BATON ROUGE, LA (February 25, 2021) – Today at its membership meeting in Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) formally announced its officers and Board of Directors for 2021, along with the members of the 2021 LABI Emerging Leaders Council, a group of distinguished entrepreneurs and young professionals.
“With so many challenges confronting Louisiana's job creators and working families this year, I look forward to working with this outstanding group of business leaders to bring bold and innovative solutions to the State Capitol,” said LABI President & CEO Stephen Waguespack. “If you look on our board, you'll see 100 members who represent every region of the state and every sector of businesses and industry. I know that their voices will help move Louisiana forward and advance the cause of free enterprise.”
Terry Baugh, Chief Financial Officer of D&J Construction Company, LLC will serve as the chair of LABI for 2021. He replaces Tom O'Neal of O'Nealgas, Inc. who becomes the immediate past chair. Christel C. Slaughter, CEO, SSA Consultants will serve as the board’s vice chair. Jude Melville, President, b1BANK and Jason DeCuir, Partner, Advantous Consulting, LLC will serve as Secretary and Treasurer respectively, rounding out the slate of 2021 LABI Officers.
Returning as chair of the Emerging Leaders Council is Meagan Shields.
10 LABI members are new to the Board of Directors. That list is as follows:
Blake Chatelain
President & CEO, Red River Bank (Alexandria)
Lauren Gibbs
Gibbs Construction, LLC (Harahan)
Matthew Mann
Partner, Porteous, Hainkel & Johnson (Baton Rouge)
Quentin Messer – Trade Association Representative
President & CEO, New Orleans Business Alliance (New Orleans)
Frank Neuner
Managing Partner, NeunerPate (Lafayette)
Ajay Patel
Owner, Abnar, Inc. dba McDonalds (Jennings)
Edgardo Tenreiro
President & CEO, Baton Rouge General (Baton Rouge)
Amy Thibodeaux – Chamber of Commerce Representative
President & CEO, Acadia Parish Chamber (Crowley)
Dr. Steve Udvarhelyi
President & CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana (Baton Rouge)
Michael Uffman
CFO, Marucci Sports, LLC (Baton Rouge)
27 leaders were re-nominated for another term. That list is as follows:
Scott Ballard
Founder, Ballard Brands (Covington)
Emile Cordaro
Government Affairs, American Electric Power (Shreveport)
Kim Cusimano
Manager, Government & Public Affairs North American Operations, Sasol Chemicals (USA) LLC (Westlake)
Jason DeCuir
Partner, Advantous Consulting, LLC (Baton Rouge)
John Doggett
Chief Administrative Officer, Crest Operations, LLC (Alexandria)
John Donahue
President & CEO, DonahueFavret Contractors, Inc. (Mandeville)
Michael Eason, Sr.
Vice President, Michael Eason – Merrill Lynch (Lake Charles)
Meryl Kennedy Farr
President, Kennedy Rice Mill, LLC (Mer Rouge)
Art Favre
President, Performance Contractors (Baton Rouge)
William Fenstermaker
Chairman/CEO, Fenstermaker (Lafayette)
Wayne J. Fontana
Attorney, Roedel, Parsons, Blache, Fontana, Balhoff & McCollister (New Orleans)
William Fontenot
President & CEO, Cleco Corporate Holdings LLC (Pineville)
David Gaines
CEO System Retail Svcs & VP of Public Affairs, Ochsner Health (New Orleans)
Lane Grigsby
Chairman Emeritus, Cajun Industries, LLC (Baton Rouge)
Richard Guillory
Vice President of Operations – South Central Group, Cintas Corporation (Lafayette)
Bryan Hanks
President, Beta Land Services, LLC (Lafayette)
Patrick Mockler
President, Mockler Beverage Company (Baton Rouge)
Jessica Monroe
Director of State Government Affairs, Johnson & Johnson HCS (Baton Rouge)
Tom O'Neal
President, O'Nealgas, Inc. (Choudrant)
John Overton
Owner & CFO, TurnKey Solutions (Baton Rouge)
Scott Poole
Chief Operating Officer, MARTCO LLC (Alexandria)
E. Fredrick Preis, Jr.
Senior Partner, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, LLP (New Orleans)
Wynn Radford
State & Federal Affairs, Communications & External Affairs, BP America, Inc. (Washington, D.C.)
Jennifer Ries
President, Atmos Energy (Baton Rouge)
Tim Stine
Chief Financial Officer, Stine Lumber Company (Sulphur)
Stephen Toups
President, Turner Industries Group, LLC (Baton Rouge)
Joseph Zanco
President & CEO, St. Landry Homestead Federal Savings Bank (Opelousas)
Other current members of the LABI Board of Directors include:
Robert Angelico
President and Managing Partner, Liskow & Lewis (New Orleans)
Joe Arroyo
President, Fire Extinguisher & Supply Company, Inc. (New Orleans)
James A. Babst
Attorney, Wegmann & Babst, LLC (New Orleans)
Bobby Barousse
Chief Financial Officer, Elmer Candy Corporation (Ponchatoula)
Bob Barton
Managing Partner, Taylor Porter (Baton Rouge)
Terry Baugh
Chief Financial Officer, D & J Construction Company, LLC (West Monroe)
Andree Begneaud
Owner, Begneaud Manufacturing, Inc. (Lafayette)
Jill Benoit
Regional Manager Government Affairs, LafargeHolcim U.S. (Metairie)
Robert S. Boh
President, Boh Brothers Construction Company, LLC (New Orleans)
Ayres Bradford
Business Development Director, Lincoln Builders, Inc. (Ruston)
J. H. Campbell, Jr.
Manager, Client Consulting Services, LLC (Baton Rouge)
Kim Carver
Vice President of Government Relations, Gulf Coast Bank & Trust (New Orleans)
Tom Cox
President, Golfballs.com, Inc. (Lafayette)
Nicole Daigle
State Government Affairs, BASF Corporation (Geismar)
Eric Danos
Owner Executive, Danos, LLC (Gray)
Lavelle Edmondson
Manager, State Government Affairs, Marathon Petroleum Company, LP (Texas City, Texas)
Ronald Evans
Owner, International Packaging Company, LLC (Gretna)
Tommy Faucheux
Southeast U.S. State Government Affairs Leader, Dow Inc. (Plaquemine)
Cassie Felder
Managing Attorney, Swamp Dragon, LLC (Baton Rouge)
Courtney A. Fenet, Jr.
VP & Special Assistant to CEO and President, R. E. Heidt Construction Company, LLC (Sulphur)
John J. Finan, Jr.
President/CEO. Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, Inc (Baton Rouge)
Felicia Frederick
State Government Affairs Manager, Chevron U.S.A., Inc. (New Orleans)
Ryan Girouard
Senior Vice President – Middle Market Banking, Hancock Whitney (Baton Rouge)
George H. Guidry, Jr.
Regional Manager, State Government Affairs, Koch Companies Public Sector, LLC (Baton Rouge)
Jay Guillot
Senior Vice President, Hunt, Guillot & Associates LLC (Ruston)
Mike Hall
Controller, Nucor Steel Louisiana LLC (Convent)
Chris Haskew
Louisiana Market President, Capital One Bank Louisiana (Baton Rouge)
David Huval
Professional Civil Engineer, CEC, Inc. (Lafayette)
Bryan Jones
Gulf Coast Deputy Office Leader, HNTB Corporation (Baton Rouge)
Steve M. Jordan
CEO, Central Crude, Inc. (Lake Charles)
Christopher M. Kinsey
CEO, Kinsey Interests, Inc. (Shreveport)
Raymond Lasseigne
President, TMR Exploration, Inc. (Bossier City)
Jamey LeBlanc
Senior Director – Strategic Support, Community Coffee Company, LLC (Baton Rouge)
Melissa Mann
Senior Director of Government Affairs, Central Region, Lumen (Monroe)
Jude Melville
President, b1BANK (Baton Rouge)
Danny Montelaro
South Louisiana Area President, Regions Bank (Baton Rouge)
Jody Montelaro
VP – LA Governmental Affairs & Regulatory Affairs, Entergy Corporation (Baton Rouge)
Spencer Murphy
General Counsel, Canal Barge Company, Inc. (New Orleans)
Jennifer Neil
General Counsel, Pool Corporation (Covington)
Michael Nicaud
VP & Associate General Counsel, Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc. (Covington)
Reldon Owens
Director of External Relations, Diamond B Construction LLC and Affiliated Companies (Alexandria)
Frederick B. Palmer
State Government Relations Manager – Southeast U.S., Shell Oil Company (New Orleans)
Sonia Pérez
President Southeast States, AT&T Louisiana (Baton Rouge)
Todd Perry
Principal/Senior Geologist, PPM Consultants (Monroe)
Arthur Price
President, Badger Oil Corporation (Lafayette)
Kenneth L. Ross
Managing Partner, Seale & Ross (Hammond)
Phillip Rozeman
President, Willis-Knighton Cardiology (Shreveport)
Meagan Shields – Emerging Leaders Council Chair (ex oficio)
(Baton Rouge)
Nathalie Simon
Special Counsel to CEO, Laitram, LLC (Harahan)
Christel C. Slaughter
CEO, SSA Consultants, Inc. (Baton Rouge)
Dana Stumpf
Chief Executive Officer, Durr Heavy Construction, LLC (Harahan)
Kelli Bondy Troutman
VP, Director of Communications & Community Relations, LUBA Workers’ Comp (Baton Rouge)
Shawn Usher
Founder, Sparkhound, Inc. (Baton Rouge)
Rusty Vincent
Secretary Treasurer, Century Group, Inc. (Sulphur)
Stephen Waguespack – ex officio
President & CEO, LABI
Kristin Wall
President/CEO, Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation (Baton Rouge)
Robert Webb, Jr.
President, Louisiana CAT (Reserve)
Peter Wilson
President & CEO, Barriere Construction Company, LLC (Metairie)
William Windham
CEO, Windham, LLC (Bossier City)
Robert Yarborough
Chief Executive Officer, Manda Fine Meats (Baton Rouge)
Angela Zeringue
Polyolefins Plant Manager, ExxonMobil Chemical Company (Baton Rouge)
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The 19 new members of the 2021 LABI Emerging Leaders Council include:
Ian Byram
Geologist, Heritage Energy Company (Shreveport)
Kyle Cook
Partner, Hannis T. Bourgeois, LLP (Baton Rouge)
Ryan Cross
Senior Director, Governmental Affairs, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (Baton Rouge)
Patrick Derbes
Account Executive, CMA Technology Solutions (Baton Rouge)
Peyton Farr
Producer, Thomas & Farr Agency (Monroe)
Whitney LaNasa
Managing Director, Stonehenge Capital (Baton Rouge)
Mallory LeBlanc
Safety Section Supervisor, ExxonMobil (Baton Rouge)
Phillip LeBlanc
Business Development, Durr Heavy Construction (Harahan)
Laura Lyles
President, Natchitoches Area Chamber (Natchitoches)
Wes Martin
EVP and Chief Lending Officer, Bank of Oak Ridge (Monroe)
Coulter McMahen
Attorney, Taylor Porter (Baton Rouge)
Cody Saucier
Consultant, SSA Consultants (Baton Rouge)
Michael Victorian
Associate, Labor/Employment and Litigation, Phelps Dunbar, LLP (Baton Rouge)
Rawley Webber
Engineering Market Leader, Fenstermaker (Baton Rouge)
Marcus Williams
Program Director, Architect, CSRS, Inc. (Baton Rouge)
Matthew Wilson
Director, Marketing, Communications, Government Affairs, Barriere Construction Company (Metairie)
TJ Woodard
Pharmacist/Owner, Prescriptions to Geaux (Baton Rouge)
Jiten Zaveri
President, Prosperity Hospitality Management (Lake Charles)
Josh Zumo
Senior Project Manager, Cajun Industries, LLC (Baton Rouge)
Other current members of the LABI Emerging Leaders Council include:
Matt Adams
Regional Director, External Affairs, AT&T Louisiana (Baton Rouge)
Albert Alexander
Senior Associate, Bluehenge Capital Partners (Baton Rouge)
Cody Bauman
Project Engineer, Drax Biomass (West Monroe)
Anita Begnaud
CEO, Downtown Development Authority (Lafayette)
Hunter Chauvin
Partner, Liskow & Lewis (Lafayette)
Carroll Devillier, Jr.
Partner, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, LLP (Baton Rouge)
Arthur Dupre
President, ACE Scholarships Louisiana (Metairie)
Eric Engemann
President, Cristo Rey Franciscan High School (Baton Rouge)
Marshall Ferrell
President, Construction Safety Products (Shreveport)
Lance Glaser
Strategic Procurement Manager, Performance Contractors, Inc. (Baton Rouge)
Chelsea Harris
Economic Development Marketing Strategist, Entergy Corporation (Baton Rouge)
Canaan Heard
CEO, Protac LLC and Protac Foundation (New Orleans)
Ron Hemelt
Investment Banker, Evangeline Securities (New Orleans)
Trent Hill
Digital Marketing Strategist, Gatorworks (Baton Rouge)
Jessica Judice
General Manager, Cintas Corporation (Lake Charles)
Justin Landry
Real Estate Development, Stirling Properties (Covington)
Julie Laperouse
Director, Emergent Method (Baton Rouge)
Mike Nizzo
Market President for East Baton Rouge, b1BANK (Baton Rouge)
Nial Patel
Vice President, Cornerstone Government Affairs (Baton Rouge)
Amy Canik Province
Commercial Banking Relationship Manager, Regions Bank (Baton Rouge)
Trenton Rives
Project Manager, Hunt, Guillot & Associates LLC (Baton Rouge)
Micah Schilling
Business Development, Pactec, Inc. (Clinton)
Meagan Shields
(Baton Rouge)
Jeremy Stine
Marketing Director, Stine Lumber Company (Sulphur)
Bo Thornhill
Director of Loss Control, Stupp Corporation (Baton Rouge)
Allyce Trapp
Director of Governmental Affairs, Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge)
Trey Williams
Managing Partner – Owner, JRE Private Equity Group (Baton Rouge)
Robert Williamson
SVP Market President, JD Bank (Lake Charles)