STAND-ALONES
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EVENTS
Business owners and executives at last month’s invitation-only Cover Your Assets 360 event learned how to navigate risks to their companies in law, accounting, finance, health care and risk management. Keynote speaker was retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Robert Wray. His message: Focus on your mission, skills development and understanding as leaders, and expect to increase your company’s success by 20%. Other speakers at the CYA 360 event, which was held at The Renaissance Hotel, included Peter Bush, Horizon Wealth Management co-founder; Kevin Sendlenski, managing director at BDO Capital Advisors; business merger expert Camm Morton; and Melissa Terito, director of Sentinel Pension & Payroll.
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Former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco, award-winning novelist and screenwriter Robert Crais, two-time NBA Champion Joe Dumars, renowned southern artist Rolland Golden, and real estate developer, civic leader and philanthropist Roger Ogden were honored at the Friends of LPB‘s 25th annual Louisiana Legends Awards Gala on May 7 at the Old State Capitol. The Legends Gala program will air June 7 at 7 p.m. and June 14 at 11 a.m. on LPB. The Louisiana Legends Awards Gala is a fundraising and public awareness project that helps fund the many instructional, educational and cultural programs that LPB provides throughout the year.
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NONPROFITS
Capital Area United Way Women’s Leadership Council gathered for networking and a chance to sign up for volunteer opportunities at a “Spring Into Action” event. Joan Cronan, women’s athletic director emeritus, University of Tennessee, was the featured speaker. Other presenters included Ruthie Golden, realtor and co-owner, ProSold Realty; Nikki Caldwell, head coach, LSU women’s basketball; Darrin Goss, president/CEO, Capital Area United Way; and Susan McCarter, vice president/branch manager, IBERIABank.
COMPANY NEWS
Local personal training facility Future Fitness has plans to relocate to a larger facility at 1650 Jefferson Highway. The 6,300-square-foot building is nestled in between Jefferson Highway and Corporate Boulevard in the new Studio Park development. Owner Chris Gendusa will begin construction in June, with completion expected in January 2016. Future Fitness will operate out of its current site until then.
Baton Rouge architect Kevin Harris has written his first book, The Forever Home: How to Work With an Architect to Design the Home of Your Dreams. It will be released July 21 and is being published through Advantage Media Group of Charleston, South Carolina.
Our Lady of the Lake College has entered into a formal articulation agreement with Baton Rouge Community College to allow graduates of BRCC who have associate degrees in general science, business and liberal studies to enroll seamlessly into complementary baccalaureate degrees at Our Lady of the Lake College. The agreement involves seamless transitions for the following programs: AS in General Sciences from BRCC to BS in Biology from OLOL College; AS in Business from BRCC to BS in Health Services Administration from OLOL College; and AA in English from BRCC to BA in Liberal Studies from OLOL College.
The 96-suite SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Gonzales opened its doors on May 7. Located at 2801 S. Cabela’s Parkway, the SpringHill Suites Baton Rouge/Gonzales will operate as a Marriott franchise, owned and managed by Avalon Hotel Group.
ACCREDITATION | CERTIFICATION
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Mike Hackler at The Oliver Group in Baton Rouge has recently become a Certified Financial Planner practitioner. He is authorized by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards to use the Certified Financial Planner and CFP certification marks. Hackler has worked at The Oliver Group since 2007 and helps guide clients through all aspects of financial planning.
The Serenity Center of Louisiana has been accredited for a period of three years for Substance Abuse Facility Treatment. This is the first accreditation that international accrediting body CARF has awarded to The Serenity Center of Louisiana.
AWARDS | HONORS
The American Advertising Federation-Baton Rouge was named AAF District 7 Division III Club and President of the Year for the eighth consecutive year at this year’s AAF Spring Convention held April 11 in Knoxvillle, Tennessee. AAF-BR received first place honors in programs, public service, diversity and club operations. AAF-BR will also receive a first place award in communications. The organization also honored two members of the Baton Rouge advertising community. Yongick Jeong, associate professor and advertising area head at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication, received the Ralph Sims Award for his achievement in advertising education, and Barb Braud of Lamar Graphics received the Rising Star Award for her contributions.
Ten attorneys from Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson have been recognized in the 2015 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Those recognized were John Andrishok, construction; Robert Atkinson, health care; David Cassidy, corporate/M&A: tax; Murphy Foster III, construction, and labor and employment; Gregory Frost, health care; Richard Leibowitz, banking and finance: public finance; Steven Loeb, construction; Claude Reynaud Jr., litigation: general commercial; Melissa Shirley, labor and employment; and Jerry Stovall Jr., labor and employment. The firm has also been ranked in the following practice areas: construction, gaming & licensing, health care, labor and employment, and litigation: general commercial.
The Holiday Inn Baton Rouge Hotel has received the 2015 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award for the fifth year in a row, taking it into the Award Hall of Fame. The award is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor.
Six attorneys from Jones Walker have been recognized in the 2015 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Those recognized were Jennifer Anderson, labor and employment; Boyd Bryan, environment; Robert Casey, corporate/M&A: tax; Fred Chevalier, banking and finance: public finance; Jeffry Gray, real estate; and Dionne Rousseau, corporate/M&A. The firm has also been ranked in the following practice areas: banking and finance; bankruptcy/restructuring; construction; corporate/M&A; energy and natural resources; environment; gaming and licensing; labor and employment; litigation: general commercial; and real estate.
Latter & Blum Inc.’s residential real estate operation has been ranked No. 33 among the largest firms in the nation by REAL Trends 500, an annual report that tracks performance data of the top 500 residential real estate companies. Latter & Blum’s residential operations across the Gulf South experienced a 15% increase in number of properties sold in 2014. The ranking moves Latter & Blum Inc. from No. 43 the previous year in number of transactions. The company also holds the No. 1 position in Louisiana, with more than double the sales volume and transactions of its nearest competitor in the state.
Mary Bird Perkins — Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center was recently presented with the 2014 Outstanding Achievement Award by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. The Cancer Center, Louisiana’s only facility to receive this recognition, has received the award for two consecutive three-year survey cycles, the first time in 2011. In addition, the Cancer Center is one of a select group of only 75 U.S. health care facilities with accredited cancer programs to receive this national honor for surveys performed last year. The award acknowledges cancer programs that achieve excellence in providing quality care to cancer patients.
Northshore Technical Community College was ranked first in the nation for economic success of its graduates in a recent study by The Brookings Institution. The college was identified as one of six two-year colleges to receive a perfect score of 100 for providing “value added” in terms of the earning potential and earning power of its graduates. The study, “Beyond College Rankings: A Value-Added Approach to Assessing Two- and Four-Year Schools,” used a variety of public and private data sources to identify colleges and universities that provide value added earnings potential for graduates.
Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center is the only Louisiana hospital named as a best hospital by U.S. News & World Report, a distinction earned by only 40 hospitals in the nation. OLOL ranked high-performing in all five common care areas, which include hip replacement, knee replacement, heart bypass surgery, congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Areas resulting in high-performing ratings means that quality data analyzed showed results that are statistically better than the national average.
Nine attorneys with Phelps Dunbar have been recognized in the 2015 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. Those recognized were Jeffrey Barbin, gaming and licensing; Kelsey Funes, construction; Susan Furr, labor and employment; Michael Hunt, construction; Thomas Kiggans, labor and employment; Steven Levine, environment and environment: litigation; P. Ragan Richard, banking and finance, and real estate; Randy Roussel, real estate; and John Shirley, energy and natural resources, and utilities. The firm has also been ranked in the following practice areas: banking and finance; construction; corporate/M&A; energy and natural resources; environment; gaming and licensing; labor and employment; litigation: general commercial; and real estate.
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.
PHILANTHROPY | GRANTS
Capital Area United Way received a $248,000 donation from BASF and employees from the company’s Geismar and Zachary sites during the 2014-15 United Way campaign. The total represents a $20,000 increase in employee and corporate giving over the previous year’s fundraising campaign. In addition to its United Way campaign contributions, BASF gave approximately $100,000 in 2014 to several United Way partner organizations including American Red Cross, McMains Children’s Developmental Center and the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank.
Dow Louisiana Operations announced a $200,000 commitment from The Dow Chemical Company Foundation for the new West Baton Rouge Parish Dow STEM Academy. A steady stream of data shows that jobs requiring STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills are in higher demand than ever before and will be an even bigger part of our economy in the future. The Dow STEM Academy will help further expose West Baton Rouge Parish students to these careers.
Greater Baton Rouge Literacy Coalition was the recipient of a $10,000 literacy grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. The local grant award is part of more than $5.8 million in grants awarded in May to roughly 720 schools, nonprofits and organizations across the 43 states the company serves.
LSU AgCenter scientist Qinglin Wu has received more than $187,500 for research to develop smart drilling fluids used in oil and gas exploration with more efficiency and greater efficacy. Wu, the Roy O. Martin Sr. Endowed Professor in Composites/Engineered Wood Products in the AgCenter School of Renewable Natural Resources, is using nanoparticles made of cellulose to improve the viscosity and filtration properties of drilling fluids, also known as drilling muds. The funds include $147,510 from the Louisiana Board of Regents Industrial Ties Research Subprogram along with $40,000 in matching funds from a group of oil service companies.
