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CREDIT: Charles Breard
ROUZAN MOVES ON: Tommy Spinosa’s development beset by controversy continues to expand on 120 acres near Perkins and Glasgow Road. Last fall came news that Rouzan had snagged The Alamo Drafthouse, which will anchor Village Center, the commercial and retail center of the Rouzan development. The first phase will include the theater, other retailers, a 200-unit apartment complex and a parking garage.
>>> STAND ALONES
AWARDS | HONORS
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Baton Rouge General Pennington Cancer Center’s Zachary Smith, director of radiation oncology, and Melissa Broussard, a licensed clinical social worker, were recently recognized at The American Cancer Society’s Evening of Recognition. Smith received the Mid South Division Best Practice Award for his support and coordination of the Baton Rouge Palliative Care Symposium, which brought together more than 50 physicians and healthcare professionals to share best practices for improving peer and patient communication. Broussard received the Patient Liaison of the Year Award, which recognizes a health care worker who goes above and beyond to promote and coordinate an ACS program or service. Broussard connected 202 patients to the ACS in 2014, resulting in 310 services delivered to her patients.
AWARDS | HONORS
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The Southeastern Louisiana University Small Business Development Center was officially recognized by the U.S. Small Business Association as the best in the nation at the SBA’s annual awards held at the White House May 8. The award was presented by SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet as part of the SBA’s recognition of National Small Business Week. Present to accept the award on behalf of Southeastern were Director William Joubert, assistant director and training coordinator Sandy Summers, and business consultants Wayne Ricks and Brandy Boudreaux. All four staff members are graduates of Southeastern business programs.
AWARDS | HONORS
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EATEL honored six local high school students at annual Technology Awards Ceremony and were presented with a touch-screen, ultra-portable laptop computer. Applicants were required to have a 3.0 or higher overall grade point average, actively participate in school and community activities and plan to pursue a major in one of the STEM categories: science, technology, engineering or math. The following students are award recipients: Dominique Thomas of Donaldsonville High School, Christian Logarbo of Dutchtown High School, Anastasia Britton of East Ascension High School, Joseph Baker of St. Amant High School, Tyler McMorris of French Settlement High School and Sarah Hess of Maurepas High School.
COMPANY NEWS
Neighbors Federal Credit Union opened 54 youth share accounts during National Credit Union Youth Month in April. During that month, 701 members under the age of 18 made deposits and $273,359.49 were deposited into youth accounts. NFCU waived the $5 membership fee on all new youth share accounts, so a child needed only $5 to open an account instead of $10. The credit union allowed children to use the lobby coin counters at no charge when depositing money into their youth savings accounts; placed coupons, coloring sheets and financial literacy quizzes on its website and social media sites; and automatically entered youth who opened a share account or made a deposit into a drawing for BREC’s Baton Rouge Zoo daily passes or a grand prize of a Safari Club Membership to the zoo.
Xdesign’s front end developer and most recent hire Quinton “Q” Jason Jr. is heading to Las Vegas in June to represent Baton Rouge and to present his ideas on the future of web technology at Future Insights Live. He will be presenting alongside companies such as Google, Microsoft and Netflix. His presentation to the conference will focus on web animations that can scale perfectly on any device, reducing the amount of work it would take using outdated methods. This method uses scalable vector graphics to implement a better user experience for web visitors.
ACCREDITATION | CERTIFICATION
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center has earned redesignation as a NICHE facility, signifying national recognition for the quality of health care it provides to the elderly. A NICHE designation means that patients 65 years and older can expect a higher level of care from a nursing team specially trained to recognize and treat geriatric health conditions. OLOL has been designated as a NICHE facility since 2012. To receive redesignation, the hospital engaged in a renewal process that included an evaluation of the program, NICHE training for nurses and nursing leaders and a demonstration of commitment to future program development for patients 65 and older. NICHE stands for Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders.
The Spine Hospital of Louisiana at The NeuroMedical Center received a perfect five stars from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. According to CMS data, only seven percent of the 3,500 Medicare-certified hospitals nationwide received this rating based on patient satisfaction and experience based on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. In addition to being one of only two hospitals in the Greater Baton Rouge area and one of 17 in Louisiana to receive the top rating, the new data ranks The Spine Hospital of Louisiana as a Top 100 U.S. hospital (No. 94 nationally).
St. Elizabeth Hospital has achieved “Exemplar” status for its Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders, or NICHE program. St. Elizabeth Hospital is the first hospital in the state to achieve this status. Three other hospitals in the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System also achieved some level of NICHE certification. NICHE is a designation indicating a hospital’s commitment to excellence in the care of patients 65 years and older. St. Elizabeth Hospital has been designated as a NICHE facility since 2012. The “Exemplar” status— the highest of four possible program levels—was assigned following a program evaluation of the current state and future goals of the NICHE program at St. Elizabeth Hospital.
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George Patton Waters Jr. of Waters and Pettit Commercial Real Estate earned the Certified Property Manager designation from the Institute of Real Estate Management. The CPM designation is awarded to real estate managers meeting the IREM’s stringent requirements in the areas of professional education, examination and experience. Waters is co-owner of Waters and Petti Commercial Real Estate and has worked in Baton Rouge commercial real estate and property management for more than 20 years. Waters is a past president of the Commercial & Investment Division of the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors. He also holds the designation of being a Certified Commercial Investment Member.
AWARDS | HONORS
Law firm Baker Donelson has been named among the 50 Best Places to Work for New Dads in a report compiled by Fatherly, a digital lifestyle guide for men entering parenthood. With a growing demographic of active and engaged millennial fathers, this first-of-its-kind report highlights the best paternity benefits offered by companies in the United States focusing on factors that create a positive workplace for working dads and parents. Baker Donelson was highlighted for its father-friendly paternity leave policy. The firm’s gender-neutral parental leave policy allows for three weeks of paid leave for nonprimary caregivers, which can be taken consecutively or used over a 20-week period. Primary caregivers are eligible to take 16 weeks of paid leave, which can also be taken consecutively or used intermittently over a 40-week period.
The Baton Rouge Area Chamber honored five Capital Region teachers with BRAC Excellent STEM Educator Awards in conjunction with its Signature Speaker event, sponsored by ExxonMobil and Jones Walker. BRAC conferred the $200 cash awards after a competitive month-long application period to recognize public middle and high school teachers who demonstrate STEM excellence. Recipients included: Elkhan Akhundov, Kenilworth Science and Technology Charter; Ingrid Cruz, Scotlandville Pre-Engineering Magnet Academy; Justin Davenport, West Feliciana High School; Daniel Eiland, Woodlawn High School; Heather Howle, West Feliciana Middle School.
Lane Regional Medical Center has earned quality respiratory care recognition under a national program aimed at helping patients and families make informed decisions about the quality of the respiratory care services available in hospitals. This is the ninth straight year Lane Regional has earned this prestigious recognition. Only 15% of hospitals in the United States received this award.
Regions Bank has been named a winner of the 2015 Gallup Consulting Great Workplace Award. The award recognizes organizations that create an engaged workplace culture across teams, departments and locations to drive real business outcomes. Regions is one of 40 companies worldwide recognized by Gallup.
Woman’s Hospital patients have named the facility the only four-star hospital in the city. Woman’s received the highest rating of full service Baton Rouge hospitals in a recently released Medicare patient experience survey. Woman’s rating leads the state average of 3.2 stars and the national average of 3.3 stars. The poll, conducted and compiled by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, surveyed patients of more than 3,500 nationwide hospitals about 11 areas of their experience, including communication between doctors and nurses, responsiveness of hospital staff, cleanliness and noise levels inside the hospital and if they would recommend the hospital to others.
APPOINTMENTS | MEMBERSHIPS
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Phyllis McLaurin was named chair of the Baton Rouge General Foundation’s Board of Governors. McLaurin, who retired in 2012 from a 42-year banking career, served as senior vice president and market manager of JP Morgan’s Private Wealth Management for both the Baton Rouge and Lafayette markets. Members began their service in January and were elected to three-year terms. Newly elected board members include Scott Kirkpatrick, Keith O’Neill and Richard “Bud” Parnell.
>>> BOXED ANNOUNCEMENT
HED: Land on the Top 100 private companies list
Greater Baton Rouge Business Report is now accepting new applications and updates from privately owned, local companies for inclusion in our annual “Top 100” list, which will be published in July 21.
We rank companies by gross revenue, which we define as those sales or fees actually collected, retained and reported on your company’s financial statements before any expenses. Based on past numbers, companies with less than $10 million in revenue are unlikely to make the Top 100.
There is no charge to be considered for or included in any of our lists or directories.
If you haven’t received an email questionnaire, you can update your information at https://secure.datajoe.com/url/?2j4RDTwF. The deadline for all Top 100 submissions is Friday, June 5.
