1000 FEET
CREDIT: Charles Breard
The Fairfield Inn & Suites and Springhill Suites on Essen Park Ave., are among four Baton Rouge hotels and 22 others nationwide that are being sold by Summit Hotel Properties in a a $351.4 million deal with American Realty Capital Hospitality Trust Inc. The other two in the Capital Region are The DoubleTree Hotel, at4964 Constitution Ave., and TownePlace Suites, 8735 Summa Ave. The estimated sale date for the Baton Rouge properties is Sept. 15. ARC Hospitality’s deal with Summit makes it one of the largest owners of select-service hotels by enterprise value in the North American lodging REIT sector.
STAND ALONES
PHILANTHROPY | GRANTS
The Team Automotive Group has donated a nearly new Toyota Tundra to Baton Rouge Green to help the organization continue its work across the Greater Baton Rouge area. The Team Automotive Group has been a partner with Baton Rouge Green for years. The truck will be used to transport planting materials, tools and people to sites around the Greater Baton Rouge area. It also allows other donated funds to be used for operations and programming, rather than for the purchase of a truck.
AWARDS | HONORS
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ISC Constructors commemorated its 25th anniversary by hosting a company-wide celebration for associates and their families. Employees who have been with the company since its inception were honored and given a memento to express ISC’s appreciation for their leadership and commitment. Since first opening its doors, ISC’s services have expanded from construction and maintenance to now include engineering solutions. ISC has offices in Baton Rouge, Beaumont, Houston and Lake Charles and employs more than 2,500 people.
COMPANY NEWS
New online master’s degree and certificate programs will be offered for the first time this summer by LSU, including MBAs with specialization in internal auditing and business analytics, as well as a master of science degree in human resource education with a concentration in workforce development. LSU is offering the new programs in conjunction with Academic Partnerships, one of the world’s largest online service providers for higher education. Similar to LSU’s on-campus programs, all of the university’s online graduate programs are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, taught by LSU faculty and can be completed in one to two years. The new programs are currently accepting applications, with classes to begin this July and August.
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Performance Chiropractic and Health has opened a new office at 17534 Old Jefferson Hwy., Suite C2, in Prairieville. The practice provides customized treatment plan of massage, chiropractic manipulation, therapeutic exercise, mobilization and other physical rehabilitation measures. It also provides patients with plans of independent exercise and home therapies.
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Tureau and Tureau, a newly formed father-and-son law firm, has opened its doors at 12320 Hwy. 44, Suite 3C, in Gonzales. Attorneys are Ralph Tureau and Steven Tureau. Ralph Tureau has been an attorney for many years and recently retired as a judge for the 23rd Judicial District Court for Division “A.” Steven Tureau has been a practicing attorney since 2009 and has been a sole practitioner for the last few years.
AWARDS | HONORS
Four Baton Rouge high school graduates were among 19 community-minded Louisiana students who recently received Entergy Community Power Scholarships of $5,000 each for volunteerism and academic success. Entergy annually selects graduating seniors from families of employees for this honor. The scholarship winners from Baton Rouge are Elizabeth Braymer, Katherine “Katie” Gates, Madelyn McKnight and Elizabeth Vukovics. All four students are graduates of St. Joseph’s Academy.
Pod Pack International of Baton Rouge was named a 2015 Lantern Award winner for the Capital Region by Louisiana Economic Development. Lantern Award winners demonstrate excellence in manufacturing and outstanding service to their communities through the involvement of their businesses and employees. LED recently honored the 2015 Lantern Award winners during a private reception held at the Louisiana Governor’s Mansion.
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Joseph “Joey” Aiden Roth has been named a finalist for the National Philanthropy Day Honors, which recognizes extraordinary charitable work by individuals and organizations across the country. Roth, 9, founded Jar for Change, a nonprofit that places jars in schools, libraries, grocery stores and other public places so people can donate their loose change. In August 2014, he donated $5,000 to his birthplace, Woman’s Hospital, to help women and babies in need. He has since raised nearly $10,000 total. The funds are being used to virtually connect parents with their babies when they cannot physically be with them in the NICU at Woman’s. The gift allowed Woman’s to launch a program called Joey Time, a word play on Apple’s Face Time. During a Joey Time session, nurses set up an iPad next to the baby’s incubator, and the mom can use another iPad to see her baby, helping with bonding and also making it easier for her to be a part of her baby’s care team.
APPOINTMENTS | MEMBERSHIPS
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Kevin Curry of Kean Miller has been elected to the Louisiana State Bar Association Board of Governors. Curry is the Louisiana State Law Institute representative to the board, and he will serve a two-year term. The board is comprised of 22 volunteer leaders who are charged with fiscal responsibility for the Louisiana State Bar Association, and with administration of the affairs of the association. Curry is a board certified tax law specialist and a board-certified estate planning and administration specialist. He joined the firm in 1995 and practices in the areas of estate planning, business and corporate and tax. His practice includes estate planning, tax law, succession and probate law and nonprofit corporation law.
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William “Bill” Dufrene, Alliance Safety Council’s senior vice president, has been named chair of the Finance & Business Operations Section Council of the American Society of Association Executives for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Dufrene will engage in and support ASAE’s overall leadership and planning process; promote volunteer involvement by maintaining an understanding of ASAE activities, discussions and programs; and assist in formulating content resources that will further the goals and objectives of the group and ASAE. Dufrene became involved with ASAE and earned his Certified Association Executive accreditation in 2006. He is an active member of both ASAE and the Louisiana Society of Association Executives.
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Dell Guerra was recently named chair of the Lane Regional Medical Center Foundation Board of Directors. Guerra has been in the health care field since age 15 when she started as a Red Cross Volunteer nurse’s aide working at a hospital near her Louisiana hometown of Pine. She began her career as a registered nurse at Lane in 1972. Guerra was the first nurse at Lane to receive the Nurse Excellence Award. Guerra currently serves as the chair of the Lane Board of Commissioners, and is the director of nursing for The Serenity Center of Louisiana located in Baton Rouge. The focus of the Lane RMC Foundation is to help raise funds to support programs and projects of Lane RMC. The Foundation’s current project is to raise $1 million for the new Radiation Oncology Center on Lane’s campus that opened in March 2014.
PHILANTHROPY | GRANTS
The Louisiana State Medical Society has been awarded $146,000 by the Physicians Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that seeks to empower practicing physicians. Over the next two years, the LSMS will use the funds to develop a targeted physician leadership program. The LSMS is working with LSU Executive Education to create this unique program for physicians. The inaugural class is scheduled to begin February 2016. Interested physicians should contact Sadie Wilks at (225) 763-8500 or sadie@lsms.org for more information.
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.
Woman’s Hospital has been awarded a 2015 Funds for Safety grant by the Louisiana Hospital Association Trust Funds to fund implementation of a Blood Quantification Program. Started in May 2015, the Blood Quantification Program is a measure to reduce the need for women to receive blood following delivery by increasing nursing staff communication, quantifying cumulative blood loss and early recognition of hemorrhage after childbirth. Currently, about 2% of obstetric patients at Woman’s receive blood products following delivery, and the hospital aims to reduce that number. By June 2016, Woman’s expects to see a 20% decrease in blood products administration by the obstetrical nurses and a reduction of blood transfusions administered postpartum by up to 25%.
