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BUSINESS HAS SO-SO LEGISLATIVE YEAR STOP COMPLAINING THE PLAN FOR ASCENSION/LIVINGSTON

JUNE 18 - JULY 1, 2019 • BUSINESSREPORT.COM

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Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

CONTENTS

Publisher: Rolfe H. McCollister Jr.

EDITORIAL

FAMILY

Editorial director: Penny Font Executive editor: JR Ball Managing editor: Steve Sanoski Editor: Stephanie Riegel Online news editor: Deanna B. Narveson Staff writers: Caitie Burkes, Holly Duchmann, Annie Ourso Landry Digital content editor: Mark Clements Contributing writers: Gabrielle Braud, Tom Cook, David Jacobs, April Capochino Myers, Maggie Heyn Richardson, Meredith Whitten Contributing photographers: Brian Baiamonte, Marie Constantin, Don Kadair, Tim Mueller, Collin Richie

ADVERTISING Few knew Sean and Kevin Reilly owned a small telecom company in Reserve until they acquired Eatel last month; now they plan to merge the two, creating something of a local powerhouse.

MATTERS

Sales director: Kerrie Richmond Senior account executives: Marielle Land-Howard, Kelly Lewis Account executives: Mary Katherine Bernard, Stacy Kaklis, Lauren Jarreau Advertising coordinator: Brittany Nieto

CORPORATE MEDIA

Editor: Lisa Tramontana Content strategist: Allyson Guay Account executives: Judith LaDousa, Angie LaPorte, Dixie Roberts

CUSTOM PUBLISHING

Sales director: Erin Palmintier-Pou

MARKETING

Chief marketing officer: Elizabeth McCollister Hebert Marketing & events coordinator: Katelyn Oglesby Events: Abby Hamilton Community liaison: Jeanne McCollister McNeil

ADMINISTRATION

Controller: Jessica F. Sharp Digital manager: James Hume Business associate: Kirsten Milano Business associate: Tiffany Durocher Office coordinator: Tara Lane Receptionist: Cathy Varnado Brown

PRODUCTION/DESIGN

COVER STORY - PAGE 16

PHOTO BY DON KADAIR, PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY HOA VU

Production director: Melanie Samaha Art director: Hoa Vu Graphic designers: Gracie Fletcher, Melinda Gonzalez, Emily Witt

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT

PUBLISHER’S VIEW

NEWS

THE LIST

6 Florida Boulevard: execute a single step

23 Big Story Now that lawmakers have gone home, the business community is assessing the wins and losses they notched at the Capitol this session.

28 Homebuilders

FOCUS: LIVINGSTON AND ASCENSION PARISHES

31 Random Thoughts

24 Rising concerns Increased flooding and a strained infrastructure has officials in Ascension and Livingston parishes considering tougher development restrictions.

32 Company News

STARTUP 8 Executive Spotlight: Tyler Gray 11 Entrepreneur: Renita Williams Thomas 12 Business Lunch: Creole Cabana 14 How to stop chronic complaining in your office

VIEWPOINT 30 The Big Picture

YOUR BUSINESS 34 Moving Up 37 Flashback: 2009 38 Passion: Keith Tillage

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Audience development director: Benjamin Gallagher Audience development coordinator: Ivana Oubre A publication of Louisiana Business Inc. Chairman: Rolfe H. McCollister Jr. President & CEO: Julio A. Melara Executive assistant: Millie Coon Subscriptions/Customer Service 9029 Jefferson Highway, Suite 300 Baton Rouge, LA 70809 225-421-8181 BusinessReport.com email: subscriptions@businessreport.com Volume 37 - Number 21 ©Copyright 2019 by Louisiana Business Incorporated. All rights reserved by LBI. The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report (USPS 721-890 ISSN 0747-4652) is published biweekly by Louisiana Business Inc. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Business address: 9029 Jefferson Hwy., Ste. 300, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. Telephone (225) 928-1700. Periodicals postage is paid at Baton Rouge, La. Subscription rate is $59.00 for 25 issues, with 3 additional issues published annually in April, June and December. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, 9029 Jefferson Hwy. Ste. 300, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report cannot be responsible for the return of unsolicited material—manuscripts or photographs, with or without the inclusion of a stamped, self-addressed return envelope. Information in this publication is gathered from sources considered to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed. No information expressed here constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities.

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Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

PUBLISHER’S VIEW

Florida Boulevard: execute a single step

ROLFE MCCOLLISTER JR. IT WAS SAD reading our recent cover story (“No man’s land,” May 21) on the demise of Florida Boulevard. I participated with the Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team (R/UDAT) of architects and planners back in the 1980s, sharing ideas with others and creating yet another plan that sat on a city shelf. We all know, like a football game plan, it can look good on paper, but ultimately it comes down to execution on the field at kickoff. And while bold change doesn’t happen overnight, it has to start somewhere. A first step. As they say, “Eat the elephant one bite at a time.” It never happened. As for Florida Boulevard, a good place to start could be a few simple laws and policies requiring landowners to be responsible for their property— and hold them accountable. It is long overdue. One beginning step is to address ugly, abandoned signage—or visual pollution. The article says: “[T]he signage code in the overlay district is weak and ineffective. It makes generous exceptions for nonconforming signs, allowing, for example, a sign to remain standing outside a retail center if just a single establishment in an otherwise vacant and abandoned strip remains in business. That’s why there are so many broken, cracked and outdated signs along the corridor. “The code also allows for monument signs to be as high as 25 feet tall, roughly the equivalent of a three-story building. By definition, monument signs are supposed to be low to the ground—around 5 feet or so—and more visually appealing.” 6

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

Fix the damn code. Richard Empson, a Sherwood Forest resident, sees it clearly, saying, “If the city could just come in and clean up the street it would make a big difference. If they could enforce the code, find out who owns the blighted buildings and make them clean them up. Why is that so hard?” Good question. The story noted “Empson and other neighborhood leaders from his area recently met with Mayor Sharon Weston Broome to discuss the issue. She and her assistant chief administrative officer, Kelvin Hill, say they recognize the need to do something, and plan to look at revising parish ordinances dealing with code enforcement.” Great, we all agree: Ugly is not good. So let’s start now. Change the rules and make people remove signs to comply. Or bid out a scrap metal company to remove them all. Do something now. Look at photo below and tell me how long that sign has been standing as a testament to abandonment?

Florida Boulevard sign post

migrants at the southern border surged in May as authorities last month took into custody more than 144,000 migrants, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The tally is a 32 percent jump from April and includes the highest number of apprehensions in a month on the southern border in 13 years. More than 55,000 migrant children were among those taken into custody while the number of families and unaccompanied migrant children encountered at the border skyrockets, officials told reporters.” • What do you suggest we do, and how do you sustain this influx? • Democratic leaders say these families are seeking asylum due to “terrorism” at home. But that is also the case in Syria and many countries in Africa. Do you deny them asylum, or are all welcome? • What do you say to all the other immigrants who have applied legally and been on a waiting list for years to come to America? • What is the cost to house and feed 55,000 children and eventually educate them, and provide health care, and how will we pay for it? • Do you and Democratic leaders suggest these migrant children move to the top of the list, potentially denying support for American children in need? • Is there a current legal process, and why can’t it be applied to all immigrants? • What responsibility does Mexico and the Central American countries have for providing for their citizens’ safety and well-being?

There are dozens like this that scream “out of business.” This is not good. (And this blight isn’t limited to Florida.) So, can we take this one step in 2019 before we go another 30 years?

America is the greatest nation and was built with immigrants. We are also the most compassionate. But we are also a nation of law. The recent report makes it clear immigration reform is essential.

QUESTIONS ON IMMIGRATION For those who oppose any type of border policy or enforcement, could you look at this latest report and answer a couple questions? U.S. News reports: “The flow of

DOES LA NEED A RESET? PAR published its 2019 legislative wrap-up, with the headline reading, “Session relishes stability but not reform—the calm 2019 waters hide deep problems.”

After discussing details of the session, the report concluded: “Previous fervor in the Legislature for constitutional reform has apparently relaxed. These issues require a sea change in our approach to state government. In short, it requires a RESET.” So, what does that mean? I agree we have “deep problems” and we continue to kick the can down the road—especially in this election year. We have put Band-Aid after Band-Aid on our 45-year old model with almost 200 amendments. Absurd. PAR explained, “That is why the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana has collaborated with the Committee of 100 and the Council for a Better Louisiana to form RESET Louisiana’s Future. Through this initiative our organizations will educate candidates and citizens about the problems facing our state and what we can do about them. The coming turnover brought about by term limits means a flood of new legislators next term. We focus on the key areas of education, state finances, infrastructure and criminal justice/public safety.” (Read more about RESET at Reset-Louisiana. org.) When you evaluate the candidates for office this fall, you should ask each where they stand on calling for a constitutional convention as well as the need for a RESET. As I wrote last issue, there are major issues to address in our 1974 constitution—and I agree, that makes a good case for a RESET. But, I also noted the No. 1 priority of Gov. John Bel Edward, as he told PAR, of raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour, totally misses the mark and sets a low bar for the future. It also raises concerns over such an effort with that type of vision—or lack thereof—in the highest office. CONGRATULATIONS Hats off to Calvin Mills for being named the 2019 Small Business Advocate of the Year by the National Small Business Association. Mills is CEO of CMC Technology Solutions, an author and community leader.

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STARTUP THEHeadliners

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TYLER GRAY

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, LOUISIANA MID-CONTINENT OIL AND GAS ASSOCIATION

Pouring over it

LSU OFFICIALS ARE reviewing the new SEC policy that lifts the ban on booze sales at athletic venues to determine how—and whether—to open up more beverage sales at its sports stadiums. “We have to look at all the variables that come into play,” says Senior Associate Athletic Director Robert Munson. “We have to do what’s best for LSU. It’s going to be a deliberate and thoughtful process on our part.” The policy, which goes into effect on Aug. 1, requires participating schools to establish designated stationary sales locations. It also limits fans to one drink purchase at a time, restricts vendors from selling alcohol in seating areas, and comes with designated stop times for each sport.

“I was one of those kids who couldn’t wait to turn 16 so I could work. The first job that I really remember is working maintenance at a school, which included everything from moving desks to digging ditches. Here, I learned to stay in school.” IN THE NEWS

In January, Gray was named president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, becoming the youngest person to hold the association’s top position in its 96-year history. Gray has also served as general counsel for LMOGA since February 2014.

NOT ON THE RESUME

• In his free time, you’ll likely find him running, reading or spending time with his wife and two children. “As a former college athlete, I need to exercise. Now that I’m done with school for the moment, I read any book I can get my hands on. Most importantly, there’s nothing I would rather do than listen to my kids tell me about their day. They’re the best.”

THE MIX OF bars and restaurants along Third Street in downtown is changing once again. Magpie Café is closing its space in The Commerce Building, a country and western bar called Squeaky Pete’s is set to replace the recently-closed Driftwood Cask & Barrel next month, and T&T Café has opened at 320 Third St. While no immediate replacement for Magpie Café was announced, the building’s owners issued a statement saying they’ll be announcing plans for “a new and exciting venture” in the space that will “also incorporate the rooftop commercial space.” The changes come after the closures of 1913 nightclub, Huey’s Bar, Lava Cantina, and Somos Bandidos in the past year.

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

• He’s got a lot of energy, which helps him achieve a healthy work-life balance. “I love to work, and I have been blessed with a relentless resolve and energetic personality. This helps me to work, stay focused and then shut it off when I come home.” • His go-to spot for a business lunch is wherever you want to go. “I try to cater to whoever I’m meeting with because I’m not a picky eater. But if you don’t pick, you’ll find yourself eating at Superior Grill.” Read the full Q&A at businessreport.com.

TURNS ON THIRD

• He’s learned how to be “nimble and patient” the hard way. “Naturally, I want to lead, so it takes more effort for me to listen and be patient, which are incredibly important skills in leadership. I find that positive response from peers and colleagues comes from how you react, not how you plan for it.”

DON KADA

ISTOCK

• He’s up at 5 a.m. on workdays. “When we are not in session, I like to mediate and run. It helps start the day with a clear head, focused on the present.”

Issue Date: 6-18-19 Ad proof #3

• Please respond by e-mail or fax with your approval or minor revisions. • AD WILL RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are received by the close of business today. • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees. Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS This ad design © Louisiana Business, Inc. 2019. All rights reserved. Phone 225-928-1700 • Fax 225-926-1329

I N BRIEF

Expending Energy FUELED BY THE continued shale revolution and surging global energy demand, U.S. oil and gas production in 2018 posted the largest annual increases ever recorded by any country. That’s according to energy giant BP’s recently published annual statistical review, which also says global energy demand rose 2.9% last year, the quickest acceleration since 2010. Natural gas accounted for nearly half of the worldwide spike in energy demand, while oil expanded by just 1.5% (renewable energy was up 14.5%, while coal increased 1.5%). Naturally, Louisiana has benefitted from the rise in demand, with natural gas production in the state reaching its highest point last year since the height of the fracking boom in 2012, according to the Department of Natural Resources. Oil production in the state, meanwhile, continued to slide last year, though the decline was much lower than has been seen in recent years. Here’s a look at natural gas and oil output in Louisiana since 2008:

NATURAL GAS OUTPUT (Trillions of cubic feet) 2.9 2.9 2.3

2 1.3 1.4

FOR ALL YOUR

rG illing Needs

2.6 1.9

1.7 1.7

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

OIL OUTPUT

(Crude and condensate barrels, in millions)

72.6 68.8 67.3

71 72.2

69 63.1 56.6

51.9

49.7

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

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CORRECTION In the cover story of the June 4 issue, Dr. Cyndie Baker was misidentified as a dentist. She is an ophthalmologist. Business Report regrets the error.

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if you’re not growing, you’re ERODING: Advice for expanding your business

xpansion means different things to small businesses. For some it’s adding online services to an already-established storefront, more brick and mortar locations, it could mean expanding into new cities. For others it might mean simply moving from a small office to a larger one. The question is: How do you know when—and if—it’s the right time to expand your business? Success requires disciplined research and strategy. If you consider the right timing, get your finances in place, research new markets and establish a customer-first culture, you are on the right track for expansion. “Together with the business owner, the right banker should be able to help identify and mitigate risk that may exist when expanding into new markets,” says Mike Nizzo, President East Baton Rouge, Business First Bank. “If looking to expand into a new market, the business owner should first consider and define the reasons for the expansion. Could

the same resources and energy invested in your local market earn you more profitable growth?” Nizzo continued, “New market expansions should complement your existing core business. The best expansions of any type should create efficiencies along with a diversification of revenue sources. It is important to set definable, achievable, value adding goals to make sure you are expanding for the right reasons”. At Business First Bank, they understand the challenges of these entrepreneurial choices. As they have grown, Business First Bank has chosen to invest in multiple markets to diversify their risk exposure and gain access to additional talent. Nizzo says, “What sets us apart at Business First Bank is our ability to provide customized, flexible solutions to our customers as they expand their business. We achieve this through continued investment in technology.”

WHEN LOOKING TO EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS,

CONSIDER THIS: ALL ECONOMIC FACTORS, logistical challenges, and human resources needs. A TRUSTED MANAGEMENT partner(s) that require minimal supervision—secure a great local manager or management team that will take an “owners’ interest” in the business. A BANKER THAT truly understands your business can really provide a competitive advantage. A SOLID BUSINESS PLAN, a detailed cash flow analysis and a profitability overview are required reading to investors. BUDGET. If you’re not a finance person, hire one, and develop a strong and trusted relationship with a banker.

BUSINESS FIRST BANK OFFERS ITS CLIENTS A SUPERIOR LEVEL OF CUSTOMER SERVICE—IT BANKS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL, THE SMALL BUSINESS, THE DOERS, THE GO-GETTERS, AND THE ONES WHO JUST GET IT DONE.

STARTUP

ENTREPRENEUR

Renita Williams Thomas

Owner, In Loving Arms Pediatric Day Health Center

WHAT THEY DO

Full-service pediatric day care for children with complex medical conditions

ADDRESS

6637 N. Foster Drive

NEXT GOALS

Relocate to new facility on Harding Boulevard

BABY STEPS RENITA WILLIAMS THOMAS always wanted to change the life of children. Feeling called to pursue a career in pediatrics, she returned to college when she was 30 years old to earn her nursing degree, and later worked for OLOL Children’s Hospital, Capital City Family Health Center, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, and the Department of Health and Hospitals. Pediatric day cares for medically fragile children are relatively new to Louisiana, and Thomas helped open Pediatria Healthcare for Kids in 2011, which previously operated on Airline Highway. “Once in the business, I fell in love with the concept, but my vision was different.” After only eight months with the company, she decided her philosophical differences were too large to ignore, so she struck out on her own in 2012 with In Loving Arms Pediatric Day Health Center.

EARLY STAGES

“Seeing a child that has so many odds stacked against them become successful, learn to walk, get off a feeding tube and learn to eat—it’s empowering.”

AS A NURSE and mother of a child with a complex medical condition, Thomas brings a unique perspective to her business. Children can attend her facility for up to 12 hours a day and receive nursing services, personal care and developmental therapies. One of the toughest challenges she faces is getting people to understand that her business is a medical facility and not simply a day care center. “We’ve had to evolve, balancing what moms ask for versus what the child needs versus what the state mandates.” She’s also had to grapple with the rapid growth of clients. Starting out in a building licensed for 14 children, the business outgrew the facility in two years. Closures of other similar facilities in the area, compounded with advances in neonatal care, has led to a doubling of patients.

GROWING UP MOVING FORWARD, Thomas is preparing her business for its third move, this time to a new 7,500-square-foot facility on Harding Boulevard that she hopes to relocate to by August. With the expansion, her staff—which she’s doubling—will be able to care for more children, and there will be adapted play equipment, a therapy suite and updated conference room for families. Aside from providing the medical care that’s needed, Thomas also places emphasis on making sure her patients are part of a friendly social network. “We’re going to continue to make sure Baton Rouge has a great concept so we can be a resource to moms, the community and physicians to provide the services that are needed for these kids.” —Holly Duchmann • Photography by Brian Baiamonte

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

STARTUP

TASTE

CREOLE CABANA

BUSINESS

Lunch

THE BRAINCHILD of Sammy’s Restaurant Management Group, Creole Cabana is a new concept that blends Creole and Caribbean cuisines in a breezy setting that includes a dining room, bar and 5,000-square-foot patio overlooking an adjacent beach volleyball facility, further adding to the beach vibe. The restaurant opened in October and is the anchor tenant of The Oasis recreational and retail development on Burbank Drive. Chef Marla Chua is at the helm of the restaurant’s expansive menu, which features dishes like jerk shrimp and chicken, coconut rice and black beans, sweet potato and coconut curry soup, and plantain chips, as well as dishes that bridge Louisiana and Caribbean styles of cooking. A top seller is the crawfish and corn fritters with charred jalapeño crema and grilled lemon, a riff on conch fritters prepared with two key South Louisiana ingredients. Another popular item, the jerk chicken and dumplings, brings a Caribbean influence to the classic Southern staple. The dish is created by brining chicken for 24 hours and then coating it with house-made jerk seasoning composed of red and black pepper, thyme and allspice. “The presentation allows the eater to have fun and taste each component on its own, or pour the sauce over the chicken to resemble the classic,” says Chua. “Either way, the taste and texture of this dish is nostalgia at its finest, with an island twist.”

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

BY MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON • PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLLIN RICHIE

For the jerk chicken and dumplings entree, the chicken is smoked over pecan wood for 90 minutes. Once finished, it is basted with house made jerk sauce and served with a fried-to-order sweet potato dumpling, then finished with vegetable cream sauce, a blonde roux sauce spiked with green peas.

ADDRESS: 7477 Burbank Drive PHONE/WEBSITE: (225) 964-5307/creolecabana.com CUISINE: Contemporary Caribbean-Creole

The main dining area offers a quiet respite for a meal. Outside, a massive covered patio provides a view of The Oasis’ volleyball courts as well as a bar and space for live music.

HEAD CHEF: Marla Chua

Head Chef Marla Chua aims to use as many local ingredients as possible, including Gulf seafood, Poupart’s Bread, local honey and Hola Nola tortillas. The restaurant also features a raw bar and craft cocktails.

PRICING: $$

MOOD: Casual resort-style concept serving dinner and weekend lunch and brunch

CEO noun. /sē, ē’ō/ The big cheese. The head honcho. The leader. A risk taker. One who greatly desires to make an impact in the community. Other qualities include determination, persistence, innovation and a vision to make a difference.

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STARTUP

ADVICE

How to stop chronic complaining in your office EVERYONE COMPLAINS AT work every now and then. It’s natural, and it can even be cathartic to work out a little stress. But everyone has also worked with someone who is a chronic complainer: the person who seemingly finds fault with everything their coworkers and managers say or do. And if there’s several chronic complainers on the job the entire culture of a company can be poisoned. So how can you stop chronic complaining at your workplace, whether its you or those around you? Steve Farber, founder of the Extreme Leadership Institute, suggests these three tips to make a “complaint cleanse” in a recent Inc. guest column:

Analyze the complaints and address their root issues. “Are they complaining because they’re mean tempered, or because they need a little more agency and decision-making power over their lives?”

Remember what the good stuff is and encourage it in others. “Try keeping a gratitude journal, or at the very least pay extra special attention and take note of what people around you are doing right. Also note what you yourself have achieved, dreamed and tried that you should be proud of. Now put those assets to work and give those people a challenge or an opportunity. Knowing you believe in them as a parent, colleague, friend or employer could help them close the distance between great and even greater heights.”

ISTOCK

Stop giving your problems all the power. “Rather than simmering under the constant heat of imperfections, hold reverse grudges. When a complaint wafts up toward your lips, bite it back and think about how to say something affirmative instead. If you are mindful of the positive and never forget what you have in your life to be grateful for, it will be right there on the tip of your tongue. Complaining can become a way of life, a bad habit, a fallback way of communication among groups of people with common grievances.”

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COVERSTORY

WHO ARE THE REILLYS?

DON KADAIR Â

SEAN AND KEVIN REILLY are the greatgrandsons of the founder of Lamar Advertising, Charles Lamar. Sean is the current CEO of the Baton Rouge-based company, which is among the largest billboard companies in the nation. Kevin, the former CEO, is now president and board chairman of Lamar. His son, Ross Reilly, is the general manager.

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

FAMILY MATTERS Few knew Sean and Kevin Reilly owned a small telecom company in Reserve until they acquired Eatel last month; now they plan to merge the two, creating something of a local powerhouse. BY ANNIE OURSO LANDRY

IN MID-OCTOBER, an article appeared in a premium-membership edition of The Wall Street Journal, breaking the news that a Louisiana telecommunications company might soon be bought, with the headline proclaiming, “Family-Owned Eatel Explores a Sale.” The prospect wasn’t all that surprising. In an industry rife with mergers and acquisitions, Eatel—a small, yet profitable company with a sizable fiber network—seemed the ideal prey, waiting to be gobbled up by bigger players hungry for a good deal. Local analysts had expected as much for years. What came next, though, left onlookers scratching their heads. The entity that would end up buying Eatel was not some large, out-of-state competitor, nor was a private equity firm with its sights set on the company. Rather, in a case of the tiny buying the small, it was RTC—a little known Reservebased telecom provider—that was acquiring Eatel. More remarkably, the sale was handled by auction, meaning this company that few had ever heard of had put up the highest bid among some 20 firms vying to own Eatel. On its face, the deal essentially combines the two local providers, integrating operations while keeping Eatel intact. But something didn’t add up. How does a small firm like RTC scoop up another company roughly four times its size? With the help of significant financial backing is how. Like the kind of financial might held by RTC’s owners, identified on the company website only as “a prominent family from Louisiana”—a family Baton Rouge knows well. Brothers Sean and Kevin Reilly, who run the Lamar Advertising Company empire, have been quietly involved with RTC for two decades, initially teaming with a venture fund that acquired it in 1998 and then buying the company outright in 2007. Not ones to micromanage, however, the brothers have for years kept a low profile when it comes to RTC. “We’re pretty quiet in the way we go about business,” Kevin Reilly says. “So when brokers looked at the universe of potential Eatel buyers, they never considered us.” For the Reillys, the Eatel deal right in their own backyard was one they didn’t want to pass up, and the timing was right to make their move. “Our family is interested in private equity, buying businesses and holding them forever,” Kevin Reilly continues. “For the last few years, we had a negative point of view regarding evaluations and government intervention into the economy, so we were sitting on the sidelines. After waiting patiently for five years, it took minutes to make the decision.” Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

COVERSTORY says Montgomery, puts the company in an even better position to compete. “The Reilly family, they already run national companies,” he says. “If they want to take the magic that is Eatel and grow it, they definitely have the business experience to do that.”

“I called Sean Reilly, and he said buy it. He said buy it and I don’t care what you have to pay.”

DISCIPLINED ACQUIRERS It was by chance that RTC President William Ironside found out Eatel was for sale. Last year, while explorWILLIAM IRONSIDE, ing an acquisipresident, RTC tion opportunity in Arizona, a broker made an offhanded comment to him about the Eatel auction; Ironside stopped in his tracks and grabbed his phone. “I called Sean Reilly, and he said buy it,” Ironside recalls. “He said buy it and I don’t care what you have to pay.” perfect. The companies share For the Reillys, the deal was similar histories, services and— perhaps most importantly— geographical borders. Eatel’s footprint stretches across most of the Capital Region, with its home base in Ascension Parish. RTC covers St. John the Baptist, St. James and Lafourche parishes. Combining them creates a contiguous network from Grand Isle to Baton Rouge. Even more appealing, both companies already fare quite well for themselves along that stretch, holding their own against bigger players in their respective areas. SEAN REILLY, co-owner, RTC “RTC has competed successfully against AT&T and Charter for decades, and Eatel has competed successfully against Cox and AT&T for decades,” Sean

DON KADAIR

“RTC has competed successfully against AT&T and Charter for decades, and Eatel has competed successfully against Cox and AT&T for decades. There are very few regional, independent, sophisticated telecommunication companies left. This is a prized asset.”

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

DON KADAIR

So what comes next for these combined local companies, backed by a powerful family like the Reillys? Expansion? Future acquisitions? New services? All are possible, but for now it’s too early to talk long-term strategies, executives say. The deal closed May 31, less than a month ago, and the immediate focus is on merging operations. Those familiar with the local telecom industry, meanwhile, call the deal a win for the area. Sean Montgomery, a tech industry veteran and former manager of the Baton Rouge data center now owned by Eatel, says having a robust local telecom company like Eatel offers a rare competitive advantage that most other cities don’t enjoy. “Having worked across the country, there are no Eatels in other markets this size,” says Montgomery, who has since moved out West. “The worst thing that could have happened is if some national company came in because they would have dismantled it.” With the RTC deal, the opposite is happening. And having the Reillys on board,

Reilly says. “There are very few regional, independent, sophisticated telecommunication companies left. This is a prized asset.” The shared local focus was key. RTC and Eatel, both founded in 1935, have been family-owned for much of their corporate lives, beginning with the Maderes (RTC) in Reserve, and the Bankers and Scanlans (Eatel) in Gonzales. Both telephone companies were launched in the home of their founding family. Under the RTCEatel deal, the two will remain local, family-owned and community-oriented, retaining a sense of familiarity among customers. “You just don’t get those things from the larger, 800-pound gorillas who don’t live, shop and send their kids to school in this area,” says Eatel President Josh Descant. “Also, this protects jobs here.” Still, what caught the attention of brokers was the difference in size. Eatel has some 50,000 customers in a wider footprint, while RTC, with its more rural base, has 10,700. And few, once you got beyond inner circles, knew the Reillys were involved with RTC or on the hunt for a deal.

“We’re very disciplined. We can sit back and wait before taking a swing at a deal,” says Ross Reilly, son of Kevin Reilly, general manager of Lamar and part owner of RTC. “We were lucky enough to stumble upon the Eatel deal. We weren’t even called or considered. We found out secondhand and came late to the table.” Late, but prepared. RTC executives put up the highest bid and Eatel was theirs. Details of the deal were not disclosed, nor were the other bidders due to nondisclosure agreements, but it’s fair to say roughly 20 entities were involved in the bidding, the competition was tough and RTC was the only Louisiana player at the table. SYNERGIES So what does all of this have to do with Lamar Advertising, Louisiana’s fourth-largest public company and one of the top billboard firms in the nation? Nothing, says Lamar CEO Sean Reilly. The RTC-Eatel deal is independent of Lamar. It’s a personal investment for the Reilly family, one they plan to hold onto for life. The family isn’t totally new to the industry. In a former life, Sean Reilly gained experience in telecommunications as head of a wireless company for a stint in the 1990s. The family also has an interest in the business of private equity, though Kevin Reilly says their strategy is a bit different than a traditional investor, as they prefer to buy and hold rather than buy and sell. “Kevin told us when they bought RTC, they bought it forever,” Ironside says. “I remember Kevin saying this was for his grandkids. I was thinking, ‘Wow, this tiny company?’” Under the Reillys watch, though, the company grew, expanding its reach in St. John and St. James and entering Lafourche Parish. The brothers weren’t involved in day-to-day operations, but they advised the company on strategy and capital allocation, encouraging RTC to reinvest its profits into enterprise. The Reillys have a similar approach in mind for Eatel. “When you look at our style

A TALE OF TWO COMPANIES Although Eatel covers a larger area than RTC, the two companies have very similar beginnings, and have grown in recent years through acquisitions and expansions:

1935 The Banker family founded Eatel, then known as the Gonzales Telephone Exchange, running a switchboard out of their own house and serving 47 subscribers. Daniel Madere, an electrician, also launched a telephone company in Reserve that year, which had just 15 customers and would later become known as RTC. 1998 The Madere family sells the business to a New York investment group called Seaport Capital, which expanded RTC into LaPlace, offering cable and internet services. 2007 Sean and

Kevin Reilly, who were involved in the investment group, bought RTC from Seaport Capital, returning the company ownership to Louisiana.

2012-2013 Eatel expands with the

acquisitions of Vision Communications in Lafourche Parish and Baton Rougebased Venyu Solutions and its data centers in Baton Rouge and Shreveport.

2017 Eatel

continues its expansion, acquiring Clear Choice Communications in Plaquemine.

THE COMPANIES AT A GLANCE RTC

1950 The Gonzales Telephone Exchange changed its name to East Ascension Telephone Company, or Eatel.

2004 Eatel

begins building one of the first 100% fiber-to-thehome networks in the country, later offering its FiberEdge services on that network.

• Service area: St. John the Baptist, St. James and Lafourche parishes • Customers: 10,700 • Employees: 60

Eatel

• Service area: Capital Region and Lafourche Parish • Customers: 50,000 • Employees: 400 • Both companies offer telephone, cable, internet and home security services. • Combined 2018 revenue of RTC and Eatel: $170 million Source: RTC and Eatel

2010-11 RTC grows its footprint with the purchase of the Charter system in St. James Parish and a network expansion to the west bank of St. John and St. James parishes a year later. 2014 RTC moves into

northern Lafourche Parish, serving customers in Thibodaux and surrounding areas. The company also enters the security business with the purchase of two local companies to form RTC Security.

2019 RTC and the Reilly family purchase

Eatel at auction, with plans to merge the two companies, while leaving the brand and structures of each intact.

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

COVERSTORY offers commercial services, Descant says he sees additional capacity to serve more businesses. As for launching residential services in the Capital City, it’s something to be considered, he says, if it makes sense. The best way to move into residential offerings may be through multifamily units, Sean Reilly says, such as condos and apartments KEVIN REILLY, co-owner, RTC in the Baton Rouge area. “In the future, I wouldn’t be surprised if Eatel didn’t have residential bandwidth offering,” he says, speaking to the ever-growing demand for bandwidth to power smart homes. Competition in the Baton Rouge telecommunications industry, though, is fierce. Large players like AT&T and Cox seem to be in an unending arms race for who can provide the best and newest services for consumers with changing habits. now is simple: be the best where they are now. “We’re not trying to be all things to all people, but we do want to have the fastest, most robust fiber backbone in this area,” says Ross Reilly, who will also be involved in the blended company. “We think we can be world-class in that, in our little patch, without necessarily having the scale of our competitors.” DON KADAIR

“We’re pretty quiet in the way we go about business. So when brokers looked at the universe of potential Eatel buyers, they never considered us.”

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

“You just don’t get those things from the larger, 800-pound gorillas who don’t live, shop and send their kids to school in this area. Also, this protects jobs here.”

OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD That doesn’t mean expansion isn’t in the future. Sean Reilly says there will be growth opportunities in nearby JOSH DESCANT, president, Eatel communities by laying fiber, for example, and perhaps expanding RTC’s commercial offering in Thibodaux to Houma. In Baton Rouge, where Eatel

DON KADAIR

of management, we love the fact that we have really talented, competent people running these enterprises,” Sean Reilly says. “It doesn’t require that we hover or micromanage. They’re extremely good.” For the first few years, the goal for RTC and Eatel—and their top executives, Ironside and Descant—is to blend the two companies together, and they are quick to admit there are no preconceived notions as to what that will look like yet. “We don’t have pressure on us to make radical changes,” Descant says. “These are two well-run, profitable companies that will look for synergies.” Technical integration, thanks to proximity, can take place immediately. RTC will convert to Eatel’s IT platform, Ironside says, because Eatel—being a bigger company—has more internal support staff. The headquarters will also move to Gonzales, where Eatel is based. Both companies will retain their individual brands. Besides that, the end game for

Cox has made its own acquisitions recently, including cloud services firm RapidScale, and Trapollo, a connected health services provider. The company also touts its 1 gig residential service, Gigablast, which it says will be available to its entire south Louisiana footprint by the end of this year, something few others offer. AT&T, meanwhile, is working to build up its 5G foundation in Baton Rouge, in anticipation of the roll out of the new technology, a hot topic in tech. Eatel and the Reillys are placing their confidence in its robust fiber network to compete. Descant calls fiber a “future-proof” technology as fiber optic cables are able to handle increasing speeds. And even when 5G is deployed, fiber will be needed to transmit it. “5G without fiber is like having airplanes without an airport,” Descant says. Ross Reilly is also confident in the approach, saying the fiber technology will become even more important in a 5G world. The Reillys consider the acquisition of Eatel as their ability to participate in whatever 5G may bring.

“A lot of companies buyout other companies because of their fiber network,” Vaughn says. “Having that fiber infrastructure is huge. I definitely see them as a high-value target for other companies.” According to the Reillys, though, this is it. When they bought RTC, they made a commitment, telling Ironside it was forever. The same can be expected for Eatel. “When you have a company like Eatel, formed by a family in a little ROSS REILLY, pink house, you general manager, want to be good Lamar Advertising Company stewards,” Ross Reilly says. “You don’t necessarily want to hand it off to a private equity group or bigger company and lose the things that made it important to begin with.”

“We were lucky enough to stumble upon the Eatel deal. We weren’t even called or considered. We found out secondhand and came late to the table.”

DON KADAIR

Regardless of what’s to come, the local business and tech sector can breathe a sigh of relief knowing Eatel will remain intact and local—if not in a slightly better position than before—with the addition of RTC and the Reillys. “I was expecting someone bigger to buy out Eatel for a long time,” says Brett Vaughn, chief technology officer at Baton Rouge-based ITinspired. “There aren’t a whole lot of firms like Eatel left. It’s definitely a good thing it’s staying small and based in Louisiana. That’s extremely rare.” As a tech expert who works with businesses in Baton Rouge, Vaughn says Eatel is a disruptive player in the market, keeping Cox and AT&T in check on pricing. Not many other markets have something like that, he adds. For that reason, the Eatel-RTC combo becomes even more valuable prey in the eyes of hungry telecom predators—especially in ever-growing Ascension Parish, where Eatel has claimed its stronghold and built a 100%-wired fiber network.

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Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

NEWS TH E B IG STORY

Mixed reviews

NO ONE HAD particularly lofty expectations for this year’s legislative session. It’s an election year, after all, which means lawmakers were reticent to do anything that might prove controversial. Despite that dynamic, however, the business community notched at least one major—and somewhat unexpected—win in the category of transportation infrastructure spending. It also played successful defense on a couple of employer mandates, including an effort to raise the minimum wage. But there were as many negative outcomes as positive from the session. Comprehensive tort reform went down in flames, as did an effort to streamline the Industrial Tax Exemption Program. “It was a good news, bad news session,” says Louisiana Association of Business and Industry President and CEO Stephen Waguespack. “We knew it would be tough going into an election year session. But with term limits, we’re going to have a lot of new faces in the Legislature come 2020, so there is going to be a tremendous opportunity to tackle some of the longstanding issues we’ve needed to address for years.” Here’s a quick recap of how the business community’s agenda fared. BIGGEST WIN: A bill redirecting $700 million in BP oil spill money to specific transportation infrastructure projects. Among

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/MELINDA DESLATTE

Now that lawmakers have gone home, the business community is assessing the wins and losses they notched at the Capitol this session.

SHOW’S OVER: Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards smiles on July 6 as he describes the end of a legislative session that saw a major infrastructure win but another failed effort at tort reform.

those are two key projects in the Capital Region—a long-awaited flyover ramp connecting La. 415 to Interstate 10 on the west side of Mississippi River and improvements to Hooper Road—which, together, will get $140 million of the total. BIGGEST LOSS: A major push to enact comprehensive tort reform showed early signs of gaining traction in the House, which passed several bills by overwhelming majorities. But the measures were ultimately killed by the Senate, either in committee or on the floor. Waguespack which was behind the tort reform effort, says the issue is far from dead and he is putting trial attorneys on notice. “Tort reform is coming,” he says. “The status quo figured out a way to kill it this time, but their days are numbered.”

OTHER BUSINESS COMMUNITY WINS: • Establishment of a statewide framework for ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft. • State requirement to return taxpayer money from a tax that is later declared unconstitutional. (It is unclear whether Gov. John Bel Edwards will sign this bill.) • Staving off administration-sponsored efforts to impose new mandates on employers, including raising the minimum wage. • Allowing charter schools to use tax exempt bonds to finance construction projects, putting them on a level playing field with other public schools. • Establishment of regulations to allow for the cultivation of hemp. • Making it less risky for developers to invest in blighted properties.

• Allowing the Baton Rouge Police Department to promote officers based on merit, not just seniority. OTHER BUSINESS COMMUNITY LOSSES: • A failed effort to streamline ITEP. • Creation of a sustainable revenue source—i.e., a gasoline tax—to fund transportation infrastructure projects never made it out of committee. • There were no efforts to address system issues like comprehensive fiscal reform or the need for a constitutional convention. • Failure of a bill to extend to 2026 the state’s historic building tax credits program, which is currently set to expire in 2021. —Stephanie Riegel

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

FOCUS ASCENSION AND LIVINGSTON PARISHES

Rising concerns Increased flooding and a strained infrastructure has officials in Ascension and Livingston parishes considering tougher development restrictions. BY CAITIE BURKES

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

has been growing concern over the connection between these new developments and the more severe flooding occurring in both of these low-lying parishes. The result in some quarters is a growing and deep-seated resistance to further development, resulting in grassroots efforts in both parishes to put a cap on construction. Many others acknowledge growth can’t be stopped—nor do they want it to be—but they argue far tighter rules on homebuilders and developers are needed. And then, of course, there are those hold firm in the belief that a property owner can do pretty much whatever they want with their land. What that has produced is some rather extreme proposals on both ends of the spectrum and, more importantly, a consensus on nothing. “Because so much development is going on in Ascension and Livingston, we’re finding it more necessary to get more involved,” says Larry Bankston, executive director of the Baton Rouge Growth Coalition. “Some of the requirements being imposed are

FLOOD OF FEARS: Cries for stricter building regulations have been growing since the August 2016 flood swamped Prairieville and large swaths of Ascension and Livingston parishes.

AIA ROSE AWARDS/HOLLY & SMITH ARCHITECTS

DECADES AGO, as the nation’s longest desegregation case dragged on in East Baton Rouge Parish schools, families began flocking to the lower housing cost exurbs of Ascension and Livingston parishes seeking better—and more gentrified—public schools and an escape from the escalating crime in Baton Rouge. Yet, in a scene that’s played out hundreds of thousands of times across this country, more popularity brought more problems. As Livingston and Ascension spent a decade-plus as Louisiana’s fastest-growing parishes, officials there faced growing pressure to build-out the infrastructure and attract the retailers necessary— both in terms of services and generated sales taxes—to support the surging population. And that, too, brought problems as some, especially Baton Rouge expats, demanded tighter planning and zoning regulations, while others, particularly long-time residents, fought to maintain the “property rights trumps all” mentality especially prevalent in rural areas of the state. Complicating matters

GROWTH PRESCRIPTION: Rapidly growing population in suburban cities like Dutchtown has sparked a wave of retail and residential development. 24

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

not engineering-based, but gut feelings.” Most of the stricter requirements have their genesis in the August 2016 flood, which ravaged homes and businesses across much of south Louisiana. Especially hard-hit was Livingston Parish. Often, proponents of tougher rules compare the floodplain to a half-full glass of water, arguing when an ice cube (a new development) is dropped into the glass, it causes the surrounding water (neighbors’ floodwaters) to rise. Critics counter the proposals are an overreaction to what was a once-in-a-500-year event and further engineering studies are needed before anything is enacted. A mix of long-standing and new challenges—including fill requirements, wetland identification, land use controversies and zoning—also come as Ascension moves forward with a new master plan, while Livingston revisits its 2013 master plan in an effort to better address drainage and zoning. With 14,474 people moving into the parishes since 2010, everyone agrees some level of change needs to happen. But what kind of change?

FLOODED WITH REGULATIONS Aiming to quell resident concerns about flooding, the parish councils of Ascension and Livingston have in recent months been debating limits on the amount of dirt, or fill, people use to elevate homes and other structures. Supporters of such limits cite flood-prone subdivisions— such as Dutchtown Meadows in Ascension—where some homes are several feet higher than others. Opponents generally say fill limits not only hinder property rights, but also complicate builders’ certification requirement process and boost construction costs, since builders would have to choose different, more expensive materials. In an effort to help lower people’s flood insurance premiums, Livingston Parish Councilman Garry “Frog” Talbert proposed an ordinance—which, as of press time, had been sent back to a committee—that would limit homebuilders to two feet of fill on lots smaller than half an acre and to three feet on larger lots, unless they could show it wouldn’t affect their neighbors in a 100-year storm. “If we continue to let them stack dirt on the floodplain, we’re

Issue Date: 5-7-19 Ad proof #1

hurting older homes in the parish,” Talbert says. “Livingston is pretty diverse, so we’ll have to look at different solutions for each part of the parish. It might not be a one-size-fits-all ordinance.” It’s already difficult to find land available to develop, builders counter, since many dry properties in Livingston—given their naturally flat topography coupled with lower areas that might hold water—have been construed as wetlands. The identification ultimately drives up the cost of development and delays the process for developers, who must go through the Army Corps of Engineers for permits. Meanwhile, the issue has somewhat quieted in Ascension since earlier this month, when the parish council narrowly failed to override a veto by the parish president of an ordinance it had passed weeks before, which would’ve included a three-foot limit on fill for new structures and required them to be built a foot higher than current standards. Breathing a sigh of relief is homebuilder Roy Domangue, president of Gonzales-based Wooden Creations Inc., who says the parish needs more time to study and consider engineering-based solutions. “We’re going to need to build more homes,” Domangue says. “If it requires pier and beam construction, or stem wall construction, then let’s be smart about it, and we can make them look good.” Still, the parish’s current system presents inconsistencies and outdated information that need to be addressed, says Melissa Kennedy, an engineer with HNTB, hired two years ago to review Ascension Parish’s floodplain management practices. Among issues: a conveyance system that goes up to the edge of channels, buffer zones and restrictive crossings that cause backwater flooding. The Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge is seeking federal and state grant dollars to fund such research, says President Karen Zito, who advocates for the region to maintain its current drainage system, dredge bodies of water that have been silted in over the years, increase flow capacity of current ditches and waterways, Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

ASCENSION AND LIVINGSTON PARISHES

and develop a regional master drainage plan. STICK TO THE PLAN Zoning and planning efforts underway in both parishes could also mean sweeping changes for development. In one respect, it would give Livingston Parish greater selectivity in choosing which businesses move in. The parish’s current lack of zoning requirements outside of certain municipalities has enabled its council to OK controversial projects, including a gravel company wanting to mine behind a residential subdivision in Watson and a 144-unit apartment complex located next to a single-family subdivision south of Walker. Zoning was addressed in the parish’s 2013 master plan— Envision Livingston—though never implemented, having faced staunch opposition over the past several decades from big landowners, real estate agents and residents who don’t want government dictating what they can and can’t do with their property. But until it’s implemented, developers,

businesses and homeowners worry about who’s moving in next door—a bar? Concrete mixing plant? Shooting range?—and run the risk of decreasing property values. Significantly, the plan proposes heavy zoning restrictions for the corridor stretching east to west from U.S. 190 to Interstate 12, rich with commercial and industrial potential. In other parts of the parish, local steering committees would take local input and decide the extent to which zoning regulations would go to the planning commission. Most decision-makers agree zoning is good for Livingston’s property values and area preservation, but disagree over whether the entire parish should be zoned. Some suggest zoning the whole parish and then giving residents the option to appeal, while others prefer keeping the rural eastern part of the parish unzoned. “Those questions need to be answered, but it’s coming,” says Livingston Parish Councilman Shane Mack, adding he’ll take cues from residents in Albany and

FILE PHOTO

FOCUS

SITUATIONAL ASSESSMENT: Karen Zito, of the Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge, is seeking grant dollars to fund research on how to best deal with construction amid rising flood concerns.

Holden, rural areas he represents. Proponents argue the plan gives predictability to the development process, which would reduce the amount of individual land use controversies and attract more development. Meanwhile, the Ascension master land use plan, created by the Center for Planning Excellence, calls for neighborhood hubs with denser mixes of housing and commerce, as the parish is projected to add more than 50,000 more people to its population in the

next 25 years. “In the future, people are going to want to have a bigger selections—not just single-family homes on larger lots,” says CPEX Director of Planning Janet Tharp, noting less-dense development styles eat up more land more quickly but accommodate fewer people. CPEX also forecasts new growth on Ascension’s rural west bank, seeing the area as having vast potential. However, some residents fear the hubs will open the door for urban problems like crime and blight. To address concerns, Tharp says CPEX strengthened development review requirements, including transportation impact studies and offsite improvements for new developments. Acknowledging drainage issues, the plan also recommends much less density than is currently zoned in low-lying areas outside of the levees, at just one unit per five acres. What’s certain at this point is whatever ultimately is proposed for Ascension and Livingston will stir another round of controversy.

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• AD WILL RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are received by the close of business today. • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees. Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS This ad design © Louisiana Business, Inc. 2019. All rights reserved. Phone 225-928-1700 • Fax 225-926-1329

INDUSTRIAL PARK ACREAGE FOR SALE IN LIVINGSTON, LA WE’RE OFFERING A 2% BUYER’S COMMISSION FOR THE BUYER’S AGENT LIVINGSTON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL can do wonders for your company coming to Livingston Parish. In addition to recruiting new jobs to our communities, we assist businesses and industries in growth and expansion through tax exemptions and other incentives. We’re also building relationships for the future by bringing the business community together to forge opportunities and improve our quality of life. Livingston Parish is one of the fastest growing regions in the United States and we would love to show you around!

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225.686.3982 | WWW.LEDC.NET Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

LISTMAKERS

Homebuilders and UPCOMING LISTS: Homebuilders and residential contractors residential contractors

7/16 Top 100 private companies

8/13 Hotels

7/30 Physician groups

8/27 Commercial contractors

Ranked by East Baton Rouge permit valuation Ranked by East Baton Rouge permit valuation COMPANY PREV. RANK ADDRESS

PHONE

WEBSITE

2018 EBR PERMITS

2018 EBR VALUATION

DSLD Homes LLC 1220 S. Range Ave., Denham Springs 70726

225-791-6860

www.dsldhomes.com

208

$39.04 million

D.R. Horton Inc.-Gulf Coast 7696 Vincent Road, Denham Springs 70726

225-664-1240

www.drhorton.com

$10.42 million

Alvarez Construction Co. 15015 Jamestown Blvd., Suite 100, Baton Rouge 70810

225-293-4545

www.alvarezconstruction.com

$10.30 million

Bardwell Construction Co. LLC 5153 Bluebonnet Blvd., Suite A, Baton Rouge 70809

225-924-4058

www.bardwellhomes.com

$8.81 million

Dynamic Construction Group LLC 9618 Jefferson Highway, Suite D-158, Baton Rouge 70809

225-485-7205

291

$6.19 million

Dupree Construction Co. LLC P.O. Box 83807, Baton Rouge 70884

225-767-0609

www.dupreeconstruction.com

$6.18 million

Bernhard Normand Construction 10182 Patriot Drive, Baton Rouge 70816

225-755-8110

www.bnc-contractors.com

$5.83 million

Colby Constructors LLC 10343 Siegen Lane, Bldg. 2-A, Baton Rouge 70810

225-802-8382

www.colbyconstructors.com

$5.80 million

Lancaster Construction LLC 9100 Bluebonnet Centre Blvd., Suite 401, Baton Rouge 70809

225-766-5112

www.lancasterconstructionllc.com

$5.38 million

Alfred Roper Contractor 42171 Denver Hurst Road, Gonzales 70737

225-663-2736

$5.32 million

Site Companies LLC 3237 McCarroll Drive, Baton Rouge 70809

225-270-4598

$5.10 million

Cagley Custom Homes LLC P.O. Box 82071, Baton Rouge 70884

225-802-8889

www.cagleyconstruction.com

$4.77 million

Level Construction and Development LLC 402 N. Fourth St., Baton Rouge 70802

225-338-6120

$4.28 million

Distinctive Homes by Watson LLC 6750 Exchequer Drive, Suite B, Baton Rouge 70809

225-751-0499

www.distinctivehomesbywatson.com

$4.23 million

Scheffy Construction LLC 8017 Jefferson Highway, Suite C-4, Baton Rouge 70809

225-939-5435

www.scheffyconstruction.com

$3.50 million

Precision Construction Group Inc. 37459 Ultima Plaza Blvd., Suite B-225, Prairieville 70769

225-753-8191

www.pcgbr.com

$3.35 million

Telich Custom Homes LLC 7616 Willow Grove Blvd., Baton Rouge 70810

225-610-4212

www.telichcustomhomes.com

$3.30 million

Frantz-Gibson Construction Co. LLC 11940 Cloverland Ave., Baton Rouge 70809

225-614-4305

www.frantzgibson.com

$3.25 million

Rabalais Homes LLC 13440 Magnolia Square Drive, Suite C, Baton Rouge 70818

225-931-0478

www.rabalaishomes.com

$3.19 million

Brandon Craft Developments LLC 13867 Briarlake Ave., Baton Rouge 70809

225-247-3101

www.brandoncraft.com

$3.17 million

DBA-doing business as EBR-East Baton Rouge NA-not available NR-not ranked To be featured in Business Report's Listmakers, homebuilders and residential contractors must have at least one office in the nineparish Capital Region, and have East Baton Rouge Parish permit information available at MyPermitNow.org. The Business Report presumes the provided information is accurate. Information about more than 80 firms will be available to subscribers on our website. To be considered for next year's list, please contact Alaine Keisling at research@businessreport.com.

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

Researched by Alaine Keisling

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THE BIG PICTURE

Making sense of MovEBR management

STEPHANIE RIEGEL I AM STILL struggling to understand how the city-parish and its two program management teams of 16 engineering and consulting firms—that’s right, 16—will efficiently and effectively oversee Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s nearly $1.2 billion MovEBR roads improvement program. To their credit, officials in Broome’s administration, namely Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Kelvin Hill, have been patient, accessible and transparent in sharing their plans with me and trying to explain why having so many firms involved in this program is a good thing. I genuinely appreciate their time and help. It’s just not adding up for me yet. To back up: Earlier this year, the administration decided to divide the long list of projects in the 30year MovEBR roads tax program into two groups that would be overseen by two separate program managers. This was done to satisfy both those concerned about keeping costs down and those who wanted to ensure lots of local participation by small and minority businesses in the parish’s largest public works project ever.

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THE BELT OF TRUTH This feature is a tribute by our publisher in honor of Business Report founder, Rolfe H. McCollister Sr.

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

It may have been done with the best of intentions, but you know what they say about the road to hell. Anyway, as it turns out, a team led by CSRS was selected to oversee the $800 million in “capacity improvement” projects—things like road widenings and expansions—and has negotiated a contract with its seven subcontractors worth $7.5 million for the first 18 months. A team led by Stantec, meanwhile, was chosen to manage the $300 million or so in “community enhancement” projects—sidewalks, bike paths, landscaping and such—and has negotiated with its eight subcontractors a $5.6 million contract for the first 18 months. Now, the two contracts are before the Metro Council for approval, and while council members don’t seem bothered with questions about what appears to be a really cumbersome structure, I still do. Maybe it’s just me but, for one, why do we need four firms to do marketing, communications and outreach for the two separate programs? And, why does the CSRS team, which will be managing the larger suite of projects, have just one such firm—Franklin Associates, budgeted to get paid some $296,000 over the next 18 months—while the Stantec team has three communications-type firms to help manage its much smaller contract? (Marmillion/ Gray Media: $186,200, Alpha Media: $100,300 and Covalent Logic: $110,000 all fall under the outreach scope of services.) Hill explains the community enhancement projects need more help in the PR department

because they require much more community input. This is in part because not all of the community enhancement projects have yet been identified. In fact, some $49 million has been set aside for these projects and will be determined— based on input gathered in public forums—at a later date. “We envision having a call for projects in the future to see what the community wants to do,” Hill says. “So part of the community outreach money will be to work through that process.” Second, how will these various communications firms divide up their duties? Who will send press releases? Who will run the community meetings? Hill says a lot of those details have yet to be determined and that in the next few weeks both program management teams will sit down to answer those questions. But that begs a third question: How do the subcontractors already have a line item amount budgeted next to their name if neither we nor they know exactly what they’ll be doing? Hill says those amounts are estimates provided by the prime contractors, CSRS and Stantec, who have a general idea of what services they need and which of their subs will be best able to provide them. He likens it to any other budgeting process, where expenses are estimated months in advance based on prior experience. Fourth, will there be one website for both programs or will they each have their own, and which of the four firms will maintain the website? Hill says the city-parish will

THE FIRST PIECE of armor is the belt of truth. Ephesians 6:14 says, “Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth…” First and foremost, truth is a person and his name is Jesus. As Jesus says of Himself, in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” He is not a truth. He is the truth. His person is the essence of truth. Therefore what He says in Scripture is true and consistent with His personhood and character. Notice it girds up our loins. In other words, it girds us up in strength in

likely use its own website, which was recently overhauled, to provide basic information about the status of projects in both programs. As for which firm(s) will populate the site with information and how that process will work, those details, again, have yet to be determined. Fifth, why is MetroMorphosis, a nonprofit organization that works to affect systemic change in underserved areas of the community, getting paid $371,200 under the Stantec contract to provide outreach to small and disadvantaged businesses? Hill notes that a key component of the MovEBR RFQ was to provide capacity to reach out to DBEs and get them engaged in the MovEBR process. MetroMorphosis was brought on board the Stantec team to fill that niche and has a track record of providing those services through its mentoring and workforce training programs. Hill says the hope is to engage as many DBEs as possible in the smaller contracts that will come out of the community enhancement projects under MovEBR. Finally, is this the most efficient way to manage a major capital improvements program? Hill believes it is and says the two prime contractors and their subs will function as extensions of city-parish and that they and their 14 subcontractors between them will function as one. “We want it to appear to the public as though there is only one entity doing these 70 projects,” he says. “We will put in place these systems so everyone will be on the same page … I feel good about the deals we have negotiated.”

our central inner-organs. When we are confident in Jesus—truth who lives inside of us—we are able to stand firm in life with confidence. The first piece of armor is the person of truth, and the last piece is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God— written and spoken truth. The enemy is best known as a liar and deceiver! So the truth is what sets us free from lies and deception. So gird up and take your first piece of armor fellow warriors. —COL Jeff Mitchell, State Chaplain, Louisiana Army National Guard

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‘What we doin’ out there, man?’

JR BALL THE OUTRAGE WAS almost immediate. Baton Rouge and its city-parish government, with an annual budget just shy of $1 billion, can’t find a spare $2 million for each of the next 30 years, beginning somewhere around 2024, to secure $255 million from the feds for critically-needed drainage projects in our flood-prone parish? Is this a joke? A parish just recovering from the mother of all floods in 2016 is stretched too thin to dig up what amounts to 0.2% of its ever-escalating annual budget? A city still drying out from the swamping of an early June super soaker is too cash-poor to pay for the very drainage and flood control projects Mayor Sharon Weston Broome claims is a big-time priority for her administration? No, I’m not making this up. Even going all-in with the full $65 million match amounts to 2.5% of what Broome and the Metro Council will spend this year on stuff like salaries, retirement benefits and a communications department that appears to spend much of its working moments spamming out “look what I’m doing” emails for council members. If $2 million a year is the number, I’ll take the over on what we’re spending on consultants and studies. Maybe the money can come from those fancy parking meters coming to downtown … if any ever actually get installed. Until then, if we are that broke, then why in the name of “fiscal sanity” are we paying HNTB for … wait for it … a study that ostensibly will tell us how to improve

flood-reducing drainage? So destitute is Baton Rouge that city officials—once it became known the money U.S. Rep. Garret Graves worked so hard to secure is in jeopardy—initially went with transferring blame to the state, claiming taxpayers across this banana republic should foot the bill. Honestly, why should taxpayers in New Orleans, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Alexandria, Shreveport and elsewhere have to dish out a financial assist? Sure, pop Ascension and Livingston parishes for some jack as both stand to benefit, but these are East Baton Rouge drainage canal projects and responsible government demands East Baton Rouge pay for it. With no immediate bailout from the state, huddled masses of city-parish officials—and God knows how many members of the good ol’ boy network—are now ciphering ways to finagle dollars attached to a separate federal bounty, hoping it will magically unlock this new chest of federal treasure. Here’s what is certain: There’s enough legitimate outrage here to channel our inner Brian Orakpo and declare, “C’mon, man, what we doin’ out there, man?” Which is why it’s so unnecessary for those among us to go one louder and amp the incredulity to 11. In this instance, Fred Raiford, the city-parish director of transportation and drainage, tossed critics the poker necessary to stoke an already raging political fire by declaring $2 million a year doesn’t seem like much, but sales tax revenue isn’t lucrative enough to grow government any faster than it already is under Broome, and no one on the public dime can find a sustainable 30-year funding source. Question: Can’t those efficiency experts we’re paying find $2 million in recurring expenses to untether? Here’s a thought: If we’re done paying all the bond attorneys, program managers and engineers getting rich off the sewer overhaul program, then perhaps there’s a legal way to redirect some of the

revenue from that ever-escalating, never-ending sewer tax—er, fee— we’re paying. Anyway, Raiford’s utterance gave those who blame pretty much all of Baton Rouge’s fiscal woes on cash-hording agencies with dedicated revenue streams the Pavlovian opening to attack. So it was surprising to exactly no one when the usual suspects took their mount on the bully pulpit of social media to remind us—once again—that the library system, mosquito abatement, BREC, CATS and the Council on Aging are all sitting on protected public dollars that could—and should—be set free to help pay for stuff like roads, bridges and local matches to improve drainage. What they and Metro Council members Scott Wilson and Dwight Hudson desire is for agencies like the cash-rich library system and the budget-doubling CoA to voluntarily shed a millage or two from its respective property tax hauls, enabling the city-parish to then proffer a general fund tax of equal amount to effectively undedicate the money on a no-newnet-tax basis. As theoretical concepts go, it’s a fine one. I’m hardly a fan of independent taxing authorities and wholeheartedly agree their presence—while great for them—results in inefficient government, fiscal inflexibility and, yes, higher taxes. Bluntly, independent taxing authority is a concept in need of eradication from the planet, especially at agencies where those running the show aren’t elected by the public. Until then, raise your hand if you really believe anyone in government will ever voluntarily give up money. Say what you want about lavish libraries and empty buses, but then also take a look at how hard St. George proponents—with steadfast assistance from state Sens. Bodi White and Dan Claitor—were working at the Capitol this year to minimize that proposed city’s financial obligations to the city-parish general fund should incorporation happen. Far more important, however,

is this: These independent taxing authorities are merely a symptom of the problem, rather than the cause. It’s interesting that many of those screaming the loudest about the cacophony of independent taxing authorities and dedicated taxes in East Baton Rouge are also the most ardent supporters of St. George, which—if we’re being honest—essentially will be a self-governing, independent taxing authority masquerading as a city. You tell me, once you break both down to its most basic elements, what’s the difference between St. George and the Baton Rouge library system? Let me be clear, in no way am I crusading against St. George. What I am saying is that movement quit being about the creation of an independent school district a long time ago. It’s now about breaking-point frustration with the mayor and Metro Council, and a desire for greater control over the collecting and spending of tax dollars. People—like our current mayor, BRAC leadership and those lecturing us on being better together— should take a stroll down memory lane and revisit why the library system and CATS became dedicated taxing authorities in the first place. Those organizations and their public backers, beyond frustrated over the spending habits of the administration and council, said enough is enough. Having lost trust in the competency of city-parish leadership, each fought for independence in a quest for more financial control. Sound familiar? Rather than lash out at those wanting to shape their own financial destiny, perhaps it’s time to start focusing on the real problem: Our collective distrust in whoever is the mayor—this problem began long before Broome took office— and those we elect to the Metro Council. Solve that and not only can we start dismantling these inefficient dedicated taxes, but we might also find the $2 million a year necessary to put a dent in our drainage problems. Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

COMPANY NEWS

COMPANY NEWS GraceHebert Architects and Curtis Group Architects have merged. The combined company will operate as Grace Hebert Curtis Architects and will have offices in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Dallas and Pawleys Island, South Carolina. It will include more than 50 employees. The merger provides geographic growth opportunities for the new company, and strengthens the foundation and resources for collaborative processes. Established in 1996, Curtis Group Architects is a full-service architecture, planning and interiors firm that specializes in health care architecture and design. GraceHebert Architects, founded in 1967, is a regional leader in justice and K-12 design. The firm also works across a variety of markets including health care, higher education, performing arts and commercial design. AWARDS HONORS Nurses, clinicians and professionals were honored for excellence in nursing at Baton Rouge General Medical Center’s 2019 Nurse Excellence Awards Ceremony and Banquet on May 2. The 2019 BRG Nurse Excellence Award winners are: Rosiefer Tulagan, RN, cardio-telemetry, Nurse of the Year (traditional); Laura Gomez, RN, education, Nurse of the Year (non-traditional); Jennifer Manale, RN, director of perioperative Services, Edith LoBue Nursing Leadership Award; Colleen Prejean, RN, ICU, Nurse Rookie of the Year; Lakesha Wilson, LPN, employee health, LPN of the Year; and Itearia Breaux, oncology and beth mayo, Oncology, PCA of the Year. In addition to the awards, scholarships were presented at the ceremony to Marcia Henry, RN, and Hannah Reynolds, RN, to support advancing their nursing education. Baton Rouge General Medical Center, for the eighth year in a row, has received an “A” for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group. Only 22 hospitals in Louisiana received an “A” rating in the spring report. In addition to the safety rating, BRG was honored with the Outstanding 32

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

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ALMOST RIPE: The final touches are being put on the 30,000-square-foot Sprouts Farmers Market in the Rouzan mixed-use development on Perkins Road. The store, which will be the first in Louisiana for the Arizona-based grocer with more than 300 stores across 19 states, is set to open on Wednesday, June 26.

Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades. This award identifies top U.S. hospitals for their outstanding performance in delivering a positive experience for patients during their hospital stay. Ochsner Medical Center-Baton Rouge was awarded an “A” from The Leapfrog Group’s Spring 2019 Hospital Safety Grade. The designation recognizes Ochsner Baton Rouge’s efforts in protecting patients from harm and meeting the highest safety standards in the United States. Ratings are updated twice annually, once in the spring and again in the fall. OMCBR has received an “A” rating at each designation period dating back to Fall 2015. Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson has received high rankings in five practice areas and had 13 attorneys listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for Louisiana. The firm earned rankings in the areas of construction, gaming and licensing, health care, labor and employment, and litigation: general commercial. The Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson attorneys listed in the 2018 edition of Chambers USA include: John Andrishok, construction, Band 3; Thomas Benjamin, gaming and licensing, Band 2; David Cassidy, corporate/M&A: tax, Band 2; Clay Countryman, health care, Band 3;

Murphy Foster III, construction, Band 3, labor and employment, Band 3; Gregory Frost, health care, Band 1; Alan Goodman, bankruptcy/restructuring, Band 3, and litigation: general commercial, Band 3; Emily Black Grey, health care, Band 2; David Kelly, corporate/M&A: tax, Band 2; Eve Masinter, labor and employment, Band 2; Van Mayhall Jr., corporate/M&A, Band 3; E. Fredrick Preis Jr., labor and employment, Band 2; and Claude Reynaud Jr., litigation: general commercial, Band 3. Seven Jones Walker attorneys in the firm’s Baton Rouge office were ranked in the 2019 edition of Chambers USA. The attorneys and their practice areas are: Boyd Bryan, environment; Fred Chevalier, banking and finance: public finance; R. Keith Colvin, real estate; Jeffry Gray, real estate; Matthew Kern, banking and finance: public finance; Dionne Rousseau, corporate/M&A; and Robert Scheffy, real estate. The state’s 2019 Lantern Award winner from the Capital Region is Electro Medical Equipment Co. in Prairieville. Winners were honored by Louisiana Economic Development during a recent reception at the Governor’s Mansion for demonstrating excelling in manufacturing and outstanding service to their communities.

Hospice in His Care has been named a 2019 Hospice Honors Recipient. Hospice Honors is a program that recognizes hospices providing the highest level of quality care as measured from the caregiver’s point of view. Hospice Honors acknowledges high performing agencies by analyzing performance of hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems quality measures. Award criteria was based on Hospice CAHPS survey results for an evaluation period of October 2017 through September 2018. Several local individuals were recognized by Louisiana Economic Development and the U.S. Small Business Administration as 2019 Louisiana Small Business Award winners. They are: James Moore, president of Expert Maintenance & Construction Services in Prairieville, Minority Business Champion; Wayne, Kyle and Candice Perrilloux of PrintingSource in Baton Rouge, Family-owned Business Champion; Pat Crawford of DMI Contractors in Baton Rouge, Manufacturing Extension Partnership of Louisiana Small Manufacturing Award; Jim Urdiales of Mestizo Louisiana Mexican Cuisine in Baton Rouge, National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Champion; and Lt. Gov.

Billy Nungesser, the Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, and Richard Howze, the Office of Information Technology, 2018 Hudson and Veteran Champions Office of State Procurement Agencies Recognition. Digital solutions firm Sparkhound has achieved Gold Partner status, the highest designation within Kentico’s solution provider ranks. This status was achieved by completing three or more websites using Kentico CMS. As one of the fastest-growing content management system vendors, Kentico has 1,000 digital solution partners in 80 countries, but only a few have risen to Gold Partner status. Sparkhound has been honored by Jefferson Chamber of Commerce with a 2019 Business Leadership Award for the company’s dedication and creativity in promoting good employee health. Accepting the Healthy Business Award, Most Creative category, on behalf of Sparkhound was Sandy Michelet, director of people strategy. Sparkhound’s continued health services include its annual “Healthy Hound Day,” a day dedicated to all aspects of employee health. Benefits providers, local businesses and health care partners are invited to provide educational sessions, health screening and flu shots. In addition, the event includes door prizes, a healthy lunch, nutrition and diet planning, exercise and fitness planning, relaxation and stress management exercises, retirement, estate, 401(k) planning and self defense classes. Richard Vlosky of the LSU AgCenter has been awarded the Fred W. Gottschalk Memorial Award given by the Vlosky Forest Products Society. The award is named for the first president of the society and recognizes exceptional service to FPS by an individual member. Vlosky has exhibited consistent commitment in serving the Forest Products Society since becoming a member 27 years ago. He has been involved in a number of strategic

and The DuFrocq School, as well as the designs for new Progress Elementary School.

PHILANTHROPY GRANTS

La Capitol Federal Credit Union supported the 21st Annual Boy Scout Sporting Clay Classic event, held recently at the Avondale Scout Reservation. The credit union fielded a team of shooters, as well as volunteers, to help with the event. Altogether, the event raised more than $40,000. Proceeds earned from the event will benefit youth development for scouts in the area through the Istrouma Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. The Istrouma Area Council serves 13 parishes in Louisiana and Wilkinson County, Mississippi.

leadership roles at the national and section levels. Vlosky previously served as FPS President in 2016 after being president-elect (2015) and vice president (2014). He is currently the chair of the 2019 International Nominating Committee, chair of the MidSouth Section Communications Committee and a member of the FPS National Communications Team. APPOINTMENTS MEMBERSHIPS Gary Littlefield, Baton Rouge market president of Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company, was installed as the 2019-2020 chairman of the Louisiana Bankers Association during LBA’s 119th Convention. H. Brooks Lewis of Citizens Bank and Trust Company in Baton Rouge was elected to serve as a delegate for the Capitol Region. John Kirwan, Kellen Mathews and Chris Meaux have been selected as members of the Committee of 100 for Economic Development Inc. for 2019. Kirwan is executive director of LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center, leading an internationally acclaimed biomedical research program focused on diabetes, obesity, nutrition and exercise, and has generated more than $50 million in research funding to date. Mathews is the

partner in charge of the Adams and Reese Baton Rouge office. In addition to his firm’s leadership role, in his practice he advises clients on complex litigation and administrative matters in Louisiana. Kellen has been recognized by Super Lawyer’s Rising Stars and Best Lawyers for his commercial litigation defense practice. Meaux is the chairman and CEO of Waitr Holdings Inc. a fast-growing start-up that employs 5,800 people across Louisiana. The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board formally approved the selection of RHH Architects as an Indefinite Delivery Contractor during the May board meeting. This designation is given to a select number of trusted school partners to provide services for smaller projects without having to participate in a formal Request for Proposal process, and marks 20 years that RHH Architects has been providing services to the school system in this capacity. The Indefinite Delivery Contract allows RHH Architects to provide architectural and engineering design services for classroom renovations and additions at various schools in the district. Previous projects by RHH Architects include the renovations and additions to Baton Rouge Magnet High School

Steve Sellars, CEO of Premier Health, has been selected by his peers to serve as the president of the Urgent Care Sellars Foundation Board of Trustees. In the last five years, Premier Health has doubled in size with Sellars at the helm. He has more than 25 years of experience in health care administration with stints on both the health system and payer sides. As president, Sellars will work with its trustees to provide leadership for key philanthropic and research initiatives on behalf of the urgent care industry. The UCF positioned itself in helping solve some of the country’s top health care problems. Initiatives include antibiotic stewardship, disaster preparedness and response and early diabetes detection. PHILANTHROPY GRANTS GEO Heat Exchangers recently donated two heat exchangers for students at River Parish Community College to assist in their education on how to operate, build and repair heat exchangers. The business received a request from the college to design and fabricating two Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers for the River Parish Physical Equipment Training Plant. The purpose of this joint collaboration is to assist in educating students in the operation and understanding of heat exchangers, which is vital to the petrochemical industry. The LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center has announced the establishment of the endowed chair in maritime law thanks to a gift made by the Dodson & Hooks law firm. The more than $600,000 gift from Dodson & Hooks was matched with $400,000 through the Louisiana Board of Regents competitive matching grants program. The $1 million endowment will be held in perpetuity by the LSU Foundation and will provide annual financial support to a Law Center Maritime Law academic scholar. Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019

YOUR BUSINESS

MOVING UP

EDUCATION Samuel Bentley Sr., geology professor and Billy and Ann Harrison Chair in sedimentary geology at LSU, has been named vice president for research and economic development. Bentley, who has been serving as interim vice president for research and economic development since February, assumed the permanent role on June 1. Bentley has also served as associate dean for research and administration in the LSU College of Science, director of LSU’s Coastal Studies Institute, and as the Erich and Lea Sternberg Professor in the LSU Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College. Bentley first came to LSU in 1999 and has also held academic positions at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, and the Naval Research Laboratory of Stennis Space Center.

the last 10 years. Shuber is an interventional radiologist. HOSPITALITY Elise Patterson has joined the Visit Baton Rouge team as the design and events specialist. She has eight years of design experience. HUMAN RESOURCES Rachel Carroccio has joined the leadership team of Emergent Method as director of human resources. Carroccio is responsible for leading and executing all human resources initiatives for Emergent Method as well as Emergent Talent, a division of the firm that supports clients on large-scale disaster recovery and technology implementation projects and other strategic staffing needs. Combined, the two entities have more than 100 employees. Carroccio previously served as human resources manager for Aptim, where she managed all aspects of employee compensation, HR compliance policies and internal and external employee relations.

HEALTH CARE Dr. Scott Schuber has joined Radiology Associates as managing partner, succeeding Dr. Rhad Hayden, who led the practice for

SAMUEL BENTLEY SR. LSU

SCOTT SCHUBER Radiology Associates

INDUSTRY Danny Cedotal has been promoted at Shintech from director of manufacturing to vice president of manufacturing. In this position, Cedotal takes on a more formal corporate leadership role. Cedotal brings 27 years of experience to his new role. Before joining Shintech in 2013, he worked in a variety of engineering and leadership roles at CLECO, Sid Richardson Carbon Company, and Georgia Gulf. He joined Shintech as PVC production manager for the Addis and Plaquemine PVC plants. His responsibilities were later expanded to include Shintech’s PVC operations in Freeport, Texas. In

ELISE PATTERSON Visit Baton Rouge

RACHEL CARROCCIO Emergent Method

February 2018 he was promoted to director of manufacturing with oversight of Shintech’s manufacturing activities at the Freeport, Addis and Plaquemine sites; responsibilities he will retain in this new role. INSURANCE Chard Richard has joined Alliant as executive vice president and managing director. Richard will play a key strategic role in the expansion of Alliant’s Employee Benefits Group in Louisiana and the greater Southeast Region. Richard joins Alliant with more than 30 years of experience within the Baton Rouge employee benefits community. Prior to joining

PEOPLE IN:

HEALTH CARE The Special People in Health Care section in Business Report’s July 30th issue will allow physicians and health care providers to position themselves as an expert in their field while highlighting their experience, background, credentials and expertise! Business Report readers are looking for health and wellness information from someone they trust. Place your profile in this special section and help our readers choose your services!

BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

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Medical Oncologist Mary Bird Perkins-Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center A SUMMA cum laude biomedical sciences graduate of the University of South Alabama, Dr. Ozair also earned her Medical Doctorate degree and completed her internal medicine residency at USA. She was inducted into the Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Gold Humanism Honor Society and completed her hematology/oncology fellowship at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. She is a member of the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

SOBIA OZAIR, M.D.

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DANIEL K. LAVIE, M.D.

Medical Oncologist Mary Bird Perkins-Our Lady of the Lake Cancer Center DANIEL K. LAVIE, M.D. is a magna cum laude graduate from Louisiana State University and received the Dean’s Academic Distinction Award. He earned his Medical Doctorate degree from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, then completed the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. Dr. LaVie completed his fellowship at University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Medicine and was honored Chief Fellow of the Division of Hematology/ Oncology.

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STEVE MCDANIEL

Pain Management Specialist Baton Rouge Pain Management DR. MCDANIEL is a fellowship-trained and board eligible pain management specialist. As the founder and owner of Baton Rouge Pain Management the area’s newest choice for treating chronic pain, he focuses on using a multi-modal approach and offers alternatives to the use of opioid medications. After graduating from LSU School of Medicine, Dr. McDaniel completed his residency in Anesthesiology at Ochsner Foundation in New Orleans, and his Pain Medicine fellowship at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Visit: BRPainManagement.com

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PEOPLE IN HEALTH CARE

Space reservation deadline: June 21, 2019 ACT FAST Issue Date: July 30, 2019 TIM YOUNG Chief Executive Officer Open Health Care Clinic TIM YOUNG is the Chief Executive Officer of HIV/AIDS Alliance Region Two, Inc. and its subsidiary, Open Health Care Clinic. Designated a Federally Qualified Health Center in 2015, our team of providers and management deliver compassionate, quality care to patients of all ages. From primary care to dental to specialty services, Open Health is a full-service clinic located in mid-city with expansion plans in north Baton Rouge to be announced in early 2019. Learn how Open Health is providing whole care for the whole community at www.ohcc.org.

Call Kerrie Richmond today for details. (225) 928-1700

DANNY CEDOTAL Shintech

TOM CLARK Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson

Alliant, he was area president with a national employee benefits and consulting firm, where he built the firm’s regional employee benefits practice from scratch into a $35 million operation. LAW Tom Clark has joined the firm of Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson as a partner in the Baton Rouge office. Clark’s practice focuses on insurance regulatory law and dispute resolution, state procurement and contract dispute resolution, executive and legislative branch government relations, complex commercial litigation and filmed entertainment representation.

BEAUX JONES The Water Institute of the Gulf

ANGEE NOLAN Susan G. Komen Louisiana

Beaux Jones has joined The Water Institute of the Gulf as general counsel, bringing experience in the government, nonprofit and private sectors, and an extensive knowledge of coastal and environmental law. Prior to joining the institute, Jones served as the environmental section chief for the Louisiana Department of Justice, where he represented the State of Louisiana and its agencies in a wide variety of matters ranging from environmental and coastal law to criminal and appellate law. He most recently worked as an environmental and coastal lawyer for the law firm Baldwin Haspel Burke & Mayer in New Orleans.

Angee Nolan has been named Chief Executive Officer of Susan G. Komen Louisiana, which operates in 56 of the state’s 64 parishes, including offices in Monroe, Baton Rouge and Shreveport. The nonprofit also plans to open offices in Lafayette and Alexandria later this summer. Nolan previoulsy worked for 26 years in management positions with JP Morgan Chase. She also has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector with United Way and the Hospice Promise Foundation, in addition to 10 years with Komen Louisiana. Mike Weindel has been named president of Dupré Logistics. Weindel has more than 20 years of experience in the transportation and logistics industry. He joined the company in July 2016 as vice president of strategic capacity services. Dupré Logistics is based in Lafayette, and has a Baton Rouge office with approximately 200 employees.

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GET YOUR NEWS IN BUSINESS REPORT MOVING UP Moving Up highlights executive-level promotions and new hires in the Capital Region. Announcements should include the name and title of the professional being hired or promoted, and brief summaries of his or her responsibilities and experience. Accompanying photos should be high resolution: 300 dpi or higher. COMPANY NEWS Company News features announcements about developments at Capital Region companies: new locations, acquisitions, name or branding changes and so forth. We also spotlight professionals who receive business-related awards or honors, accreditations, certifications, appointments and memberships, as well as corporate grants and philanthropy. Accompanying photos should be high resolution: 300 dpi or higher. NEWS TIPS Business Report welcomes suggestions and ideas for news stories as well as recommendations for people of interest to feature. GET IN TOUCH Email us: editor@businessreport.com Call us: 225-928-1700 Fax us: 225-928-5019 Mail it to us: Executive Editor, Business Report, 9029 Jefferson Hwy., Ste. 300, Baton Rouge, LA 70809

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50 Mbps Internet One Voice Line

with a 3-year agreement

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, June 18, 2019