Your Business
COMPANY NEWS
• Abita Brewing Company has debuted three of its flagship beers—Abita Amber, Purple Haze and Jockamo I.P.A.—in cans. The brewer will continue packaging in glass as well.
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana has launched a mobile app for Louisiana 2 Step, the company's motivational program to inspire healthier choices. The app, which is available for the iPhone, includes a list of 100-calorie snacks, a visual portion guide, a list of exercises, a body-mass index calculator and educational videos.
• DEMCO has entered into a 10-year all-requirements contract with Cleco Power to purchase wholesale power. The contract takes effect April 2014.
• Detlefs Johnson & Partners, a Baton Rouge insurance, employee benefits and consulting firm, has been acquired by Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. The local firm will be named Detlefs Johnson & Partners, a division of Gallagher Benefit Services Inc. The move provides Detlefs Johnson & Partners with expanded resources, while enabling its operations to remain autonomous.
• DezinsInteractive has been chosen to redesign the website for Stirling Properties. The project involves redesigning the front end of the site and connecting that with customized administrative content management features.
• Flip Flop Shops, a niche retail store that sells flip flops and sandals, has opened in Perkins Rowe. The store is owned by Gene Rogers.
• Jacobs Engineering Group will provide services for the planned move of a methanol plant from South America to Louisiana, under a new contract is has signed with Methanex Corp. The plant will be relocated to Geismar from Chile, and it could be operational in the second half of 2014. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
• SCI Research, a full-service marketing research firm, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Founded in 1987 by John Boston, SCI provides qualitative (focus and jury groups) and quantitative (online and computer-assisted telephone interviewing) research to clients nationwide.
• The Shaw Group has been awarded a contract to upgrade a residue fluid catalytic cracking unit for Star Petroleum Refining Co. in Map Ta Phut, Thailand. The unit has a capacity of 40,800 barrels per day. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Shaw also has been awarded a contract to provide rapid-response services for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Omaha District. Shaw will investigate and remediate sites contaminated with hazardous, toxic or radioactive waste, or explosives. The contract, which includes a three-year base period and a two-year option, has a maximum value of $80 million.
• Trahan Architects has been commissioned to design an $880 million mixed-use development in Zhengzhou, a rapidly developing transportation hub of 8.6 million that links east and west China. At 4.3 million square feet, the proposed building is by far the largest the Baton Rouge firm has ever designed, says principal architect Trey Trahan.
• Treads & Care locations on West Lee Drive, Coursey Boulevard and La. Highway 30 in Gonzales have been rebranded as Skid Marks Tires & Auto Service. The name change comes after 30-plus years in business, owner Miles Holley says. Other members of the Holley family own four Treads & Care stores in south Louisiana that are not included in the rebrand, including two in Baton Rouge, one in Zachary and one in New Orleans.
ACCREDITATIONS/CERTIFICATIONS
• Cardiovascular Institute of the South's nuclear laboratories in Baton Rouge and Lafayette have received three years' accreditation from the Intersocietal Committee for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories. The certification recognizes a commitment to high-quality patient care and the provisions of quality diagnostic testing.
• Eric Arman of Northwestern Mutual of Louisiana-Baton Rouge has earned his Chartered Advisor for Senior Living designation from The American College. The certification recognizes an adviser's ability to address the many financial and lifestyle considerations affecting individuals in retirement and preparing for retirement.
• The four hospitals in the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, including Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge and St. Elizabeth Hospital in Gonzales, have received the NICHE designation from The Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University College of Nursing. The certification recognizes a higher level of care from a nursing team specifically trained to acknowledge and treat health conditions that affect elderly people.
• The YWCA Center for Family Empowerment has received four years' accreditation from ProLiteracy. The certification recognizes adult literacy organizations that have high-quality professional leadership, effective programs, committed governing boards and outstanding volunteer support.
APPOINTMENTS/MEMBERSHIPS
• Clinton Willson, an associate professor in the LSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been appointed president of the Baton Rouge branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
• Ben Vance, senior consultant for Postlethwaite & Netterville, has been appointed to the Young CPA Board of the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants as a representative of the Baton Rouge chapter.
• Deidra Jackson, who leads communications and governmental affairs for BASF Corp. in Louisiana, has joined the American Red Cross Tiffany Circle Society of Women Leaders.
• Jennifer Fowler, director of the Louisiana Business & Technology Center's student incubator and LBTC business counselor, has been elected as treasurer of the Louisiana Business Incubation Association for 2012-13.
• Kenny Smith, president/CEO of Houma-based engineering firm T. Baker Smith, has been named to the board of directors for Business First Bank.
• Our Lady of the Lake College has announced three new members to its board of trustees. They are: Dr. John R. Clifford, Michelle G. Mitchell and Douglas P. Moreau.
• Ram Devireddy, associate professor in the LSU Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
• Rodney Combs, associate director for Postlethwaite & Netterville, has been selected to the board of directors for the Capitol City Family Health Center.
• Sebastian C. Ashton and Mark L. Barbre, attorneys with the Long Law Firm, have been named Fellows of the Louisiana Bar Foundation.
• The Baton Rouge General Foundation has announced three new members to its board of governors. They are: Pam Causey, Rick Lipscomb and Tena Roemer.
• The Louisiana Association of Independent Land Title Agents has announced its board of directors. Officers are: Patrick L. Miller, president; Benjamin F. Marshall IV, president-elect; Randall E. Olson, treasurer; and Chad F. Reynolds, secretary. Members are: Walter L. Comeaux, Benjamin A. Luke, David A. LeClere, Ronny J. Champlin and Philip H. Boudreaux.
• The Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System has announced four new members to its board of directors. They are: Thomas Bickham and Shannon Templet, who were chosen by active members; and Connie Carlton and Barbara McManus, who were chosen by retirees.
• George Z. Voyiadjis, Boyd Professor, chair and Bingham C. Stewart Distinguished Professor of Engineering in the LSU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has received the Khan International award. The honor recognizes his outstanding contributions to the field of plasticity from 1991-2001, especially in the areas of multiscale modeling and inelastic localization.
• R. Kenton Denny, the Judith Walker Gibbs Professor of Education and Associate Professor of Special Education Programs in the LSU College of Education, has been named the Higher Education Professional of the Year by the Louisiana Council for Exceptional Children. The honor recognizes individual efforts in advancing the education of children with exceptional learning needs.
• Roy Keller, director of the Louisiana Technology Transfer Office in LSU's Louisiana Business & Technology Center, has received the Champion of Small Business Innovation Award from the Small Business Technology Council. The honor recognizes Keller's Small Business Innovation Research reauthorization efforts.
• The Leading Edge Alliance, of which Postlethwaite & Netterville is a founding member, has been ranked as the second-largest international association of independent accounting firms for 2012 by the International Accounting Bulletin. The alliance is composed of 1,600 partners and 18,000 professional staff located in 460 offices.
• Whitney Bank has received 14 national and regional Greenwich Excellence Awards in Small Business and Middle Market Banking by Greenwich Associates. The small-business awards are: overall satisfaction, relationship manager performance, branch satisfaction, treasury management-overall satisfaction, treasury management-accuracy of operations, treasury management-product capabilities, overall satisfaction-South Region and treasury management-overall satisfaction-South Region. Middle-market awards are: overall satisfaction, relationship management performance, treasury management-overall satisfaction, treasury management-customer service, treasury management-accuracy of operations and overall satisfaction-South Region.
GRANTS/NONPROFITS
• Air Liquide has funded a $14,000 grant to the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. The money will be used to support the rollout of LEH's Prime Time Family Reading Time program, which focuses on at-risk children.
