Come together: Baton Rouge-based McMakin Financial and a Baton Rouge branch of LPL Financial have merged and will operate under the name Altus Wealth Management. The firms have been working on the merger for several months, representatives say. McMakin Financial’s Wally McMakin and Ronnie Brown say they’ve teamed up with LPL’s Mickey Guidry, Jesse Daigle, John Stewart and John Reeder to expand services offered to their existing and future clients. Denver-based Geneos Wealth Management Inc. will serve as broker/dealer for Altus Wealth Management, which will operate offices in Gonzales and Crowley in addition to Baton Rouge.
Moving in: Forensic investigation services firm Donan Engineering Co. announced this morning plans to open an office in Baton Rouge on May 1, marking the firm’s first location in Louisiana. Donan specializes in forensic engineering investigations, as well as investigations into fire origins and causes, explosions and structural engineering. “Donan has spent the past couple of years expanding into the neighboring states of Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi, with the ultimate goal of also having a major presence in Louisiana,” says Kevin Abell, Donan Engineering’s chief sales and marketing officer. Donan was founded in 1947 in Madisonville, Ky. The Baton Rouge office is its 43rd throughout 26 states.
Tasty growth: Doerle Food Services, a Broussard-based food distribution company owned by Carolyn Doerle, has been named the sixth-fastest growing women-owned/led company in the United States by the Women Presidents’ Organization and the small business division of credit card firm American Express. Doerle has seen her 62-year old local company’s gross revenue grow from $257 million to nearly $321 million in just the past two years, and has hired 423 additional employees during the expansion.
