Baton Rouge Business Report | March 12, 2019 by Baton Rouge Business Report

EXXON’S BIG DEAL LSU GOES FUNDRAISING OUTDOOR DINING CRAZE

MARCH 12 - 25, 2019 • BUSINESSREPORT.COM

Rouge 2019 Baton ards Business AFw e & Hall of am E HALL OF FAM o E.J. Ours Jake Netterville

AR ON OF THE YE S R E P S S E IN S BU t John Engquis ESSPERSON YOUNG BUSIN EAR OF THE Y Kenny Nguyen THE YEAR COMPANY OF oyees) empl (100 or more DSLD Homes THE YEAR COMPANY OF ployees) 00 em (Fewer than 1 tems Martin Ecosys

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G N I T LAS S E I C LEGA Jake Netterville s e te c u d in e m rk on Hall of Fa t) left their ma munity. e s n (i o rs u O . com and E.J Baton Rouge e th d n a s s e busin

E A S T B AT O N R O U G E A S C E N S I O N I B E RV I L L E L I V I N G S T O N S T. TA M M A N Y

CONTENTS

SUCCESS STORIES

Honoring six Baton Rouge business leaders who never shied away from risk or the chance to reinvent their companies.

2019 Baton Rouge

Business Awards & Hall of Fame

Editorial director: Penny Font Executive editor: JR Ball Managing editor: Steve Sanoski Editor: Stephanie Riegel Online news editor: Deanna B. Narveson Staff writers: Caitie Burkes, Holly Duchmann, Annie Ourso Landry Digital content editor: Mark Clements Contributing writers: Gabrielle Braud, Tom Cook, David Jacobs, April Capochino Myers, Maggie Heyn Richardson, Meredith Whitten Contributing photographers: Brian Baiamonte, Marie Constantin, Don Kadair, Tim Mueller, Collin Richie Sales director: Kerrie Richmond Senior account executives: Marielle Land-Howard, Kelly Lewis Account executives: Stacy Kaklis, Lauren Jarreau Advertising coordinator: Brittany Nieto

CORPORATE MEDIA

BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR John Engquist

Editor: Lisa Tramantana Content strategist: Allyson Guay Account executives: Lori Christiansen, Judith LaDousa, Angie LaPorte

YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR Kenny Nguyen

CUSTOM PUBLISHING

Sales director: Erin Palmintier-Pou

MARKETING

COMPANY OF THE YEAR

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

(100 or more employees)

DSLD Homes

COMPANY OF THE YEAR

ADMINISTRATION

(Fewer than 100 employees)

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

Martin Ecosystems

COVER STORY - PAGE 21

PRODUCTION/DESIGN

PUBLISHER’S VIEW

NEWS

THE LIST

6 St. George could have been avoided

49 The Big Story

54 Law firms

51 LSU’s unprecedented quest The university is about to embark on its first systemwide campaign to raise $1.3 billion. Will donors answer the call?

STARTUP 8 Executive Spotlight: Scott Taylor 11 Entrepreneur: Paul and Michael Mladenka

54 Outdoor dining is on the rise in Baton Rouge, but is it profitable? The national trend of al fresco eating and drinking has made it way to the Capital City.

13 6 leadership habits all CEOs need to develop 15 Design: Myrtle Lake Plaza 16 Real Estate Ticker

VIEWPOINT 59 The Big Picture

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

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YOUR BUSINESS 63 Company News

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60 Random Thoughts

70 Passion: Kyle Talbert

17 Tom Cook

EDITORIAL

ADVERTISING

HALL OF FAME E.J. Ourso Jake Netterville

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©Copyright 2019 by Louisiana Business Incorporated. All rights reserved by LBI. The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report (USPS 721-890 ISSN 0747-4652) is published biweekly by Louisiana Business Inc. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Business address: 9029 Jefferson Hwy., Ste. 300, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. Telephone (225) 928-1700. Periodicals postage is paid at Baton Rouge, La. Subscription rate is $59.00 for 25 issues, with 3 additional issues published annually in April, June and December. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, 9029 Jefferson Hwy. Ste. 300, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. The Greater Baton Rouge Business Report cannot be responsible for the return of unsolicited material—manuscripts or photographs, with or without the inclusion of a stamped, self-addressed return envelope. Information in this publication is gathered from sources considered to be reliable, but the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed. No information expressed here constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any securities.

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Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

PUBLISHER’S VIEW

St. George could have been avoided

ROLFE MCCOLLISTER JR. THE SIGNATURES are in and it seems to be a matter of time before residents of a proposed City of St. George get to vote on their future— and ours. However, this potential fifth city inside East Baton Rouge Parish was not inevitable and could have been avoided. It was shorted-sighted politicians who not only didn’t learn from the past (Central City) but were also more interested in protecting their careers, EBR public school system money and the system’s union jobs than taxpayers, parents and children. It is said, “If we fail to learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.” Remember Central. Parents there wanted to control their schools and proposed an independent district, which the Louisiana Constitution allows (just like Texas.) It does not require formation of an independent city. But then-Sen. Kip Holden led the opposition, using the argument of “you’re not a city like Baker and Zachary,” which he, incidentally, had represented and supported in their quests for their own school districts. (It should be noted the Zachary district actually reaches outside the city limits.) So, the people of Central put together a petition and became a municipality—and then got their own school district, which was their original goal. When you are talking about people’s children and their future, there is a motivation that is hard to stop. Central would not be denied. But did our politicians learn anything? Obviously not. State Sen. Bodi White, who authored a bill to allow an independent school district in Southeast 6

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

Baton Rouge (now the St. George area), tried twice to get it passed and was defeated. He says opposition in the Senate was led by thenSen. Sharon Weston Broome (now the mayor, defeating White) and in the House by state Reps. Pat Smith and Ted James. They, too, used the same excuse that St. George was not a city. They were shortsighted and political, thinking they would raise a bar that could not be overcome, but they underestimated these parents and grandparents, and their dedication to their children. White told me he stood at the podium in the Senate chambers and warned his opponents: “Be careful what you wish for.” And the recently certified petition with more than 14,500 verified signatures—a second attempt—proves he was right. Broome, Smith and James gambled, and they may cost us all big. But they must own their decisions in the Legislature. Broome, as mayor, made a statement after the petitions were approved saying, “Citizens across the parish deserve to have a clear understanding of how this proposed city would impact their personal finances.” I wonder whether she had a clear understanding how denying an independent school district when she was a state senator could result in a new city and impact the parish’s finances? She may have never expected she would have to deal with the fallout as mayor. The mayor and opponents of this city-forming initiative keep talking about the finances of St. George, but that is for those residents and voters to figure out and vote on—just like the people of Central did. The bigger fear, I think, for the mayor, BRAC, the EBR school board and others is how are they going to deal with the finances in Baton Rouge? In theory, I do believe we should be stronger as one, united parish. But I am also a big proponent of school choice and support charters, vouchers, home school, and both public and private schools. I supported the districts for Baker, Zachary, Central and southeast Baton Rouge.

Just do what is best for children. That is what parents in the southeastern part of our community were doing when they simply asked for an independent district. The EBR school system had failed most and they wanted out. Can you blame them? Others had already gotten out. Our politicians often lack vision and play only parochial politics. St. George is a good example of this. Over the past 40 years, our EBR school system has gone from 67,000 students to 40,000. Parents make choices and leave the parish, start their own city or choose private or home school. They will do whatever it takes, and, in the end, politicians won’t have the final say. In the case of St. George, the voters will—and they earned it with the petition. The Legislature had its chance and blew it. I suspect St. George will pass. All who oppose it need to point their fingers of blame in the right direction. We should hold accountable those who made this bed that we may all have to lie in. SMOLLETT HOAX ABC news anchor Robin Roberts embarrassed herself in her interview with Jussie Smollett, but colleagues defended her. Fellow Louisiana native, CNN host Don Lemon, said, “Robin did an excellent job.” No, Don, she didn’t. She rushed to get the exclusive interview when many others were skeptical about his claims and still investigating. Roberts and ABC gave Smollett a forum to spew his lies to a national audience without ever asking him a single hard-hitting question. In fact, at the end, after his tears, she concluded with “Beautiful. Thanks, Jussie.” Seriously? Of course, there were many media pundits, Hollywood stars and Democratic politicians who rushed to judgment and tried to capitalize on this “victim.” That included two presidential hopefuls— Sens. Cory Booker and Kamala Harris—both of whom described the alleged attack as a “modern day lynching.” And Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tweeted, “the racist, homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett is an

affront to our humanity.” Nancy: It didn’t happen. The hoax has left them looking like fools, not leaders, and it should make all question their judgment and credibility. MONEY: ONE-TIME VS. IMAGINARY Some folks in the media, like columnist Stephanie Grace of The Advocate, and Democrats were quick to criticize Gov. Bobby Jindal for using one-time money in the budget. At least that was real money. But recently, Grace said it was “appropriate” for Gov. John Bel Edwards to budget imaginary dollars that the Revenue Estimating Conference indicate don’t exist. But who’s counting? Not Grace. I guess it is “appropriate” to use voodoo economics in Louisiana. Edwards and Jay Dardenne, the governor’s commissioner of administration, call it an “aspirational budget.” That means they want to include everything on their wish list that looks good in an election year—and if it doesn’t happen, they can blame the Republicans for taking it out of “their budget.” (Would such deception dishonor a West Point cadet?) Grace wrote that the governor is presenting a budget based on money he assumes will be available, and Dardenne told lawmakers, to do otherwise would be “divorced from reality.” Grace said, “That’s true.” Oh really? Grace and Dardenne may want to read where Louisiana’s third-quarter GDP growth was among the slowest in the nation—44th among all states—according to a recent report released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. And our unemployment rate is now higher than the national average. That is reality. Of course, Grace sides with the governor and lays the blame for all this on Rep. Taylor Barras and his conservative allies in the House. She proclaims: “The Edwards administration’s response is appropriate under the circumstances.” As long as it allows government to spend more money, all is well among liberals, Edwards and Grace.

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STARTUP EXECUTIVE S POTLIG HT

THEHeadliners

SCOTT TAYLOR

You know the name WHILE YOU MAY not be familiar with the Reserve-based telecommunications company that acquired EATEL in December, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the two Baton Rouge businessmen who own its parent company. Kevin and Sean Reilly—brothers and the top executives at Lamar Advertising (pictured left to right)—are also the owners of RTC Holdings LLC, which is the parent company of Reserve Communications and Computer Corporation, also known as RTC. Sean Reilly calls the EATEL acquisition a “marriage made in heaven” since RTC offers the same suite of telecommunications services in St. John and St. James parishes as EATEL does across numerous Capital Region parishes.

Points of interest THE LSU STEPHENSON Entrepreneurship Institute is launching a project to map the Baton Rouge entrepreneurial ecosystem, in an effort administrators hope will lead to a better understanding of what exists locally to help both local entrepreneurs and LSU students. “There has been a lot written about entrepreneurial ecosystems,” says Ed Watson, the institute director who is working on the map with other faculty members. “But I realized we don’t have anything that is a very practical graphical representation that we can use to teach our students what an ecosystem is and how, as young entrepreneurial minded people, they can leverage it and be a part of it.” Watson says once the map is complete, he hopes it will be easier to see where connections can be strengthened and what specific gaps need to be filled in. He adds it’s too soon to predict when the project will be completed.

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

“You have to stick with what you’re great at and not try to be everything to everyone—or you will lose your way and your point of differentiation. There is always pressure to grow a company but our vision at Walk-On’s is to always open the right way, at the right pace, with the right partners.” IN THE NEWS

Coming off a year in which sales expanded by 82%, Walk-On’s is expecting even greater growth this year. Taylor says the company is on track to double its size in 2019, during which it projects opening 17 franchise locations while awarding 25 more as it strategically expands its nationwide footprint.

NOT ON THE RESUME

• He got his first job when he was 13, busing tables and washing dishes at Roma Lodge in his hometown of Virginia Beach, Virginia. “I learned that you have to move fast in the food service business.” • Two things that might surprise you about his job: “I personally visit every new site and attend every new restaurant opening. And after all of these years, I still love our cheese fries.” • When he’s not working, he enjoys traveling, being

outdoors, and spending time with his wife and two children, ages 13 and 15. “We love to visit new places,

and my kids have travelled to more places than most people do in a lifetime. Probably my favorite vacation was going Hawaii with my wife, kids, my parents and my mother-in-law.”

• Aside from Walk-On’s, one of his favorite spots for a business lunch is Phil’s Oyster Bar. “Owner Jordan Piazza is always a great host. We’d dine on some of their famous meatballs, a cup of gumbo and some grilled oysters.” • He is determined to pursue his education further. “I have always wanted to teach at a university when I retire from the restaurant business, so pursuit and achievement of a doctorate degree is on my list to get done in the next 10 years.” Read the full Q&A at businessreport.com.

DON KA DAIR

TIM MUELLER

PRESIDENT AND COO, WALK-ON’S ENTERPRISES

Issue Date: 8-28-18 Ad proof #3

• Please respond by e-mail or fax with your approval or minor revisions. • AD WILL RUN AS IS unless approval or final revisions are received by the close of business today. • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees. Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS This ad design © Louisiana Business, Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Phone 225-928-1700 • Fax 225-926-1329

I N BRIEF

TAXING TIMES

OVER A TWO-FISCAL-YEAR period through June 30, 2018, companies doing business in Louisiana saw the nation’s greatest annual increase in business taxes, with state and local business taxes rising at a 12.5% clip to an estimated $10.1 billion annually. Research conducted by Ernst & Young along with the Council On State Taxation and State Tax Research Institute found the rate at which Louisiana business tax collections grew was not only significantly higher than the 2% national average but was also well above the 4.9% growth rate of Florida, the next-highest Southern state. The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry says the state’s hefty business tax burden can be traced back to more than two dozen permanent state laws passed since 2016 that ultimately raise business tax collections by some $3 billion. A handful of temporary tax changes have also come and gone during the three-year period. Here’s a look at the breakdown of state and local taxes businesses paid in the most recent fiscal year in Louisiana, as compared to the U.S. average:

LOOKING

GOOD! 129

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LOUISIANA PROPERTY TAX Louisiana 19.9% U.S. 31.4% SALES TAX Louisiana 43.6% U.S. 22.3% EXCISE TAX Louisiana 15.2% U.S. 10.9% CORPORATE INCOME TAX Louisiana 1.4% U.S. 3.7%

U.S.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE TAX Louisiana 1% U.S. 2.4% INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX Louisiana 14.2% U.S. 22.8% LICENSE AND OTHER TAXES Louisiana 4.7% U.S. 6.6%

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For the full list, see page 56.

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SPONSORED BY:

Be there when they need you:

how to build lasting loyalty

or businesses to be impactful, brands must look beyond selling and provide real value and support for the communities in which they do business. Successful companies harness the power of community to understand customers, improve outcomes, and build brand awareness and loyalty. The more time or effort that a consumer invests into a product or service, the more they’ll end up valuing it. Community Coffee Company has been a staple in this community for 100 years, and its community value and reach is now felt globally.

“At Community Coffee, taking care of people is a cornerstone of our philosophy. It’s our belief that no matter what we do, we can do more.”

SOMETIMES A LITTLE four EXTRA GOES ways A LONG WAY

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You’ve probably heard it said: “In times of crisis, look for the helpers.” Community Coffee took it one step farther and became the helpers. Find ways for your brand to create loyalty and expand the positive impact on the communities you touch.

MATT SAURAGE 4TH Generation Owner, Community Coffee Company For 100 years, Community Coffee Company has taken to heart its obligation to its employees, consumers and suppliers, giving back to people from origin and to the communities it serves. This authenticity in giving is what builds the sort of brand loyalty that becomes a tradition. For generations of consumers, the Community® brand has become part of their family. The company has re-invested in people, supported education and our military personnel, provided coffee to those in need after disasters, and built real customer loyalty as a result.

OPERATE RESPONSIBLY Partner with other organizations to educate your producers. Community Coffee has been a strong supporter of World Coffee Research, a nonprofit operating in 27 countries to further the mission to protect and enhance coffee supplies while also improving the livelihoods of the people producing it.

SUPPORT SCHOOLS AND EDUCATORS Community Cash for Schools® program— For 30 years, Community Coffee has helped students and parents earn funds for their local schools by collecting proof-ofpurchase labels. Last year, more than 800 schools participated in the program and earned over $325,000 for their teachers and students. Junior Achievement of Greater Baton Rouge and Acadiana—Employees mentor local students for work readiness, introducing them to career possibilities in business and industry.

SUPPORT THE MILITARY Military Match—There are many ways a business might touch those who serve our country. For its part, Community Coffee matches a military family’s order and sends a coffee care package to any overseas (APO or FPO) or stateside military base address. Folds of Honor—This organization provides scholarships to spouses and children of America’s fallen and disabled service members. Community Coffee is a proud partner of Folds of Honor, which has awarded nearly 20,000 scholarships over the past decade. USO—Community supports the USO of North Carolina and San Antonio by providing coffee to USO locations and also by funding critical programs and services that help create resilient military families.

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

STARTUP

ENTREPRENEUR

Paul and Michael Mladenka Owners, Cou-yon’s BBQ

WHAT THEY DO

Restaurant and high-volume catering, serving BBQ and creole-style fare

ADDRESS

470 N. Alexander Ave., Port Allen

NEXT GOALS

Promote retail products, establish an online store and sell a franchise

PREP WORK

“In the most successful businesses, whoever is at the top is paying really close attention to what their customers are saying—and they’re listening to them.” —PAUL MLADENKA

PAUL MLADENKA has been around food preparation since he was tall enough to stand at the kitchen counter with his mom. “Being in the kitchen has really been second nature to me my whole life,” he says. Without culinary or business degrees, Mladenka and his brother Michael have created something of a culinary destination in Port Allen with their barbecue and creole-style fare at Couyon’s. Since launching Cou-yon’s in 2009 when they were in their early 20s, the Shreveport natives have not only built a beloved restaurant but added a food truck and expanded into a high-volume catering business that is largely fueled by the West Baton Rouge Parish industrial firms.

INDUSTRIOUS GROWTH “PORT ALLEN was an untapped market for all of these industrial workers,” Paul explains. “The growth in Port Allen has been tremendous. I had a strong feeling that would be the case, and it’s still growing and fueling our business.” Consistent quality—of both their food and customer service— and a constant eye on increased efficiency have been the keys to Cou-yon’s continued success, Paul says. The original staff of 10 employees has grown to more than 50 who serve anywhere from 700 to 1,000 people a day in the restaurant alone. The Mladenkas also pride themselves on being highly rated on review sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, reading and responding to nearly every customer’s comment.

BBQ AND BEYOND AS COU-YON’S prepares to celebrate 10 years in business this July, Paul feels the business is hitting its stride. In 2018 alone, the company completed a new prep kitchen that has significantly expanded its catering abilities, as well as added two additional catering vehicles. Cou-yon’s completed its largest catering order ever—some 4,000 plates—early last year, and also landed an LSU sponsorship deal. Now the Mladenkas are focused on growing their retail business by getting their barbecue sauces and dry rubs into grocery stores as they build an online store. The brothers hope to start selling franchises next year and open a second Baton Rouge area location in the next few years. —Gabrielle Braud • Photography by Brian Baiamonte

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

STARTUP INTELLIGENCE

REGISTRATION OPEN FOR

2019 BEST PLACES TO WORK

THINK YOUR COMPANY is one of the best places to work in the Capital Region? Find out by registering for Business Report’s 2019 Best Places to Work. Registration is open through Friday, May 3. Best Places to Work is a free awards program that recognizes companies that demonstrate workplace excellence, and are known for retaining and recruiting the best and brightest employees. Independent firm Best Companies Group determines the selection and ranking for Business Report’s Best Places to Work. For-profit, nonprofit publicly and privately held entities with a facility in the nine-parish Capital Region and a minimum of 15 full- or part-time employees working locally are eligible to participate. Contract employees are not included. Companies that choose to participate are assessed on two factors: A questionnaire about company policies, practices, demographics and benefits, and a survey of randomly selected employees at each firm. The employees will respond anonymously to 78 statements on a five-point agreement scale, as well as a handful of open-ended questions and demographic inquiries. Best Companies Group analyzes and ranks participating firms in eight areas: Leadership and planning; corporate culture and communications; role satisfaction; work environment; relationships with supervisors; training, development and resources; pay and benefits; and overall engagement. Business Report will recognize the 2019 Best Places to Work in a special issue in September. A breakfast also will be held in their honor. Best Places to Work in Baton Rouge is presented by Business Report, the Greater Baton Rouge Society for Human Resource Management and Best Companies Group. See a timeline for the Best Places to Work program and register your company for inclusion online at bestplacestoworkbr.com.

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

STARTUP ADVICE

WHEN A CEO is fired or forced to resign, most people assume it’s due to their inability to boost the company’s bottom line. But a four-year study by online leadership training firm Leadership IQ shows that’s seldom the case. Interviews with board members from 286 public and private businesses that ousted a CEO revealed that 31% were fired or forced out because of poor change management. Meanwhile, 28% were let go for ignoring customers, 27% for tolerating low performers, 23% for denying reality, and 22% for too much talk and not enough action. So what are the leadership habits CEOs need to develop to be successful? Motivational speaker, business coach and author Mark Green says these are six vital ones:

Capitalize on luck. This is a habit of forward-moving thinking in response to both good- and bad-luck events. Green says bad luck, such as the extended absence of a key employee, affords an opportunity for the leader to empower others by challenging them to learn, grow and contribute in new ways. ISTOCK

leadership habits all CEOs need to develop

Be grateful. “When you appreciate and value what you have, you gain a clearer perspective,” Green says. “A daily meeting ritual of appreciation creates space for each executive to share what they appreciate most, and it opens up the room to clearer thinking and increased collaboration.”

Give—within limits. “Sharing information and resources cultivates an abundance mindset, bringing benefits that both the company and the leader can reap,” Green says. “But there are limits; if you’re giving away too much time and too many resources, you won’t be able to accomplish your own objectives. Give, but know when to say no.”

When problems arise, focus on process—not people. When something goes wrong, a common approach is to find fault with the people involved. “But bad or poorly communicated processes can make even the most talented, dedicated staff look terrible,” Green says. “Question processes and communication first, before you explore the intentions, character or capabilities of those involved. Research shows that believing in your people pays off.”

Have high expectations of others. “Leaders who set the bar high and then give their teams latitude to

execute reap more benefits than those who simply tell their teams what to do,” Green says. “Those whose habits include valuing autonomy and individual responsibility can build something great over time. High expectations and empowerment are key.”

Maintain intentional focus. “Countless research studies have exposed excessive multi-tasking as ineffective,” Green says. “To make real progress, hold a small number of very important things in your mind and let go of the rest. Ruthless prioritization and focus in execution will set you free.”

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Owner: Guaranty Corporation Architect: Hance Hughes AIA Contractor: OBRECO Constructors (Tyson O’Brien) Interior designer: Tiek & Co. Completed: March 2018 Use: Commercial office space for Gatorworks FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION: “Our new space has been transformative for our digital marketing agency. Until now, I did not quite appreciate what an inspiring, creative space can do for a team’s morale, productivity and overall happiness. As a

digital-first agency, we take our work seriously but we have fun while doing it. It was important that our physical space reflects the Gatorworks culture. To do that, we needed an updated layout with the right mix of private and collaboration spaces to facilitate our creativity. We wanted to showcase local talent, so working with local businesses on this project was a no-brainer, and we’re thrilled with the results.” —Brian Rodriguez, Gatorworks president

1. Gatorworks recently relocated to a freshly renovated, 3,000-square-foot office space at Myrtle Lake Plaza. The lobby features artwork by local artist T.J. Black. Additional artwork throughout the office adds bold color and graphic design inspiration. 2. The glass-walled, secondary conference room is often referred to as “The Fishbowl” by the Gatorworks team. 3. The renovation expanded the existing break room into the “Tails and Scales Café,” providing additional gathering space for workers and clients, and a colorful place to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and accomplishments. The orange wainscoting was added to echo original wainscoting in the bullpen office space. 4. The bullpen room, with the original wainscotting, is used by the firm’s designers and developers. The room includes artwork by Patrick Tiek. Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

STARTUP

REAL ESTATE

COURTESY LANE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER

REAL ESTATE TICKER

DON’T LET OPPORTUNITY PASS YOU BY

HEALTHY GROWTH LANE REGIONAL MEDICAL Center has announced a four-year, $50 million project to add a four-story tower to its hospital on Main Street in Zachary. The tower will house new patient rooms and an operating suite that’s double the size of the hospital’s current one. The project will also include the renovation of existing areas and relocation of patient registration to the front entrance. Lane will break ground on the project in the summer of 2020. Lane is a 139-bed hospital that serves more than 200,000 residents throughout Zachary and the surrounding regions of Baker, Central, Clinton, Jackson, St. Francisville and north Baton Rouge.

COLD OPENING THE CAPITAL REGION housing market is off to a slow start in 2019, following a year in which yearover-year sales declined for the first time in recent memory. Home sales in the Baton Rouge metro area were down 10.9% in January, while the average days on market increased nearly 18% to 79 days and total inventory rose by more than 14% to 4,132 homes. On the bright side, the average sales price increased 3.3% to $221,899, according to the latest report from the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtors. Sales in East Baton Rouge Parish were down 9% in January, while Livingston saw sales decline 10.6% and Ascension sales were off by 8.7%. Capital Region homes sales in 2018 were down 5.3%, compared to 2017 sales.

Paretti Jaguar Baton Rouge 13934 Airline Hwy. | Baton Rouge, LA 225-756-5247 www.jaguarbatonrouge.com THE ART OF PERFORMANCE Vehicle shown: 2019 Jaguar F-PACE S with optional equipment. See your local authorized Jaguar Retailer for details. Visit JAGUARUSA.COM, call 1.800.4.JAGUAR or visit your local Jaguar Retailer. © 2018 Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

IN THE PIPELINE

BATON ROUGE-BASED EPIC Piping has paid $2.2 million for a 24,000-square-foot building on Interline Avenue that will serve as the new corporate headquarters for the rapidly growing pipe fabricator. Epic bought the property—situated near the Airline Highway and Interstate 12 intersection—from JPO Colorado LLC, which is owned by Lafayette oil executive Chris Van Way. Renovations designed by GraceHebert Architects are already underway. Epic officials decline to estimate how much the building’s overhaul will cost, but say work on the roughly 40-year-old structure will be significant. Once completed in early summer, the company will relocate to the new digs from its existing offices near South Sherwood Forest Boulevard. Nearly 80 employees will be based there. The sale comes less than a week after Epic announced plans to invest up to $40 million in the company, through growth and expansion.

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Issue Date: 3-12-19 Ad proof #1

Self storage facility to replace Rushing Corner convenience store

TOM COOK THE RUSHING CORNER convenience store in Denham Springs is set to be torn down and be replaced with a self-storage facility. Brookwood-Rushing LLC bought the store and roughly 1.65 acres it sits on for $1.7 million on Feb. 22. The dated store occupies a very valuable site at the northeast corner of Rushing Road and Range Avenue, but the building has seen better days and cannot compete with newer, more modern stores that are being developed by national operators like RaceTrac and Murphy Oil. The new owners plan to build a four-story, climate-controlled self-storage facility. The seller was Robert Brothers LLC. The property measures about 71,875 square feet, so the sale price works out to roughly $23.65 per square foot. Mark Hebert with Kurz & Hebert Commercial Real Estate brokered the deal. “The property has excellent visibility and access via the 250 feet of frontage on Range Avenue, and the purchaser knew it would draw on the strong development taking place in the Denham Springs area, so it was a good location for him,” he says. “The site is easily accessed from I-12, Range Avenue or Rushing Road. He should be able to lease the proposed units as quickly as he can build them.” BURBANK TOWNHOMES PLANNED Slightly more than four acres of land at the corner of of Burbank Drive and Cordova Avenue—in

front of the University Villas subdivision—was purchased on Feb. 28 for $805,000, or about $4.50 per square foot. University Cottages LLC, represented by Art Lancaster, bought the land from Sam Richardson. Following the sale, the land was subdivided into 50 lots and will be developed with 50, three-bedroom townhomes. They’ll be under construction in the coming weeks and will be offered for sale in the $220,000 to $229,000 price range. The property had been listed for sale for $900,000 for almost two years before Lancaster purchased it. Andy Batson and Andy McCall with Beau Box Commercial Real Estate brokered the deal. “We have had good success with building a similar product in the Pelican Lakes and Stone Lake subdivisions near by, so I thought that we could repeat the process in front of University Villas,” Baton says. OFFICE CONDO SOLD One of the early office condo developments in Baton Rouge was a small, five or six unit building on Bennington Avenue, next to Gino’s Restaurant. One of those units was sold on Feb. 28 for $140,900, or about $69.50 per square foot for the 2,022-square-foot building. The seller was Bonnie Bivens Boohaker, who was represented by Mark Segalla with Elifin Realty. The buyer was May Sun, a real estate agent who represented herself in the deal. According to the Louisiana Commercial Database, the property had been on the market for 476 days with a listing price of $175,000. This is an older but well constructed, solid brick building that just needs some TLC. Tom Cook of Cook, Moore, Davenport and Associates has been an independent real estate appraiser for more than 20 years.

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COVER STORY

SUCCESS STORIES

Honoring six Baton Rouge business leaders who never shied away from risk or the chance to reinvent their companies.

2019 Baton Rouge

Business Awards & Hall of Fame HALL OF FAME E.J. Ourso Jake Netterville BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR John Engquist YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR Kenny Nguyen COMPANY OF THE YEAR (100 or more employees)

DSLD Homes

COMPANY OF THE YEAR (Fewer than 100 employees)

Martin Ecosystems

FOR 36 YEARS, Business Report has been honoring leading professionals and companies in the Capital Region that distinguish themselves by not only succeeding in business, but also by giving back to the community and making our city a better place to live. This year’s honorees, as selected by a community panel of judges, are certainly no exception. Along with telling their stories and spotlighting their accomplishments on the following pages, all of this year’s honorees will be celebrated at a special event on March 20. The Business Awards were launched in 1984 to pay tribute to remarkable individuals and companies in the Capital Region and celebrate their many accomplishments. In 1993, Business Report partnered with Junior Achievement to present the awards and added a Hall of Fame category to recognize those with a lifetime of achievement.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARIE CONSTANTIN

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

Hall of Fame • E.J. Ourso

COVER STORY COVERSTORY

THE ULTIMATE ENTREPRENEUR

COURTESY E.J. AND MARJORY B. OURSO FAMILY FOUNDATION

Few Louisiana entrepreneurs have ever been as prolific—and successful— as the late E.J. Ourso, and even fewer have been so philanthropic. E.J. OURSO LOVED building his company—the successful entrepreneur made 56 acquisitions over 48 years—but the business associates who knew him best say he also experienced great joy from sharing his success with others. Business Report and Junior Achievement will honor Ourso posthumously at the 2019 Business Awards and Hall of Fame gala March 20.

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

Ourso was the founder of Security Industrial Insurance Company, better known as Security Plan. Over the years, in addition to insurance companies, Ourso acquired funeral homes, cemeteries and flower shops—all related businesses that he understood well. In 1996, he sold it all in a deal valued at approximately $180 million. At the time, the insurance company had more

than $1 billion of life insurance in force. A great deal of Ourso’s fortune has been donated to charity. Ourso and his wife, Marjory, formed the E.J. and Marjory B. Ourso Family Foundation and donated almost $6 million to the fund. The Oursos contributed $15 million to the LSU College of Business Administration, which resulted in the renaming of the

business school and the establishment of the Marjory B. Ourso Center for Excellence in Teaching. Ourso also felt called to give to religious organizations. He donated $1 million to found the Catholic Aged Religious Endowment, a retirement program for Catholic priests and nuns. Money was also provided for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, St. Michael’s Special

School, Ascension Catholic Diocesan Regional School and Ursuline Academy, along with numerous other Catholic and religious institutions. “He had a special affinity to these charities. He wanted to leave a legacy,” says Jesse Arboneaux, president and CEO of the foundation. Arboneaux began his career in 1973 working with Security as a junior accountant. He was a recent college graduate with a semester of teaching experience when Ourso gave him a job. He describes how Ourso grew up in the small south Louisiana town of Donaldsonville. Despite amassing such a substantial fortune, Ourso never had an interest in working in an upscale office building or carrying a fancy briefcase. In fact, Arboneaux says Ourso became irritated when an associate repaired the leather strap that had fallen off of his old briefcase, which Ourso called “Old Lucky” and carried to every acquisition. “He prided himself in being a poor country boy,” Arboneaux says. Ourso started developing his business sense at a young age. As a young child during the Great Depression, it was necessary that Ourso contribute to the family’s grocery budget. He volunteered to clean out attics, hauling away any scrap paper, iron and wire he found and selling the materials to make extra money. Ourso’s mother also volunteered him to help his uncle sell off 700 Rhode Island Red chickens. Ourso took to the streets of Donaldsonville, with a dozen live chickens at a time hung around his neck. He would knock on doors and tempt housewives with the image of a freshly roasted chicken on the dinner table that night. While Ourso’s uncle had agreed to give him 25 cents per chicken sold, Ourso offered to wring the chicken’s neck and pluck it for a few cents more. He considered the extra change he made from this arrangement his own. “He credited those experiences with giving him the drive and the know-how to be a successful

Through The Years JUNE 16, 1923

Born in Donaldsonville, one of three children to Sidney J. and Amiee Falcon Ourso.

1936

Begins first entrepreneurial venture selling scrap paper, iron and wire.

1940

Enters LSU, hoping to become a sports journalist, but drops out to join the Army during World War II.

1943-46

Serves in the Army, rising to the rank of captain.

1947

Marries Marjory Barbier, with the couple having five children in the first five years of marriage and seven children overall.

1948

Establishes Security Industrial Insurance Company, better known as Security Plan. Over the next few decades, Ourso is heavily involved in building his company and making acquisitions, averaging at least one per year and sometimes more.

1995

Security Plan obtains Transworld Life Insurance Company, the last of 56 companies.

1996

Nominated and approved to receive an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from LSU.

1996

Sells Ourso Investment Corporation to S.I. Acquisitions LLP for $180 million.

1996

Establishes the E.J. and Marjory B. Ourso Family Foundation.

1996

The LSU College of Business Administration is re-named the E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration.

2001

Publishes a 176-page autobiography— ”Dreaming Impossible Dreams: Reflections of an Entrepreneur”— revealing how he acquired 56 businesses in 48 years, the first 25 with no money down.

2005

Ourso passes away at the age of 82.

PHOTOS COURTESY E.J. AND MARJORY B. OURSO FAMILY FOUNDATION

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

Issue Date: 3-12-19 Ad proof #1

COVERCOVERSTORY STORY

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PHOTOS COURTESY E.J. AND MARJORY B. OURSO FAMILY FOUNDATION

In a recent interview with CNN, Jack talked about his results. “The pain I used to feel while actively playing golf had subsided after a few months,” he said. He was so impressed he decided to go back to Germany to have his right shoulder done. When asked about Jack’s story, Dr. Jamie Broussard of Louisiana Regenerative Medicine Center said he was not surprised. “We’re doing the same adipose-derived stem cell procedure here in Baton Rouge that Dr. Alt performed on Jack Nicklaus in Munich, Germany so we’ve grown accustomed to seeing these types of results.” At age 78, when asked how long he hopes to play golf Jack Nicklaus replied, “as long as my stem cells let me.” Call Louisiana Regenerative Medicine Center (225)-716-9100 to schedule a free consultation with one of our boardcertified physicians.

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BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

BUSINESS BEGINNINGS: E.J. Ourso launched Security Industrial Insurance Company from this Donaldsonville office building, and his office decorations always reminded him to “think” and to always keep acquiring companies.

entrepreneur,” Arboneaux says. Ourso’s career in insurance and funeral homes was not what he originally set out to do. He entered LSU in 1940 with plans to major in journalism and become a sports correspondent. Before he could complete his education, he was called for active duty in World War II, where he attained the rank of captain. Shortly after returning home from the war, Ourso’s father died, leaving Ourso with the responsibility of taking over the funeral home business his father had owned, as well as providing for his mother, younger brother and sister. Ourso knew very little about business, so he started reading books that explained important business concepts. While Ourso ran the funeral home, his mother set up a flower shop one block away. “He was a voracious reader. He used to pride himself on

reading a book a day,” Arboneaux says, adding that in the later years “he had people running the business for him, but he was the visionary.” In 1947, Ourso married Marjory Barbier, whom he had met before the war. In less than five years, the couple had five children, and Ourso needed to earn enough money to feed and clothe them. Rather than work at the business his father had left behind, the couple scraped together $10,000 to launch their own funeral home and burial insurance business, with money Ourso had saved from his Army pay and from Marjory selling some shares of Sears, Roebuck and Company stock. “She was a stay-at-home mom, but she was the rock behind Mr. Ourso,” Arboneaux says of Marjory Ourso. “She was a reassuring pillar. When he would

Hall of Fame • E.J. Ourso

go home distraught or when he tried to make an acquisition and he didn’t get a loan, she was his comfort.” Ourso founded Security Industrial Insurance Company in 1948, selling insurance for the services he provided at his funeral home. To make it affordable for the people of Donaldsonville, who were still recovering from war, he sold the policies on an installment plan of a nickel per week, wearing out the soles of his shoes as he walked the route to collect the premiums each week. “The less fortunate in our society had to have the means to bury their family members,” Arboneaux says. Ourso made it manageable for them by charging a small weekly sum rather than a much larger single payment every three or six months. In Ourso’s book, “Dreaming

Impossible Dreams, Reflections of an Entrepreneur,” published in 2001, Ourso describes a low point in business where he had a cash reserve of only $1.25. The Department of Insurance wanted to shut him down. Instead, Ourso opted to forgo his $250 a month salary for three months. To feed his growing family, Ourso bought several sacks of potatoes and the family ate them without complaint. As a reminder of those sparse years, Cathy LeBlanc, Ourso’s longtime personal secretary, says there is a one-dollar bill and a quarter in a frame hanging on the wall in the conference room of the foundation’s office. LeBlanc now serves as secretary of the foundation. “He built it back up. He didn’t give up,” LeBlanc says. —April Capochino Myers

POWER COUPLE: The financial legacy of E.J. and Marjory B. Ourso continues through a philanthropic foundation the couple created in 1996.

HOOP DREAMS: E.J. Ourso (kneeling, left) never became a sports writer, but he was a member of the six-player St. Joseph’s Commercial Institute team that won the 1939 district championship.

MAINTENANCE | CONSTRUCTION

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

COVER STORY COVERSTORY

Hall of Fame • Jake Netterville

‘IT’S JUST BEEN A GREAT LIFE’ Jake Netterville’s career is a professional success story, but his legacy is what he has given back to the Baton Rouge community.

WHILE JAKE NETTERVILLE rose through the ranks to lead the Baton Rouge accounting firm that bears his name, as well as chair the 400,000 members of a national professional organization, some of his most memorable experiences occurred outside of the office. Netterville, chairman of the board emeritus of Postlethwaite & Netterville, earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from LSU in 1960. He was managing partner of P&N for more than 20 years, during which time the firm became one of the top 100 leading accounting firms in the country. “It’s just been a great life,” says Netterville, who will be honored by Business Report and Junior Achievement during the 2019 Business Awards and Hall of Fame gala March 20. “I have looked at those who have preceded me in the Hall of Fame, and I am just amazed that I would be included. It’s brought back very fond memories as I reflect over the years.” Netterville is a Baton Rouge success story. From his elementary school days at Bernard Terrace, to Baton Rouge High, to LSU, he has always given his time, talent and expertise back to the community that has supported him and his business, says his son, Craig Netterville. “I’ve been able to watch him become successful while remaining with high integrity, and honesty and morals,” Craig Netterville says. “It’s always been a guiding principle for me because I’ve seen a role model who’s successful by being that way.” 26

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

As a high school student, Netterville took a career assessment test that indicated he would make a good CPA. He took the advice, went to LSU and enrolled in accounting courses. After graduation, his first job was with the largest CPA firm in Baton Rouge, a company with 19 employees, and at 23 years old, Netterville was the youngest. After a short time, he landed at the accounting firm of then-Postlethwaite & Lea. Of the nine employees who worked there, Netterville was still the youngest. “I went from being the last man in a big firm to the last man in a little firm,” he says. “Now, I’m by far the oldest, but I’m still here.” Netterville rose through the ranks, and in 1977 he became managing partner of the firm. Under his leadership, the firm’s audit and tax department grew from around 85 people to 125. Today, P&N’s consulting department—which didn’t exist in the 1970s—is now larger than audit and tax. “That’s a huge trend in national CPA firms,” Netterville says. “That’s where the profession is going. Clients want more than just tax and auditing. They want consulting.” Netterville oversaw another significant change when the firm had rapid growth thrust upon it after being chosen to audit claims from BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. P&N had to ramp up quickly, hiring 250 people in two months to handle the work and open an office in Houston, which is still operating. Netterville says his greatest professional accomplishment was serving as chairman of the board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, a position he held from 1992 to 1993. The 400,000-member organization represents the CPA profession nationally and serves as an advocate before legislative bodies, public interest groups and other professional organizations. After his nomination for vice chairman, Netterville says he knew he would automatically move up to chairman. He sought the blessing of his firm’s other partners because of the time commitment the role would require. The experience came with

Through The Years APRIL 27, 1938

Is born in Baton Rouge, attends Bernard Terrace, Baton Rouge High and then LSU.

1960

Earns a bachelor’s degree in accounting from LSU.

1961

Marries Mary Nell on July 15, the couple goes on to have two children and five grandchildren.

1976-1998

Becomes managing partner of Postlethwaite and Netterville.

1983

Named king of the Washington D.C. Mardi Gras.

1992-1993

Is named chairman of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the highest office that can be attained in the accounting profession.

1997-PRESENT

Serves on the Amedysis Inc. Board of Directors.

1999

AICPA Gold Medal Award, the organization’s highest award.

2000

LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration Hall of Distinction Inductee.

2002-PRESENT

Board of Directors, Baton Rouge Water Company.

2009-PRESENT

Tiger Athletic Foundation Board of Directors.

2017

LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction inductee.

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

COVERSTORY COVERCOVERSTORY STORY

GOLF LEGENDS: Jake Netterville has experienced the best the game of golf has to offer, whether it’s playing the 18th at St. Andrews, walking the fairways of Augusta National or visiting with Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus.

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BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

the added bonus of having an apartment in New York City, and he enjoyed spending time there. In 1999, Netterville received the AICPA Gold Medal Award, the highest award given by the institute. Previously, as an AICPA committee member for many years, Netterville had the experience of speaking at seminars around the country. “I got really well known in a small firm atmosphere,” he says. The position also allowed him to play at hundreds of golf courses, including Augusta National, one of the most famous courses in the world. Another memorable moment for Netterville occurred in 1983, when he was selected as king of Washington, D.C. Mardi Gras. He was able to visit the Oval Office to meet and exchange gifts with President Ronald Reagan. “It was the thrill of a lifetime,” Netterville says. This year, Netterville had the

honor of going back to D.C., escorting his granddaughter, who was selected as a princess on the 2019 Royalty Court. “It brought back very fond memories of when I was king.” Netterville has kept strong ties to the university where he earned his degree, serving on the board of the Tiger Athletic Foundation, previously as chairman and now as immediate past chairman. He also has been involved with the business school, helping to establish scholarships to encourage more people to choose public accounting as a career. “The big problem across the country is attracting good people,” Netterville says. “We haven’t had that problem because of LSU graduating a lot of well-trained accountants every year.” In 2000, Netterville was inducted into the LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business Administration Hall of

Hall of Fame • Jake Netterville

WE’RE ABOUT CORPORATE EVENTS! Separate your company from the boring business herd MR. NETTERVILLE GOES TO WASHINGTON: Jake Netterville in his wife, Mary Nell, in 1997 (above), and a 1983 meeting with President Ronald Reagan, along with daughter Leigh Anne (far left) and son Craig (second from right).

with a unique outing at the Baton Rouge Zoo. From casual gatherings to team-building and strategic planning, our spacious Capital One Pavilion can accommodate your needs, and we can tailor your occasion with: On-site catering (can include alcohol) All-day Zoo access Unique animal encounters RING MY BELL: As an Amedysis board member, Jake was joined by his wife Mary Nell on the Nasdaq video screen in Times Square.

Distinction, and in 2017 he was inducted into the LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction. He is also a past recipient of the Louisiana CPA Distinguished Service Award, Baton Rouge Volunteer Activist Award, Beta Alpha Psi National Accountant of the Year Award and LSU Beta Alpha Psi Accountant of the Year Award. His volunteer positions through the years include serving as president of the LSU Tiger Tipoff Club, Louisiana Arts and Science Center, LSU College of Business Administration Alumni Association, and Baton Rouge Area Foundation; as well as chairman of Council for a Better Louisiana, Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce, and EBR Parish Mortgage Finance Authority. Currently, he also serves on the Tiger Athletic Foundation Board of Directors and the Louisiana Flagship Coalition. He has also been a member of the LSU Dean’s Advisory Board since its inception. Netterville’s involvement in the community doesn’t stop there. He has served on the board of Amedysis Inc. for more than

20 years. He also serves on the board of the Baton Rouge Water Company. “I didn’t start out to do any of that,” Netterville says. But various nonprofit organizations needed a treasurer to serve on their boards and Netterville agreed to help out. Through his work on the board at Amedysis, he had the opportunity two years ago to ring the Nasdaq bell in Times Square. Netterville says it was thrilling to see a picture from that moment displayed on the side of the Nasdaq building in Times Square for everyone to see. Netterville and his wife, Mary Nell, have been married for 57 years. They have two children and five grandchildren. “I think he’s given back because he wants Baton Rouge to be a great place to live. He’s been a great ambassador,” Craig Netterville says. “He’s very loyal to Baton Rouge, Baton Rouge High and to LSU for providing him the opportunities to succeed. He equates his experience at Baton Rouge High to putting him in accounting at LSU. LSU provided him the opportunity to succeed through that curriculum.”

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Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

COVER STORY

Businessperson of the Year • John Engquist • H&E Equipment Services

D E T A L U C L A C S S E C SUC ed is single-mind h d e d n le b t is nd John Engqu s to take risk a nt s e n g n li il w a me focus with ild H&E Equip u b to rs e th o a trust in onal force. ti a n a to in s e Servic

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

JOHN ENGQUIST IS a modern rarity, working at one place his entire life: a company started by his father nearly 60 years ago as a small-staffed, one-location crane distributor called Head & Engquist Equipment. But the company Engquist oversees today is far from his father’s company. After some 25 years at the helm of operations, the son has completely shifted the focus of what’s now called H&E Equipment Services. He’s done that by investing in its rental component—a gradual move that has led to a billion-dollar, publicly traded company with some 2,400 employees across 95 locations. “Like a lot of equipment distributors, we were renting as a vehicle to sell equipment,” Engquist recalls. “I saw tremendous opportunity to grow our rental business and improve our return, focusing on the right metrics that make a rental business successful.” Before 1995, the business had several hundred machines in its rental fleet. Today, that fleet has some 40,000 machines and—with profit margins hovering around 50%—is the most profitable segment of the company. H&E has not only broken into the rental market game; it’s the seventh-largest equipment rental business in the United States, with plans to crack the top five. No doubt, the vision for change and the subsequent growth is attributed to Engquist, yet he defers to his employees, friends and fellow local professionals. “I’ve been blessed my whole life to be surrounded by really good people in my business,” says Engquist, a towering former LSU basketball player who measures his words and isn’t afraid of risks. “There’s a lot of good people here who do a lot of heavy lifting.” MIDAS TOUCH Like the fictional King Midas, just about everything Engquist touches seems to turn to gold. Take, for example, his decision to drop out of LSU (and simultaneously his two-season basketball career) to join Head & Engquist. He always knew he wanted to work there. Growing up, the younger Engquist frequented the office on weekends, working as a

mechanic’s helper every summer since junior high. Leaving LSU may have been a parents’ nightmare, but, in retrospect, it was a major milestone for a company that was already a well-established and respected player in the regional market. However, when Engquist bought out his father in 1995, he was prepared to put everything on the line in pursuit of massive growth. “My dad had a solid business with a good balance sheet,” he says. “He was willing to take that risk with me.” Needing outside help to see his vision become a reality, Engquist brought in a private equity firm just before the century’s turn that acquired a majority stake in the company. He remained, however,

plus one equalled three or four,” Engquist says. “It was more of a revenue-synergy play than a cost-synergy play.” They hired an outside consultant to launch a rebrand, renaming the company H&E Equipment Services, highlighting the fact that it offered an array of equipment services. By 2006, Engquist took the company public, with H&E hitting the NASDAQ stock exchange. It was all by design, viewed as a way to delever the business’ balance sheet and position it for astronomical growth. It worked. In the years since, he’s been acquiring smaller rental companies at a rate of some two or three a year. Under Engquist’s leadership, H&E started Green

EVOLVING to remain RELEVANT Shortly after John Engquist purchased Head & Engquist Equipment from his father, he knew he wanted to shift its business model from a distributionbased company to a powerful rental company. What he didn’t know was how, specifically, to do that. So he hired someone who did—Brad Barber, a rental business veteran who had a strong understanding of the industry. He had done extensive research on his own, too, noticing the beginning of a significant shift in the construction equipment business from ownership to rentals. “The value proposition on the rental side is very real,” Engquist says. “Had we not done that, we’d have been a very small business and not nearly as profitable as we are now.” Engquist immediately began investing in expanding its fleet, beefing up the company’s rental operations to the point where, over past years, it’s consistently ranked in the top 10 rental equipment distributors in the United States. While the distribution side turns more dollars, the rental side is what turns a higher profit margin.

as the company’s CEO and largest individual shareholder. The private equity group had recently acquired ICM, a Salt Lake City-based heavy equipment dealer, and wanted to merge the business with Head & Engquist to create a super-company. But the financing market wasn’t ready, so they ran the companies separately until the bond markets opened back up in 2002. Head & Engquist then did a bond transaction to acquire ICM. The merger doubled its staff and allowed each company to retain a strong geographic footprint; Engquist’s along the Gulf Coast, and ICM’s in the Western United States. “It was a situation where one

Fields, a program where they have, since 2008, opened 20 new rental stores in select locations. Engquist says they analyze the management, performance and—most critically—culture of potential acquisitions. If theirs is a culture that aligns with H&E’s— meaning it knows and cares about its people—then they bite. The secret behind Engquist’s Midas touch? “We don’t make emotional decisions,” Engquist says. “We like to generate good data, give that information to smart people, and let them make good decisions.”

he got into almost by accident. It was back when homebuilders and developers were struggling from the effects of the Great Recession. At the time, Engquist’s son, Ryan, was—along with his childhood friends Todd Waguespack and Kelly Sills— working at a fledgling local homebuilding company called Level Construction. Level, which was then building roughly 35 homes a year, needed some financial help, and Engquist obliged, working with them as a capital partner and pumping in dollars to keep the company afloat. Engquist has essentially functioned as a land bank for them, buying property, developing lots and then selling it to Level. Today, Level Construction builds about 400 homes a year, which Engquist attributes to Ryan, Waguespack and Sills. “More than anything, I invest in people,” says Engquist, who still invests in Level and later became a developer through EngquistLevel Development. That philosophy is at work at H&E, as well. Engquist retired as CEO in November, stepping down from his position to serve as executive chairman of the company’s board. He still maintains an active role with the business and has no plans to retire. As of Jan. 1, former H&E COO Bradley Barber has been the company’s chief executive. His biggest cheerleader is Engquist, who says he invested in Barber decades ago because of his extensive experience with the rental business. “The biggest mistake I see executives make is they’ll have a very talented, capable young guy, like Brad Barber, and they don’t want to give anything up. Then, those guys leave,” he says. “Brad’s earned that position, he deserves it.” He stops for a minute, then finishes his thought. “Any business leader who can recognize that the business isn’t about them, but that it’s about the employees,” says Engquist, “has got a big leg up on being successful.” —Catie Burkes

INVESTING IN OTHERS The golden touch extends to real estate, which Engquist says Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

COVER STORY

Young Businessperson of the Year • Kenny Nguyen • ThreeSixtyEight

S S E C C U S G N I N DEFI S M R E T S I H N O ilure as overcome fa h n e y u g N y n by Ken tions of others eir ta c e p x e e th d an e th am to embrac te is h g in w o ll a confidence. inner creative

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

WHAT WAS SUPPOSED to be a 15-minute phone call accepting a flight out to California to participate in ABC’s Shark Tank morphed into a two-hour-long conversation and moment of catharsis for Kenny Nguyen. It was 2012 and Nguyen, then 22 years old, led local creative agency Big Fish Presentations. The company had recently been featured in Inc. magazine’s annual list of cool college startups, and the producers of Shark Tank offered Nguyen and his team the opportunity to pitch their concept to a panel of billionaire investors on the popular TV show. Big Fish workers had even penciled on their calendars a team party, scheduled not long after the phone call. But Nguyen says the woman on the other line, Karen Sullivan, asked him a series of thought-provoking questions that made him realize it wasn’t the right move for his budding startup. “She asked me if any of my heroes would be on the show, and I said no,” Nguyen recalls. That’s when he had his epiphany: No longer would he define success based on what others thought, choosing instead to do what he believed was right. Nearly seven years later, the 28-year-old entrepreneur serves as CEO of ThreeSixtyEight—a branding, marketing and advertising agency tucked in a back pocket of Mid City, along South 14th Street in a vintage building once home to the Olde Town Emporium. In that role, he measures his success in this way: allowing others to embrace their inner creative confidence. MUMBLED BEGINNINGS While Nguyen is known locally for his presentation skills, that wasn’t always the case. As a 15-year-old Pac Sun employee, he was fired for his lack of communication skills. “My manager told me, ‘You’ve got to learn how to speak to people or you’re not going to go anywhere,’” Nguyen says. “So basically I was fired because she thought I didn’t know how to communicate.” The moment stuck out to him, as did another: Sleeping through

the Art Institute’s Best Teen Chef competition, where, he later found out, he was favored to win. Both setbacks propelled him to go on a trip to Vietnam, where he had a dream instructing him to open a business and build something he could be proud of before going on to empower other people. Inspired, he began the prophetic journey by enrolling at LSU, launching I Am E (I Am Entrepreneur), an organization that would later become the university’s Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization affiliate. It was during this time Nguyen saw what he remembers as “the most boring presentation of my life.” “He had thirty minutes to speak, but spoke for three hours,” Nguyen says. “He had 150 slides

As a college sophomore, Nguyen picked up calls from clients across the country, flying to New York on a Monday afternoon and traveling back to Baton Rouge at dawn to attend a Tuesday morning class. He and Murillo hired two part-time employees. They wrote a book called The Big Fish Philosophy. They caught the eye of Shark Tank. Somewhere in between, Nguyen dropped out of college— calling it the “best decision I’ve ever made”—to focus his full attention on Big Fish. BIG FISH, BIGGER POND By early 2016, Nguyen and Murillo wanted to expand their footprint. They did so by merging their company with local creative agency Hatchit Co., owned by Jeremy Beyt and Nick Defelice.

EVOLVING to remain RELEVANT

Nguyen knew he needed to make some strategic changes when ThreeSixtyEight hit a sales slump in early 2018. As CEO, Nguyen wanted to bring out the best in his 15 employees, so he formed a growth committee comprising “future managers and other emerging leaders of the company” and had regular meetings with them. Out of those discussions came several developments, including merging the company’s sales and strategy teams together, and allowing his senior strategist to meet face-to-face with more prospective clients. Never before had Nguyen developed a strategic plan. But over time, he and his team came up with a roadmap outlining benchmark goals for the company three years down the road. “We started breaking down what we wanted out of our monthly goals, then quarterly goals, annual goals and eventually to a milestone goal,” Nguyen says. “Once we had that clear pathway, we were able to really focus on our team.” Part of the company’s vision involved merging with the Prairieville-based Mindworx Marketing, known for its print communication collateral. They did so early this year, gaining four employees and expanding their services. “What could’ve been a terrible year turned into our best year yet,” he says. “We put our team in positions to succeed.”

of text, read off every single slide, started laughing at his own jokes and answering his own questions. I thought to myself, what if there was a company that could help people like these with their presentations and make them even better?” From that tedium came the impetus for Big Fish Presentations, Nguyen’s first entrepreneurial foray with his childhood best friend, Gus Murillo. Founded in 2011, the two-man show specialized in making beautiful presentations for clients like Raising Cane’s, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, and McGraw-Hill. From there, it was go, go, go.

The agencies long had a close relationship, regularly referring clients to one another. Hatchit also designed Big Fish’s website. They joined forces to create ThreeSixtyEight—the distance between the two businesses, in feet. But after about two months, sales were skimpy and Nguyen began second-guessing his decision. He realized the new company needed to tweak its messaging. “We knew we could present onstage really well, but with this new team, we could do websites and digital marketing so that not only do you look good, but the brand that you represent looks great,” he says. “Once we

shifted our story, things started happening.” Within its first year, the merger created a firm with 10 employees and combined billings of about $1.2 million, with $200,000 of that coming from new business. Wanting to amplify the company’s presentation prowess, Nguyen also launched the Assembly Required Series, four conferences interspersed throughout the year. The quarterly events—which involve national speakers coming to Baton Rouge to offer different perspectives—have brought ThreeSixtyEight 10 new accounts, with Nguyen adding that five new businesses have formed from people meeting at the conferences. Nguyen has since revamped the event series as Some Assembly Required, making them smaller, more intimate, workshop-style gatherings in ThreeSixtyEight’s office building. “When you have people from two completely separate backgrounds, but you have the empathy to work with one another and you’re focused on the same goal, you’re going to come up with a really cool idea,” Nguyen says. “We want to be that catalyst where that can happen because there was nothing like that here.” The conferences might be smaller, but ThreeSixtyEight continues to expand. It recently merged with another company—Prairieville-based Mindworx Marketing—which specialized in providing print collateral and marketing strategies to businesses in the health care and consumer packaged goods space, an area where Nguyen says ThreeSixtyEight wanted to grow. Over the next several months, the four Mindworx employees with join ThreeSixtyEight’s 16 employees in its Mid City office, with all operations eventually merging under the ThreeSixtyEight flag. It’s all part of Nguyen’s intense focus on his mission to let his clients embrace their creative spirits, and to foster more relationships with businesses willing to take risks. “You’ve got to be focused,” he says. “The secret to everything we do is empathy—that’s what drives us.” —Caitie Burkes

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

Company of the Year (100 or more employees) • DSLD Homes

COVER STORY

DSLD Homes CEO Saun Sullivan

A G N I K MA E C N E R E F F I D ing kly and not do ic u q s e s u o h one able Building afford ibly stupid’ has made DSLD d ‘anything incre rgest production builders. la of Louisiana’s

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

LAUREN ROBERT CAN remember In a large neighborhood, customers to pick. They have a pretty good the moment she knew she wanted to can pick from 10 different housing system, it’s a quick build and then work for DSLD Homes. It was seven styles, a small subdivision offers six you’re in.” years ago, right before Christmas, choices. Yet DSLD is not a custom DSLD built nearly 3,000 homes when CEO Saun Sullivan asked her homebuilder; the company builds last year and is working in more to go for a ride to his favorite place. in bulk. than 100 communities throughThey drove to Keystone of Galvez, “We do not do custom houses,” out Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, a DSLD subdivision in Ascension says Sullivan. “They are like Saks Texas and Alabama. About 40% of Parish. Sullivan parked in the back Fifth Avenue and we are more like the company’s business comes from of the neighborhood where smaller Dillard’s.” customer referrals, Sullivan says, and more affordable homes in the But they have their building proand while social media is not “my $130,000-range were built. There, cess down to a science. “Think of cup of tea,” his marketing team has families gathered outside of their it like going to McDonald’s,” says built a loyal customer base and even homes, neighbors helping neighJennifer Richardson, human remore loyal employees. bors build swing sets and other sources manager. “You can choose “We don’t employ people who beChristmas gifts for their children, anything off the menu and combine lieve they can sell ice to Eskimos,” Robert recalls. different items together, but you says Sullivan. “If they can’t stand “Saun said this was his favorite can’t ask for a custom hamburger. behind our product, they can’t sell place because the pride of ownWe’re kind of like that.” it. And the people we hire really ership these families had,” says Though DSLD may no do custom, want to be here and believe in our Robert, a builder sales represenits houses have many of the features products.” tative for DSLD. “He was happy to found in higher-priced homes. The green and blue DSLD Homes work for a company where they “It’s a spec home that does not reflags can be seen throughout could figure out how to build affordsemble a spec home, and I will tell East Baton Rouge, Ascension and able houses for everyone. Before you they are awesome,” says Dana Livingston parishes at the entrance that drive, I didn’t know if I would Bullentini, a residential agent with to subdivisions both large and take the job, but when he said that Exit Reality Group. “They are wonsmall. “This job is about providing to me, how could a service and makI not? I thought to ing our buyers feel myself, ‘If the owner like they are our only wants to be here customers,” says DSLD earned $659 million in revenue last year, a 70% increase over and make a differRobert, who typithe $197.5 million in revenue it earned in 2012. And while that is a huge ence, then so do I.’ cally works at an onincrease, Sullivan projects that revenue should remain steady over the next It was a big deal to site model home. few years. him and to me. I still “We get to build this “Our big growth years are behind us,” he says, adding that the challenge get chills thinking relationship with DSLD Homes now faces is how to evolve and remain relevant in the industry. He says the company is focusing on local needs and infrastructure about it.” the buyer, and then when deciding where to build. DSLD Homes is a they go and tell their Baton Rouge- and families and friends Denham Springsabout us.” based home-building company that derful for first-time homebuyers Robert is in the color selection earned $659 million in revenue last and they are easy to sell. They have room of the model home at the year. With more than 20 new subnice flooring and really nice finfront of Hunter’s Trace, a 261-home divisions built in the greater Baton ishes, and my customers are always subdivision tucked around a large Rouge area, the company is one happy with what they get. I will sell pond off Burbank Drive, between of the state’s largest production a DSLD home all day long.” Essen Lane and Lee Drive. As the builders and it constructs homes In 2014, Jeanne-Marie Heintz builder sales representative, she in five states: Louisiana, Alabama, bought a 2,600-square foot home is cheery, petite and very excited Mississippi, Florida and Texas. from DSLD in The Shadows at about the granite selection, hardThe DSLD moniker stands for Manchac subdivision in Prairieville. ware choices and current paint col“Develop our people to Serve our With her third child on the way, her ors offered to buyers. customers by Leading the indusfamily needed a larger home at an “It all goes together,” she says, try in Delivering great homes.” That affordable price, and she said DSLD widening her arms in a Vanna gets done, says the 46-year-old provided her with both without the White-like fashion to showcase the Sullivan, by building homes quickly stress of building a custom home. different options. “It’s so comfortand affordably. “They are cookie-cutter, but we ing to be able to tell people that this “We try not to do anything incredgot a lot of upgrades—granite, a big company has done their research, ibly stupid,” he says. “Half of life is shower and hardwood floors—at a and they know that all of these showing up and answering calls and better price,” she says. “We really products and colors will look good delivering a decent product to the got a lot of bang for our buck going together. Buying a home from us is customer.” through them. And if I had to start such a simple and seamless process, DSLD Homes mainly builds sinfrom square one making decisions and we really care about making gle-story, French Colonial style to build the house, there would someone’s house their home.” —April Capochino Myers houses ranging in price from have been way too many decisions. $130,000 to $350,000, with the averI like that they narrow it down. They age home costing about $210,000. give you choices and then you get

EVOLVING to remain RELEVANT

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

Company of the Year (fewer than 100 employees) • Martin Ecosystems

COVER STORY

tems, Martin Ecosys and run by a father ren, is d four of his chil ducts developing pro d to protect—an a’s n save—Louisia coast and waterways.

Martin Ecosystems President Nicole Waguespack

N U R Y L I M A AF S S E N I BUS

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

THE MARTIN FAMILY grew up among guide told them the three about a coastlines, rivers and lakes. Locally, the marshes of Lafourche Parish, man named Bruce Kania, founder the company installed a floating istrawling shrimp, while navigating of Floating Island International. Ted land in the City Park lakes across bayous filled with thick aquatic vegeliked his ideas and thought about from the Knock Knock Children’s tation. It’s a fond memory for 71-yearhow he could implement the product Museum and domestically, it installed old Ted Martin, who still can vividly in Louisiana. floating islands in the Chicago River. recall trudging through those wet“I said, ‘take me to meet him,’” Its EcoBales have been installed in lands as a child, with thick plants Ted Martin recalls. “And in 2008 we marshland along Louisiana, protectsurrounding him. The problem, he started Martin Ecosystems and had ing exposed oil and gas pipes and delaments, is that it’s disappearing. the first licensed floating island in the creasing hurricane impacts. “Back then you could barely get United States.” “The EcoBale is their number through it, it was so thick with vegeMartin Ecosystems manufactures one product to me,” says Donnie tation,” says Martin. “Now, it’s wide products to help protect the shoreGarrison, senior offshore operations open.” lines, reduce land loss and support supervisor for Shell Pipeline. “Born Martin is the founder of Martin aquatic ecosystems. Its main product and raised in Louisiana, I’ve heard Ecosystems, a small family-run busiis called “The Matrix.” Manufactured about coastal erosion my whole life, ness launched in 2008 to manufacwith 100% polyethylene terephthalbut it took me being personally inture environmental solutions for ate—PET plastic drinking bottles— volved in it to understand. If you have erosion control, habitat loss, and The Matrix has the look and feel of a pipe that is exposed from eroding stormwater and wastewater mana strong Brillo pad. It’s the foundadirt and you can save millions of dolagement. The emphasis is on family, tion for the company’s other prodlars by diverting that water with a with four of his five children working ucts, including Floating Islands, product like EcoBale and not shutting with him: Nicole Waguespack serves Floating Treatment Wetlands and the the pipe down, it saves money and as president; Chad Martin is director EcoBale. The company has recycled time.” of operations; Melanie In 2018, the comMartin heads finance pany made $1.1 miland administration; lion in revenue and and Jason Martin, the installed about 1,200 “For the first eight years, we worked tirelessly to research and develop youngest of the sibfeet of EcoBale for products for both the coastal erosion and water treatment markets,” says lings, is the sales manpipeline demarcation Nicole Waguespack, president of Martin Ecosystems. “In that time, we built ager. Ted’s wife, and and decreasing caa reputation for delivering great products and created strong customer their third daughter nal water flows. Their relationships. But many of those projects were small scale in terms of impact, do have an ownership products are manufacsize and revenue. “In order to truly make a difference in the coastal erosion market and stake in the company, tured in a warehouse ultimately a larger impact on protecting our wetlands, we had to go bigger but are not involved in off Airline Highway in and get stronger. So, in 2017, we developed and patented a new product its daily operations. an area tucked behind called EcoBale, which is a lightweight alternative to traditional heavy Their friends jokSiegen Lane known for infrastructure, such as rock or bulkhead. EcoBales are being used for ingly used to call them industrial businesses. shoreline protection, pipeline demarcation and reducing canal water flows. the “Get Along Gang,” As the company conThe EcoBale is opening the door for us to get into larger scale commercial referencing a group of and governmental projects, allowing us to become a bigger partner in tinues to grow, the protecting our coast.” 1980s animated charfamily hopes to conacters whose adventinue educating the tures highlight the public about the imimportance of teamwork. But the afmore than two million water botportance of coastal erosion and the fectionate nickname is fitting. The tles, Waguespack says, adding that economic impact of Louisiana’s coast. family sits around a large conference more than 33,000 square feet of isIn January, Gov. John Bel Edwards table in their Benefit Drive office lands have been installed, creating announced plans to designate more space, passionately talking about the new marsh habitat and improving than $350 million to wetland and miles of coast that is disappearing surrounding water quality while two coastal restoration. And local officials daily and how they are trying to save miles of EcoShield has been installed, say Martin Ecosystems can help with it. All have a love of the water and protecting levees, berms and terraces. this restoration. a motivation to protect where they “I believe they have made a great “We’ve seen the success of Martin grew up. difference—and an affordable one,” Ecosystems products first-hand,” “I think about our camp in Leeville says Joey Breaux, agricultural and says Chip Kline, executive assistant and how so much marsh has disapenvironmental specialist and adto the governor for coastal activities peared since my dad was a kid,” says min coordinator for the Louisiana and chairman of the state’s Coastal Jason. “And I would be surprised if it Department of Agriculture and Restoration and Authority. “In areas is still there when our kids visit. And Forestry, and the Office of Soil and where we have experienced years and that’s sad to think about, so that’s why Water Conservation. “They have years of land loss, they are helping we do what we do.” helped with shoreline restoration and restore marsh and wetlands. Ted and Martin Ecosystems came to life 11 what they are doing is so important his company are definitely a tool in years ago, not long after the family and really something that hasn’t been our toolkit and the projects that have patriarch met his sons in Montana done before.” been tested so far with their products, for a hunting trip. Jason and Chad Martin Ecosystems’ products are they have all done beautifully.” —April Capochino Myers graduated from college in Montana used in projects all over Louisiana and while on the trip, their tour and the United States, along

EVOLVING to remain RELEVANT

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

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BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

COVERSTORY

PAST BUSINESS AWARDS AND HALL OF FAME HONOREES

Diane Allen

Newton Thomas

2018 BATON ROUGE

BUSINESS AWARDS & HALL OF FAME HALL OF FAME

NEWTON THOMAS BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR

DIANE ALLEN

YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR

CHAD FOSTER

COMPANY OF THE YEAR [100 OR MORE EMPLOYEES]

ITI TECHNICAL COLLEGE

Chad Foster

COMPANY OF THE YEAR [FEWER THAN 100 EMPLOYEES]

GENERAL INFORMATICS

Mo Vij of General Informatics

Joe Martin of ITI Technical College

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

COVERSTORY

PAST BUSINESS AWARDS AND HALL OF FAME HONOREES 1984

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Chuck McCoy, president, chairman and CEO, Louisiana National Bank COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Louisiana National Bank • Jay Crow & Associates • Shelia Jacobs Inc. NEW BUSINESS OF THE YEAR MERIT Industrial Constructors

1985

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Lloyd Collette, founder and chairman, United Companies COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Exxon Co. USA • Lockworks • Sheets Construction Corp. NEW BUSINESS OF THE YEAR • Catfish Town

1986

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Robert S. Greer Sr., president and CEO, Union National Life Insurance COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Fraenkel Wholesale Furniture • Eye Care & Surgery Center • Pitts Management Associates ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR • Ron Sanders, The Sanders Group

1987

EXECUTIVES OF THE YEAR • Hans and Josef Sternberg, Maison Blanche COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • General Health Inc. • Credit Bureau of Baton Rouge • Buzzell and Associates • Casey Construction Management Corp. YOUNG EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Peggy Scott, Deloitte, Haskens & Sells ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR • Kevin Couhig, Gulf South Research Institute and Oaktree Technology Corp.

1988

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Jensen Holliday, Franklin Press COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • MMR Holding Corp. • Manda’s Fine Meats • Analytical Nursing Management YOUNG EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Brian Kendrick, Maison Blanche/ state commissioner of administration for?Gov. Buddy Roemer ENTREPRENEURS OF THE YEAR • Ralph and Kacoo Olinde, Ralph & Kacoo’s restaurant

1989

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Eugene Owen, chairman and CEO of Owen and White and president of Utility Holdings COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Piccadilly Cafeterias • Melamine Chemicals • Southern Audio Services YOUNG EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Doug Diez, Acadian Builders of Gonzales ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR • E.J. Ourso, Security Industrial Insurance Co.

1990

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Kevin Reilly Sr., chairman, Lamar Corp. COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Fifth Generation Systems • The Newtron Group • Postlethwaite & Netterville • Modern Valve YOUNG EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Michael Trufant, Cellular One ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR • William Borne, Analytical Medical Enterprises

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1991

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • C.C. “Chuck” Dabadie, president and CEO, Guaranty Bank and Trust COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Turner Industries • Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry • Video Park YOUNG EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Stewart J. Juneau, The C.J. Brown Corp. ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR • J. Peter Perez, Environmental Remediation

1992

EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Gerry Lane, president, Gerry Lane Enterprises COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Premier Bancorp • G&E Engineering • Unique Cuisine YOUNG EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR • Nanette Noland Kelley, Carlson Travel/Mundus Travel ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR • Bob LeBlanc, Bengal Chemical

1999

YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Christel Slaughter, SSA Consultants COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • United Companies Financial Corp. • Foxy’s Health & Racquet Club

1995

Larry Adcock, 1993 Businessperson of the Year

1993

HALL OF FAME • Ira J. Woodfin • M.J. Rathbone BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Larry Adcock, retired from Dow USA, Louisiana Division COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • EMCO • South Central Bell

1994

HALL OF FAME • Norman Saurage • Lea Sternberg • Erich Sternberg [posthumous] BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Thomas Sawyer, General Health System

HALL OF FAME • John W. Barton Sr. BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Charles Valluzzo, McDonald’s of Baton Rouge YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Leslie O. Herpin, Leslie Herpin Interior Design COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Associated Grocers • WAFB-TV

1996

HALL OF FAME • Douglas L. Manship • Charles P. Manship Sr. [posthumous] BUSINESSPERSON OF G. Lee Griffin, 1996 THE YEAR Businessperson of • G. Lee Griffin, the Year Bank One Louisiana YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • James C. Flores, Flores & Rucks COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Albemarle Corp. • DSL/LA

Gary Mockler, 1997 Businessperson of the Year

1997

HALL OF FAME • Horatio Thompson BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Gary Mockler, Mockler Beverage Co. YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Annette Austin, Health Care Options COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • All Star Dealerships • DeAngelo’s Pizzeria Co.

1998

HALL OF FAME • Charles W. “Chuck” McCoy • Lewis Gottlieb [posthumous] BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Kevin Reilly Jr., Lamar Corp. YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Chris Ferrara, Ferrara Fire Apparatus COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Performance Contractors • Capital City Glass

HALL OF FAME • Ben Kleinpeter • Frank Kean [posthumous] BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • P.J. Mills, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Cliff Neese Jr., Neese Industries COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Hibernia National Bank • Cajun Injector

2000

HALL OF FAME • Milton J. Womack BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Robert C. Davidge, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Fred Dent III, Dent Asset Management COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • The Shaw Group • Xenetech USA

Robert C. Davidge, 2000 Businessperson of the Year

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BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

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COVERSTORY BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Raymond G. “Skipper” Post Jr., Post Architects YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Todd Graves, Raising Cane’s COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • LCR-M Corp • Saurage Company Realtors

2003

Milford “Mike” Wampold III, 2001 Businessperson of the Year

2001

HALL OF FAME • Bert S. Turner • T.H. “Tandy” Hamilton [posthumous] BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Milford “Mike” Wampold III YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Michael Anthony Paul Polito, MAPP Construction COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • EATEL • LUBA Workers’ Compensation Fund

2002

HALL OF FAME • Andrew & Fred Bahlinger • Huey J. Wilson

HALL OF FAME • Claude “Doc” Pennington • Kevin Reilly Sr. BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Jacqui Vines, Cox Communications YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Todd Stevens, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center COMPANIES OF THE YEAR • Tony’s Seafood • BRPT-Lake Rehabilitation Centers

Raymond G. “Skipper” Post Jr., 2002 Businessperson of the Year

2004

HALL OF FAME • Albert Fraenkel BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Madhu Beriwal YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Tim Barfield COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Georgia-Pacific [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • George Jenne Contractors [Fewer than 100 employees]

2005

HALL OF FAME • Price LeBlanc BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Lee Michael Berg YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Charlie Ton COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Amedisys [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Trahan Architects [fewer than 100 employees]

Pete Stewart, 2006 Young Businessperson of the Year COMPANY OF THE YEAR • EMCO Technologies [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Starmount Life Insurance Co. [fewer than 100 employees]

2007

2006

HALL OF FAME • Roland Toups BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Benny Alford YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Joe Agresti COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Dow Louisiana Operations [100 or more employees]

HALL OF FAME • Jensen Holliday [posthumous] • Gary Sligar BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Charles Landry YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Pete Stewart

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BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

COVERSTORY COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Woman’s Hospital [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Business First Bank [fewer than 100 employees]

COMPANY OF THE YEAR • SJB Group [fewer than 100 employees]

2008

HALL OF FAME • Charles Valluzzo BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Lee Domingue YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Louis DeAngelo Jr. COMPANY OF THE YEAR • LWCC [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Window World [fewer than 100 employees]

2011

Matt McKay, 2010 Businessperson of the Year

2009

HALL OF FAME • A. Hays Town [posthumous] • Hillar Moore Jr.

BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Bobby Yarborough YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Darian Chustz COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Kleinpeter Farms Dairy [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • D. Honoré Construction [fewer than 100 employees]

HALL OF FAME LAUREATE • Hans J. Sternberg BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Bill Holman YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Mark Ashworth COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Cajun Industries [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Orion Instruments [fewer than 100 employees]

2012

2010

A. Hays Town, 2009 Hall of Fame

HALL OF FAME • Gary Mockler BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Matt McKay YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Mohit “Mo” Vij

Brace Godfrey, 2012 Hall of Fame

Hans J. Sternberg, 2011 Hall of Fame

HALL OF FAME • Richard Lipsey • Brace Godfrey [posthumous] BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Art Favre YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Stafford Wood COMPANY OF THE YEAR • The Newtron Group [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • ShoppersChoice.com [fewer than 100 employees]

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Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

COVERSTORY COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Marucci Sports [fewer than 100 employees]

BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Bill Balhoff YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Todd Waguespack COMPANY OF THE YEAR • GMFS [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • PACTEC [fewer than 100 employees]

Teri Fontenot, 2013 Businessperson of the Year

2017

2015

HALL OF FAME • Lane Grigsby • Harvey Honoré [posthumous] BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • John Valluzzo YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • John Jackson

2013

HALL OF FAME • James “Jim” Bernhard Jr. BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Teri Fontenot, Woman’s Hospital YOUNG BUSINESSPERSONS OF THE YEAR • Jack Warner • Brandon Landry COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Sparkhound [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • GoTech [fewer than 100 employees]

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William “Billy” Heroman Sr., 2016 Hall of Fame

HALL OF FAME • J.B. Olinde • Bobby Yarborough BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • David Roberts YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • William McGehee COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Capitol City Produce [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Emergent Method [fewer than 100 employees]

COMPANY OF THE YEAR • CSRS [100 or more employees] COMPANY OF THE YEAR • InfiniEDGE [fewer than 100 employees]

2016

HALL OF FAME • William “Billy” Heroman Sr. • Janice Pellar BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Ed Rispone YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR • Bin Yu COMPANY OF THE YEAR • Raising Cane’s [100 or more employees]

Paul Ferachi of Capitol City Produce, 2017 Company of the Year

WEEKDAY MORNINGS

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

BUSINE SS

R E PORT

LEADERSHIP A C A D E M Y

What will differentiate the winners from the losers won’t be technology or capital but leadership and a willingness to learn. —JOHN CHAMBERS

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NEWS TH E B IG STORY

It’s not over THE LOCAL BUSINESS community, fearful of the fallout from the ongoing controversy over the Industrial Tax Exemption Program, breathed a sigh of relief in early March when ExxonMobil announced Baton Rouge as the site of a major expansion project worth more than $500 million. ITEP critics rejoiced as well, declaring this a tax-break worthy project that proves the state’s overhauled tax incentive program won’t chase industry away. But that rare moment of mutual celebration didn’t last. Industry leaders wasted no time assuring the community the ITEP debate is far from over. While praising ExxonMobil’s decision, industry groups called attention to the long and difficult process it took to land the project, criticizing the ITEP issues that threatened to torpedo it. In the same breath, they reiterated calls to reform the program, upended in 2016 when Gov. John Bel Edwards turned power over to local governments. In other words, yes, the ExxonMobil expansion—which has already received ITEP approval—is a win. But don’t think for second that ITEP battles are a thing of the past. Making its point, the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association reminded Baton Rouge of all the investments the city may have missed out on while fumbling with its newfound control of the tax-incentive program. “We cannot ignore that the vast majority of investments from ExxonMobil’s Grow the Gulf initiative have been made with our neighbors in Texas,” LMOGA President Tyler Gray says. “While congratulations are in order, Louisiana needs to focus on the process for incentive programs

FILE PHOTO

Don’t expect the ITEP debate to cease just because ExxonMobil has chosen Baton Rouge for a massive industrial expansion. BY ANNIE OURSO LANDRY

and the push for further refinement of the rules.” Indeed, most of ExxonMobil’s major investments have been made in Texas, including a $10 billion ethane cracker project that went to Corpus Christi over Louisiana. The Bayou State, meanwhile, has attracted just three projects of significance—a sulfur expansion in Baton Rouge, a Port Allen aviation lubrication plant and the most recent expansion announcement. Whether that’s a result of the ITEP debacle, remains debatable. Arguments over ITEP and how it affects economic development will undoubtedly go on into the foreseeable future as industry continues its push for further reform of the tax break program,

hoping to ease the process so that it’s more business friendly and competitive. That raises another question: How exactly can we streamline the program as it becomes increasingly clear local input is likely here to stay? There are ideas, like creating a single point of contact for each parish, proposed by the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. Together Baton Rouge, which has been the most vocal ITEP critic by far, has already signaled opposition to such an idea. The community group wants the ITEP approval process to remain the way it is now—with input from all local taxing authorities and approval reserved for projects of

actual economic value, like the ExxonMobil expansion. “This is how real economic development is supposed to work,” says Together Baton Rouge leader Rev. Lee Wesley. “This is ITEP reform.” The state, though, via Louisiana Economic Development, has said it’s open to ideas for future ITEP reforms as long as local input remains. So stay tuned. Though the boiling debate over ITEP may have been reduced to a simmer following the ExxonMobil announcement, the familiar rhetoric is sure to reach peak volume once again as soon as ExxonMobil or any other industrial behemoth eyes Baton Rouge for another major investment. Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

BUSINESS REPORT & JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT PRESENT

Business wards A B AT O N

R O U G E

& Hall of Fame

JOIN US FOR THE CELEBRATION AS WE RECOGNIZE THE SUCCESS OF OUR HONOREES.

Wednesday, March 20

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PRESENTING SPONSORS:

Jake Netterville E.J. Ourso BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR

John Engquist YOUNG BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR

Kenny Nguyen COMPANIES OF THE YEAR

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Tickets on sale NOW! To purchase, visit businessreport.com/events or call Abby Hamilton at (225) 928-1700

NEWS

HIGHER EDUCATION

LSU’s unprecedented quest WHAT WILL IT take for LSU to lead Louisiana and impact the world? It’s a $1.3 billion question the university system wants donors to answer over the next six years as part of the largest higher education fundraising campaign in Louisiana history. LSU is still a couple weeks away from officially launching this audacious question-and-answer session, just the university’s third advancement campaign over the past 159 years. More jaw-dropping than how rare these endeavors have been for the state’s flagship institution, is this: The previous two efforts have taken place over the past three decades, meaning for nearly 130 years there was nothing in the way of an official capital campaign. Yes, LSU went after philanthropic dollars, but not in any significant way, instead relying largely on student tuition and state dollars to fund the way. That began to change in the 1990s with the launch of the nameless “LSU Campaign,” with the target goal of a rather meager $150 million. More prominent was the “Forever LSU” effort that publicly ran from 2006 through 2010 and raised some $764 million. What’s significant about the upcoming campaign, currently in its advanced phase, is that it’s LSU’s first system-wide campaign, meaning the individual foundations from eight LSU institutions will collaboratively raise money. Other than Baton Rouge’s flagship campus, those include all LSU AgCenter locations, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU Eunice, LSU Alexandria, LSU Shreveport, LSU Health New Orleans and LSU Health Shreveport. University officials remain reluctant to discuss several campaign details, such as its name, main priorities and per institution fundraising targets. What Sara Whittaker, senior director of communications and marketing for the LSU Foundation, will say is that the six pillars of the effort

COURTESY LSU

The university is about to embark on its first system-wide campaign to raise $1.3 billion. Will donors answer the call? BY CAITIE BURKES

BIG PICTURE: Declaring it’s out to impact Louisiana and the world, LSU is taking a new—and far more bold—approach to fundraising in a soon-to-launch capital campaign.

will differ from three traditional capital campaign priorities of “student support,” “faculty and research,” and “capital projects.” “It’s very, very closely tied to LSU’s Strategic Plan,” she says. “In terms of how we’re framing the campaign, it’s more associated with outcomes and making life better—for students, faculty, staff and people in Louisiana.” Though specifics on the campaign’s pillars remain, for now, unknown, the six challenges outlined in the LSU Strategic Plan 2025 are: Advancing Arts and Culture; Bridging the Coast, Energy and Environment; Fostering Research and Catalyzing Economic Development; Improving Health and Wellbeing; Transforming Education; and Developing Leaders. With perpetual campaigns now the norm nationally, monetary expectations are also rising, with $1 billion campaigns becoming common. Can LSU, with its comparatively lackluster endowment history, keep pace? To do so, experts say the LSU system must improve its coordinated messaging while also telling donors a unified story worth hearing.

BUILDING THE FRAMEWORK It’s no secret LSU has historically lagged behind its peer institutions, both in the SEC and nationally, when it comes to raising dollars for its endowment. Though it’s only one area of fundraising, it’s universally viewed as “the gift that keeps on giving” because such dollars offer a university a long-term investment. Essentially, the university is still playing catch-up with its endowment. The soon-to-be-unveiled campaign doesn’t have a hard endowment goal, Whittaker says, though she notes several of the priorities do have related endowment-driven goals. While the padded support of seven additional institutions should certainly help with the campaign, will the six-year effort be enough to make LSU’s total endowment even somewhat competitive with its SEC peers? As of June 30, 2018, the university’s $16,180 endowment per student is 12th in the 14-institution SEC, according to data provided by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Only the universities of South Carolina and Arkansas have lower averages. Equally troubling, LSU’s number is some

$7,000 less than its closest rival, Mississippi State University, and an eye-catching $350,000 behind Vanderbilt University, the top SEC fundraiser. The statistics don’t get any better when looking at total endowment, where LSU is only ahead of the University of Arkansas. Simply put, the $499 million market value of LSU’s endowment in Fiscal Year 2018 can’t stack up to Texas A&M’s $12.8 billion or even the $713 million at Ole Miss. Still, these numbers are higher than in years past, largely because of the efforts of former Foundation President Stephen Moret, who took over 2015. Though he left less than two years later for an economic development job in Virginia, Moret implemented several transformative changes: modernizing the database the foundation shares with the LSU Alumni Association and Tiger Athletic Foundation; dramatically expanding the number of fundraisers on staff; crafting a blueprint for the future of development at LSU; and improving operations needed to launch the upcoming campaign. It was also during Moret’s tenure when LSU hired national Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

NEWS

HIGHER EDUCATION

LITTLE TO SPEND

Trends in

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Publication date: April 9, 2019

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consultant Marts & Lundy to guide LSU had less endowment money per student the Foundation last year than 11 of 14 SEC institutions. through an assessInstitution Endowment ment of its op per student erations. Among Vanderbilt University $365,928 the results, says $186,468 Texas A&M University Whittaker, is the organization is now University of Kentucky $48,926 mimicking best University of Georgia $33,887 practices from its University of Missouri-Columbia $32,587 peers. University of Florida $31,236 There have been $30,820 University of Mississippi-Main Campus some early payoffs. Auburn University-Main Campus $27,092 LSU’s endowment University of Alabama $25,769 market value is up University of Tennessee $25,062 $116 million from Mississippi State University $23,129 2013 levels and its per student figLSU* $16,180 ures have grown by University of South Carolina $15,840 $4,000. Still, LSU University of Arkansas at Little Rock $6,803 remains near the Source: Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Data reflects figures from Fiscal Year 2018. bottom of the SEC *—LSU’s endowment per student reflects figures from the flagship campus in Baton Rouge, the LSU AgCenter and the Tiger Athletic Foundation. list. “Many of our peers were far ahead of us in what’s actually a very nuanced terms of when they started,” process that, experts say, takes Whittaker offers. “We’re working years of buildup and gets to the toward strategic, incremental, “why” behind philanthropy. year-over-year growth. It doesn’t Linda Durant, vice president of happen overnight.” development for the Washington, Moreover, Whittaker says the D.C.-based Council for the Foundation now has in place the Advancement and Support of institutional framework that was Education, says it’s all about the previously lacking. Its alumni givright gift officers talking to the ing rate (13%) now ranks third in right donors. the SEC, up from last in 2014. “The more you talk to them and She remains optimistic about the more you learn, you start to the success of the upcoming narrow down your focus,” Durant campaign, noting that overall says. goals for both the LSU Campaign Why did an alumnus have a and Forever LSU were exceeded. propensity to give back to a particular college? Did they have TELLING A STORY a favorite professor there who National experts as well as made an impact on his life? It’s LSU’s own fundraisers say the these kinds of questions gift ofkey to winning donors is through ficers must get to the bottom of, what’s known as a “donor-cenadds Durant, noting the crux of tric” approach, a buzzword in the officer-donor relationship is philanthropic circles that basitrust. cally means “ask not what your LSU implemented this method donor can do for you, but what when forming its current camyou can do for your donor.” paign. Marts & Lundy adminIt’s an approach—involving istered a survey last March, surveys and in-person consultaapproaching 12,165 donors and tions—that’s been embraced for receiving a 12% response rate of years by other institutions but is nearly 1,400. The survey asked a relatively new way of thinking potential donors how much for LSU. Rather than asking if a money they would be willing to donor can help fund construcspend on the different priorities tion of a new academic building, outlined in the Strategic Plan, as for example, ask them what kind well as which ones were most imof capital projects they’d like to portant to them. see break ground in the next few It was this survey and its reyears. sults, says Whittaker, that led to That’s a simplified example of the setting of the $ 1.3 billion goal

Issue Date: 3-12-19 Ad proof #2

A MATTER OF ENDOWMENT

LSU’s total endowment value lags far behind its SEC peers, some by billions of dollars. Institution

Endowment Market Value

Texas A&M University

$12.8 billion

Vanderbilt University

$4.6 billion

University of Florida

$1.7 billion

University of Kentucky

$1.5 billion

University of Georgia

$1.3 billion

University of Missouri-Columbia

$1.0 billion

University of South Carolina

$810 million

Auburn University-Main Campus

$807 million

University of Alabama

$989 million

University of Mississippi-Main Campus

$713 million

University of Tennessee

$710 million

Mississippi State University

$506 million

LSU*

$499 million

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Jake Netterville HALL OF FAME LAUREATE

$79 million

Source: Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Data reflects figures from Fiscal Year 2018. *—LSU’s endowment market value reflects combined figures from the flagship campus in Baton Rouge, the LSU AgCenter and the Tiger Athletic Foundation.

and the yet-to-be-released targets per institution. “What fundraisers are learning is that we can utilize those types of systems to listen to donors,” says Brian Gawor, vice president of research at Ruffalo Noel Levitz, a national higher education fundraising consulting firm. “That’s not what we were doing, even just a few years ago.” How they communicate their philanthropic mission is also important, Gawor says. It takes a compelling vision that resonates with donors, approaching a wide and diverse group of donors and then uniquely tailoring the message to different donor groups about how they can help execute that vision. And that messaging isn’t only for that in-home visit from a gift officer, it must also penetrate the digital lives of potential donors and be reinforced in all university communications throughout the campaign period. “We want to tell the story of what impact our family of campuses is making on Louisiana,” Whittaker says. “We can tell a much more powerful story together than we could independently.” Gawor says he’s also seen institutions mix in one-day challenges, such as annual giving days, to ramp up campaign

excitement. LSU has also taken on this practice, with plans to host its first-ever annual Giving Day event April 30. These micro-campaigns are part of the “new normal” for university fundraisers as campaign fundraising becomes a nonstop endeavor. Whittaker declines to say how much money has been raised thus far. But Durant, based on her 25 years of experience, says LSU wouldn’t have entered into a campaign of this size and scope unless they’d already secured “a significant number of gifts” and knew where some additional dollars were coming from. The magic number fundraisers typically try to hit before going public with a campaign is 40%, according to national research. If that figure holds for LSU, it means the campaign will go public later this month with roughly $520 million already secured or pledged. Having overhauled its annual giving program and last year exceeding its recent annual fundraising goals, Whittaker says LSU is prepared to go public with the campaign in late March. “What we’ve learned is that LSU has a lot of untapped potential,” Whittaker says. “But we have to do our part in showing them why investment matters.”

WE COULDN’T AGREE MORE! Amedisys is proud of our long-time friend and former board member Jake Netterville for being inducted into the Baton Rouge Business Report’s Hall of Fame. His lifetime of service to the business community has made Baton Rouge a better place. Jake, you are most deserving of this honor.

Congratulations!

- from your friends at Amedisys

Issue Date: 3-12-19 Ad proof #1

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

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NEWS

RESTAURANTS

Outdoor dining is on the rise in Baton Rouge, but is it profitable? SHORTLY AFTER restaurateurs Eric Carnegie and Chad Hughes made the decision to open a new casual restaurant and bar concept in the former Crispy Catch on Perkins Road, Carnegie had a sudden brainstorm. “I was looking at it, and made the comment that the roof was a blank canvas up there,” he recalls. “Chad said, ‘You’re thinking rooftop bar.’ We started looking at it closely and it just made sense.” Plans for a rooftop bar quickly became integrated in the design for turning the space into the duo’s new local restaurant, Bumsteers, specializing in housemade American fare. Carnegie says he and Hughes got lucky. There was no need to move existing electrical, plumbing or HVAC systems on the roof, so the cost of building out the new space was kept in check. The restaurant and rooftop bar is slated for a March opening. Patrons will reach the rooftop bar by a separate outdoor staircase. The space can accommodate 75 customers and will include a full bar fashioned from a shipping container, umbrella tables and seating, a pool table, kids’ area and bathrooms. Patrons’ food orders will be sent up to the second floor via a dumbwaiter from the restaurant kitchen below. Carnegie declines to reveal the rooftop addition’s cost, but suggests the added value will pay for itself. “We think it’ll be worth it. Nothing like this really exists in Baton Rouge,” he says. “We wanted to give it that Austin feel.” Outdoor restaurant dining in the form of patios, rooftop bars and sidewalk seating—or “parklets”—is on the rise around the country as restaurants experiment with new profit centers and ways to capture both millennials and families. Al fresco drinking and dining is a hallmark of trendy 54

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

DON KADAIR

The national trend of al fresco eating and drinking has made its way to the Capital City. BY MAGGIE HEYN RICHARDSON

BRAINSTORM: After deciding to open Bumsteers on Perkins Road, co-owner Eric Carnegie (left) got the idea to add a rooftop bar, an idea that made sense to partner Chad Hughes.

American cities and European café culture, and done right, an outdoor dining area can increase a restaurant’s curb appeal and ability to stand out in a crowded field. Baton Rouge has been behind other cities in adopting this, says Dyke Nelson, founder and lead designer of DNA Workshop. “It’s bizarre the amount of outdoor dining there is in New Orleans versus here,” says Nelson. “From a climate standpoint, it’s pretty much the same, and with the right conditioning, it’s not that bad.” Moreover, good outdoor spaces can go a long way in branding a venue. “You have the vantage point of the people experiencing the outdoor space,” says Nelson, who has installed rooftop patios in several of his firm’s designs and developments, including the new

roof terrace patio outside Red Stick Social in the Electric Depot on Government Street. “And you also have the vantage point of people on the outside looking at the space and seeing how appealing it is.” Red Stick Social’s roof terrace patio, situated on the east side of the building, will feature a bar, space for an outdoor kitchen installation and live music. It will open in March. DNA Workshop has also designed the rooftop space now underway on top of The Chimes, just off LSU’s Campus on Highland Road. The space will include both indoor and outdoor seating. According to hospitality market research firm, Vucurevich Simons Advisory Group, outdoor seating can increase restaurant revenue by an average of 30%. But,

cautions Nelson, there are a multitude of factors that each restaurant should weigh before taking the plunge, including climate control mechanisms like ceiling fans and portable heaters, proximity to the kitchen and noise buffers. And in the case of installing a rooftop bar, one factor trumps all, says Nelson. “You have to make sure the roof won’t leak,” he says. “It has to be completely water tight.” Patio spaces have become more common in Baton Rouge, with popular spots like Red Zeppelin and Zippy’s successfully sustaining outdoor seating options thanks to overhangs that mitigate both sun and rain. Beausoleil restaurant chef and managing partner Jeff Conaway says his Bocage Village eatery has benefited a lot from having an

“It’s bizarre the amount of outdoor dining there is in New Orleans versus here. From a climate standpoint, it’s pretty much the same, and with the right conditioning, it’s not that bad.” DYKE NELSON, founder and lead designer, DNA Workshop

COLLIN RICHIE

outdoor patio, and sees it as a way and it’s also being considered by to make the restaurant more famother downtown Baton Rouge ily friendly. restaurants. “It’s a good fit for brunch when “We have talked with sevpeople want to come and hang eral businesses that are interout,” says Conaway. “We’re conested in doing this type of thing,” sidering expanding it and adding says Haley Blakeman, executive more things for kids to do.” vice president of the Center for One of the most cost effecPlanning Excellence, which has fative ways of adding outdoor dincilitated the idea. ing is through sidewalk seating, CPEX has also led Park(ing) Days or parklets, a national trend adin both downtown and Mid City vanced by the American Society where parking spaces are taken of Landscape Architects and other over for one- to two-days and conplanning organizations. Parklets verted to a sidewalk café or small enable restaurants and cafés to park. Like pop-ups and other use the sidewalk or parking spaces restaurant events, future Park(ing) outside their establishment for Days could provide eateries with temporary or permanent outdoor Issue Date: 3-12-19 Ad proof #3 fleeting, but highly marketable, seating. Thebystrategy has outdoor • Please respond e-mail or fax withbeen your approval or minor revisions. dining opportunities • AD WILL IS unless approval or final revisions used byRUN theASMagpie Café at their without the expense of constructare received the closeStreet of business today. Third and byLaurel location, ing patios or rooftop additions. • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees. Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS This ad design © Louisiana Business, Inc. 2019. All rights reserved. Phone 225-928-1700 • Fax 225-926-1329

P&N congratulates Jake Netterville on his induction into the Business Awards Hall of Fame. We look forward leadership our industry and Jake has madecelebrating a lasting Jake’s impact on our of industry, our firm, community and the impact hasare hadproud on ourto people and our clients. and our community, andhewe celebrate his His vision andand experience helped create the foundation and values leadership accomplishments. upon which the firm has thrived over the past 70 years.

assurance – consulting – tax – technology –

pncpa .com

Postlethwaite & Netter ville, A Professional Accounting Corporation

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

LISTMAKERS

Law firms

UPCOMING LISTS:

Ranked by number of attorneys in the Capital Region PREV. RANK

11 10

15 16

17 17

17 27

NAME ADDRESS PHONE | WEBSITE

Kean Miller LLP 400 Convention St., Suite 700, P.O. Box 3513, Baton Rouge 70802 225-387-0999 | www.keanmiller.com Taylor Porter Brooks & Phillips 450 Laurel St., Suite 800, Baton Rouge 70801 225-387-3221 | www.taylorporter.com Breazeale Sachse & Wilson 301 Main St., 23rd Floor, Baton Rouge 70801-1919 225-387-4000 | www.bswllp.com Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys 5656 Hilton Ave., Baton Rouge 70808 225-888-8888 | www.getgordon.com Phelps Dunbar 400 Convention St., Suite 1100, Baton Rouge 70802 225-346-0285 | www.phelpsdunbar.com Jones Walker LLP 8555 United Plaza Blvd., Suite 500, Baton Rouge 70809 225-248-2000 | www.joneswalker.com McGlinchey Stafford 301 Main St., Suite 1400, Baton Rouge 70801 225-383-9000 | www.mcglinchey.com Roedel Parsons Koch Blache Balhoff & McCollister 8440 Jefferson Highway, Suite 301, Baton Rouge 70809 225-929-7033 | www.roedelparsons.com Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers 1075 Government St., Baton Rouge 70802 225-444-4444 | www.dudleydebosier.com Taylor Wellons Politz & Duhe 8550 United Plaza Blvd., Suite 101, Baton Rouge 70809 225-387-9888 | www.twpdlaw.com Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz 450 Laurel St., 21st Floor, Baton Rouge 70801-1828 225-381-7000 | www.bakerdonelson.com Keogh Cox & Wilson Ltd. 701 Main St., Baton Rouge 70802 225-383-3796 | www.keoghcox.com Hammonds Sills Adkins & Guice 2431 S. Acadian Thruway, Suite 600, Baton Rouge 70808 225-923-3462 | 800-960-5297 | www.hamsil.com Kantrow Spaht Weaver & Blitzer 445 North Blvd., Suite 300, P.O. Box 2997, Baton Rouge 70802 225-383-4703 | www.kswb.com Long Law Firm 1800 City Farm Drive, Bldg. 6, Baton Rouge 70806 225-922-5110 | www.longlaw.com Watson Blanche Wilson & Posner 505 North Blvd., P.O. Box 2995, Baton Rouge 70821-2995 225-387-5511 | 866-718-9968 | www.wbwplaw.com Donohue Patrick & Scott 450 Laurel St., Suite 1600, Baton Rouge 70801 225-214-1908 | www.dps-law.com Manasseh Gill Knipe & Belanger 8075 Jefferson Highway, Baton Rouge 70809 225-383-9703 | www.manassehandgill.com Bienvenu Bonnecaze Foco Viator & Holinga APLLC 4210 Bluebonnet Blvd., Baton Rouge 70809-9630 225-388-5600 | www.bblawla.com Boyer Hebert Abels & Angelle 1280 Del Este Ave., Denham Springs 70726-4898 225-664-4335 | www.bhaalaw.com Schutte Terhoeve Richardson Eversberg Cronin Judice & Boudreaux 501 Louisiana Ave., Baton Rouge 70802 225-387-6966 | www.501la.com Walters Papillion Thomas Cullens 12345 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge 70810 225-236-3636 | www.lawbr.net

LOCAL PARTNERS STAFF

TOP LOCAL EXECUTIVE

LOCAL ATTORNEYS

Linda Perez Clark Managing partner

62 120

Robert W. Barton Managing partner

Scott N. Hensgens Managing partner

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

YEAR FOUNDED LOCALLY MARKET AREA

MAJOR AREA(S) OF PRACTICE

1983 National

45 125

Litigation and dispute resolution, business, corporate, real estate, labor/employment, regulatory, intellectual property, tax, construction Commercial and complex litigation, business/ corporate transactions, employment, labor and benefits

46 75

Litigation, corporate/tax and health care law

1928 National

Gordon J. McKernan Owner

1 180

Automobile accidents, big truck wrecks, Workers' compensation

1985 Louisiana

P. Ragan Richard Baton Rouge managing partner

22 79

Brandon K. Black Partner and office head

29 91

1984 La., Miss., Texas, Fla., Ala. and N.C. Business litigation/IP, corporate and real estate, tax 1980 and estate planning, public finance and economic Southern U.S. and development Washington D.C.

Jean-Paul Perrault Baton Rouge managing member

26 70

Litigation, business and transactional, intellectual property, real estate and environmental

1993 National

David A. Woolridge Managing shareholder

25 40

Governmental relations, civil litigation, administrative regulatory

1988 Louisiana

3 111

Personal injury, Workers' compensation and Social 2009 Security Louisiana

12 33

Insurance coverage and defense, employment and 2001 Workers' compensation, professional liability National

Phyllis Cancienne Office managing shareholder

8 35

Business litigation, health care law, corporate, real 2005 estate, tax, IP, labor and employment and National education law

Chad A. Sullivan, Christopher K. Jones Partners

15 52

Civil, business and complex litigation

1969 Southern U.S.

Kenneth F. Sills Managing partner

6 30

Insurance defense, elementary and secondary school, governmental, construction

1989 Louisiana

Diane Crochet, Richard Zimmerman, W. Scott Keaty, Jennifer Hataway, Jacob Kantrow Shareholders

12 32

Corporate/transactional, real estate and litigation

1931 Louisiana

Jamie Hurst Watts, Adrian G. Nadeau Managing partners

8 31

Regulatory governmental and regulatory commercial litigation and banking.

1988 National

10 18

Medical malpractice and insurance defense, health 1945 care law, corporate and business litigation Louisiana

8 25

Construction, and commercial litigation; architect 2003 engineer and design professional liability; corporate Louisiana, Texas and construction and regulatory law Mississippi

James P. Manasseh Managing partner

4 25

Criminal, personal injury, family

David Bienvenu Member

7 24

Toxic tort litigation, environmental/product liability, 2011 commercial transactions and corporate law National

Mark Boyer, Bart Hebert, Brian Abels, Randy Angelle Partners

4 27

Personal injury insurance/workers' compensation defense education and municipal law

Charles A. Schutte Managing partner

8 35

Commercial litigation, insurance defense, business 1995 law Southern U.S.

Darrel J. Papillion Managing partner

4 18

Business litigation, personal injury and malpractice 2009 National

Chad Dudley, Steven DeBosier, James Peltier Partners Charles J. Duhe, B. Scott Cowart, D. Scott Rainwater Managing partners

William E. Scott, Randall Champagne, Michael M. Remson Partners James Donohue, Kirk Patrick, Keely Scott Partners

1912 National

Business and real estate litigation, labor and employment

DNR-did not respond NR-not ranked To be featured in the Business Report's Listmakers, law firms must have at least one location in the nine-parish Capital Region and respond to our requests for information. The Business Report presumes supplied information is accurate. Information about all 53 firms that responded will be available to subscribers on our website. To be considered for next year's list, please contact Alaine Keisling at research@businessreport.com. Published March 12, 2019. All rankings are determined solely through independent research. Highlighted entries are for those companies that pay a fee for an upgraded listing after their eligibility for the list has been determined.

3/26 Residential real estate firms 3/26 Commercial real estate firms

1996 Louisiana

2005 Louisiana

Researched by Alaine Keisling

“I count on Business Report for the latest information on topics aﬀecting our businesses - from networking activities to legislative issues that we constantly face.”

Dr. Robert Delarosa

FOUNDNG PARTNER, ASSOCIATES IN PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY

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INSIDER.

Breaking news. Events that matter. Unlimited archives. No one keeps you better connected to business than Business Report. We put it all at your fingertips — just a click away! Read by thousands of business and political leaders in Louisiana, Business Report gives you an exclusive inside track to all the business that’s worth talking about. Become a Business Report Insider today. Details at BusinessReport.com/Subscribe

VIEWPOINT

THE BIG PICTURE

A new way to redevelop north Baton Rouge?

STEPHANIE RIEGEL CAN YOU REDEVELOP north Baton Rouge one house at a time? Armed with an ambitious business model, a little cash, a background in construction and a lot of heart, local real estate investor Tommy Campbell is trying. Campbell’s plan involves buying blighted, abandoned houses cheap—like $10,000 cheap— then fixing them up and selling, not renting, them to first-time homebuyers. While it might not be the best way to get rich quick, it just might be the best way to help stabilize neighborhoods and make opportunities available to a segment of the working poor population that doesn’t realize homeownership is within its grasp. Campbell, 53, has worked in real estate for years and knows north Baton Rouge, where he already owns a 58-unit multifamily complex called the Fairwood Apartments. After the 2016 flood, he became interested in a couple of single-family homes on Eton Street, around the corner from his complex. The small structures had been in bad shape before the

flood. After taking on four feet of water each, they deteriorated into a blighted mess. But they were solid houses with good bones that had been developed in the 1950s for working-class families whose fortunes were tied to the nearby chemical plants. Campbell realized he could do a quality, but relatively inexpensive job restoring the properties and turning what would typically be offered up as rental units into stable, owner-occupied homes. Campbell paid just $8,500 for the first, 870-square-foot house, which has two bedrooms, one bath, a small back porch and spacious yard. He spent nearly $40,000 renovating it from top to bottom—installing new plumbing, wiring, sheet rock, flooring, plus cabinetry, countertops and brand-name appliances. He even threw in a portable, wireless burglar alarm. His asking price: $65,000. He bought the house next door for $10,000. At 970 square feet, it’s larger, with three bedrooms, one bath and a small garage. Campbell spent $50,000 fixing it up and is now listing it for $80,000. About a mile away, in a stable neighborhood of slightly larger working-class homes, Campbell has acquired a third house for $35,000. His plan for that one is slightly different. It didn’t require a total renovation, just a little TLC and some minor repairs, so he spent about $10,000 fixing it up and is now listing it, also, for $80,000. Unlike the others, it’s a quicker fix and the margins are potentially higher. But his target market is the same.

REFLECTIONS

STRESS BUSTER #3 This feature is a tribute by our publisher in honor of Business Report founder, Rolfe H. McCollister Sr.

So what now? Campbell is hoping to attract buyers from the lowand moderate-income segment of the population, the working poor. Technically, in federal HUD terms, that would be people who earn no more than 80% of the area’s average median income, or about $59,800. In a dual-income family, that would mean each wage earner would have to average about $15 an hour, or roughly double the current minimum wage. Most people in this segment of the population rent because they cannot afford to own or, more importantly, do not think they can afford to own. Campbell is hoping to show them that they can. He points to a neat brick house directly across from his two Eton Street properties. It’s about 1,000 square feet, roughly the same size as the larger of his two. It rents for $800 per month. Campbell has done the math and says with virtually nothing down, a family in that $59,800 income range could own one of his homes for as little as $350 or $400 per month, thanks to various federally-subsidized loan programs. The state also has several programs aimed at making home ownership more affordable—secondary mortgages, for instance, that are forgiven after five years if the primary home loan is consistently paid on a timely basis. These benefits can stack—they’re not mutually exclusive—and there are plenty of organizations willing to help potential buyers qualify. But key to making it all happen is to help those in this target market get their credit score up to 640, which may seem out of reach for

WHAT SHOULD WE do with our anxiety? God gives grace to the humble! Grace is the favor of God on our lives and it is also the power of God to walk in peace. Notice the insight of I Peter 5:6-8, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” As we humble ourselves under God, He exalts us when we are ready. Trying to promote ourselves is stressful. We

many, especially those who have not built up a good credit record and have no idea where to start. That’s where agencies like the Mid City Redevelopment Alliance come in. The organization is leading the way locally, helping people learn how to build a credit score by lowering their debt-to-income ratio. The group offers HUD-approved counseling services and courses for a nominal fee. It also provides down payment assistance and even matching funds to help with closing costs. Campbell has been meeting with the folks at MCRA, trying to bone up on the various programs available and create synergies where possible. He’s also trying to network and get the word out around town—both to potential homebuyers but also to investors and others who can help make his vision a reality. Would it be easier to buy these homes and flip them as rentals? Sure. But Campbell knows the real key to revitalizing these neighborhoods and enhancing the value of the properties in them is to put as many of the properties as possible in the hands of residents who own them. It won’t be easy and it won’t rehabilitate an entire underserved area overnight, but it’s a seed from which other positive change might flow. People have told Campbell he’s making a mistake. It’s a gamble he’s willing to take. He believes people should be able to own a home. There are easier ways to make money, sure. But Campbell is hoping to make a real difference.

are to cast our anxiety on God. Why? His shoulders are big enough to carry it; ours are not. Notice our enemy roars lies, but he is defeated; he is de-clawed and has no teeth. He will whisper, “God is not good. He will not provide for you. You have to take care of yourself. It’s up to you to make a way. You have to carry to load, etc.” The truth is, God the Father, and Jesus, and the Spirit will lift you up, carry your anxiety and give you wisdom against the lies of the enemy. Let’s keep casting, people! —COL Jeff Mitchell, State Chaplain, Louisiana Army National Guard

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

VIEWPOINT

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Big cities are a financial mess, too

JR BALL THE PROSPECT, bluntly stated in my last column, of allowing Louisiana’s insolvent small towns to simply fade away—rather than use a state taxpayer bailout to keep false hope alive—brought a swift reaction. Those, like myself, who’ve never called home to a place where the population doesn’t top six figures, were just fine pulling the plug on decaying four- and five-figure hamlets like Bogalusa and Sterlington, arguing it’s the fiscally expedient thing to do in an adaptor-die world. Then there were those who either A) still cling to life in one of these insolvent towns, B) have idyllic childhood memories of glory days past, C) believe government spending can cure whatever ails you, or D) “have an actual heart,” as one emailer suggested. Members of this quartet—after demonstrating an uncanny knack for employing the mother of all magic four-letter words—didn’t so much make the case for a rural renaissance, rather than transfer blame. A promised highway was never built. A canal didn’t get dredged. We built it (a baseball complex), but they didn’t come. Thanks, Obama. Yet somewhere in the belligerent, zero shades of grey world that is social media, our website’s comments section and, to a lesser degree, email, those less than enthusiastic with my position did pause the expletives long enough to raise a valid point: Is the fiscal health of Louisiana’s big cities any better? “Don’t be so smug,” wrote a dear friend who knows more than 60

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

a thing or two about big-boy finances. “Our small towns are not that different, in terms of fiscal neglect and its related consequences, then New Orleans … and Baton Rouge is not far behind.” Guess what? He’s right. The financial management happening—or not happening—in this state’s larger cities is every bit as abysmal, and, in some cases, worse. (I’m looking at you, New Orleans.) So why are smaller places like Clarence, Clayton, Jeanerette and St. Joseph in a death spiral—unable to pay the most basic of bills—while bigger places like New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette are not? Simply put, these semi-thriving metropolises, which aren’t shedding population and businesses at the same rate as their rural little brothers and sisters, still have enough tax-generating might to either overcome or shroud—depending on one’s perspective—deteriorating financial foundations. Forget New Orleans and its fiscal follies, raise your hand if you think Baton Rouge city-parish government is the picture of financial good health. Seriously, other than the parish library system, name a government agency that appears to have a clue about managing money. And I double-dog dare you to say the Mosquito Abatement and Rodent Control District. True, city-parish government is able to pay its bills, but that’s about it. Even with an ever-escalating budget that’s pushing $1 billion, we never have enough cash to do much of anything significant without a plea for new taxes. We can’t pay police more. We can’t maintain roads. We can’t fix bridges. We can’t synchronize traffic signals. We can’t expedite building permits. We can’t keep

the grass cut. We can’t clear drainage canals. We can’t, we can’t, we can’t. And when we ask why, the answer is always the same: An absence of money. Hurl blame for this sad reality wherever you like. Tax-and-spend liberals. Tax-hating conservatives. A job-failing tax assessor. Dedicated taxes. An incompetent Metro Council. The Council on Aging. CATS, BREC or any of our other acronym-loving agencies. The downtown crowd. The St. George crowd. The north Baton Rouge crowd. Whatever crowd is running our shadow government. A mayor hell-bent on wealth redistribution through the awarding of city-parish contracts. Politically-connected, whiteowned engineering and consulting firms who not only get all the work but do so at ever-escalating prices. Does that about cover it? Now, if we’re done, let’s get to the real problem: pension plans struggling under the weight of escalating costs and unfunded accrued liability. Not sexy, I know, but the very thing that’s threatening to bankrupt 60-plus rural towns across the state is also what’s crippling the next great American city. If you haven’t heard, Baton Rouge has one of the heaviest debt loads relative to its revenues of any municipality in the U.S., according to a September 2017 report from J.P. Morgan. Translation: Essentially 52 cents of every city-parish dollar are obligated to pay for unfunded pension liabilities, rising health care costs and an overload of bonded debt. So alarming is the crisis, concludes the report, that over the next 30 years Baton Rouge faces the prospect of hiking taxes by 24%, whacking non-pension spending by 20% or demanding city-parish employees increase

Seriously, other than the parish library system, name a government agency that appears to have a clue about managing money.

benefit contributions by … wait for it … 525%. Granted, those horrifying facts and figures are just over a year old, and some in Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s administration dispute several of the report’s findings, but even Marsha Hanlon—the city-parish finance director who can’t retire because, apparently, she’s the only person on the planet who can decode the mystery that is the Baton Rouge budget—acknowledges we have a problem. “This is nothing new,” she told Daily Report shortly after the report came out. “I’ve been preaching this for years. We need to make changes to the way we do things.” Good luck with that. The very politicians responsible for this pension liability mess are loath to deal with it because doing so means angering pretty much every employee on the city-parish payroll. These folks also happen to be voters and few things scream “election day defeat” like messing with someone’s entitlement. Even the mere suggestion of tinkering with retirement benefits tends to trigger a riot, with public-sector workers angrily declaring these lavish benefits are not only constitutionally guaranteed but are also a trade-off for working at below private-sector wages. Of course, now we’ve got the heads of public works and the planning office complaining the only way to keep a competent staff is by keeping pace with the very private-sector salaries people are supposedly giving up in exchange for the fabulous retirement benefits we can’t afford to pay. All the more vexing, the notion of grandfathering existing employees while adopting something resembling a private-sector 401(k) plan for new hires isn’t practical because the system needs every nickel from those actually working to cover the tab for those living the life in retirement. So, what happens if we continue fiddling while our city-parish burns cash? I don’t know, ask Bogalusa.

Issue Date: 3-12-19 Ad proof #1

VIEWPOINT

FEEDBACK

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

INBOX CITY TO CITY

To me, the only question that needs to be answered is: Will the City of St. George do a better job of governing and spending tax dollars than the existing government? (“JR Ball: Questions need answers on both sides of St. George debate,” Feb. 26). My answer is that it would be very difficult to do a worse job even if they tried.

YOUR LIBRARY:

THE MISSING PIECE

—saywhat?!

E AL LL SS A E R SM SIN DE L BU UI B

B T US ST OO INE E L S PR P-B TH S P S AN TA E Y AT LA R PA -S P N N D O TIN RA TE RO N ES P G TI P O VID ING T S , O O IMI MA N NL ES R Z F I N IN NA OR NE O G G N I PR A B NG O US FI T. I-

If St. George is actually approved, I think the existing East Baton Rouge city-parish form of government will become obsolete and will need to be replaced. Too much tax money is already being diverted to downtown Baton Rouge and a few well-connected people and nonprofit organizations—and that already makes other areas suffer.

•B • B us in r e A e •F na ak-E ss I • B ina lysi ve dea n tio us nci s n in al es Pr s P oj la ect ns io ns

—Jake Lingo

WHAT WORKS? Stop electing politicians and elect people who know how to run an organization/ business (“Rolfe McCollister: Why doesn’t Baton Rouge government work?,” Feb. 26). Mayor Sharon Weston Broome is not effective because she has never actually run anything. —FiscalConservative

Come check out all the resources and more available for free online now. Visit ebrpl.libguides.com/smallbusiness. Email smallbusiness@ebrpl.com or call (225) 231-3750 to set up your FREE consultation! Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

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YOUR BUSINESS

COMPANY NEWS

COMPANY NEWS Emel Alexander, president and CEO of Urban Restoration Enhancement Corporation, has announced his resignation after nine years. Alexander has accepted a new position in Nashville, Tennessee. UREC’s board of directors and executive team are working collaboratively for a seamless transition. Alexander will continue to work with UREC in a consulting role until May 17 to assist with the transition. UREC will announce future leadership accordingly. Amedisys Inc. has closed on its acquisition of Compassionate Care Hospice, a hospice provider headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey, with 2,300 employees and 53 locations nationwide. Under the terms of the agreement, Amedisys acquired 100% of the ownership interests in Compassionate Care Hospice for a fixed price of $340 million, which is inclusive of $50 million in payments related to a tax asset and working capital. With this deal, Amedisys now cares

for more than 11,000 hospice patients daily in 33 states, operating 137 hospice care centers and making it the third largest hospice provider in America. In total, the company now has 472 care centers in 38 states and the District of Columbia. Baton Rouge General has opened its fourth Express Care clinic, located steps from Tiger Stadium in LSU’s Nicholson Gateway development. Express Care is open daily and treats serious but non-life threatening illnesses and injuries, including sprains, minor cuts and burns, allergic reactions, sinus infections, earaches and fever. The clinic also features a lab, Hydration Therapy Lounge, X-ray machine and an EKG for more serious injuries. It is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a. m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Click Here Publishing has changed its name to Click Here Digital after 25 years in business. This name change aims to clarify the ongoing direction of the

digital marketing agency. Click Here Publishing started as a web design company in the early 1990s. A decade later, Click Here added marketing services to their repertoire and has evolved to become a full-service digital marketing agency. The company now specializes in audience targeted search engine marketing, social media advertising, search engine optimization, and video advertising, including YouTube, Connected TV and Programmatic Video.

that the member have a La Cap checking account, as is the case with the credit union’s other IRAs. Membership in the credit union is required in order to take advantage of the Bonus IRA. Lake Urgent Care recently celebrated the opening of a new facility at 29373 Walker South Road. The new facility will be open from

La Capitol Federal Credit Union has reintroduced the Bonus Individual Retirement Account. The Bonus IRA earns a 5% Annual Percentage Yield and does not require a minimum balance or a minimum initial deposit. La Cap also does not charge a maintenance fee for the Bonus IRA. There is no requirement

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8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, as well as holidays. The clinic is fully accredited by the Urgent Care Association. Attending a ribbon cutting were Mark Reddinger, COO; Fr. Johnson Kuriappilly, chaplain; Janelle Tessier, State Farm Insurance; Steve Sellars, CEO; Sr. Helen Cahill, O.S.F; Stephanie Manson, COO; Kevin DiBenedetto, medical director; Phil Rainer, VP corporate strategy and development; and John Blount, Blount General Contractors. Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group has broken ground on a new 11,500-square-foot westside clinic at 4353 La. 1 South in Port Allen, set to open this fall. The clinic will house primary care providers, while the original westside clinic at 402 N. Vaughn St. in Brusly will focus on pediatric and specialty care. The new clinic is expected to see more than 140 patients per day. Walmart has added a pickup tower at its store at 10200 Sullivan

Road, allowing customers to pick up online orders in less than a minute by scanning a bar code sent to their smartphones. This pickup tower marks the 25th built in Louisiana and the third in the Baton Rouge area. ACCREDITATION CERTIFICATION Postlethwaite & Netterville has earned the designation of Authorized CSF Assessor through HITRUST. With this achievement, P&N is now approved to provide services using the HITRUST CSF, the most widely adopted security framework in the U.S. healthcare industry. HITRUST CSF unifies recognized standards and regulatory requirements from HIPAA, NIST, ISO, PCI, GDPR and COBIT. Woman’s Center for Wellness, a Woman’s Hospital facility that offers exercise, therapy, nutrition and spa services, has reCoogan ceived facility certification from the Medical Fitness Association. In addition to receiving facility certification, the MFA

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has named Brooke Coogan, director of Woman’s Center for Wellness, as a Certified Fitness Facility Director. The certification recognizes facilities that feature the professional expertise and programming necessary to safely and effectively provide medical exercise, and promote health and wellness. Woman’s Center for Wellness is currently the only MFA-designated facility in Louisiana. AWARDS HONORS Attorney Carl Goode of the law firm of Goode Tax and Estate Planning Law Group has been named a 2019 Louisiana Super Lawyer in the field of taxation. Susan Jackson—senior vice-president, senior portfolio management director and financial advisor in Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management office in Baton Rouge—has been named to the firm’s President’s Club, an elite group composed of the firm’s top financial advisors. The appointment recognizes Jackson’s consistent creativity and

excellence in providing a wide range of investment products and wealth management services to her clients. Jackson has been with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management since 2000. TraceSecurity, a provider of cybersecurity and compliance solutions, has been named on the CIOReview 50 Most Promising Healthcare Solution Providers 2019 list. TraceSecurity’s services and software help medical practices reduce the risk of security threats and ensure full compliance without unreasonable costs, staffing, and time. A selection panel comprising CEOs, CIOs, VCs, and the CIOReview editorial board selected the list of the top health care solution providers. APPOINTMENTS MEMBERSHIPS GBR SHRM has announced its board of directors for 2019. Board members include: Peggy Melancon, Cris Weinnig, Theresa Jones, Helene Wall, Karen Breaux, Brandy Rush, Trent Davis, Jo Lynn Hall, Jasmine Pack, Lisa Bonfanti, Meagan

YOUR BUSINESS

COMPANY NEWS GBR SHRM

West, Heather Folks-Givens, Kenyetta Sewell, and (not pictured) Jerry “Jay” Stovall, Devin Bonner, Ashland Jones and Sandy Michelet. The Emerge Center and The Emerge Foundation have announced the election of 10 new members to its board of directors. The Emerge Center’s 2019 Board of Directors are: Melissa Gregg Blake, chair; Mike DePaul, vice chair; Janna Oetting, secretary; Stephen Cangelosi, treasurer; Robert Pettit, immediate past chair; Marvin Borgmeyer;

Vicki Crochet; Madison DeWitt; Terrence Ginn; Dr. Charlotte Hollman; Dr. Catherine Katzenmeyer; Sunny McDaniel; Jean-Paul Perrault, chair, The Emerge School for Autism; Paul Saltaformaggio; Katie Sternberg, chair, The Emerge Foundation; Audrey Wascome; and Sylvia Winder. The Emerge Foundation’s 2019 Board of Directors are: Katie Sternberg, chair; Colleen Waguespack, vice chair; Sherry Spies, secretary; Will Owens, treasurer; Steve Cangelosi, Treasurer, The Emerge Center; Ashley Gordon; Dr.

Johnnie Hunt; Nathan Irby; Jody Montelaro; Anthony O’Connor; Jean-Paul Perrault, chair, The Emerge School For Autism; Melissa Samuel; Arthur Scanlan; Valerie Schexnayder; Katy Sinor; Andy St. Romain; Drew Tessier; Kelli Bondy Troutman; Beau Wolfe; and Paige Dampf Wormser.

president of Louisiana Medical Management Corporation; Liz Mangham, managing partner of Southern Strategy Group; Charles Moniotte, founding member of KDS Windsor in Ashville, North Carolina; Henson Moore, former U.S. Congressman, former deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy and former deputy chief of staff to President George H. W. Bush; and Valerie Schexnayder, attorney and mediator serving on the Board of Governors of the Louisiana State Bar Association.

Tiger Athletic Foundation has announced the members of its 2018-2019 board of directors. Returning executive committee members from the Baton Rouge area include: Immediate Past Chairman Jake PHILANTHROPY GRANTS Shell recently announced a Netterville, Dwayne Honoré $100,000 contribution to River and David Roberts. Michael Parishes Community College to Olinde of Baton Rouge will join assist in the development and the above mentioned on the exconstruction of a one-of-a kind, ecutive committee. TAF also full-scale process equipment announced the election of 13 trainer for students in the River new members to the board of Region. Shell leaders made the directors. New members from announcement during a recent the Baton Rouge area include visit by Louisiana Community the following: Kurt Ainsworth, CEO and co-founder of Marucci Issue Date: 3-12-19 Ad proof #2and Technical College and RPCC leadership Sports; Pat Cuntz, • Please respond by e-mailvice or fax presiwith your approval or minor revisions. to Shell’s Convent • AD WILL RUN AS ISCommunications unless approval or final revisions Refinery in St. James Parish. dent of EMCO are received by the close ofHarvey, business today. /Bearcom; Charles vice • Additional revisions must be requested and may be subject to production fees. Carefully check this ad for: CORRECT ADDRESS • CORRECT PHONE NUMBER • ANY TYPOS This ad design © Louisiana Business, Inc. 2019. All rights reserved. Phone 225-928-1700 • Fax 225-926-1329

welcomes

KEVIN “KYLE” CELESTIN as an associate in the Baton Rouge office. Kyle’s practice concentrates in Civil Litigation Defense, Employment Law, and Insurance Defense. He is admitted to the Federal Courts in Louisiana and a member of the Baton Rouge Bar Association. Kyle received his J.D. degree in 2016 from Southern University Law Center. He worked for the Louisiana Department of Justice as an Assistant Attorney General before joining HSAG in January 2019. Acadian Centre

2431 South Acadian Thwy, Ste 600 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808 (225) 923-3462 • www.hamsil.com

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

M A N S H I P T H E AT R E

M A N SHI P T HEAT R E

Support your favorite star of the red carpet by donating!

2019

ERIC DEXTER

M E L A N I E CO U V I L LO N

AMY CANICK

M A N S H I P T H E AT R E B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S

M A N S H I P T H E AT R E EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

M A N S H I P T H E AT R E B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S

CIVIL SOLUTIONS C O N S U LT I N G G R O U P I N C .

REGIONS BANK

M I C H A E L H AC K E T T M A N S H I P T H E AT R E B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S

JOHN KAUFMAN

COURTNEY BAKER

M A N S H I P T H E AT R E DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND PROGRAMMING

M A N S H I P T H E AT R E B OA R D O F D I R E C TO R S LABI

MAY THE BEST STAR WIN! T O S U P P O R T O U R S TA R S , V I S I T W W W. M A N S H I P T H E AT R E . O R G THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS M A N S H I P T H E AT R E A N D G A L A C H A I R S CHARLES AND CRISSIE LANDRY PRESENT

PRODUCERS

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DIRECTORS JENNIFER & SEAN REILLY

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

YOUR BUSINESS

RACHEL LAYMOUN QRI

MOVING UP

BECKY ROLLINS Peoples Bank

BANKING AND FINANCE Rachel Laymoun has joined QRI as a financial analyst. Laymoun will lead in the company’s ERP conversion plan and support the administrative team in joint venture accounting and assist in monthly project account and earned value management. Laymoun previously worked for QRI as an intern in college but left to pursue a career with East Baton Rouge City-Parish as a budget analyst. In her nearly five years with the city-parish, Laymoun worked with various departments on their annual operating budgets. Three people were recently promoted by Peoples Bank: Becky

ALECISA MATTE Peoples Bank

PATRICIA JARREAU Peoples Bank

GLEN DUNCAN Professional Engineering Consultants Corporation

MISSY MIREMONT BEGUE CI Group

Rollins to vice president of loan administration; Alecisa Matte to vice president of human resources and marketing; and Patricia “Tricia” Jarreau to vice president of compliance.

Inc.; communications director of Pennington Biomedical Research Center; senior staff for the House of Representatives; and vice president of advancement for Louisiana’s Community Colleges.

ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION Glen Duncan has joined the Professional Engineering Consultants Corporation as client support director. His focus will be on client satisfaction, business development, marketing and public relations. He has a broad background in media, technology, government and health care, previously serving as president of his own advertising company, On Assignment

RETAIL Several key executive and design leaders were recently hired or promoted by CI Group. Missy Miremont Begue, a registered interior designer with 17 years of interior design, commercial furnishings and sales experience, joins CI Group as account executive. Sheri Wilkins, also a registered interior designer with more than 30 years of experience, celebrates one year with CI Group and has been promoted to senior

SHERI WILKINS CI Group

SYDNEY TAYLOR CI Group

interior designer. Sydney Taylor joins the team as designer with experience in interior design, product design and marketing.

HOW TO SUBMIT INFORMATION FOR MOVING UP Moving Up highlights promotions and new hires at the executive level. For more information, or to submit items for Moving Up, contact Managing Editor Steve Sanoski at editors@businessreport.com.

2019

BEST

S R O T C DO IS SUE C

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TO ADVERTISE, contact Erin Pou at 225.421.8147 or erinp@225batonrouge.com Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

Is your company one of the best places to work in the Capital Region? NOMINATION DEADLINE: MAY 3RD The Business Report and Society for Human Resource Management are pleased to present the annual Best Places to Work Awards This event is designed to honor the Capital Regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best employers. Local employers are given the opportunity to participate in a professional program conducted by Best Companies Group on subjects such as Leadership and Planning, Corporate Culture and Communications, Training and Development, Work Environment and much more. A detailed survey is provided to participating businesses, and leading companies are recognized in Business Report and honored at an awards event. To register your company for participation and award consideration, please visit:

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BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

YOUR BUSINESS

FLASHBACK

THE YEAR: 1999 Twenty years ago, there was great hope—and doubt—that an out-of-state investor could breathe new life into the dying Bon Marché Mall on Florida Boulevard. As Business Report detailed in a cover story titled, “From The Ground Up,” the investor was 48-year-old Norie Harrower of California, who had bought Bon Marché for about $6 million and had previously had success redeveloping a similar mall in Tennessee into a mixed-used development. Harrower agreed with locals who assumed Bon Marché’s days as a traditional shopping mall were numbered, and believed a mix of retail, office space and entertainment could revive the aging property. “This site will not look like it does now,” promised Harrower, whose initial plans called for an exterior renovation to rid the property of what he called a “Darth Vader” look. “You will not recognize it.” At a community meeting that drew about 100 people to discuss the property’s future potential, ideas for a fishing pond, grocery store, bowling alley, night club, climbing wall and adult-care center were all bandied about. “We get a chance to make a difference,” Harrower said. “The challenge is great, but the reward is even greater.”

“THIS IS NOT the first time Harrower has come across a dying mall and seen bright lights. Roughly 18 months ago, Harrower began to reclaim a Chattanooga, Tennessee, mall that also was teetering on weak legs. That mall, now called Eastgate Town Center, has tuned into a thriving mixed-use project that includes offices, retail and entertainment, including an ice skating rink. Reporters are cynical. Editors, sometimes, more so. Yet a business editor in Chattanooga said he was ‘stunned’ by the rebirth of Eastgate. And the council member for the area, Marti Rutherford, said that a Tennessee developer of 30 years expressed the same sentiment to her. Eastgate and Bon Marché could be twins. Once a thriving mall, Eastgate lost tenants—one by one—when Hamilton Place opened as a mall down the road in 1987, just as Cortana Mall tripped up Bon Marché when it opened at Florida Boulevard and Airline Highway.” —From the March 16, 1999, issue of Business Report

+ ALSO FROM THAT ISSUE ... IF IT DON’T MAKE DOLLARS: Forbes magazine has ranked acclaimed rapper and Baton Rouge resident Master P No. 26 on its top 100 celebrity power list. The magazine estimates Master P, whose birth name is Percy Robert Miller, earned $56 million last year. W I KI

M M O N S/ M I K A

SHE’LL HAVE THE FISH: Marsanne Golsby, spokeswoman for Gov. Mike Foster, recently garnered national media attention for her handling of Greenpeace environmental activists. When the activists marched on the Governor’s Mansion and brought a dish cooked from supposedly polluted Louisiana waters, Golsby promptly produced a plastic fork and took a bite. TE MO

Daily-Report.com | BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019

PASSION

THE V-TONES

Kyle Talbert

BRAND AMBASSADOR, MERCEDES-BENZ OF BATON ROUGE

“The V-Tones were actually formed by chance during a party I had at my house 16 years ago. I had been in a band before, and had experience booking and managing a band. We decided to give it a try, got our first gig about a month after we started practicing together and we’ve been doing it ever since. We don’t do it for money. We do it because we just love the feeling of playing the music together.” PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLLIN RICHIE

BUSINESS REPORT, March 12, 2019 | BusinessReport.com

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