COMPANY NEWS
American Gateway Bank has teamed with BancVue to provide Rewards Checking Plus to the Baton Rouge area. The account has no monthly fees and no minimum balance and offers the opportunity to earn 4.01% annual percentage yield and ATM fee refunds when criteria are met.
Audubon, a New Orleans-based company that provides project solutions for the petrochemical industry, has opened a Baton Rouge office on Petroleum Drive. The company has eight local employees, with hopes of expanding to about 20 over the next few years.
Cox Business Security Suite has been extended to Cox Business Internet subscribers in all Cox Louisiana markets. Features include McAfee Site Advisor technology; anti-virus, anti-phishing and anti-spyware software; SAAS automatic updates and upgrades; firewall and identity theft protection; centralized web-based management; and customizable installations, reports and automatic updates.
Criterion Catalysts & Technologies held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 22 for its flagship Port Allen plant. Criterion spent $350 million upgrading and expanding the plant, which had been occupied by Southern Ionics. Criterion moved its operations from California to Port Allen; the expansion created more than 60 new jobs at the facility and retained 17 employees.
Graham Group has been hired by River Parishes Tourist Commission to assist with promoting the New Orleans Plantation Country to potential visitors through a new print ad campaign, collateral items, public relations and website updates.
Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Co. celebrated its 20th anniversary on June 25. The bank, which has locations on Jefferson Highway and Perkins Road, opened in 1990 with 13 employees and $30 million in assets. Today, the bank has more than 300 employees and passed the $1 billion mark in assets in 2008.
The Shaw Group has reached a strategic alliance agreement with Satellite Shelters, a provider of portable offices and modular buildings. Satellite Shelters, based in Minnesota, has been in business for more than 35 years and has locations in 10 states, including an office in LaPlace. The Shaw Group also has been awarded a share of a $250 million contract with the U.S. Navy for radiation remediation work at Naval Facilities Engineering Command bases.
Williamson Allemond Regional Eye Center has expanded its services to Primary Care Providers for a Healthy Feliciana at the RKM Medical Complex in Clinton. The clinic offers routine eye examinations, glasses and contact lenses in addition to treating glaucoma and other common eye diseases.
ACCREDIDATIONS/CERTIFICATIONS
Kimberly Kochurka has earned the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance credential from the American Society for Training & Development Certification Institute.
Shane Higdon, an architectural designer and project manager with Tipton Architects, has earned National Council of Architectural Registration Boards certification.
APPOINTMENTS/MEMBERSHIPS
Bob Rousseau of Guarantee Service Team of Professionals has been accepted for membership in the National Air Duct Cleaners Association.
Dr. Chris Wroten of the Bond-Wroten Eye Clinics has been elected to a second term as president of the Optometry Association of Louisiana.
David Reed, the marketing director of ReedGas Propane Company, has been elected as the 2010-11 president of the Louisiana Propane Gas Association.
Debra W. Lockwood, the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Provident Resources Group, has been named chair of the national board of directors of the American Heart Association for 2010-11.
The Girl Scouts Louisiana East has selected its officers and members-at-large. Capital Region board officers to serve from 2010-12 are: Jacquelyn Daniels, chair; Linda Law Clark, first vice chair; and Robyn Merrick, secretary. Capital Region members-at-large to serve from 2010-13 are: Tessa Fuller and Desirée Honoré. The Capital Region member-at-large to serve from 2010-12 is: Kizzy Payton. Capital Region continuing members-at-large are: Curtis Chaney, Patricia Day, Glenna Fallin, Isabel Loret, Lori Mitchell, Durinda Robinson and Darnell Waites.
The International Council of Shopping Centers has appointed three members from the Capital Region as volunteer state officers. They are: Beau Box, Beau Box Commercial Real Estate, state director; Jeffry W. Gray, Jones Walker, government relations committee chair; and Skip Smart, Louisiana Economic Development, alliance public sector co-chair.
Jared Llorens, assistant professor in the Public Administration Institute at LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business, has been selected to the editorial board for the Review of Public Personnel Administration. Llorens has also been asked to serve as the U.S. book review editor for Public Administration, a scholarly journal that publishes research on issues related to public administration, public policy and public management to a global audience.
Markham McKnight, president of BancorpSouth Insurance Services, has been re-elected as treasurer of the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association board.
Warren O. Birkett Jr., president of Wybirk & Associates, has joined the Louisiana Business & Technology Center’s advisory board. Members are appointed to a three-year term and give advice and networking assistance to LBTC staff and tenant companies.
AWARDS/HONORS
Fifteen Kean Miller partners have been recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for excellence in their respective practice areas. They are: Hays M. Alexander, real estate; Gary A. Bezet, litigation: general commercial; G. Blane Clark Jr., corporate/mergers and acquisitions; Christopher J. Dicharry, corporate/mergers and acquisitions: tax; Isaac McPherson “Mack” Gregorie Jr., real estate; Maureen N. Harbourt, environmental; A. Edward Hardin Jr., labor and employment; Melanie M. Hartmann, labor and employment; G. William “Bill” Jarman, energy and natural resources: oil and gas; environmental: litigation; Leonard L. Kilgore III, environmental; environmental: litigation; Katherine W. King, energy and natural resources: utilities; Charles S. McCowan Jr., environmental: litigation; litigation: general commercial; Ben R. Miller Jr., corporate/mergers and acquisitions; Gordon D. Polozola, energy and natural resources: utilities; and J. Randy Young, energy and natural resources: utilities.
Hancock Horizon Value Fund has received a five-star rating from Morningstar. The rating recognizes the top 10% of funds with similar investment styles and is based on mathematical evaluation of past performance of return and risk.
Jennifer L. Jolly, an assistant professor in LSU’s College of Education, has received the Mensa Education and Research Foundation and Mensa International Limited Award for Excellence in Research 2010 for her paper “Gifted Education Research 1994-2003: A Disconnect Between Priorities and Practice,” published in the Journal for the Education of the Gifted.
Kean Miller has been selected as one of three recipients of the Chevron Corporation’s Law Firm Diversity Award. Firms that provide legal services to Chevron are eligible for the honor, which recognizes those that have demonstrated a commitment to diversity.
LSU Marketing and Promotions has received three awards from the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators. The department received silver medals in sponsorship program for the Super Chevy Dealers, single newspaper display featuring men’s basketball player Storm Warren and ticket sales piece highlighting mini-plan packages.
Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle, the former secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, has received the Betty S. Baronne Award from the Professional Landmen’s Association-New Orleans. The honor recognizes members of government agencies who perform outstanding public service, and whose dedication extends beyond their required public duties.
Remson Haley Herpin Architects has received two awards from the Gulf States Region of the American Institute of Architects. The firm received an Honor Citation Award for OneEleven, the multi-family residential building adjacent to the Shaw Center for the Arts, and a Merit Award for MAPP Construction’s Third Street headquarters.
Ten sales associates from ERA Stirling Properties’ Baton Rouge office and two from its Ascension Parish office have been named Beyond Excellence honorees. Baton Rouge honorees are: Angela Jordan, Cindy LeBlanc, Dane Daniel, David Richardson, Jill Slicker, Julie Carlisle, Kindra Fletcher, Mel Landry, Nancy Kemske and Pat Meyer. Ascension honorees are: Cathi Williams and Ginger Maulden. Honorees closed 45 total units or earned $100,000 in adjusted gross commission from the previous year. Carlisle and Maulden received Leaders’ Circle designation for closing 65 total units or $200,000 in AGC.
NONPROFITS
AmeriCorps, a national service program, is providing 13 Louisiana institutions and organizations with grants totaling $4.7 million. City Year Louisiana, which has operations in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, will receive $900,000; Teach for America, which services eight parishes including East Baton Rouge, will receive $877,000; Louisiana Delta Service Corps, which services East Baton Rouge and five other parishes, will receive $585,000; and the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Baton Rouge will receive $151,090.
PHILANTHROPY
FirstCall, an emergency notification service, has agreed to offer free services and software to the Louisiana Business Emergency Operations Center on LSU’s South Campus. The donation, which was made through the National Incident Management Systems & Advanced Technologies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, comes to $118,000 annually.
