David Winwood, the chief business development officer at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center, has been chosen by the membership of the Association of University Technology Managers to serve as president-elect of the organization. Winwood joined Pennington Biomedical as its first chief business development officer in July 2014 with a focus on taking local health, prevention and chronic disease treatment discoveries to the global marketplace. During his term as AUTM president, he will engage with industry partners to improve collaboration efficiency and implement the organization’s mission to support and develop academic technology transfer.
