The Times: Silver and Gold 2016

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Retail Power Southland Mall continues to serve as shopping center

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Family-like Dealership

Entergy surges forward

60 years and counting

Southland Dodge still in Teuton family; still producing good deals

Old roots sprout new opportunity for electricity provider

Houma pharmacist has spent six decades behind the counter

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Thibodaux Regional Medical Center has grown quite a big since its humble beginnings as a church-run, 26-bed facility. The present exterior of the hospital shows the facility’s marked growth.

TRMC pushing forward Wellness Center eyes late-summer open date

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com With a full trophy case and a lengthy list of accolades for high performance and patient-centered excellence, there isn’t much that Thibodaux Regional Medical Center hasn’t done in its now-86-year history.

But that doesn’t mean the hospital won’t still find ways to take things to the next level in local medicine.

In just a couple weeks, TRMC will open its Wellness Center – a 242,000 square foot complex that will mark the hospital’s commitment to wellness, prevention and a higher standard of living.

Hospital CEO Greg Stock said the facility will be one of a kind – something this area hasn’t ever seen. It’s also a sign of continued prosperity for a medical center which started in 1930 as a 26-bed hospital run by the town’s Catholic church.

“We look forward to that Wellness Center,” Stock said. “It’s designed to make a statement about the importance of wellness. It’s a great facility. It’s designed to make people feel healthy. That’s a day we look forward to. I think people around here are very excited.”

For TRMC, the facility is going to bring massive momentum to a hospital which was never expected to be quite so big or successful.

TRMC started in 1930 as St. Joseph’s Hospital – a church-run building that was run by nuns.

“The original origin of the hospital was not much more than

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Thibodaux Regional Medical Center will open its Wellness Center later this summer, a massive, 242,000 square foot building that hospital leaders said will change local medicine. The facility is currently taking memberships. It will feature basketball, swimming, athletic training and several other features to promote wellness. just a doctor’s office,” Stock said.

“From there, it became sponsored

by Catholic organizations and the sisters. They ran it for a number of years.”

As Thibodaux grew, so did St. Joseph’s Hospital. The hospital got a full-time, 40-bed facility in 1953. That structure was added onto several times throughout the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s as people moved into the area and needed a place to receive medical care.

But over time, St. Joseph’s outgrew its space, which created the

demand for a bigger, better hospital campus in Thibodaux.

St. Joseph’s Hospital closed on April 14, 1975. It gave way to Thibodaux General Hospital, which opened as a 101-bed facility – the biggest Thibodaux had ever seen at the time.

That campus is located where the hospital sits today – on 602 North Acadia Road.

In this new facility, TRMC advanced itself and became among the leaders in local medicine. The hospital was the first in the area

to install ultrasound technology – made available through private donations.

In 1983, Thibodaux Regional also installed a C-Arm in the surgical department, which enabled surgeons to limit the risk for infections during operations.

And then Greg Stock arrived and things changed forever.

Stock said he started his work with TRMC in the early 1990s.

Upon his arrival, he said he created a strategic plan aimed to allow TRMC to be better in all areas – in-

cluding an increase in services and better commitment to top-notch patient care.

And the medical facility hasn’t looked back ever since.

Under Stock, TRMC has attained a lot of the CEO’s goals.

Thibodaux Regional has won countless awards and titles for patient care, while also developing what Stock calls a culture of excellence that focuses on “patient-centered excellence.”

Stock said TRMC takes pride in treating people the right way so that they feel comfortable during their time under care.

“Being in the hospital is a tough thing for people to deal with sometimes. We do our best to make people feel at home,” Stock said. “That culture of excellence involves our entire hospital. We take pride in that. Our whole staff takes pride in that. We have a team that enjoys being part of our community and enjoys providing excellent care to the great people in this area.”

The Wellness Center will just be a cherry on top the already-successful medical facility.

Stock said the center will feature state-of-the-art equipment at every turn, including elevators which preserve energy by using energy on the way up, but creating it on the way down.

“Everything in the facility is top of the line,” Stock said.

The hospital CEO said the facility will be loaded with, “bright, happy colors,” and also beautiful artwork. This is being done to SEE TRMC, PAGE B6

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Chamber aims to help area

Business-based group provides support to economy

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com It’s not always easy to run a successful business.

But it sure does help to have folks within the community who are willing to offer unity and support along the way.

That’s where the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce comes into play.

Open since 1918, the chamber works closely with local businesses to ensure that they’re doing the most they can to succeed and reach the community while in operation.

Chamber President and CEO Suzanne Carlos said the chamber receives gratification in seeing companies continue to grow – especially in the face of the current economic downturn that’s rolled through Louisiana and the oil and gas industry.

“Our role has remained the same over the years,” Carlos said. “It’s still to speak on behalf of our more than 775 members, to improve the community and to provide opportunities for members to increase their business.”

The Houma Chamber has been around for a really long time. Carlos said its roots date back to the early 1900s – right around World War I. Its official beginnings are a few years later with an official start date as July 1, 1918.

“In 1918, the Houma-Terrebonne business community

KARL GOMMEL | THE TIMES

The Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce has roots that date back almost 100 years. The Chamber takes pride in being a voice for business leaders.

came together to form an association that would speak on its behalf and work to improve the business environment and the community,” Carlos said.

After a decade in operation, that group further united in 1929, thanks to the leadership of Gibson J. Autin, who gave the chamber its formal name and shape. “(Autin) led the group in establishing the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce,” Carlos said.

Since its inception, there has been a lot of movement around the chamber and a lot of places around town have called the group home.

The Houma-Terrbonne Chamber of Commerce is currently located at 6133 La. Highway 311 in Houma – its home for the past several

years.

“The chamber was previously located at the end of St. Charles Street close to Bayou Black Drive. And then we moved to our present location here,” Carlos said.

“Before that, it was located downtown on Belanger Street behind the present Whitney Bank.”

But no matter the location, it’s local businesses that come first.

The chamber collects memberships from local businesses, which serves to create a family or team-like feel with the purpose of fostering growth in the area’s economy.

The chamber also frequently hosts meetings and gatherings to keep folks updated on the happenings and trends within the economy.

“We host various events throughout the year that help to inform our membership of the current issues that affect their business and the community,” Carlos said. “That gives them opportunities to network with each, which allows them to increase the exposure of their business in the community.”

Carlos said what has allowed the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce to succeed is a strong membership core, a capable board of directors and also a staff that the president described as “the best.”

“It’s a little different for the Chamber,” Carlos said.

“We’re not a retail business, a manufacturer or a typical service company or organization. Having good,

committed people working hard and willing to go the extra mile that it takes to keep moving forward is also a key. It takes commitment to the mission and to the community. It takes a willingness to work with people, flexibility and a desire to do what’s right in order to make a position difference.”

So with nearly 100 years in the books, Carlos said the Houma-Terrebonne chamber already has eyes on the future – one which she hopes brings a higher price of oil and a lower local unemployment.

The president said the coming years will be important to the area’s future sustainability, especially with a new political cycle about to begin and the price of oil still hovering lower

than normal around the world.

Carlos said the chamber would be keeping a close eye on developments so that Terrebonne Parish can stay competitive in business.

She added that the chamber is making moves to ensure that it will be ready to push forward when things get back to normal.

“Our mission remains the same,” Carlos said when asked about the economic downturn. “We are cautious with our budget and thankful for every member. So, we’re hanging in there like so many others, searching the horizon for the upturn that we know will come.

Like everyone else, we’re praying that everyone can hold on until it happens.”

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Mall a local retail power

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Southland Mall thrives, looking to expand offerings

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com You’d just about have to be living under a rock to be from the Houma-Thibodaux area and not know about Southland Mall.

But if you talk to the folks who run the multi-store shopping center, they’re quick to point out that there’s far more to the facility than just name recognition and an ideal location.

Southland Mall has been around since 1969, and the facility has expanded many times since its opening to now feature 80 stores over countless genres of retail.

Mall General Manager Dawn Becker admitted that name recognition is a key advertising tool that helps Southland Mall continue to thrive. But she added that the shopping center earned its place as a go-to spot by working feverishly to provide diverse offerings that appeal to all people around the area.

“We offer a safe, comfortable shopping environment that meets the needs of our community. Southland Mall is constantly evolving to reflect national and local trends and needs.”

Younger folks take the mall for granted and assume that it’s always been a part of Houma retail.

But the truth is the facility is actually still fairly new – all things considered.

Southland Mall opened in Feb. 1969 as the Houma-Thi-

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Southland Mall in Houma is still growing. The 80-store shopping center is going to be adding shopping space in the coming months in an effort to continue to serve as a leader in local retail. bodaux area’s oilfield-driven economy started to boom.

The facility was always at its current location, and it was created as a way to give shoppers throughout the entire Tri-parish area a onestop shop for all their retail needs.

“Southland Mall was started by a group of New Orleans-based developers, Sizeler Management Company,” Becker said. “They were the original owners and developers of the shopping center.”

The original facility paled in comparison to how the mall looks today.

When Southland Mall opened shop, it featured one

building and 14 stores. The original lineup featured Sears, K&B Drugs, Kirshman’s, F.W. Woolworth, Winn Dixie and D.H. Holmes (which is now Dillard’s).

The original mall also had more than just shopping opportunities. It was also a local center for entertainment, thanks to the Southland Cinema, which gave people around the area the chance to see all of the latest flicks from Hollywood.

Becker said the mall was a success from day one.

A year after opening, the mall picked up 10 more stores, upping its occupancy to above 20. The mall fluctuated from about 20-25 stores

for more than a decade until 1981 when it was determined the shopping center would be even better if it had additional space.

From there, the mall’s owners added a whole new wing to the mall’s campus, giving the mall the space it enjoys today.

The expansion project brought J.C. Penney to the Southland Mall. The additional wing also brought space for more than 35 additional specialty stores – space that allows the mall to have more than 80 full-time stores today.

Since the renovation 1981, Southland Mall’s infrastructure has stayed the same,

but Becker said the shopping center has constantly worked to keep things fresh.

In 1994, the mall was remodeled, a few tweaks that gave the facility a more modernized look and additional space.

The expansions and remodeling projects combine to give Southland Mall its current position as one of the largest retail centers in the South – a shopping center that services a giant piece of Southeastern Louisiana.

Becker said Southland Mall administrators constantly study the market and do everything possible to keep hot retailers inside the

facility’s walls.

That research, Becker said, is what allows the facility to push past the current downturn in the local economy.

“Southland Mall is constantly evolving,” Becker said. “Stores come and go, but we consistently strive to place the best mall retailers possible in our center to help offer diversity to our shoppers.”

And Becker said even more is to come in the future.

She said the mall will open 10,000 square feet of new space in August, which will feature an all-new Sprint store, as well as Avenue and GNC and other noteworthy tweaks.

“Southland Mall will also open a new, 20,000-square foot junior anchor to be located near Victoria’s Secret,” Becker said. “It’s scheduled to open this fall.

The mall will also remodel its mall entrances this fall, which will also include new LED lighting, upgrades and other new center amenities.”

Constantly evolving.

That’s been Southland Mall’s way – now more than 40 years and counting.

Becker said she’s proud of how much the mall has grown, adding that it will always do everything in its power to keep locals happy.

“That’s what we’re here for,” she said. “To meet the needs of the shoppers in the area.”

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CASEY GISCLAIR | THE TIMES

Fabregas music owner James Doiron stands at a display case in his store, which has been in business for more than 100 years.

The business has been handed down multiple times from founder Frank Fabregas.

100 years and strong!

Fabregas still kicking, dating back to late 1800s roots

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com To survive in business for more than 100 years is awfully hard work.

But that’s exactly what Fabregas Music has done – a staple in business for Downtown Houma’s Main Street strip.

Fabregas is still kickin’, its earliest roots planted in the late 1800s.

Store owner James Doiron said the key to the business’s longevity is simple – Fabregas treats its customers with care.

“That’s what has kept us going,” store owner James Doiron Jr. said. “If you treat people right, they’ll come back. If you give people the right price, they’ll come back. That’s what we try to do. And I think we’ve done the best that we can to make that happen.”

For Fabregas, one must travel back two centuries to find the store’s earliest roots.

Professor Frank Fabregas started the local business in 1896 – a year after the man moved to Houma from New Orleans.

While in the Big Easy, Fabregas created a brass band, which quickly grew in size and had as many as 150 people.

Once he relocated to Houma, the natives quickly picked up on Fabregas’ musical roots. He was known around town as “Mr. Music,” and he played music twice a week at Houma’s court square for public enjoyment.

Doiron said he wasn’t exactly sure what was in the store when it opened its doors during the late 1800s.

“I’d imagine he had musical instruments – band instruments and things of that sort. Maybe some pianos,” Doiron said. “He wouldn’t be selling amplifiers at that time, because amplifiers weren’t around then.”

From Professor Fabregas’ foundation, his son Louis Fabregas took over the business from 1920-43.

Under Louis’ watch, the store kept up with America’s changing times by also offering appliances like washers and dryers in addition to the musical equipment.

Doiron’s great aunt Rosa Fabregas took over the store in the 40s with the help of her nephew James Doiron Sr. When Rosa passed away in 1981, Doiron Sr. ran the store until 1993.

That’s when Doiron Jr. entered the fold with his brother Danny – a partnership that lasted until 2012.

James Doiron Jr. now is

the store’s sole owner.

“This has been passed from generation to generation to generation,” Doiron said with a smile. “But it’s always stayed in our family.”

Throughout the course of its 100-year history, Fabregas Music has had four separate locations – all on Main Street.

Doiron said the store used to be next to the former Dupont’s – now HTV’s new studio.

It then moved across the street and was across from Whitney Bank.

From there, it moved next door to its current location in the building formerly occupied by The Duke restaurant.

It now sits at its current location on 7821 Main Street in Houma.

“We’ve been here for about 30 years,” Doiron said.

With rich history at its disposal, Doiron said the local business has blossomed and rivals the online market and box stores that offer similar products.

“We’re a full-line music store,” he said.

Inside the store’s walls are loads of equipment – the latest and greatest in today’s music.

“We have guitars, amplifiers, PA systems, keyboards,

pianos, drumsets, school band instruments – we have those, too,” Doiron said. “We have any types of guitar accessories – the string and just all sorts of things.

Microphones, cases – you name it.”

But maybe more important than the products are the service that goes along with them.

Fabregas Music assists customers after the purchase and is willing to assist people throughout all stages of a purchase.

“We don’t forget you after we make the sale,” Doiron said. “We’re always here to help our customers.”

So with 100 years and counting under its belt, Fabregas Music continues to chug forward.

Sure, a lot has changed over the years in music.

But the store’s basic philosophy withstood the test of time: Treat customers fairly and they will come back.

“I think we’re doing pretty well for what the times are,” Doiron said. “It’s funny the

way it works. We’ll have people come in here and say they bought a guitar here in 1952 from my aunt. We may not always have the ability to help them with equipment that old, but I always tell them, ‘You better hang onto that guitar because it’s worth a lot of money.’

“It’s just wonderful because you meet a lot of people from a lot of ways of life and you get to make a lot of friends.”

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TRMC: New center set for Aug. 1 open date FROM PAGE B2 create an environment of happiness – a way for locals to celebrate their health and wellness through prevention and education.

“We’ve excelled in clinical care for many years,” Stock said.

“Now we’re trying to get upstream. We want to prevent the clinical things that happen as best we can. We want to teach people how to lead happier, healthier lives.

We don’t want them to

see us when they’re sick. We want them to see us to avoid getting sick. We want to see people at their happiest, proudest moments.”

The Wellness Center will include an Imaging Center, a Sports Medicine Center, a Pain Center, a full-sized pool, a basketball gym and much more.

Trainers will be on-site and each individual member will be able to create a plan tailored to their specific wants and needs.

Stock said the facility is expected to open its doors around Aug. 1.

The Wellness Center will be open to anyone, but membership will be required for access to the building.

At press-time, Stock said about 2,000 people have already bought memberships.

To sign up or get more information, call (985) 4475500 or visit the hospital’s website at fitnesscenterofthibodauxregional.com “We’re waiting on the open date,” Stock said. “It’s a happy time for us. We think the Wellness Center is going to make a lot of people very, very proud – me, included.”

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YOUR BOAT DEALER SEE THE FULL LINE TODAY 5196 HWY 311, HOUMA • (985) 876-7821 MON-FRI 8AM-5:30PM • SAT 8AM-NOON

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Almost 50 years of care

Mathews-based hospital grows with the community

BY MELISSA DUET melissa@rushing-media.com Ochsner St. Anne Hospital, once a small clinic-style facility catering to the needs of the growing Raceland community, is now the thriving cornerstone for health services in the Bayou Region. It is among the leaders in healthcare today and the future of the institution is ever evolving.

The hospital, as it stands today, was built in 1967 and established by physician brothers Phillip and Richard Robichaux, and originally operated on just three floors with a designated room on each of the two inpatient care floors for critical care.

In the 1980s, the fourth floor became operational to hold the intensive care unit.

Today, services have extended beyond the main building to include an on-campus emergency department and six clinics, two of which are satellite locations that extend convenient access into the Lockport and Cut Off communities.

When accidents happen, Ochsner St. Anne’s full service emergency department is prepared to handle any situation and patients seldom wait more than a few minutes before seeing a physician. Emergency room wait times are usually between five and 15 minutes at Ochsner St. Anne, an advantage to patient convenience that is almost unheard of, and a deciding factor for many when choosing an

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Ochsner St. Anne was built in 1967 and established by physician brothers Phillip and Richard Robichaux. Today, the hospital features four floors and has won countless awards for its overall excellence in taking care of patients. emergency department, according to the hospital’s Chief Operating Officer Fernis Leblanc.

This exceptional service to patient care is just one of the factors that earns the hospital a CMS 4 Star Hospital Rating, a designation based on patient satisfaction that places Ochsner St. Anne amongst the top healthcare providers in the nation.

It also serves as a Level II Wellspot, those places designated by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals that make it easier for state citizens to live well.

For primary care issues

such as the common cold and management of chronic illnesses, Ochsner St. Anne’s focus lies squarely on providing quality care close to home while delivering access to healthcare at times convenient for the patient. That means same day service with or without an appointment and extended hours at many of the hospital’s clinics.

With significant aim placed on addressing the challenge of protecting the health of the working class, the Ochsner St. Anne clinics address the barriers to access that might prevent a

patient from coming in for necessary refills or preventative health maintenance in a timely manner. Citing the economy as a major influence, these primary care centers extend access to as late as 7PM for appointments in some areas so as to provide real and meaningful opportunity for patients to be cared for at their convenience.

This continual drive to accommodate patients also includes expansion of staff and services. In 2015, four new providers joined the Ochsner St. Anne team, bringing with them the

latest in medical advances and training. Of the four, two physicians, Dr. Megan Hartman, Family Medicine, and Dr. Sarah Knight, Internal Medicine, hail from the Raceland area.

For those who experience the women’s services offered at the hospital, the setting is both intimate and compassionate. The three labor and delivery suites are newly updated to feel more like a stay at a luxury hotel and the predominantly female, five-physician team, prides itself on supporting women in whatever decisions they make while guiding

those decisions with research-based evidence.

This translates into free classes for both Ochsner and non-Ochsner visitors on breastfeeding, childbirth, CPR and sibling involvement, state-of-the-art technology including 4D mammograms and ultrasounds and personal touches like skin-to-skin therapy and couplet care for mom and baby. This astute attention taken to create an exceptional birthing experience labels the hospital as “Gift” designated, one-step from receiving “Baby Friendly” status, an indicator that the hospital is providing optimal care for both infant and mother. The hospital expects to achieve “Baby Friendly” status sometime in the coming year, resulting in St. Anne joining a very short list of facilities in the state to receive this accolade.

One of the newest additions to the Ochsner St. Anne campus is a Specialty Health Center in Raceland, a home for visiting and staff doctors to service the needs of the community. Specialties include neurology, urology, orthopedics, pain management, gastroenterology and roughly seven pediatric subsets. A minimal invasive thoracic surgeon is also set to join the group in the near future.

As with the services provided, the hospital consistently looks for ways to reach as many as possible, SEE ST. ANNE, PAGE B10

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Fleet Supply/Bayou Black Electric continues evolution Family-owned operation looking to the future in tough economic times

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com When Fleet Supply started in 1974, the store was primarily an AC Delco distributorship.

Today, it has evolved and has become much more.

Now in its 42nd year, the Houma-based business has grown with the times, featuring filters, belts, exhaust products, electric supplies and many other related products to the oilfield industry and beyond.

In 2012, Fleet Supply became even more diverse when it acquired Bayou Black Electric – a purchase that delved the company into electric supply for the first time – another sign of the company’s continual growth.

“We’ve always strived to be reliable, have products that everybody needs and continually keep pace with the latest technologies,” said Chris Lapeyrouse of Fleet Supply. “Our goal is to provide great service to our customers by applying the latest technology, factory training, and on the job experience to the service of our customers.”

Lapeyrouse said the company was founded in 1974 by a couple of individuals, including James Trahan, who is still with the company today, serving as the business’ manager. It was owned and operated in a small, modest 1,500-square-foot warehouse in Houma. The purpose of the business was to serve as an AC Delco warehouse distributor.

But over time, that drasti-

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Fleet Supply in Houma has just about everything. With a massive, 1,500-square foot warehouse, the business aims to continue what it’s been doing for the past 40 years to survive the current negative wave in the local economy.

cally changed. Lapeyrouse said his father and his partners purchased the business in the early 1980s. They did so to try and better fit the customer’s needs.

Fleet Supply now encompasses a 63,000-square-foot warehouse, has 40-plus employees and has product lines that have grown beyond AC-Delco and now include leading brands like Baldwin, Racor, Donaldson, Gates and Fleetguard, among several others.

The company also has a

wide customer base that includes clients and customers from Terrebonne, Lafourche and throughout almost every area of southeast Louisiana.

Adding Bayou Black Electric to the lineup was a big change for Fleet Supply. Previously owned by the Cenac family, the electric supply company was purchased in 2012 by Fleet Supply, and the decision was made to keep the business alive in its former name and location – 5086 La. Highway 311 in

Houma.

“We’ve definitely evolved over the years,” Lapeyrouse said. “Our product lines have completely changed.

We started as selling strictly AC Delco products, and over time, we’ve enhanced that tremendously. Over time, the business has changed, and we handle a very wide array of product types.

With the purchase of Bayou Black Electric, we are now involved on the electric supply side of things which has expanded our horizons.

We now have a full line of electric supplies and marine cable.”

The product offerings are nice, but Lapeyrouse said it would all be for naught if not for Fleet Supply’s business philosophy of taking care of customers with the best customer service. The key to this is our experienced, dedicated employees, he said.

Lapeyrouse said Fleet Supply takes pride in looking out for its customers, working continually to evolve to stay relevant to the ever-chang-

ing market. The company also offers daily delivery service to customers all throughout Louisiana, while shipping products to any location around the world at a customer’s request.

This service, combined with Fleet Supply’s wide array of high-quality products, are a must – the bread and butter of why the business has been able to sustain itself over the past four decades and now beyond.

“We continually keep track of the market and stay in close contact with our customers,” Lapeyrouse said. “We do everything in our power to make sure that we’re providing what they are in demand of, and make sure that we’re sourcing it out properly.”

So what’s next? What does the future hold?

For Lapeyrouse, he thinks it will be the continual pursuit of growth with the constant commitment to customer service and fair business practices.

That’s the recipe that’s worked for the past 40 years, so why change now?

“We’ll continue to do what we’ve been doing. We’ll always continue to offer superior products and top-notch service,” Lapeyrouse said.

“We take pride in knowing we have abundant inventory in stock with experienced, factory trained, employees to assist our customers. Also we take pride in our daily delivery routes our customers can rely on.”.

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LWCC provides comp insurance when others can’t STAFF REPORTS editor@rushing-media.com New businesses often have special needs, among them the ability to handle claims made when an employee is hurt or injured on the job.

A variety of choices for workers’ compensation insurance are available, but new businesses sometimes have trouble getting written.

Since 1992, Louisiana businesses have had the option of signing with the Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation. LWCC is a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company that is the largest workers’ compensation carrier in the state.

It was created under the administration of Gov. Mike Foster, to revitalized a workers’ comp system on the verge of collapse.

LWCC provides an option

not just for new companies, but others who might have difficulty securing affordable comp insurance otherwise, perhaps due to prior claims or other problems.

Insurance agents say that LWCC is also a good option for businesses that are not in special categories. Over the years they say, LWCC has grown to become a leader throughout the state.

Kelly Thibodeaux , whose Terrebonne Insurance Agency, wjich she owns with her sister Kitty, is an independent brokerage supplying many insurance options, for automobile, home and other forms of coverage, and is pleased to have the LWCC option.

“They have grown and they got rated,” said Kelly, who began operating the agency after the retirement of their father, the late Fred

Thibodeaux, who founded the firm in 1960. “They can give you the coverages you need because you might not have been in business long or have no prior experience.”

There may be special circumstances because of the nature of a business, like inshore marine companies requiring longshoreman’s compensation coverage.

Providing LWCC as a coverage option, Kelly said, helps fulfill her firm’s mission of giving local customers a wide range of choices, and that gives her a lot of satisfaction.

“We can be a person helps a business start to provide what they need,” Kelly said.

“We have a lot of small and medium sized customers and we try and develop personal relationships and grow with them.”

As with other comp in-

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Kelly and Kitty Thibodeaux own Terrebonne Insurance, one of the local insurance agencies that offers LWCC insurance as an option. surance companies, LWCC provides services that include in-house attorneys who specialize in handling defense and pursuing fraud investigations.

“Our legal team has an

in-house attorney dedicated to second injury fund claims litigation, which has resulted in significant claims expense reduction,” promotional materials for LWCC state. “LWCC’s

special investigations unit aggressively fights fraud, which has saved policyholders millions of dollars since its inception.”

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ST. ANNE: Hospital keeps true to goals of hard work, commitment to patient’s speedy recovery FROM PAGE B8 including through outreach programs. Nutrition seminars, free health screenings and wellness expos, and partnerships with businesses and civic organizations extend the hospital’s reach with the goal of continuously strengthening the bond between community and hospital. A medically-managed Ideal Protein program, offered through the Women’s Health Center, and a Smoking Cessation program, which has a roughly 60 percent success rate,

are also offered, acting as resources for physicians to offer when addressing social determinants of health. This commitment to community also extends into philanthropy as the hospital works with an engaged group of employees to fundraise for various health-related charitable organizations.

All of this work would not flow as efficiently without the dedicated use of technological advances including the inner network system, MyOchsner, and its parent, Epic, a top-tier electronic

medical record software.

MyOchsner gives patients the capability to access test results, make an appointment, view health alerts or reach their care provider via email day or night.

Providing huge incentive for the patients to remain loyal to the Ochsner system, the capabilities of this elite medical record system allow for all of an individual’s health records to be maintained within one database.

Whether being treated by a specialist in one facility, or receiving emergency care in

another, patients are offered enhanced quality and safety as a result of this software’s vast reach.

In March, Ochsner St. Anne also earned the HIMSS 7 Award, an honor bestowed upon hospitals showcasing optimal adoption and use of electronic medical recording. Hospitals and health systems work to reach eight stages as a measure of effectiveness, with the ultimate goal being stage seven, an environment where paper charts are no longer used. With this

honor, the hospital joins the ranks of six other Ochsner hospitals; however, no other hospitals in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Arkansas have yet reached this level of achievement.

Though the interworkings of Ochsner St. Anne Hospital are sophisticated, one simple goal remains at the forefront of the hospital’s hard work: continuing to provide access to a wide range of individualized healthcare services to those that call the Bayou Region home.

“We want our community

to feel as though our physicians are available and accessible to them,” Leblanc explained. “Providing the highest quality of care, close to home, while still ensuring the most convenient access to the resources of the world-class Ochsner Health System, allows us to deliver a peace of mind that is invaluable to our friends, neighbors, and family members as patients of Ochsner St. Anne.”

•

-Intern Allison Fail contributed to this story

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Family-like dealership

B11

Southland Dodge takes pride in taking care of buyers

CASEY GISCLAIR | THE TIMES

Southland Dodge salesman Jessie Thompson poses with a shiny set of wheels inside the company’s showroom. The local car dealer has been open since 1968.

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com When a customer walks into Southland Dodge in Houma, they’re immediately met with a friendly face and a smile.

The company’s salespeople said they take pride in being personable and lively.

They’re trained to go the extra mile to make sure customers leave the business satisfied. The support staff at

the business are top-notch, too. They work tirelessly to make sure the buying experience is pleasurable for everyone involved.

That’s all by design.

Southland Dodge is a family-run and family-owned business that’s been going strong for almost 50 years – a leader in local automotive sales.

Open since 1968, the automotive dealer said it boasts top-notch customer care – a

trait it’s able to maintain because it’s locally owned and operated.

Southland Dodge offers the latest makes and models in Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep and Ram. The business’s showroom is open six days a week at hours that extend beyond the typical 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

“Being family-owned allows for quick decision-making, customer handling and employee relations,” General Manager Frank Teuton said.

“We also have employee longevity that brings decades of experience without all of the turnover you see at other dealerships. The slogan is, ‘No Pressure, No Hype.’ We don’t use the high-pressure sales tactics that you see in the ‘big city’ stores.”

The Teuton family has owned Southland Dodge throughout its 48 years in operation.

The company started in 1968 when Joe Teuton Sr. partnered with Joe Teuton Jr., Jeff Teuton and Dennis Oncale to start a Dodge dealership in Houma. Southland Dodge originally was located at 505 Sunset Avenue (now Southland Dodge’s body shop location).

From there, the business grew and relocated. In 1972, Southland Dodge moved to 1119 Barrow St., where Bluewater Rubber and Gasket is located today. The dealership operated out of those quarters until 1977 before moving to its current location at 6161 West Park Avenue in Houma – the business’s home for nearly 40 years.

But through the changes in location, Southland Dodge has stayed local and has remained in the Teuton family – something that Frank Teuton said has allowed Southland Dodge to keep a consistent commitment to customers throughout its existence.

Today, Jeff Teuton owns the business and Frank

handles the day-to-day operations as general manager.

“Our dealership has always been owner-operated,” he said. “Joe and Jeff were always present from the early years until retirement.

Now, I am here every day to carry on the same tradition.”

Aside from the family-owned legacy, another big tradition at Southland Dodge is a commitment to staying in tune with the trends in the highly competitive and rapidly changing automotive industry.

That, and offering service after the sale.

Frank Teuton said Southland Dodge has seen its sales numbers grow throughout its history – a statistic he said can be attributed to the company’s ability to evolve and change. Southland Dodge has state of the art technology, which allows the dealership to stay in constant contact with both manufacturers and customers to ensure that everyone involved is happy.

The dealership also has a service center and body shop to keep customers happy for years after they drive off the lot with their purchase.

Teuton said a lot of modern repairs in vehicles revolve around fixing computers or software installed into the vehicles. To combat that, Southland Dodge maintains a staff of well-trained mechanics who can get broken vehicles back on the road in

short order.

“We have to bring in more and more computer and networking technology in order to communicate with the manufacturer, customers and the vehicles,” Teuton said. “A lot of the repair work in the service department involves software updates to modules installed in the vehicles. The customers’ expectations are higher today and we must adapt to those expectations.”

And the business aims to keep getting better, as well.

Teuton said Southland Dodge works daily to find ways to make the car buying experience better for customers who go to the lot.

He added that Southland Dodge is currently trying to get more space so that it can hold more inventory and also have more convenient parking for customers.

Because, as the Teuton family knows – sometimes in the world of automobiles, it’s the little things that count most.

“We always strive to improve,” Teuton said. “We are trying to increase capacity on all fronts – property, parking, service throughout the sale, technology, employee training and everything else in our business. We do that so that we can improve the overall customer experience. For us, that’s very important.”

•

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List of Terrebonne Parish businesses that have been in existence since 1960

Company Name

Address • Phone Number

Year Est.

Type of Business and/or Types of Services, Products Offered

Chauvin Brothers Inc.

5573 Highway 56, Chauvin • 985-594-3311

1875

Lumber, Building Materials, Paints, Plumbing, Electrical Supplies, Floor Cover & Rentals

Bazet Printing

7469 Main St., Houma • 985-868-6868

1878

General Printing & Rubber Stamps

The Courier/Terrebonne Press

3030 Barrow St., Houma • 985-857-2274

1878

Newspaper Publishing & Printing

A.F. Davidson Hardware & Supply

1410 E. Tunnel Blvd., Houma • 985-872-5376

1885

Hardware and Supply

Fabregas Music

7821 Main St., Houma • 985-873-7461

1896

Sales & Service of Musical Instruments

Ledet Insurance

209 Goode St., Houma • 985-872-4577

1910

Insurance Agency & Brokerage

Blum & Bergeron

8043 Main St., Houma • 985-851-4722

1911

Distributor of Dried Shrimp: Whole, Shredded & Meal

T. Baker Smith Inc.

412 S. Van Ave., Houma • 985-868-1050

1913

Engineering, Surveying & Environmental Services

Cecil Lapeyrouse Grocery Inc.

7243 Shoreline Dr., Chauvin • 985-594-3054

1914

Grocery Store

Terrebonne Motor Company Inc. (Terrebonne Ford)

339 St Charles St., Houma • 985-876-5100

1917

Sales & Service New & Used Vehicles

Morrison Terrebonne Lumber (orig. Houma Brick & Box)

605 Barataria Ave., Houma • 985-879-1597

1923

Lumber & Building Materials

G.G. Marcel & Sons' Firestone

757 Grand Caillou Road, Houma • 985-873-7716

1926

Automotive Tires Sales & Service, Furniture & Appliances

Rene the Tinner Inc. (Inc. in 1960s)

7563 Main St., Houma • 985-872-1710

1926

Roofing Contractor & Sheet Metal

Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce

6133 Highway 311, Houma • 985-876-5600

1927

Membership Services, Networking

Fakier Jewelers

8029 Main St., Houma • 985-876-6200

1928

Engagement Rings, Watches & Fine Jewelry Sales & Repairs

Haydel Family Practice (orig. Haydel Medical Clinic)

502 Barrow St., Houma • 985-876-2150

1929

Family Medicine & General Surgery

Chauvin Funeral Home

5899 Hwy 311, Houma • 985-868-2536

1930

Funeral Home

Lapeyrouse Seafood Bar & Grocery

6890 Highway 56, Chauvin • 985-594-2600

1930

Independent Grocery Store

Cenac Marine Services LLC

742 Highway 182, Houma • 985-872-2413

1931

Marine Towing Service

Houma Auto Parts (Sam’s Audio)

900 Honduras St., Houma • 985-876-1148

1933

Hunting & Sporting Goods, Guns, Knives & Ammunition

Mey Florist

425 Levron St., Houma • 985-873-8516

1934

Retail Florists

Edward J. Laperouse Metal Works Inc.

1204 Lafayette St., Houma • 985-872-4511

1935

Roofing Contractors

South Louisiana Seed Co. Inc.

7591 Main St., Houma • 985-872-5916

1935

Retail Nursery & Garden Store

Duplantis Truck Line

PO Box 127, Houma • 985-873-7796

1936

Mobile Crane Services

Prentice Oil & Gas Co. LLC

2216 Highway 311, Schriever • 985-872-5221

1938

Oil & Gas Operators

South Louisiana Electric Cooperative Assoc.

2028 Coteau Road, Houma • 985-876-6880

1938

Electric Power Distribution

Chester’s Cypress Inn

1995 Highway 20, Donner • 985-446-6821

1939

Family Restaurant

Peoples Drug Store

7869 Main St., Houma • 985-873-8526

1939

Pharmacy

City Shoe Service & Western Wear

7167 Park Ave., Houma • 985-872-1843

1940

Shoe & Boot Repair, Retail & Western Wear

Trapp Cadillac Chevrolet

200 S. Hollywood Road, Houma • 985-876-6570

1941

Sales & Service New & Used Vehicles

Benoit Machine LLC

3400 Industrial Park, Houma • 985-879-2487

1943

Oil & Gas Premium Manufacturing, Products and Services

Providence GSE Associates LLC (orig. Gulf South Engineers)

991 Grand Caillou Road, Houma • 985-876-6380

1944

Engineering, Surveying & Architectural Services

Delta Restaurant Supply Inc

200 N. Main Project Road, Schriever • 985-447-2086

1945

Restaurant Equipment & Supplies

A.J. Le Compte Hardware Supply

5359 Highway 56, Chauvin • 985-594-2305

1946

Supplies: Electrical, Plumbing, Marine, etc.

Charles A. Page & Sons Insurance Agency

5911 W. Main St., Houma • 985-872-5711

1946

Independent Insurance Agency

KJIN Radio Station (My Home Team Media LLC)

120 Prevost Dr., Houma • 985-851-1020

1946

Radio

Redmond's Stoneworks (orig. Houma Concrete)

121 Roselawn Ave., Houma • 985-876-6636

1946

Stonework

Uneeda Cleaners

106 Mystic Blvd., Houma • 985-872-5816

1946

Dry-Cleaning & Laundering Service

Earl Williams Store

7873 Main St., Houma • 985-868-1505

1947

Men & Women's Clothing, Free Alterations, Mignon Faget Jewelry

Pellegrin Marine Inc.

10215 E. Main St., Houma • 985-872-3085

1947

Outboard Motors, Pleasure Boats, Generators, Water Pumps

Fletcher Technical Community College

1407 Hwy 311, Schriever • 985-448-7900

1948

Technical Community College

Sugar Bowl Motel

8053 Park Ave., Houma • 985-872-4521

1948

Motel

Weatherford

249 Weatherford Dr., Schriever • 985-493-6400

1948

Oilfield Manufacturer

Dagates Marine Inc.

1128 Barrow St., Houma • 985-872-4181

1949

Boats, Outboard Motors, Trailers, Accessories & Repair

Norman's Tuxedos

408 Corporate Dr., Houma • 985-876-3921

1950

Tuxedo Rental

Roy F. LeBoeuf & Associates Inc.

1244 Barrow St., Ste. 101, Houma • 985-876-4024

1951

Accounting Services

Southern Outdoors and Marine Inc. in Houma

2268 Grand Caillou Rd., Houma • 985-872-9128

1952

Boats, Yamaha Outboard Dealership

Bill’s Hardware

6270 W. Main St., Houma • 985-872-1893

1953

General Hardware

Buquet Distributing Co.

100 Eagle’s Nest Court, Houma • 985-853-3100

1953

Anheuser-Busch Beverage Distributor

Fanguy Bros. Wholesale

364 Equity Blvd., Houma • 985-872-6098

1953

Wholesale Goods

M & L Industries

1210 St Charles St., Houma • 985-876-2280

1953

Full Service Dealer of Construction, Material Handling & Farming Equipment

Naquin’s Super Service

8370 Main St., Houma • 985-873-7638

1953

Automotive Tire & Mechanic Shop

Flynn, Manceaux, Arcement, Pizzolato & Thompson

6902 W. Main St., Houma • 985-868-3136

1954

Chiropractic & Physical Therapy Services

Terrebonne General Medical Center

8166 Main St., Houma • 985-873-4141

1954

General & Specialized Medical & Surgical Hospital

Harry Bourg Corp.

619 Point St., Houma • 985-851-6310

1955

Oil & Gas Leases, Land Leases & Fishing and Duck Permits

Luckey’s Jewelers

105 Bayou Gardens Blvd., Houma • 985-872-3336

1955

Jewelry Store

MASSCO

100 N. LaCarpe Circle, Houma • 985-868-7395

1955

Oil Field Sales & Manufacturing

Perque's Floor Covering

6146 W. Park., Houma • 985-868-1026

1955

Sales & Installation of Commercial & Residential Flooring

Walther Animal Clinic Inc.

1205 Saint Charles St., Houma • 985-872-1771

1955

Veterinary Services

Low Land Construction Co. Inc.

206 Industrial Avenue, Houma • 985-446-1314

1956

Highway & Street Paving Contractor

Toups Notary Public Service & Public Tag Agency

189 Simmons Dr., Houma • 985-872-4935

1956

Full-Service Notarial Office & Insurance Agency

Benton Completion Services

108 Commercial Dr., Houma • 985-580-3300

1957

Oil Field Services

Cantrelle’s Fence & Supply Co.

140 Clendenning Road, Houma • 985-873-8562

1957

Fence Construction

Lavis Conoco Service Station

318 Barrow St., Houma • 985-876-6678

1957

Full-Service Gas Station

LeBeouf Bros Towing LLC

124 Drydock Road, Bourg • 985-594-6691

1957

Canal Barge Operations

Patterson Real Estate Agency Inc.

6712 W. Main St., Houma • 985-868-5230

1957

Real Estate Brokerage

Sweatman Chain Saw Co.

119 Wauban Ave., Schriever • 985-447-4943

1957

Tree Removal, Excavation, Highway & Street Construction

Valley Supply Co.

1000 Barataria Ave., Houma • 985-872-1431

1957

Home & Garden Lighting

Houma Valve Service Inc.

1909 Coteau Road, Houma • 985-879-3594

1958

Oil Field Services, Choke, Valve & Pump Products

House of Flowers of Houma Inc.

1419 Lafayette St., Houma • 985-876-2450

1958

Retail Florist

Surgical & Hospital Supplies

276 Gabasse St., Houma • 985-872-2092

1958

Surgical Equipment & Supplies

DA Exterminating

202 Enterprise Dr., Houma • 985-872-0368

1959

Pest Extermination

Clement's Piggly Wiggly

5308 Highway 56, Chauvin • 985-594-3076

1960

Chain Supermarket

Collins Maintenance Service

349 Duet St., Houma • 985-879-3227

1960

Service Station Equipment Installation, Maintenance & Repair

Terrebonne Insurance Agency Inc.

4752 Highway 311, Ste 112, Houma • 985-851-3080

1960

Independent Insurance Agency

List of Lafourche Parish businesses that have been in existence since 1960

Company Name

Address • Phone Number

Year Est.

Type of Business and/or Types of Services, Products Offered

Frost Lumber Co. Inc.

511 W. 7th St., Thibodaux • 985-447-3791

1882

Lumber & Other Building Materials

Landry's Funeral Home Inc.

821 Canal Blvd., Thibodaux • 985-447-9041

1888

Funeral Home

The Daily Comet (orig. Lafourche Comet)

P.O. Box 5238, Thibodaux • 985-448-7600

1889

Newspaper Publishing

Bourgeois Meat Market

543 West Main St., Thibodaux • 985-447-7128

1891

Retail Meat Processor

Raceland Raw Sugar LLC

175 Mill St., Raceland • 985-537-3533

1892

Sugar Mill

Shaver Robichaux Agency Inc.

1241 Canal Blvd., Thibodaux • 985-448-2590

1899

Insurance Agency

Bill George Jewelers

142 Laura Dr., Ste. C, Thibodaux • 985-447-9039

1905

Full-Service Jewelry Store

Brown's Dairy

1258 St. Charles St., Thibodaux • 985-447-3118

1905

Dairy Products

Rene's Bar

204 Saint Philip St., Thibodaux • 985-447-3459

1909

Tavern

Falgout Funeral Home

3838 Highway 1, Raceland • 985-537-5261

1912

Funeral Home & Services

American Sugar Cane League

206 E. Bayou Road, Thibodaux • 985-448-3707

1922

Growers' & Millers’ Associations

Little Eagle Exxon Service

1813 S. Bayou Dr., Golden Meadow • 985-475-5122

1924

Service Station

Gaubert Oil Company Inc.

1201 St. Patrick Highway, Thibodaux • 985-447-3811

1926

Fuels & Lubricants Distributor

Thibodaux Regional Medical Center

602 N. Acadia Road, Thibodaux • 985-493-4740

1930

General & Specialized Medical & Surgical Hospital

Lusco Used Cars

648 Main St., Lockport • 985-532-2422

1936

Surplus and Salvage Stores

Waguespack Oil Co. Inc. (orig. Vacherie Oil Company)

1818 Highway 3185, Thibodaux • 985-447-3668

1936

Fuel Distributor

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Lafourche Parish’s long-standing businesses cont.

Company Name

Address • Phone Number

Year Est.

Type of Business and/or Types of Services, Products Offered

Adams Fruit Market

5013 Highway 1, Raceland • 985-532-3165

1937

Independent Grocery Store

Valentine Chemicals

129 Valentine Dr., Lockport • 985-532-2541

1938

Toll Manufacturing

Nick Martinolich Inc.

953 Highway 3185, Thibodaux • 985-447-4452

1940

House Moving, Elevation & Leveling

Southern Outdoors and Marine Inc. in Thibodaux

1308 Canal Blvd., Thibodaux • 985-447-4156

1942

Boats, Yamaha Outboard Dealership

Duncan Sporting Goods Inc.

1499 Saint Mary St., Thibodaux • 985-227-7575

1943

Sporting & Recreational Goods, Screening & Embroidery, Trophy/Plaques

Kief Hardware

16230 Highway 3235, Cut Off • 985-325-7077

1944

General Store

Lafourche Novelty Co. Inc.

1911 Highway 182, Raceland • 985-537-6166

1945

Coin-Operated Amusement Devices

Peltier Insurance Agency Inc.

201 W. 7th St., Thibodaux • 985-447-2661

1945

Insurance Agency & Brokerage

Roy Baudoin Furniture and Appliance

510 Cresent Ave., Hwy 1, Lockport • 985-532-5353

1945

Furniture & Appliances, Sales & In-store Services

South Coast Gas Company Inc.

4076 Highway 1, Raceland • 985-537-5281

1945

Natural Gas Distribution

Thibodaux Feed & Seed

893 Bayou Road, Thibodaux • 985-447-3323

1945

Fertilizer

Ayo, Orgeron & Ayo Bookkeeping

403 Hickory St., Thibodaux • 985-446-0484

1946

Tax Return Preparation Services & Bookkeeping

Bollinger Shipyards Inc.

8365 Highway 308, Lockport • 985-532-2554

1946

Repair, Conversion & New Construction of Offshore & Inland Vessels

L & N Food Store Inc.

622 Lafourche Dr., Thibodaux • 985-447-4232

1946

Grocery

Plaisance Dragline & Dredging Co. Inc.

2220 S. Bayou Dr., Golden Meadow • 985-475-5181

1946

Dredging

B&J Martin Inc. (Inc. in 1967)

18104 W. Main St., Galliano • 985-632-2727

1947

Commercial Boat Rentals & Portable Offshore Living Quarters Leasing

Danos

13083 Highway 308, Larose • 985-693-3313

1947

Oil & Gas Services

Nick's Refrigeration Sales & Service

308 Hickory St., Thibodaux • 985-447-2647

1947

Heating & Air Conditioning Contractor

Stagni and Company LLC

207 Lafaye Ave., Thibodaux • 985-447-7226

1947

CPA Accounting

A. Angelette and Sons Trucking

7739 Highway 308, Lockport • 985-798-7040

1948

Heavy Equipment Foundation Contractors

Auto Center Inc.

608 Jackson St., Thibodaux • 985-446-6496

1948

Used Automobiles & Repair

Children's Clinic of Thibodaux

807 Ridgefield Road, Thibodaux • 985-447-9045

1948

Pediatrics

1948

Fabrication, Construction & Maintenance, Project Management, Environmental Services & Safety & Training Services

GIS Oilfield Contractors (orig. Grand Isle Shipyard Inc.)

18838 Highway 3235, Galliano • 985-475-5238

Nicholls State University

906 E. First St., Thibodaux • 985-448-4143

1948

University

Anna Oncale Cafe and Lounge

718 Highway 20, Thibodaux • 985-633-2063

1949

Restaurant

L & M Botruc Rental Inc.

18692 W. Main St., Galliano • 985-475-5733

1949

Commercial Boat Rentals

Robichaux Lumber Company Inc.

2755 Highway 308, Raceland • 985-447-7035

1949

Lumber & Other Building Materials

Weimer Gros Flores LLC (orig. Ferdinand T. Picou Architect)

307 Canal Blvd., Thibodaux • 985-447-9931

1949

Architecture and Interior Design

Jones Insurance Services LLC

605 East 1st St., Thibodaux • 985-447-4007

1952

Insurance Agency

Babin Sheet Metal Works Inc.

1809 Oakley St., Thibodaux • 985-446-6139

1953

Sheet Metal Work

Lady Of the Sea General Hospital

200 W. 134th Pl., Cut Off • 985-632-6401

1953

Acute-Care Inpatient Hospital

Percle’s Body Shop

107 Body Shop Court, Thibodaux • 985-446-1100

1953

Automotive Body Shop

Kem Supply House Inc.

102 W. 4th St., Thibodaux • 985-447-7343

1954

Office Supplies

Thibodaux Do It Best Lumber

900 Saint Patrick St., Thibodaux • 985-447-7222

1954

Lumber & Building Materials

NAPA Auto Parts (Pope's Parts)

1315 St. Patrick Highway, Thibodaux • 985-446-8485

1955

Automotive Supplies & Parts

The New Store Inc.

607 W. 3rd St., Thibodaux • 985-447-3155

1955

Family Clothing Store

C & G Boats Inc. (Inc. in 1993)

1216 S. Bayou Dr., Golden Meadow • 985-475-5155

1956

Commercial Boat Rentals

Fred Carreras & Sons

1056 People St., Thibodaux • 985-447-7247

1956

Plumbing, Mechanical, Air Conditioning Commercial Contractors

Hebert's Nursery

1500 Saint Mary St., Thibodaux • 985-446-1003

1956

Nursery Supplies & Garden Center & Landscaping

Johnny's Men's Shop

605 West 3rd St., Thibodaux • 985-446-1144

1956

Retail Clothing

Lafourche Home for Aged and Infirm Inc.

1002 Tiger Dr., Thibodaux • 985-447-2205

1956

Skilled Nursing Care Facility

LeBlanc's Service Station & Wrecker Service

105 West Ave E, Larose • 985-693-3731

1956

Gasoline Service Station & Wrecker Service

Taylor’s Trailer Court (orig. Taylor's Mobile Home Park)

137 W. Park Ave., Thibodaux • 985-447-4233

1956

Mobile Home Site Operators

Bayou Country Club

900 Country Club Blvd., Thibodaux • 985-446-8893

1957

Country Club

LeBlanc & Miller LLC

405 W. 2nd St., Thibodaux • 985-446-6213

1957

Attorney

Riviere Insurance Agency Inc.

412 Canal Blvd., Thibodaux • 985-447-2625

1957

Insurance Agency & Brokerage

Ronald Adams Contractor LLC

1074 Highway 1, Thibodaux • 985-447-4466

1957

Excavation & Grading Building Construction

Hofman Music

630 Jackson St., Thibodaux • 985-447-4050

1958

Musical Instruments Store

Raceland Ag Service Inc.

3932 Highway 308, Raceland • 985-537-6737

1958

Farm Supplies

Thompson Construction Company

100 Saint Peter Road, Thibodaux • 985-446-5577

1958

General Contractor

Roger's Auto Parts (NAPA)

910 Crescent Ave., Lockport • 985-532-3311

1959

Automotive Supplies & Parts

Edison Chouest Offshore

16201 E. Main St., Galliano • 985-601-4444

1960

Marine Cargo Handling

Greater Lafourche Port Comm.

16829 E. Main St., Galliano • 985-632-6701

1960

Port

Hartman's Agricultural Service

7486 Highway 308, Lockport • 985-532-3967

1960

Sales & Services for Agricultural Needs

Hillman Family Clinic

426 Highway 308, Thibodaux • 985-447-2628

1960

General Family Practice, Physician/Surgeon

Rouses Enterprises LLC

1301 Saint Mary St., Thibodaux • 985-447-5998

1960

Independent Supermarket Chain

You Gotta Eat.

FeedMeHouma.com

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Hot Energy Services always proud to do ‘diry work’

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com Some businesses are only good at doing one thing.

Maybe they do two things at the most.

But for Hot Energy Services in Houma, the game plan is a little different.

Those guys do a little bit of everything.

Open since the 1980s, the oilfield service company continues to evolve, possessing a number of useful skills including the cleaning of storage tanks, paraffin removal, environmental cleanup and just about anything else that makes offshore work more efficient.

“We do a lot of stuff,” Vice President of Operations Zack Giroir said. “We have 16 employees and combined, they have more than 300 years of combined experience. Companies use our services to have a smoother run. We’re the ones who help make sure that everything that happens out there is as efficient as possible.”

For Hot Energy Services, Houma has been the company’s home from day one.

The business started in 1988 and is owned by a group out of Oklahoma City that specializes in oilfield service work. Businessman Michael Platt is the company’s president.

Giroir said Hot Energy Services has maintained its day-to-day operations out of a couple spots, but the locations always been in Houma.

Today, the company operates on 921 Dunn St. – right on the side of the tunnel on the west side part of town.

Giroir said the business’s top clients are Hilcorp, Swift

FILE PHOTO

Hot Energy Services does all of the dirty oilfield work that some other companies are not willing to do. With 16 employees and more than 300 years of combined experience among its workers, Hot Energy Services continues to push through, despite slow economic times in the oil and gas industry.

Energy Company, Texas Petroleum, Whitney Oil & Gas, Dimension Oil & Gas, Energy XXI and Tanner Resources, among other companies.

“Houma is home,” Giroir said. “This is where we’ve always been.”

Since their start in operations, Giroir said efficiency has been Hot Energy Service’s calling card and through that mantra, the company has evolved to encompass many things.

One of the main jobs the company focuses on is paraffin removal – a process that saves drilling companies time and money.

Paraffin is a waxy material that is found at drill sites

during the extraction of oil from the earth’s surface.

While oil is being pulled up to the surface, paraffin often clogs the line, which causes the extraction process to take much longer if the problem isn’t remedied.

“It’s like if someone has an artery that’s blocked. Obviously that means the right about of blood can’t flow through the heart, which causes a big problem,” Giroir said. “It’s almost the exact same thing. This paraffin comes in and clogs up the line and stops the flow from being as clean as it should.

We have a way of going in there and keeping things flowing.”

Once that process is com-

plete, Hot Energy Services is just getting started. Giroir said the company is licensed and certified to clean up the work site and move hazardous materials and chemicals to where they’re properly taken care of.

“There are some dangerous chemicals out there,” Giroir said. “We go in there, remove those things and bring them to disposal sites so that they can be handled in the right way.”

The company is also on the scene if something goes wrong in the extraction process.

Giroir said Hot Energy Services has several workers trained in environmental cleanup – a skill that

comes in handy when any problems arise.

As soon as oil begins leaking in the water, Giroir said Hot Energy employees can get on the scene to contain, then begin work on eliminating the problem.

“We have experience in emergency spills,” Giroir said. “We are trained and have the ability to get out there and clean it up. We also have the equipment to clean the tools used in the industry. We can pressure wash oily equipment and other things that need it after the job takes place.”

Just about anything that makes the job easier, Hot Energy Services is willing to do it.

Giroir said that’s the recipe that’s allowed the company to stay rockin’ – more than 25 years running.

The vice president said the company has seen its business slow in the economic downturn, but he believes it’ll pick back up as the industry stabilizes and the price of oil slowly trots back up.

“It’s a little down,” Giroir said. “But we’re hopeful it can get back up. We like what we do. We maximize oil production for the oil majors.

“We do some of the work people don’t think about. But we do it with a smile.”

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Terrebonne General Medical Center trainer Zach Voss talks to students during a speed camp the hospital put on this summer. TGMC has made a strong push toward wellness and health education in recent years.

TGMC continues success Houma hospital making community a healthier place

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com The world of medicine is always changing. To remain competitive, a hospital must be willing to stay in front of those changes and in tune with the latest trends in the field.

Terrebonne General Medical Center in Houma does exactly that – and more.

That’s why they’ve firmly established themselves as a leader in local medicine for more than 60 years and counting.

Founded in 1954 as Terrebonne General Hospital, the local medical facility has constantly grown with the times to emerge in its present position as a leader in patient care, wellness and prevention.

Today, TGMC is a 300-plus-bed facility – a hospital that’s won countless honors from some of the most prestigious medical authorities in the country.

Hospital CEO Phyllis Peoples said the accolades are an honor TGMC’s entire staff is proud of. But more importantly, she said they’re also a sign of TGMC’s ability to grow with the rapidly moving field of medicine.

TGMC’s current focus is to continue its high-quality patient care with an aimed focus on wellness and keeping people healthier for longer stretches of their lives.

“The healthcare industry is constantly evolving to better serve the needs of the patients in our community,” Peoples said. “Many technological advancements are created every day to improve

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The TGMC mission to provide exceptional healthcare with compassion goes beyond the walls of the medical center. TGMC lives out their mission through involvement with the schools, local businesses, and community events. patient care. TGMC continues to provide our patients with the most advanced, state-of-the-art technology available. … Our community has always turned to us when they are in poor health, but we are encouraging our community to be proactive in their healthcare.

Through our Healthy Lifestyles Center, we are offering wellness and prevention education and programs to help our community lead healthier lives.”

For TGMC, it’s been a long journey.

The hospital started in 1954 and was run by the Sisters of St. Joseph. It was called Terrebonne General Hospital. The original facility was modest for modern times, but impressive for the 1950s.

It featured 76 beds, 20 bassinets, 16 physicians and 58 employees total, according to Peoples.

“The (original) employees’ primary vision was to provide healthcare services to the residents of the Bayou Region,” Peoples said.

In the 1960s, the local economy grew, which caused a rise in the area population. To combat that, the Sisters added more beds and services to Terrebonne General.

“This, however, was still not enough for the ever-growing population and the need for a state-ofthe-art hospital was recognized,” Peoples said.

The demand was met in 1984 when the original building was sold to the Terrebonne Police Jury and under the governance structure of an appointed Board of Commissioners, the hospital’s current campus was built – a 321-bed facility that sits just off the twin spans bridges in Downtown Houma.

And with it came a new name, as well.

“Terrebonne General Medical Center was opened,” Peoples said.

In its history, TGMC has had a continual commitment to providing quality care to those in need.

Peoples said the hospital has an all-star staff of 1,400 employees

and 300 physicians, which includes some of the brightest minds in the world of medicine.

“Our physicians have received numerous awards and accolades for their dedication to patient care and serving our community,” she said. “Many have performed pioneering procedures and research that has impacted the field of medicine.”

And now, TGMC is reaching out and is focusing heavily on preventing bad situations from arising through education.

In recent years, TGMC’s Healthy Lifestyles Center has emerged and offered wellness and prevention education and programs to help community members lead healthier lives. In addition, Wellness for Life has partnered with several local businesses over the years to provide employee wellness screenings and education.

The hospital has also used its Community Sports Institute to get into schools and work with local

high school athletics.

“The Community Sports Institute is present in all Terrebonne Parish schools providing education, prevention and care,” Peoples said.

A big coup to TGMC is its new Sports Performance Training Center, which allows citizens the opportunity to workout with professional trainers to either be more fit, rehab an injury or take preventative steps to avoid injuries down the line.

With lead trainer Zach Voss at the controls, the facility has quickly emerged as a local leader in athletic training – a facility loaded to the brim with the latest and best equipment in the field of exercise and athletic training.

Voss said he’s taken pride in partnering with the community to give people the help they deserve.

Since the Sports Performance Training Center’s inception, it has SEE TGMC, PAGE B19

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Old roots sprout new opportunities at Entergy substantial root systems, some of which stick above ground like a cypress tree.

These root structures not only offer stability to the plant against storm waves but also are good at trapping sediment to help the plants keep up with sea level rise.”

Entergy also helped fund Tierra Resources’ development of a methodology used to equate coastal wetlands with carbon credits that could be sold to fund future restoration. That methodology was certified in 2012.

“In addition, as an extension of the climate-change adaptation study unveiled in 2010, Entergy and America’s WETLAND Founda-

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Entergy provides electricty toc countless homes in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes. The company has experienced a great deal of change in its lengthy history.

BY JOHN DESANTIS john@rushing-media.com It appears deceptively simple, so much so that it is built into us as second nature.

The flip of a switch or the push of a plug. Instant light.

Instant television. No need for a second thought.

But that wasn’t the case when the 19th century was turning into the 20th, and Arkansas businessman Harvey Couch in Arkansas, when investor Harvey Couch began supplying a new form of power called electricity to the towns of Arkadelphia and Malvern, a process he improved upon by partnering with lumberman H.H. Foster, creating the Arkansas Light & Power Company.

A series of mergers and milestones in years to come built the grid that now serves the Bayou Region, and the growth of the company that supplies power to much of it. Louisiana Power and Light, New Orleans Public Service or NOPSI are among the companies that eventually melded into Entergy, now a global energy supplier and a leader in operating and decommissioning nuclear power plants.

Hurricanes and floods, wars and economic depressions all have shaped the

history of Entergy in one way or another, sometimes providing lessons hardearned, sometimes fostering innovation that has led to greater ability to provide service. Through five separate corporate entities, Entergy Corporation delivers electricity to nearly 3 million customers in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. The power plants Entergy owns and operates have about 30,000 mw of electric generating capacity and within that figure are nearly 10,000 mw of nulear power.

Its annual revenues stand at about $11.5 billion and the company employs more than 13,000 people.

Spokesman Michael Burns expresses pride in the company’s record of providing safety, comfort and convenience to customers. But he says the company also fuels a different kind of power.

“The human power that comes from working together to improve lives, create opportunities and strengthen the communities we serve in the Bayou Region and all of Louisiana,” Burns said. “It’s both an exciting and challenging time for those who live and work in Louisiana. We are proud to work closely with communities, businesses, industries and government leaders

to help this region achieve its tremendous economic potential and build a better tomorrow for all. By helping attract new businesses to the state and helping existing businesses expand, we are able to create long-term opportunities for companies as well as the communities in which they operate.”

Burns said that toward the end of maintaining good corporate citizenship and strengthening the places where it provides service, Entergy has made great investments that last year included $7.75 million in grants “to enhance educational opportunities, protect the environment and provide resources for low-income customers throughout Louisiana.”

“We’ve taken a leading role in working to build a more resilient Gulf Coast.

The company has funded groundbreaking research, participated in public education efforts, supported work to rebuild vanishing wetlands,” Burns said. “The company is currently working with long-time partner Tierra Resources to scale up a pilot project conducted in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes – aerial planting of mangrove trees. Mangroves are good for stabilizing salt marsh areas because of their

tion sponsored 11 outreach forums in coastal communities – including Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes -- addressed in the study,” Burns said. “Spanning 14 months and 5 states, the forums brought more than 1,100 leaders and community representatives together for a dialogue on local coastal issues and specific vulnerabilities.”

Moving toward the future, Burns said the company plans to invest $4.5 billion through 2018 in its Louisiana infrastructure.

Two planned 495 mw power units slated for the Union Power Station outside El Dorado, Ark are part of

those plans. A 980 mw combined gas-turbine unit in St. Charles Parish is also in the works.

“We remain committed to providing superior customer service,” Burns said. “We continue to explore solutions that will meet our customers’ changing expectations in the evolving landscape of the utility industry. By introducing new technologies and renewable energy resources, we can build a grid that is cleaner, more resilient and affordable and provides innovative opportunities in the way we interact and generate power for the benefit of all of our customers.”

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gives you

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Lafourche general store gives comforts of home to shopping

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The professionals at Kief Hardware aren’t afraid to have a little fun while on the job. The store makes it fun for customers, too, offering several creative sales throughout the year to make people return to the store – time and time again.

Cabirac worked at Kief at 15; bought it at 23

BY JOHN DESANTIS john@rushing-media.com James Cabirac was 15 years old when he started working at Kief Hardware.

At that time, the store was still at his original location off La. Highway 1 in Galliano.

“I could walk to the store, so I asked them a few times and they finally gave me a job,” Cabirac said.

A couple of years later, Cabirac thrived as an employee and became a manager. By age 23, he bought the store and officially began his quest to create a fully-stocked general store for the people of south Lafourche Parish to enjoy.

The local businessman has owned Kief Hardware since 1998 – the latest ownership change in the 70-year-old store’s history. But under Cabirac’s watch, Kief has thrived, expanding its roots to a newly built storefront

off a more trafficked location off La. Highway 3235 in Cut Off – a store that has evolved from the “hardware store” name and has blossomed into a business that now also has groceries, tools, household supplies and pretty much whatever else a person can think of.

“Our goal is to bring back the old-time days where a person can come in and they can get everything they want under one roof,” Cabirac said. “It’s not so much the Walmart approach, because we’re a different store than they are. But before they existed, there were stores like that – general stores where you could get by if you did most of your shopping from there.”

Cabirac has been a part of the local business for the majority of his life. But the store was around for many decades before he took over.

Kief Hardware opened in 1944 under the guidance of

Clerville Kief – the reason for the store’s name.

The original business owner then yielded control to his daughter – a move that took place “sometime in the 1970s or early 1980s,” according to Cabirac.

Cabirac took over in 1998, purchasing the store from Kief’s daughter just a few days after his 23rd birthday.

When he took over, he had been an employee for close to a decade and had been the store’s manager for several years.

“They told me that if I stayed with them, that they’d sell the business to me,” Cabirac said. “So I did, and I took over ownership of the store and we just have kept on going from there.”

One thing worth noting about Kief Hardware is the unique, customer-friendly atmosphere that is present both within the business’s walls and also throughout the south Lafourche com-

munity.

In addition to its wide array of quality products, Kief has also become known for its strategy regarding discounts.

Under Cabirac, Kief Hardware has not shied away from aggressive discount promotions – deals that sometimes see the business give away thousands of dollars-worth of merchandise to its customers.

The store’s owner said he uses these tactics as a form of advertisement – customers come in, reap the benefits of the sale and then spread the word to others within the tightly knitted community.

Cabirac said creating that pattern of habitual shopping is why the sales are worthwhile.

“We are always doing things to try and grab attention,” Cabirac said. “We SEE KIEF, PAGE B21

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South Louisiana Seed Co. gives top advice to public

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com It was still the 1930s when South Louisiana Seed Co. opened its doors.

By that math, one can calculate that the company has spent more than 80 years providing local customers with the latest in animal nutrition, small pet supplies and other animal care needs.

The key to the company’s success? It’s all about the customers.

The seed business is always moving, but store Vice President and Manager Don Callahan said keeping customers as the top priority is the way South Louisiana Seed Co. has stayed afloat as the business marches toward its 90th year.

One recent addition to the company’s offerings is an expanded weekend schedule.

South Louisiana Seed Co. is now open until 5 p.m. on Saturday and is available from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Sunday, as well.

“Product knowledge and sound advice, along with great customer service has always been the cornerstone of what has kept South Louisiana Seed current, relevant and fresh over the years,” Callahan said. “We take a lot of pride in what we do.”

The Houma-based business started “around 1932,” according to Callahan. It has been at its current location on 7591 West Main St., since 1982.

In its first days, the business was located on Barrow Street. It then moved downtown across from where it is today before settling into its new home more than 30 years ago.

Callahan said the West Main Street location is unique because of its place in Houma history.

“The building we are

CASEY GISCLAIR | THE TIMES

South Louisiana Seed Co. Inc. Vice President and Manager Don Callahan stands in an aisle of his Houma-based store. Open since the 1930s, the business is located in one of Houma’s oldest buildings. currently in is one of the oldest buildings in Houma,” Callahan said. “It was built around 1908.”

Over the years, Callahan said, South Louisiana Seed has undergone some minor ownership changes, but the store is a second-generation family business.

Callahan said his father Roy Callahan ran the business beginning in the early 1950s.

Roy Callahan initially was in business with a partner, but he took sole control in the early 1990s when he bought the partner’s stake in the business.

That’s right around the same time that Don Callahan came into the fold. He said he joined the business in 1991 after graduating from college. The son said

that he worked hand-inhand with his father to manage the company – a relationship that lasted for more than 20 years before Roy Callahan’s passing last year.

“We’re a family business,” Callahan said.

Don Callahan said the business has changed over the years to keep up with shifts in the seed industry.

As technology develops newer, healthier, more cost efficient products, the store changes adjusts and places those items onto its shelves.

“It’s changed dramatically over the last 20 years or so with more emphasis on research and development with Purina being the leader in animal nutrition,” Callahan said. “Things are always evolving within the field.”

TGMC: Hospital aims to boost local quality of life FROM PAGE B16 partnered with high schools and local athletes on several projects aimed to promote wellness and injury prevention.

“Our facility is a great place and is a huge asset to our community,” Voss said.

“Our equipment is all new.

It’s all the best stuff. We have

a lot of ways that we can help people meet their goals and lead happier, healthier lives.

That’s always the goal – to meet the needs of every, single individual person.”

Peoples agreed.

She said it’s the people who matter most for the doctors and professionals at Terrebonne General Medical Center.

Taking pride in taking care of them, she said, is what has allowed the hospital to continue to push forward and into the future.

“Through all the changes in the world of healthcare, one thing that has remained the same is our dedication to providing compassionate care to our community,” Peoples said.

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This little lifesaver is used in the Structural Heart procedures performed in the lifesaving Hybrid Operating Room.

But when one walks into the South Louisiana Seed store, Callahan said customers will find a large variety of products and offerings – a one-stop shop for those with animal or plant care needs.

“We are a retail locally owned feed store that specializes in animal health and nutrition,” Callahan said. “We carry a large assortment of insecticides, herbicides and small pet supplies.

“We also carry baby

chicks, ducks and occasionally rabbits within our store.”

With decades under their belts, South Louisiana Seed doesn’t have plans to go anywhere anytime soon.

Callahan said plans are already in place for the business to continue to push forward in its efforts to house the latest and greatest within the industry.

He said Louisiana Seed’s goal will always be to give the best quality products

to customers in an effort to protect our community’s future.

“We will continue to evolve in the marketplace and continue educating our wonderful customers on the do’s and don’t’s of gardening and animal nutrition,” Callahan said. “We will also keep pursuing environmentally conscious products so that our kids and our kid’s kids can have a safe and sound environment to group up in.”

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Terminix in Houma keeps the pests away.

But it also is a company that provides a local, family-like feel, despite being back by a nationwide brand.

Keep them pests away

Terminix Pest Control an area mainstay since 1970s STAFF REPORT editor@rushing-media.com When folks think of Terminix, they think of a brand that’s a household name and a company that services people worldwide.

But to folks in Houma, it’s more.

Here, Terminix is something that’s family-owned and family-run.

Terminix Pest Control has become a mainstay in the Houma business community by keeping its principles consistent with the latter.

Fundamentally an industry that requires its staff to snoop through its clients’ homes – around the attic, beneath the beds and the front porch, behind the baseboards and above the doorframe – Terminix employees tout that pest control requires an intimacy between company and client. It’s a relationship the company has emphasized and pushed throughout its existence.

“These guys that are going to everybody’s houses and stuff, those are the guys that are generating money. That’s our face with the customers, so if those guys and gals are happy, the customers are going to be happy,” said Dan Foster, general manager of the pest control company. “And we’re going to be happy, too, because we’re going to have a lot of business.”

Terminix of Houma has morphed into a family business since it opened its doors. Brothers Billy and Dan Foster own and manage the company, respectively,

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Dan Foster (left) has worked with his brother Billy since 1980 when the family members joined forces in the pest control market. Today, Terminix takes pride in providing top-notch customer service and also competitive employee benefits. and according to Dan, they have pursued a family environment in everything they do, from the office building to the interoffice needling of friends and coworkers.

“We have a lot of fun,” Dan Foster said. “The only thing we really take seriously, and I mean real seriously, is taking care of our customer, number one. Number two is getting along with each other. If we would hire someone who didn’t get along with the other employees, they’d be gone because we believe in everybody pulling in the same direction. We like to have fun. If you don’t like joking and teasing, don’t come to work here.”

The idea of a tightly knit staff may seem to clash with the stereotypes of an international brand name. But Foster said his company is largely independent from the Terminix name and often procures its pest control products from other sources.

“The most contact we have with them, we send them a franchise fee every month,” Foster said.

“We really don’t use any products labeled Terminix. We use what we think is the most effective for our customers.”

Terminix of Houma opened its doors in 1972. Billy Foster joined the company in 1976, and Dan

joined his brother 1990, when Billy bought out his two partners. Since then, the brothers have watched the revenue stream increase ever year, whether it’s by 1 or 15 percent, Dan Foster said.

Billy Foster had just graduated from Nicholls with a degree in entomology; his three-year older sister graduated with him and Dan obtained a degree in accounting three years earlier. The three Foster siblings were born in New Orleans and graduated from Terrebonne High School.

Dan Foster had a brief bayou hiatus when he moved to Houston to work at Texaco. He would later

return and work as the comptroller for Patterson Truck Line. He said his heart was always in Houma, but in the pre-Martin Luther King Boulevard days, it was hard to find a job that paid to qualifications.

As Terminix of Houma has grown, so has the town it calls home.

“It has just grown tremendously,” Dan said. “I graduated from Nicholls in ’69, and Houma is just a completely different town than it was then. It was a small town. You knew everybody, but you didn’t have the same business opportuSEE TERMINIX, PAGE B22

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The long-standing Lavis Conoco station in Houma has new leadership, but the same, old-school family-like feel.

New owners, same Lavis Long-standing gas station has new leadership

STAFF REPORT editor@rushing-media.com

A community staple in downtown Houma is under new leadership, but its same old-time charm has stuck around.

The Conoco gas station on Barrow Street has been around long enough to have both silver and gold anniversaries with no overlap in the years for either. It is entering its 75th year on Barrow, having started in 1941, and was under ownership of the Bourg family since 1973 when Lavis Bourg Sr. bought it from Jake Walker. Lavis Bourg Jr., known as “Jay,” took over for his father, who died in 2003. r As gas stations around the country became increasingly focused on getting customers in and out, the Lavis Conoco stuck to its roots of quality service and building relationships. The station remained a full-service gas station where any customer that pulls in gets his or her gas pumped, car vacuumed, windows cleaned and tires and fluids checked.

When Jay decided to retire from the business last year, he began to search for buyers, preferably those that would keep the same business model around. That’s where Lenny Swiderski and Mark Arceneaux stepped in.

The two men, who both work offshore, were looking into going into business together. Arceneaux happened to drive by the Lavis Conoco and saw an opportunity.

When the two met with Bourg and his wife, Connie, they struck a deal and were ready to take over.

Before putting pen to paper,

however, the prospective owners spent time working at the station while Mark’s wife, Courtney, learned the company’s books.

“I worked here for probably six weeks before we bought it, learning the business, meeting the customers, things like that. They felt pretty confident that things were staying the same and were left in good hands,” Arceneaux said.

On Nov. 1, 2015, the Lavis Conoco officially left the younger Lavis’s hands, and the two oilmen have kept the machine running just as it has been. According to Swiderski, customers were worried that the station would change with new ownership, but he and his partner have assuaged those fears. They have kept the same policies, the same service and the same employees, much to the locals’ delight.

“Everybody is happy about it, everybody was so afraid that that was going to be the end of it. We had called Conoco, and they said out of 2,200 stations in the United States, they got four full-service stations left in the country,” Swiderski said.

That continued service has kept the same customers coming back. According to Swiderski, the new station has kept about “99 percent” of the Bourgs’ clients. Arceneaux said that they’ve held onto the trust and relationships that the Bourgs built up for 42 years.

“We have keys to certain customers’ vehicles. We go pick them up on a certain basis, bring them here, detail them, oil changes, filled up and bring it back.

Charge them at the end of

the month,” Arceneaux said.

With eyes on selling the station, the Bourgs did not aim to increase clientele, according to Arceneaux. In about three months after acquiring Lavis, he and Swiderski had already picked up about 30 accounts.

“We are probably right on target for exactly what we expected and stuff, learning the business and meeting the customers. We’ve already started building our business. The challenges, we were ready for them. This wasn’t an overnight decision that me and Mark made,” Swiderski said.

The new owner said that while the cratering price of oil has hit the local economy hard, those same oilfield problems haven’t reached his business yet.

“A lot of our clientele is doctors, lawyers, business owners, their wives, moms, who have been coming here for decades because they don’t want to pump their own fuel,” Arceneaux said.

Aside from their clientele, another factor keeping the business chugging along is the Conoco’s sweet location.

“It’s a dying business, let’s sort of say. Where we’re at, we’re two blocks from the courthouse, two blocks from the hospital, right in the middle of downtown. It just works,” Swiderski said.

According to Swiderski, while the two have no plans to change the service, they do want to change the aesthetics. They want to bring back an old-school feel to the shop with some relics from past decades. While work and family commitments have prevented them from starting the renovations,

KIEF: Store relies heavily on creative sales FROM PAGE B18 did a promotion one time on Facebook when we first started our grocery section, and we told them, ‘If you spend $100 on groceries with us, we’ll give you $100 back in gift cards.

“So we basically gave away $10,000 worth of product in that idea. But it’s promo-

tion. If we were going to go out and get on the TV or get any kind of ad, it was going to cost money, as well.

This way, we created loyal customers and we let wordof-mouth be our friend and work for us.”

So with a newly built store and a ton of offerings, Kief Hardware keeps cruising along into the future.

Cabirac said he hopes people continue to cruise along with he and his staff – the group of people he touts for Kief’s success.

“We have great people here working at the store and great people in our community supporting our store,” Cabirac said. “Without that, nothing here would be possible.”

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Swiderski said he hopes to be done by the summer.

“We’re going to really try to accent the 1960s and ‘70s and bring that out, but clean it up really nice and paint it. I think it’s going to be beautiful when it’s finished,”

Swiderski said.

Courtney said she understands the trust the community has placed in the shop for decades, and everyone at the station is open to customer suggestions about how to improve the service.

“One thing that I want people to know is that when they come here they will be treated right. They’re not going to leave if there’s a problem. We’re going to fix it,” she said.

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Bollinger started as a small, quaint family business. Today, it’s grown into a power in the marine industry that has scored billions of dollars in contracts.

Bollinger still shines

New leadership, same track record for shipbuilders

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com It’s been a while now since the shocking announcement that multibillion dollar local business Bollinger Shipyards had been sold to an ownership group headed by the industry leaders who own Edison Chouest Offshore.

But the transition hasn’t exactly been a tough one for folks at the longstanding business – even in the face of today’s tough economic climate, which makes running a profitable business harder than it used to be.

Bollinger has continued to succeed under the leadership of its new chief executive officer, Ben Bordelon,

the grandson of Donald G. Bollinger – the small-town, hardworking man who founded the company in 1946 as a small-town, family-based shipyard.

When the sale was announced, Bordelon promised to continue to push the company forward into the future.

So far, he seems to be

doing just that, securing several Coast Guard contracts for the company, while also helping lead Bollinger to the 2015 Shipbuilders Council of America Award for Excellence in Safety – an honor the company has now earned every year for more than a decade.

“For 11 consecutive years, Bollinger Shipyards has been recognized for outstanding performance in workplace safety,” Bordelon said when the honor was announced. “Earning the SCA Award for Excellence in Safety is a testament to our employees’ unwavering dedication and focus.”

For Bollinger, the path to the present-day success dates back to the mid-point of the last century – a time when the business didn’t have the name recognition, nor the following it has today.

It started in 1946, when Donald Bollinger sought to establish a business that would grow slowly but would provide jobs to neighbors in Lockport and his own family.

Bollinger Machine Shop and Shipyards began in a small bayouside wooden building, near small farms, small wood and steel tugs and fishing boats. There was also a bit of general machine work being done.

With his brothers Ralph, a mechanic, and George, a welder, along with brother-in-law Pappy Boyd, his father Bud and Dick, his youngest brother, who with his degree from LSU, became president of Bollinger Shipyards, the dream became a reality.

“The beginning was humble and the guys worked

hard. They soon earned a reputation for their efficient service and innovation in marine repair,” reads the official history of the company. “It wasn’t long after the Bollinger’s got their little business underway that the oilfield boom in South Louisiana started. The demand for larger, more specialized vessels, inland and offshore, helped their company grow by leaps and bounds.”

The business grew and did well until the oil bust of 1984.

Donald’s son, Donald Jr. – known as “Boysie” – saw the bust coming and took a gamble, bidding on a Coast Guard patrol boat project. During the oilfield depression Bollinger built 49 U.S. Coast Guard Island Class Cutters, 110 feet each in length. That work, with the company’s commercial repair program, sustained them.

Since then, Bollinger has continued to work closely with the Coast Guard – still providing cutters to the military to this day.

Since the initial contract with the Coast Guard, Bollinger has continued to grow and expand its commercial and military new construction and repair facilities, the official history states, making it the largest vessel repair company in the Gulf of Mexico region.

And maintaining that is something Bollinger intends to keep – even during its transition under Bordelon.

He’s a Bollinger lifer who’s been part of the company for virtual his whole life.

A former LSU football player who had a short run in the NFL, Bordelon took over as president and CEO of Bollinger with loads of

expertise in how the company is run.

Bordelon had been a high-ranking official with Bollinger for several years at the time of his appointment.

He was the company’s chief operating officer at the time of the sale.

Bordelon had also been a member of the Bollinger board of directors since 2002, and was the company’s executive vice president of repair.

When the sale was announced, Bordelon, a Central Lafourche High School graduate, said he shared the same vision as his grandfather, and couldn’t wait to bring that vision into action for the shipbuilding company that’s generated billions of dollars worth of contracts since its existence.

“Fishing with my grandfather near the family marsh near Leeville gave me a lot of time to hear stories about his vision, as well as his personal and business life,” Bordelon said. “I look forward to building on the values set out by my grandfather all those years ago. With a commitment to our customers, a deep appreciation for our workers, a strong focus on safety, the clean environment and quality service, we will grow this company as we build on a great base.”

So far, Bollinger has found a way to do exactly that.

Success is pretty much all the local company seems to know – now 70 years and running.

“Our company is proud of its accomplishments,” Bordelon said. “We look forward to its future – one which we expect to be very bright.”

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TERMINIX: Brothers embrace partnership FROM PAGE B20 nities.”

Today, the company boasts countless customers in its Terrebonne-Lafourche-Grand Isle customer pool and dozens of employees to service their needs.

Foster said the employees are cross-trained to handle regular pest control duties in addition to termite inspections and essentially

schedule their own stops with their own client list.

Dan said there is no secret to reaching the silver-andgold business status. He sees it as common sense.

“It’s just surrounding yourself with the best people you could possibly hire,” Dan said.

He added that working with his brother has been a joy – an experience that both he and the rest of the family

enjoys.

“I know people think I’m exaggerating, but we’ve never had a serious argument or really much of a difference of opinion,” Dan Foster said. “We think alike when it comes to business and when it comes to the way we treat people and what we expect from our employees.”

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60 years and counting

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Norman has ‘seen it all’ working at area pharmacy

BY JOHN DESANTIS john@rushing-media.com

COURTESY

Dave Norman fills prescriptions at Haydel’s Pharmacy on Grand Caillou Road. Now working part time at Haydel’s, he has been a pharmacist for 60 years.

Stats say sustained success isn’t easy

BY CASEY GISCLAIR casey@rushing-media.com Many studies prove time and time again that thriving in the world of business isn’t easy.

Multiple experts told The Times this week that more than 90 percent of businesses fail within their first decade in operation.

Many more of that 90 percent flop within their first five years – some even in year one.

The reasons for failure are countless and include things like poor planning, lack of interest in the business, poor customer sales or even simply plain-old bad luck.

But local business owners who have survived the test of time all seem to agree that on the opposite side of the fence, success is defined by willingness to put customers first and show community members that you care.

“The people have to come first,” Thibodaux General Medical Center CEO Greg Stock said. “If you put people first, give them the best care you could possibly give, you will always be pleased with what the end result would be.”

Having good people around the business helps, too.

Every local business

owner asked this past week about the key to success put employee dedication high on the list.

The Foster brothers at Terminix said a big key to sustained success in business involves hiring quality people, but also keeping them on board once they’re there.

Business experts said that increased turnover and a lack of longevity is one of the challenges that most failing businesses face.

“You’re only as good as your people around you,” Dan Foster said. “That’s one of the biggest keys anyone could ever know.”

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Dave Norman Jr. got a clear and close up view of the work a pharmacist does from early childhood, at the Barrow Drug Store on Main Street in downtown Houma.

There, his father, David Sr., dispensed prescriptions and advice, used a mortar and pestle a whole lot more than anyone uses them today, and dispatched bicycled deliveries to the ailing.

Today Dave, who is 81-years-old, continues the pharmacist’s trade, something he has now done for 60 years, but now in a brave new world of chain stores, more brands and more pre-made concoctions than ever before. He does this as a part-time druggist (a once widely-used word that means pharmacist.) at Haydel’s Pharmacy on Grand Caillou Road.

In his off time, Dave also manages to maintain a mean golf game.

“For me being a pharmacist from when I started to now is like the difference between flying in the days of Kitty Hawk and piloting a supersonic plane,” Dave said. “When I got out of school the first tranquilizer was available. We didn’t have much for high blood pressure.”

As a youngster, Dave worked at his father’s store – as a soda jerk – a job that allowed him to continue viewing first-hand the work

that would become his own vocation.

During high school years he attended what was then called Thibodaux College, the forerunner to E.D. White High School. Dave played football and at the time there was no Catholic school in Houma. – the precursor to E.D. White. From there he went on to Loyola University, which had a pharmacy program, and after obtaining his license in 1956 worked the family store, for twenty years beside his father and then later for the late George Picou, who had taken it over as People’s Drug Store. Dave managed the store until 1992.

Later came work for the Haydel’s – once his family’s competition – and the same dedication to detail and service that patients who had come to him in the past learned to expect.

Robert Roch, one of the owners at Haydel’s, says he couldn’t be happier with his part-time pharmacist.

“He is so knowledgeable.

He has been a friend and a mentor and we are fortunate to have him,” Robert said.

Until recently there were three Haydel stores, the one on Grand Caillou, the old downtown location on Church Street, and one on La. 311 near Enterprise Drive. Owners and staff say they are pleased to offer the personalized service at which small, locally owned pharmacies excel at delivering. Dave Norman, they

agree, is an important part of the formula.

The job, he acknowledges, has grown far more complex in recent years.

“It has gotten tougher,” Dave said. “Because of the difference in the competition and the difference in the insurance companies, how they reimburse.”

Over his 60 years of being a pharmacist there have been life changes as well.

Dave’s first wife, the former Mary Miazza, whom he wed in 1956, died in 1998.

His second wife, the former Barbara Barker, passed in 2014.

Through it all, Dave says, important life lessons have been learned.

The first, he said, is the importance of taking one’s profession seriously. In his case that means realizing the critical role the pharmacist plays in the overall health and wellness of those he serves.

Another important lesson, he said, has to do with human relations, and applies to any business or trade.

“You get treated by people the way you treat people,” he said.

And if half of what co-workers and employers say about Dave Norman, not only regarding his proficiency but also his genteel, polite nature, “a true southern gentleman” in the words of Robert Roch, then there is no doubt that people treat him very well indeed.

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