old town turmoil taming the teen · carnival season now that i can fully enjoy all of the parades,...

February/March 2012

Taming the TeenDriverExperts sharehow to bring down familyinsurance costs

The Brister AgendaEconomic developmentamong president’s prioritiesPAGE 34

Old Town TurmoilMandeville projecthas many skeptics

Site SpecificsBalancing smart growth with economicdevelopment

Y o u r B u s i n e s s& L i f e s t y l eM a g a z i n e

PAGE 45

Wholesome and healthy dishes

northshore covers_Layout 1 1/16/12 3:43 PM Page 991

K -Bar-B Youth Home wanted a bankthat would see the same possibilities

in a non-profit business thatwe see in the abused and /or neglected

children who come to us.We needed a bank that would

treat us as a businessand the Northshore Business First

banking team got it —

they

She Means Business

Business First

It’s the same way we bridge the gapto a happier life for hundreds

of foster children.

K -Bar-B Youth HomeJennifer Dexter, Executive Director

Bridged the GapBridged the Gap

T H E B A N K T H A T P U T S Y O U R B U S I N E S S F I R S T

Baton Rouge Bayou Region Lafayette Northshore Northwest Louisiana Southwest Louisiana1-985-624-4501 www.b1bank.com Member


northshore feb/mar12 1-21 _Layout 1 1/16/12 4:13 PM Page 1

2 February/March 2012

FEATURES

Q&A with Pat BristerSt. Tammany’s new parish president plans to take economic development to the next level with an in-house staff for retention and attraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Site SpecificsSt. Tammany seeks a balance between attracting new industry to the parish and adhering to smart growth principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Course CorrectionDriving schools on the North Shore hope new state regulations will help steer more business their way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Old Town TurmoilExisting business owners in Mandeville’s historic district are skeptical of plans to bring more commerce to the neighborhood . . . . . . . . . . . 45

NORTH SHORE BUSINESS

EducationThe economy presents a challenge to private schools that report shrinking enrollment after post-Katrina surges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

BankingLow interest rates, high insurance costs and weak demand for loans lead St. Tammany banks to rein in efforts to attract deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

InsuranceIndustry experts offer their advice for taming teen drivers and lowering auto policy rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Who’s Who Lists: Accounting Firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Insurance Providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

NORTH SHORE LIVING

Window ShoppingFocusing on a better you . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Off the MenuWholesome dishes don’t have to be complicated . . . .28

Favorite SpacesAn enclosed pool provides a year-round retreat for entertainment, exercise . . . . . . 32

IN EVERY ISSUE

From the Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Go.See.Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Shorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

F e b r u a r y / M a r c h 2 0 1 2

What’sInside

27

52

32

NORTH SHORE FACES

Around the ParishPeople moving up, events, ribbon cuttings and more who’s who . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Last WordHoward Daigle Jr., attorney . . . . . . . . . 52

One the cover: Joe Shorter, head of school for Northlake Christian School.Photo by Frank Aymami

12


February/March 2012 3

THE BANK OF PERSONAL SERVICE WWW.METAIRIEBANK.COM MEMBER FDIC

At Metairie Bank,

While oother bbanks mmay bbe ddebating wwho’s tthe bbiggest llocal bbank, wwe tthink tthere’s

no ddebate aabout wwho’s tthe bbest llocal bbank…. MMetairie BBank. SSince 11947, oour pprimary

focus hhas bbeen oon ggrowing oour mmost iimportant aasset… oour ppersonal rrelationship

with eeach ccustomer. SSo iif yyou’re llooking ffor aa sstrong, sstable llocal bbank, ggive tthe

bank oof ppersonal sservice aa ccall… MMetairie BBank. WE GGOTTA GGOOD FFEELIN’ YYOU’RE

GONNA FFEEL GGOOD AABOUT BBANKING WWITH UUS!

701 Metairie Rd. 504.832.5625 • 3922 Veterans Blvd. 504.832.5623 • 7124 Veterans Blvd. 504.832.5638 • 3344 Metairie Rd. 504.832.5699 7807 Airline Dr. 504.832.5698 • 3639 Jefferson Hwy. 504.832.5627 • 4500 Hwy. 22 985.674.2255 • COMING SOON Covington 985.898.0950



St. Tammany’s Community Credit UnionOver 4100 + Locations to Serve You & Over 1000 ATMs*

www.firstcastlefcu.org* See Branch For Complete Details

Castle Kid’s ClubSavings Account Tuition Loans

Rewards fora Lifetime

Great Auto Rates

Did your bank stop offering rewards?Are you charged for your debit card?

Come experience theCredit Union difference…

the First Castle FCU difference.

Not for profit, for service!

February/March 2012

Publisher: Lisa BlossmanCityBusiness Publisher and President: D. Mark Singletary

CityBusiness Editor: Greg LaRose

EDITORIAL

Art Director: Lisa FinnanAssociate Editor: Christian Moises

Staff Writers: Richard A. Webster Ben MyersJennifer LarinoDavid Muller

New Media Specialist: Maria ClarkMarket Researcher: Jennifer Nall

Contributing Writers: Christine FontanaJaime GuilletSuzy Kessenich

Art Assistant: Alex BorgesPhotographer: Frank Aymami

Contributing Photographer: Tom Macom

ADVERTISING

Advertising Executives: Cassie Foreman, Jaclyn Meith

PRODUCTION

Production Manager: Julie BernardPre-press Manager: Shelley Costa

Art and Production Coordinator: Samantha Verges

ADMINISTRATION

Director of Operations: Gina BrignacOffice Coordinator: Marilyn Miller

CIRCULATION

STAFF QUESTION

What’s your favorite Mardi Gras tradition?

Marilyn MillerPack up some food and an ice chest, grab a king cake on the way and head to the parade with family.

ChristianMoisesParticipating in thelost art of costum-ing on St. CharlesAvenue on MardiGras morning.

CassieForemanBarkus. Nothing isbetter than costume-wearing, parade-marching dogs. Nowthat’s Mardi Gras!

The entire contents of this magazine are copyrighted by NOPG, LLC, 2012, with all rights reserved. Reproduction or use, without permission, of editorial or graphic content in any manner is prohibited.

North Shore Report (USPS #28) is published six times a year by NOPG LLC, 111 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 1440, Metairie, LA 70005

(504) 834-9292

It is the policy of this publication to employ people on the basis of their qualificationsand with assurance of equal opportunity and treatment regardless of

race, color, creed, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or handicap.

CityBusiness® is a registered trademark of CityBusiness/Twin Cities Inc.

New Orleans Publishing Group LLC, is an affiliate of The Dolan Company: James P. Dolan, president, chief executive officer and chairman; Scott J. Pollei, executive vice president and

chief operating officer; Mark Stodder, executive vice president newspapers; Vicki Duncomb, vice president and chief financial officer

Send address changes to Subscription Services, 10 Milk Street, Suite 1000, Boston, MA 02108

Customer service: (800) 451-9998.



r Haerohsthro NehT

innrai tences,fernco

andsrlean O Newmfro

f flotfee

ter.neCrobr rienxpe eemoC

ofepyf all tosentev, andgin

thshr Nothet,aslf CoGueh t and

highs,anr ploole flibexf fl speed d

oateicvleled seraralp uncerien

entrallCe.lp peo00,02o t02ro

resueatferr CentoarbHreothsh

andtricityelects,rata pospeed d

atetr su o -of-the- ofercentart

ruof ha hal just dateco lyentrall

are squ000,54thanreo mres

re.o mchu m and

ro

are

f flotfee

xte nryouooko bT

highs,anr ploole flibexf fl -speed d

,notiacLotaerG

s at 985 uallt, cnve e -781

andtricityelects,rata pospeed d

eulaVtaerG,fff,taStaerG

781- thsh.Norwwt w visi0 or365

re.o mchu m and

oc.rteneHarborCeorthsh

mo

NORTH OAKS HEALTH SYSTEMNature of business: health careWhere based: HammondEmployees: 2,297Average starting salary: $56,285Median salary: $48,152Average time of employment: seven yearsHealth care benefits: 72 percent covered; dental, divi-sion and prescription plansWait time for benefits: noneOther perks: continuing education program, day-care options, relocation assistance, telecommuting,paid mileage, flexible hours, job sharing, employeerecognition program, fitness program, on-site gym,subsidized mealsPaid days off: 48 daysWebsite: www.northoaks.org

PMOLINKNature of business: consultingWhere based: MandevilleEmployees: 18Average starting salary: $93,411Median salary: $105,525Average time of employment: nearly four and ahalf yearsHealth care benefits: 100 percent covered; dental,vision and prescription plansWait time for benefits: noneOther perks: continuing education program, relocationassistance, telecommuting, paid mileage, flexible hours,job sharing, employee recognition program, employeeassistance program, fitness program, subsidized mealsPaid days off: 36 daysWebsite: www.pmolink.com

ST. TAMMANY PARISH HOSPITALNature of business: health careWhere based: CovingtonEmployees: 1,299Average starting salary: $57,158Median salary: $60,174Average time of employment: seven yearsHealth care benefits: 100 percent covered; dental,vision and prescription plansWait time for benefits: first of the month after hireOther perks: continuing education program, reloca-tion assistance, telecommuting, paid mileage, flexi-ble hours, employee recognition program, employeeassistance program, fitness program, on-site gym,subsidized mealsPaid days off: 45 daysWebsite: stph.org

from the publisherL i s a B l o s s m a n

North Shore companies among ‘Best Places to Work’

Lisa Blossman, publisher of North Shore Report and associate publisher/senior vice president of CityBusiness, can be reached at (504) 293-9226 or at [email protected].

CityBusiness recognized the 50 Best Places to Work in December at an awards ceremony. Congratulations to three North Shore based companies— North Oaks Health System, PMOLink and St. Tammany Parish Hospital for making the list.

Visit neworleanscitybusiness.com to view a copy of the event program by clicking on the “Best Places to Work” under events on the toolbar.



Get more done with reliable business Internet that offers speeds up to 100 Mbps—

over 6 times faster than the phone company’s fastest DSL offering†. Plus, stay

well-connected with business Phone that includes Unlimited Long Distance†† and

essential calling features. And be more informed with business TV that provides a

range of crystal-clear channels and digital music.

Power your success with reliable business solutions.

Save up to 40% * andget free installation**

when you bundle Charter Business® Internet, Phone and TV.

877.753.6799Charter-Business.com/4030-Day Customer Satisfaction Guarantee‡.

©2012 Charter Communications. Offer available to new customers only. *40% savings includes 30Mbps Internet, one Phone line with unlimited long distance and Solution or Solution Plus Features Package, and Private View TV with a 12-month agreement. **Free installation applies to standard installation (a $148 value). Charges may apply for complex installation and additional outlets. Offer subject to change, expires 3/30/2012 and cannot be combined with other promotions. †Compared to comparable standard DSL speeds offered on att.com and Verizon.com as of 12/12/2011. ††Local phone service required to receive Unlimited Long Distance (ULD) and applies only to calls within the US, Puerto Rico and Canada. Usage monitored for improper use and abuse, and Charter may move customer to another long-distance plan or may restrict or cancel customer’s service. All services provided are subject to the terms of the subscriber’s agreement/applicable tariff. Restrictions apply. Call for details. ‡View Charter-Business.com/guarantee for details about the 30-day customer satisfaction guarantee.



It’s with great relish that I look forward to theCarnival season now that I can fully enjoy all ofthe parades, parties and edible accouterments.

But I still have sympathy for the people whohave to work during parades after doing so myselfin one of my first jobs out of college. My journal-ism career started in small town radio, and oneyear I was assigned to drive the station’s van andprovide progress reports from the parade route.

To describe this vehicle as an eyesore wouldbe an understatement. It was one of those creepy,windowless vans made all the more unattractiveby its putty paint job and gaudy station logos.

Adding to its lack of appeal was that I had tocrank up the volume of the station’s musicbetween live updates. It blared from a speakerstrategically mounted on the van’s roof with amile of bungee cords. It looked as though the vanwas hooked to some sort of external life supportsystem that could give at any moment.

Now I enjoy Waylon, Willie and other clas-sic country music. But I happened to be work-ing at a country music radio station when theformat was at its worst — when Garth Brooks

was at his Garthest. When you’re at a parade, you expect Al

“Carnival Time” Johnson, Professor Longhair,Wild Magnolias, rousing marching bands andeven party anthems from float-bound DJs.

What you don’t expect is country music. Butthere I was, broadcasting Chattahoochee-inspiredwarblers at a breakneck 2 miles per hour.

My station manager gave me bumper stickersto hand out at the parade, so you can imagine thelooks on faces when people realize you don’thave beads or better swag to share. I foundmyself reaching for the cell phone, which backthen was one of those models attached to a hugebattery, and making pretend calls just to avoidthe disappointing glances.

I was the parade pariah. The station’s van was an older model in dan-

ger of overheating if the temperature was higherthan 50 degrees. To account for the crawlingpace of parades, I would place two aluminumcans under the front of the hood to allow moreair to hit the engine.

This actually improved the vehicle’s aesthet-

ic appeal, taking it from a serial killer’s rollingredoubt to a mildly terrorizing road beast — atleast until I had to turn up the volume and shareReba McEntire with the world.

Today, when I find myself stuck in gridlockedtraffic or waiting on a delayed flight, I harkenback to the four-hour Carnival crawls I enduredas a fledgling journalist. It doesn’t make me feelbetter, because it’s the sounds that come back tohaunt me.

In the immortal words of Reba, “Take it back.”•

Greg LaRose is editor of New OrleansCityBusiness. Reach him [email protected] or (504) 293-9299.

from the editorG r e g L a R o s e

Remember those who have to work for Carnival



We’re giving BIG rewards to our small business clients!

FREE BUSINESS CHECKING

www.iberiabank.com

Stop in today to learn how our experienced team can assist you!

Proud to have expanded our branch locationsin the Greater New Orleans area to better serve you.

Ask about our FREE Business Checking account featuring 500 allowable

*

We have the right Business Solution for you...

ADMIREThe St. Tammany Art Association holds itsGeaux Arts Ball to benefit its educational out-reach program from 7-11 p.m. Feb. 4 at the St.Tammany Art Association, 320 N. Columbia St.The event will feature a living art showcase, livemusic, an open bar and food. Tickets are $45 inadvance and $50 at the door. For more informa-tion or to purchase tickets, call 892-8650 or visitwww.sttammanyartassociation.org.

INSPIREThe Mandeville-Covington ChristianWomen’s Connection holds its women’sluncheon from 11 a.m. to noon Feb. 8 atBenedict’s Plantation, 1144 N. Causeway Blvd.,Mandeville. Author Sandy Ourso will speak atthe event and vocalist Irene LaRue will per-form. Tickets are $18. For more information,call (985) 674-5093.

KEEP PACEThe 15th Street Flyers and St. Joseph Abbeywill hold the Monk Run for the Abbey at 8a.m. Feb. 11 at the St. Joseph Abbey andSeminary College, 75376 River Road, St.Benedict. The 1-mile race begins at 8:30 a.m.and the 5-kilometer race starts at 9 a.m. Formore information or to register, visitwww.15thstreetflyers.org.

BROWSEThe Madisonville Art Market will take placefrom 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 19 on Water St. inMadisonville. The art market will feature paint-ings, photography, pottery, jewelry and otherart. Admission is free and open to the public.For more informa-tion, visitwww.madisonvil-leartmarket.com.

SIMMERThe Slidell LittleTheatre and theNational Association of Women inConstruction Northshore Chapter holds theirthird annual Northshore Gumbo Cook Off to

F e b r u a r y / M a r c h



Proven.

NEW ORLEANS 504.831.4949

NORTH SHORE 985.246.3022

HOUMA 985.868.0139

THIBODAUX 985.447.5243

d,orIn a w

s stneilcyhg wnivorp

s amiale ctaatitnatsbus

E ACNEDIVE

oegrouh Btiwkrowdlhous s

3 w29e 1cni. Sseiroehd tns a

aGNITSETDNE A

ttennes Bio

neee bv’e3 w

od tese ura

ksatsuJ.eroh mcum

,ecivdatnemeagnma

nl eatnemnrevod gna

y so mahs wt iaathe tbyaayM

s stneilcyhg wnivorp

lacasuevigro,dnourak

nalpdnn aoitaatraperpxat

. Okcag bnimop cees keititn

p cos t’anaisiouf Ly ony so ma

oegrouh Btiwkrowdlhous s

suteldnal

osdnagnin

strepxr eu. O

,seinapmop c

.ttennes Bio

sniotuaal VsesnisuB

centasiss AyrevocsiD

sisylna Aegmaa DlacinnaiF

esrou ouo yt te ivorp

nI aduar F

dACl

onitagiit LlaciermomC

smia CleancrsunI

ynomiest TtrexpE

.sevle

snoitagiestvtenemlzzemb End a

notiratsniimdnoit AcssaCl

benefit community and educational outreachprograms from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 25 at theSlidell Administration Buildings, 2055 SecondSt. The event will feature live music. Admissionis $10 and children under 10 are free. For moreinformation, visit www.slidelllittletheatre.org.

SUPPORTThe Junior League of Greater Covington hostsits fifth annual Celebration of Discovery eventto benefit the Children’s Museum of St.Tammany from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. March 4 atthe Castine Center, 63350 Pelican Drive,Mandeville. The event features food from localrestaurants, live entertainment and live andsilent auctions. Tickets are $100 per person.For more information, visit www.jlgc.net.

CELEBRATESt. Joseph Abbey, 75376 River Road, St.Benedict, holds its 12th annual Abbey YouthFestival from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 10.Tickets are $30 in advance until Feb. 24 and$35 at the door. For more information or for acomplete schedule of events, visit www.abbeyy-outhfest.com or call 867-2233.

DASH & DINEThe 37th annualOzone Spring Runand second annualCrawfish Cook-Offwill take place March10 at St. Paul’sSchool, 917 S. JahnckeAve., Covington. The racestarts at 8 a.m. and the cook-offwill be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $15for students, $20 for adults and free for children12 and younger. For more information, visitwww.wolfpackers.com.

ROCK OUTThe city of Slidell’s Cultural and Public AffairsDepartment holds its Bayou Jam concert fea-turing The Topcats from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30p.m. March 18 at Heritage Park in Slidell.Admission is free. For more information, visitwww.cityofslidell.org.

ASSISTSt. Scholastica Academy holds its 28th annualFalaya Fling fundraiser from 7 p.m. to mid-night March 24 at the Castine Center, 63350Pelican Drive in Pelican Park in Mandeville.The event will feature silent and live auctions,dinner and live entertainment. There will be apatron party at 6 p.m. Tickets are $65 per per-son and start at $300 per patron couple. Formore information or to pur-chase tickets, call 892-2450ext. 104 or visitwww.ssacad.com.

WINE & DINEThe Covington BusinessAssociation holds its inau-gural Taste of Covington

Food and Wine festival March 29 throughApril 1 in Downtown Covington. It will fea-ture an arts and crafts market, vintners’ din-ners, open houses, a block party, coordinatedgallery openings, culinary demonstrationsand tastings and a Jazz brunch. Admissionfor the Arts market, the open houses and theblock party are free and Vintner’s dinners are$75 per person. For more information or fora complete schedule of events, call (504)439-2543 or visit www.covingtonbusinessas-sociation.org.

WALK OR RUN The American Cancer Society will hold its2012 Relay for Life of St. Tammany-NorthwestLouisiana from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. March 31 atCovington High School, 73030 Lion Drive.Admission is free for cancer survivors and $10per person. For more information or to register,visit www.relayforlife.org.



State Senate President John Alario and House SpeakerChuck Kleckley have picked a bipartisan slate of legisla-tors to head committees in 2012, and they include a goodshare of members from the North Shore delegation.

Mandeville Republican Sen. Jack Donahue will leadthe Senate Finance Committee, which shapes the statebudget in the upper chamber, and Sen. A.G. Crowe, R-Pearl River, will lead Labor and Industrial Relations.

Sen. Ben Nevers, a Bogalusa Democrat whose districtencompasses Washington Parish and parts of St.Tammany and Tangipahoa parishes, will lead the JudiciaryA Committee.

Kleckley placed Rep. Tim Burns, R-Mandeville, at thehead of the House and Governmental Affairs Committee,and Rep. Scott Simon, R-Abita Springs, will lead theHealth and Welfare panel.

Reps. Greg Cromer and Kevin Pearson, both SlidellRepublicans, will lead the Insurance and Retirement com-mittees, respectively.

In total, Alario picked 21 Republicans to be chair orvice-chair, and 13 Democrats were picked for committeeleadership positions.

In the House, the same breakdown was 18Republicans and 14 Democrats.

Very low unemployment and a boost in home sales haseconomic development officials in St. Tammany Parishsaying they’re experiencing a “steady” recovery fromthe recession on the North Shore.

Tempering the good news are flat home sellingprices and a decline in new business starts in the third-quarter version of the St. Tammany EconomicDevelopment Foundation’s “Trends Report.”

It shows jobless numbers well below state andnational levels for the three months ending Sept. 30,along with a 5.4 percent increase in retail sales andsales tax collections. At the same time, new businessstarts fell 10.4 percent from a year earlier, which the

EDF says suggests many new businesses in the parishare home-based.

Construction permits for single-family homes rose6.7 percent from the third quarter of 2010, and homesales increased 35.1 percent. The average selling priceof a St. Tammany home from late summer to early fallwas virtually unchanged from a year earlier — from$227,274 to $227,106 this year. The average apart-ment rent climbed 2.4 percent from $1,083 to $1,109.

“While the commercial construction indicator con-tinues to lag, all other data clearly suggest a steadyrecovery from the lingering national recession,” EDFExecutive Director Brenda Reine Bertus says.

St. Tammany economic review shows ‘steady’ recovery

Legislative leaders tap North Shore names for committee posts

N e w s , n o t e s a n do t h e r m e n t i o n a b l e s

Hotel, offices instore for historicCovington building

The Southern Hotel building indowntown Covington is in the handsof a new owner with plans to restoreit into a hotel and office building.

Condrey Southern Hotel has pur-chased the 37,778-square-footbuilding for $1.75 million. The costof renovation was not released, butCovington attorney Lisa Condreysays she will maintain the property’shistorical integrity throughout themakeover. Erected in 1907, theBoston Street building has beenused for office space in recent years

“Covington is a unique townand I believe the development of thisproperty as a hotel will allow othersto experience the benefits of thiscommunity — its shops, the river,the bike paths, art galleries andgreat restaurants,” Condrey said.“Revitalizing this historic buildinghas been a dream of mine for about10 years, and we look forward toworking with the city to make ithappen as quickly as possible.”

Covington is one of three new areas in Louisiana to have aprogram aimed at saving senior citizens from making returntrips to the hospital.

The Medicare initiative assigns a “health coach” to achronically ill patient who works with them to help avoidrecurring problems.

A pilot program, one of 14 throughout the country receiv-ing federal funding, has been in place in Baton Rouge forthree years and is being expanded to Hammond andLafayette as well as the North Shore.

Before the program was implemented in Baton Rouge,18.8 percent of 1,000 Medicare patients treated were readmit-ted to the hospital within 30 days. The rate for patients withhealth coaches was 13.6 percent by the end of the program.

Medicare expands ‘healthcoach’ program in Covington

New UNO president plansto recruit North Shore

The North Shore was fertile ground for prospectivestudents when Peter Fos was dean at the University ofSouthern Mississippi College of Health.

Now that he’s president at the University of NewOrleans, he said he intends to make it known there’s aviable higher education option on the South Shore forSt. Tammany high school graduates.

“We won’t steal students from Southeastern, butwe plan to market our programs of excellence,” saysFos, who takes charge of the UNO campus inFebruary.

These programs — such as naval architecture,jazz studies and hospitality, restaurant and tourismmanagement — are the only ones of their kind in theregion and among the few in the country, Fos said.

Fos, 62, is a UNO graduate who ran a dentistrypractice in New Orleans for nine years before begin-ning a career in college administration in 1987. Heserved at USM from 2004-08 and was provost at theUniversity of Texas at Tyler from 2008-11. His experi-ence includes more than a decade at TulaneUniversity’s Health Science Center.

Tim Burns GregCromer

A.G. Crowe JackDonahue

Ben Nevers KevinPearson

Scott Simon



B u s i n e s s

E D U C A T I O N

The Holy Trinity Lutheran congregation inCovington faced a crossroads in 2008 asenrollment dwindled at its pre-kinder-

garten through third-grade school. It could continue with the unsustainable

status quo or scale back in some way. It was apainful decision because the school, whichstarted as a preschool, had gradually addedgrades in the years leading up to HurricaneKatrina in August 2005.

But unlike other North Shore privateschools, Holy Trinity had not capitalized onthe influx of displaced South Shore residents,something that the school’s director, Debby

Nelson, recalls with a tinge of regret. “When the iron was hot, we didn’t strike,”

she says. “Immediately after the storm, wealmost could have opened through highschool. When we wanted to fill our school,they were no longer standing in line.”

Adding fourth grade was not an optionbecause the small school lacked athletics andother extracurricular activities that parentsdemand as their children get older — not tomention the added cost of new teachers, cur-ricula and classroom furniture.

Consolidating grades was deemed a badidea because parents wouldn’t go for it. So the

school returned to its roots by closing downeverything except its preschool.

“It broke my heart,” Nelson says. Now, though, Nelson says the school is

flourishing in its niche. It’s grown to about 70students, up from 47 in the first year it scaledback, and Nelson expects enrollment to soonreach capacity at 82.

Despite Nelson’s regrets over lost opportu-nities, Holy Trinity is one of only a handful ofNorth Shore private schools that have seenenrollment grow since 2008, according to NewOrleans CityBusiness research. Cumulativeenrollment at the 13 schools that provided sur-

Joe Shorter, NorthlakeChristian School head ofschool talks with his son,Reid, who is a senior atNCS. Enrollment atNorthlake is down fromits post-Katrina peak.

PH

OTO

BY

FRAN

K A

YMAM

IB y B e n M y e r s

Staff Writer

[email protected]

Class ContractionPrivate schools on the North Shore struggle to maintain

the enrollment surges they saw after Katrina



We are proud to announce the opening of the

MANDEVILLE DIAGNOSTIC CENTER201 ST. ANN DRIVE, SUITE A | 7 AM - 4:30 PM | 985-612-2110

The center offers diagnostic services including:

Lab, X-ray and EKG, walk-ins welcome;

or CT and Ultrasound by appointment only.

The center is conveniently located in Mandeville,

next to the St. Tammany Physicians Network.

To schedule appointments for any service offered

by St. Tammany Parish Hospital call 985-871-5665.

STPH.ORG | STHFOUNDATION.ORG

e proud to announce the opening of the e arWWe

M LIVEDNA201 ST.ANN DRIVE, SUITE

e proud to announce the opening of the

ELL D SONGAIUITE A | 7 AM - 4:30 PM

e proud to announce the opening of the

CIT C RETNE | 985-612-2110

s diagnostic serThe center offer

y and EKGX-ra,Lab

or CT and Ultrasound b

enientlvThe center is con

Tnext to the St.

hedule appointments for ano scTTo

ish Hospital call 985-871-5665.y PTy St.b

vices including:s diagnostic ser

elcome;alk-ins ww,y and EKG

.yy appointment onlor CT and Ultrasound b

,villeted in Mandey locaenientl

ork.ysicians Netwy PhammanTTa

edvice offery serhedule appointments for an

ish Hospital call 985-871-5665.

ish Hospital call 985-871-5665.ary PammanTTay St.b

PTS

ish Hospital call 985-871-5665.

HP . GRO | NOITAATDNUOFHTS . GRO

vey results in 2008 and 2011 dropped 6.58 percent between those years.Only four schools added students in that period.

Some that lost students did, in fact, reap the rewards of the massivepost-disaster dispersion.

Northlake Christian School in Covington, for example, grew morethan 50 percent in the blink of an eye after the storm.

“No one could have possibly dreamed that six weeks after Katrinawe would have to make room for an additional 240 or 250 studentsschoolwide,” NCS Head of School Joe Shorter says.

The school had room to grow, with new facilities to accommodateanticipated growth over several years. But that space quickly evaporat-ed and trailers were transformed into classrooms. By 2007, Northlakewas projecting 900 students, more than doubling its pre-Katrina size.

The school quickly moved up the athletic ranks as well, leapfroggingfrom Class B to 1A and then 2A.

But then the national recession coincided with the return of somefamilies back to the South Shore, and schools were playing guessinggames with fluctuating enrollments.

Northlake, with pre-kindergarten through high school classes, beefedup its capacity to 950 but has lost about 100 students since 2008.

“My last Katrina class graduated last year. It was the largest graduat-ing class we ever had at 73,” Shorter says.

That’s about where he would like it stay. The average graduatingNCS class had been in the 40s before Katrina.

Shorter isn’t worried about the three-year decline, however. Exitsurveys of parents who have pulled their children show the overwhelm-ing reason for leaving are purely economic, as opposed to any post-Katrina bubble burst.

Enrollment at Northshore Christian actually spiked from 726 toabout 790 this year, a significant jump even if it doesn’t rival what hap-pened in 2006 and 2007.

See CLASS CONTRACTION, page 14

STUDENT BODY LEFTSince 2008, St. Tammany private schools reporting their enrollment have seen acumulative 6.58 percent drop in student numbers. In that period, only four of 13schools that provided figures gained students.

EnrollmentSchool Grades 2008 2011 ChangeCedarwood School Preschool-7 375 325 (13.3 percent)Christ Episcopal School Preschool-11* 509 525 3.14 percentFirst Baptist Christian 1-12 291 220 (24.4 percent)Holy Trinity Lutheran Preschool** 47 85 80.85 percentKehoe-France Preschool-7 402 350 (12.94 percent)Mary Queen of Peace Pre-K, 4-7* 485 545 12.37 percentLake Castle Pre-K, 4-8 685 635 (7.3 percent)Northlake Christian School Preschool-12 900 800 (11.11 percent)Our Lady of Lourdes Preschool-8 580 500 (13.79 percent)Our Lady of the Lake Preschool-7 804 800 (0.5 percent)St. Margaret Mary Pre-K, 4-8 760 627 (17.5 percent)St. Paul’s School 8-12 840 860 2.38 percentSt. Scholastica Academy 8-12 780 695 (10.9 percent)

Source: CityBusiness staff research (decrease)*grades added in interim **grades eliminated



WWW.FREEDOMBOATCLUB.COM

Madisonville, LAMarina del Ray985-792-5115

Includes access to clubs in:Gulf Breeze, FLPerdido Key, FL

Orange Beach, AL

MembershipAs Low As

$199Per MonthNo Boat Repairs • No Boat Maintenance

Never Clean A Boat • No Dockage FeesNo Boat Insurance • Unlimited UsageFree Training

More Than 60 Locations Around the U.S.

Own The Water, Not The Boat

B u s i n e s s

Shorter says this is in part because, once again, people are mov-ing to the North Shore — for healthy, competitive reasons asopposed to a disaster.

“Just since school started this year, I can think of six kids thatmoved over here from private schools on the South Shore,”Shorter says.

The Katrina effect played out differently in other North Shorelocations, such as Slidell.

First Baptist Christian School had just scratched the 400 mark inAugust 2005. That accomplishment was promptly obliterated, andthe school pushed to get back to 275 a year later. But it has beendropping incrementally ever since, down to 220 for the currentschool year, causing concern for administrator Mona Nelson.

She attributes the steady decline to economics but says she’sencouraged by a handful of new students who enrolled just beforeThanksgiving. The school is investing about $165,000 in a newsoccer field and track, in part to compete with public schools.

“Obviously you have to have the money to run the school. We aresustaining right now” Mona Nelson says, referring to an unspecifiedbaseline enrollment the school needs to keep the doors open. “If itgot any lower, of course, it’s going to really start hurting, but at thispoint we are in good shape.”•

continued from page 13

Class Contraction


Our Chamber of Commerce | Our Community

At St. Tammany West Chamber of Commerce we support your

business. We provide of local business interests at the

federal, state and local levels of government; through

workshops and seminars; and through

monthly and quarterly member events. Chamber membership

helps to not only build your business but to serve and strengthen

your community.

t SA

nisub

reddefe

t Cseesy WWennyammaTTa. tt.

e ddeivore pWWe. sssseesn peepr

laccaollodnaetattas,ll,arra

mmof CCor oofebmahCCh

n otiattaneseesrp accaof llooof

emnrevoggoff goofsllsevellel

ur ot yroppppuupe we screm

s ttsseesrettens issseesnisul ba

;tt;ne onittaccauddue orhtth

ur

e ht tths a

hgghuugo

krow

nom

spllpeh

ruoy

rainmesdnasophsk

y llyretteraud qny allyhtth

dlldiubyllyontonottos

. yttyinummocr

foofrebmahCChruO

dnas;rrs ginngkrowten

h. CChsttsnevr eebmey m

ttubssseeinsubruoy

ecremmoCCof | ummoCruO

seesittiinutropopppg orhtth

piiphsrrsebmer mebmah

gnngertsdnaevresotto

yttyinu

h gghuugo

p

n ehtthg

foofrebmahCChruO

ecremmoCCof | ummoCruO

yttyinu

298589LOH016

6123 EBMAHCYNAMMATTS|NOTGNIVOC,.DVLBTSERCYLL

GRO.R33407AL,N


OUR KREWE ROLLS UP THEIR SLEEVES

TO HELP LOUISIANA BUSINESSES GROW.

As one of the largest Mardi Gras Krewe suppliers in Louisiana, Plush Appeal turns to the largest bank in Louisiana to help them stay strong from season to season. Their Capital One banker, Brian Oatsvall, works hard to deliver the fi nancing and cash fl ow tools their business needs to keep the good times rolling all year long. To learn more visit capitalonebank.com

Capital OneBusiness Banker

Brian Oatsvall Plush AppealOwnerDaryl Fletchinger

Products and services offered by Capital One, N.A., member FDIC. ©2012 Capital One.Capital One is a federally registered service mark. All rights reserved.



B u s i n e s s

B A N K I N G

W ith loan demand still soft, interestrates at all-time lows and the St.Tammany Parish economy still

rebounding from a dip in real estate values,North Shore bankers say growing deposits isnot high on their priority list.

“Banks are awash in liquidity right now.And deposits really, with the cost of FDICinsurance and no loan demand, it doesn’t

make a lot of sense to banks right now,” saysEd Braun, president and CEO of CitizensBank and Trust in Covington. “We expect asthe economy begins to grow, we’ll be trying toincrease our deposit base somewhat.”

Three of the four financial institutionsbased in St. Tammany Parish saw little or nogrowth in deposits in the third quarter of 2011compared with the same period of 2010,

according to the latest figures from the FederalDeposit Insurance Corp.

American Bank and Trust and CitizensBank had less than a 1 percent decline indeposits in the period, with $102 million and$97.2 million, respectively. Resource Bank’sdeposits increased 17 percent to $370.7 mil-

B y D a v i d M u l l e r

Staff Writer

[email protected]

PH

OTO

BY

FRAN

K A

YMAM

I

Workingcash at rest

See WORKING CASH AT REST, page 18

Deposit growth isn’t a priority for North Shore banksas long as loan demand stayssoft and interest rates are at all-time lows

Ed Braun, president and CEO of Citizens Bank and Trust of Covington, says efforts to grow deposits are minimal becauseof the cost of deposit insurance and low interest in loans.


Discover CBT…We Make a Difference

Abita Springs22109 Level St.

Abita Springs, LA(985) 898-4785

Covington73021 Hwy. 25Covington, LA

(985) 898-4749

Barkers Corner-Lee Rd.79030 Hwy. 437

Covington, LA(985) 892-4234

Celebrating Lifein St. Tammany

❑

❑

❑

❑

❑

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

Main Office222 N. New Hampshire St.

Covington, LA(985) 892-3776

Mandeville-City Hall3100 E. Causeway Approach Rd.

Mandeville, LA(985) 626-8114

Citizens Bank & Trust Co.Serving St. Tammany Since 1945

Securities offered through Girard Securities, Inc., member FINRA/ SIPC. Investment advisory servicesoffered through Asset One, LLC, a registered investment advisor not affiliated with Girard Securities, Inc.

Joseph J. Vizzini, CPA, CFP ®

Registered Principal

1120 N. Causeway Blvd. Suite 4Mandeville, LA 70471985.727.2834 OR 1.800.375.0198Fax: [email protected]

Financial Planners • Registered Investment Advisors

Hammond Office 600 SW Railroad Ave Hammond, LA 70403 (985) 429-9899 Mandeville Office 4892 Hwy 22 Mandeville, LA 70471 (985) 246-1000 www.fcb-la.com

Local People You Can Trust

lion, and St. Tammany Homestead Saving and Loan’s depositsgrew 4 percent to $83.6 million.

“We’re certainly not looking to grow our deposits, but wewould love to have more checking accounts,” says DavidCrumhorn, president of St. Tammany Homestead. “And what lit-tle effort we’ve put in to our deposit base has been in growingchecking accounts.”

Crumhorn says the bank has “aggressively” priced its interest rateson checking accounts, making them comparable to its one-year cer-tificate of deposit rate. The hope is that customers looking to investmoney will turn to this product in lieu of CDs, Crumhorn says.

The challenge, he says, remains competing against large banks.“Capital One’s been spending a lot of money advertising with

big name Hollywood talent to say their interest checking rates arefive times the national average,” Crumhorn says. “We’re probablypaying twice what Capital One is paying, but we don’t have 120branches in Southeast Louisiana.”

And checking accounts are always a difficult thing to get peopleto switch from, Crumhorn adds. Still, he points to a national move-ment to localize, including at the bank level. There was the so-called “Bank Transfer Day” on Nov. 5, a grass-roots effort to getcustomers of large national banks affiliated with Wall Street tomove their money to a credit union or community bank.

Unfortunately for community banks, with extremely low inter-est rates on deposit accounts, some customers have started to pur-


B u s i n e s s

Working cash at rest



it’s always about havingthe right connections

syysaywwallws at’’si

s

otionecnoccot hgghhe riigtth

gnngviinaht uboab

yys aywwallws at si

snno

s

yawlA.detcennocuoypeek

ower’eW.dlrowehtdnuora

hiF-Wi000,531nahterom

eccadnakrowtensseleriw

-tsrifareffoewyhws’taTh

na,emitynasremotsucdna

ev,sreilppus,srentrapruoy

detcennocebotdeenuoy

egdeevititepmocagnivaH

.sy

o tgnikro

s topstoh

o tss

s aslc

. erehwyn

s rodne

h tiw

s naem

devreses rthgil rl. Aytreporl PautcelletnT I&T1 A10© 2

yyp

. d

y

sue other investments, says Stan Dameron,CEO of American Bank and Trust.

North Shore bankers report soft loandemand, too, so interest in the money that thebank could reinvest is down.

“That’s the biggest problem,” Dameronsays. “There’s no way to invest the money atthis point. You’ve got Treasury bills, 90-dayTreasury bills, that pay half a percent,” he says.“The more you take in, the more you lose. Itaffects the banks just like it affects customers.”

Dameron says the bank’s checkingaccounts are free so, not surprisingly, the “rev-enue off those is not real great.”

The bank normally can make money offchecking accounts by deploying thosefunds into loans or into U.S. Treasurybonds, but Dameron says that only madesense when the interest rate for those bondswas 3 to 4 percent.

In December, one-year Treasury bills car-ried a 0.12 percent interest rate, and theFederal Reserve is not expected to significant-ly raise the rates until 2013.

To Crumhorn, one of the “untold sad sto-ries” of the Federal Reserve keeping interestrates artificially low is the fate of people livingoff interest from their CDs. While he acknowl-edges it’s difficult for many to feel sympathywith those fortunate enough to even have anest egg, Crumhorn says some elderly peoplewho may have $150,000 in a CD and havebeen “living off the interest for decades” havegone from living off $10,000 a month to$1,000 a month, as rates dropped from 5 per-cent to less than 1 percent.

“That’s an 80 percent pay cut,” Crumhornsays. “No one’s talking about them.”

Still, North Shore bankers remain opti-mistic that the worst is past for St. Tammany.

“I think last year was a low point, andthere was some modest growth (in 2011),especially in the commercial sector,” Braunsays. “And we look forward to that increas-ing in the coming years.”•

DEPOSIT DATANorth Shore community bankers say growing depositsare not a major focus of their business in light of lowinterest rates and high deposit insurance premiums.The numbers below show year-over-year depositstotals for St. Tammany-based banks through for thethird quarter, the most recent data available.

Deposits(in millions)

2011 2010Resource Bank $370.7 $316.8American Bank & Trust $102.0 $103.0Citizens Bank & Trust $97.2 $97.3St. Tammany Homestead $83.6 $80.2

Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.



The basic rules for having less expen-sive insurance with teen drivers seemsimple: Don’t let him or her joyride

with a carful of loud friends, don’t give yourteen driver a brand new Mercedes and try toensure that your teen driver gets good grades.

That’s right, good grades.It’s one of the many ways those in the auto

insurance industry suggest parents andguardians can save on costly insurance rates ina state that consistently ranks among the high-est for car insurance costs in the country.

At the end of 2011, carinsurancecompari-son.com put together a list that rankedLouisiana drivers the worst in the country

The website took a look at numbers suchas highway fatality rates, drunk driving offens-es, speeding tickets and citations for failure toobey traffic signals and careless driving.Louisiana ranked near the bottom 10 in near-ly every category.

The Insurance Information Institute con-sistently ranks Louisiana and the NewOrleans area in the top five for the highest auto

insurance rates.Young drivers can compound problems for

insurance plans, but not all factors are workingagainst parents.

“The good news is because the auto(insurance) industry is probably as compet-itive as it’s ever been, because of marketavailability out there, having younger driv-

ers does not always mean a stab in theheart,” says Stephen Hendry, president ofAubert Insurance in Covington.

“When you’re one, two, three in the nationthe pain is still there,” he says. “Because we arecompetitive, it lessens the blow.”

Before Hurricane Katrina, homeowner’scoverage drove the insurance market in

I N S U R A N C E

Tamingthe teendriver

B u s i n e s s

Insurance experts offer advice on how families can save on theirauto policies. Good grades andsensible vehicles are a good start.

B y D a v i d M u l l e r

Staff Writer

[email protected]



Southeastern Louisiana, Hendry says. Thathas since shifted with companies turning toauto policies instead.

“In the post-Katrina world, no one wantsto write homeowners,” he says.

Hendry has some basic tips for families tosave on car insurance. To defray his own costs,he bought his son an older Toyota Celica withmore than 100,000 miles on it for about $1,500.

The idea is that families, like his, can pro-vide their child with a less expensive car andthen exclude the teen from other, more costlyvehicles on their insurance plan.

“If mom has a Lexus and father has anSUV, then (the teen) will automatically go onone of the cars as occasional operator,”Hendry says. “A wreck just kills you.”

John Dussouy, co-owner of DussouyInsurance Agency in Mandeville, agrees withHendry’s approach, suggesting parents takea sensible approach to buying their teen dri-ver’s first automobile.

“If they buy a sports car-type automobile,their insurance is going to go up through theroof,” he says.

As a more extreme strategy, Dussuoy saysthere are monitors insurance companies offerthat can be wired to a teen’s car to show howwell he or she is driving. The use of the moni-tors, combined with a safe driving record, canlower premiums, he says.

Dussuoy and others note that most insur-ance companies also offer lower rates for teendrivers who do well in school.

“A student with a ‘B’ average — a 3.0 aver-age — can qualify about 10 percent off (theregular rate) for their age group,” State Farmspokesman Gary Stephenson says.

Some insurance companies also offer dis-counts when teens take additional driverseducation courses beyond the minimumneeded to obtain a license.

With seven kids of his own, Don Bonano,owner of A Bonano Insurance Agencies inCovington, agrees that teen drivers with goodgrades and less expensive cars are cost savers.Another recommendation he has is a familyrule that allows only one friend in the car witha younger driver.

“Don’t let your kids run around with abunch of other kids in the car,” Bonano says.“That’s a big distraction.”

He also recommends keeping teen drivingtime in check.

“The more they’re on the roads, the morelikely there is to be an accident,” he says.•

Because the auto (insurance) industry is probably as competitive as it’s ever been,

having younger drivers does not alwaysmean a stab in the heart.“

STEPHEN HENDRYAubert Insurance president

”



B u s i n e s s

Largest accounting firms on the North Shore(ranked by the number of professional staff on the North Shore)

NameAddress

No. of totalprofessionalstaff,includingCPAs

No. ofCPAsNo. ofpartners

HeadquartersYear foundedlocally

Managing partnerTelephoneFax Specialties

LaPorte5100 Village Walk,Suite 300Covington 70433

32 214

Metairie1946

William T. Mason IIIpresident and CEO892-5850892-5956

audit and assurance business services,federal and state tax compliance andconsulting services for closely held andpublicly held companies, concentrating infinancial institutions, health care,governmental, construction, nonprofits,manufacturing, law firms, fraud and forensicaccounting, expert witness and businessvaluation

Silva Gurtner &Abney CPAs200 B GreenleavesBlvd.Mandeville 70448

25 181

Mandeville1995

Brent A. Silvamanaging partner626-8299626-9767

full range of services including audit andassurance services; tax planning,consulting, preparation and compliance; taxcredits; financial planning and businessconsulting; litigation support; forensicaccounting; information systems securityand internal audit services; design andimplementation of accounting systems andother similar consulting services.

Wegmann Dazet &Co.109 New CamelliaBlvd., Suite 106Covington 70433

13 52

Metairie1979

Robert Watkins792-4504792-4512

middle market companies, privately held orpublicly traded; small and emergingbusinesses and business owners, tax-federal, state, multi-state, payroll and sales;assurance-financial and ERISA audits;forensic accounting and litigation support,business valuation, succession planning

Patrick Gros, CPA651 River HighlandBlvd.Covington 70433

11 11

Covington2001

Patrick J. GrosCPA and managingpartner898-3512871-9600

contract financial accounting, compilations,review, contract CFO services and taxconsulting

Carrigee Moore &Levy215 St. Ann St.Mandeville 70471

10 65

Metairie1998

Henry E. Carrigee(504) 833-3106(504) 324-0250

business planning and consulting,accounting software installation, taxpreparation and consulting, personalfinancial planning

Moyle andAssociates CPAs1320 Lakewood Drive,Suite BSlidell 70458

8 42

Slidell1983

Jeffrey D. Moyleowner649-1040649-1133

individual and corporate tax, estate andtrust tax, personal and corporate taxplanning and consulting, monthlybookkeeping

Durnin & JamesCPAs401 E. Thomas St.Hammond 70401

6 53

Hammond1983

John N. Durnindirector345-6262345-9987

audit, accounting, tax, bookkeeping,consulting

Reagan, Reagan &Gitz CPA512 S. Tyler St., SuiteCCovington 70433

6 33

Covington2008

Joseph A. Reaganmanaging partner809-6505809-6507

audit, business assurance services, federaland state tax compliance/planning,accounting and consulting services

Skarda & Associates2290 Seventh St.Mandeville 70471

6 31

Mandeville1987

Steven A. Skardamanaging member674-2495674-2894

tax, estate, oil and gas administration

The above information was provided by the individual firms. They are ranked by number of professional staff, which includes CPAs, noncertified public accountants and consultants. In theevent of ties, firms are listed alphabetically. All information is for New Orleans area offices only. To the best of our knowledge the above information is accurate. Please send additions orcorrections on company letterhead to Research, New Orleans CityBusiness, 111 Veterans Blvd., Suite 1440, Metairie 70005.

northshore feb-mar12 22-36 _Layout 1 1/16/12 2:26 PM Page 22


WE HAVE A LOT TO CELEBRATE! 65 years in business. A new name and new corporate image. Expansion into the Texas market. A Top 200 Firm* and Best Place to Work.** And, the list goes on.

Established in 1946, LaPorte – formerly LaPorte Sehrt Romig Hand – is recognized as a regional firm with national capabilities. One of the largest independent accounting

and business consulting firms in the area, LaPorte has over 160 personnel in New Orleans, Houston, Baton Rouge, and Covington.

Come celebrate with us. If you’re considering switching to a new firm that will understand and value your business, now is the time and LaPorte is the firm.

We have helped hundreds of companies like yours make the switch.

An Independently Owned Member, McGladrey Alliance

McGladrey Alliance is a premier affiliation of independent accounting and consulting firms. McGladrey Alliance member firms maintain their name, autonomy and independence and are responsible for their own client fee arrangements, delivery of services and maintenance of client relationships. © 2012 LaPorte Sehrt Romig Hand, APAC

*INSIDE Public Accounting **New Orleans CityBusiness

NEW ORLEANS HOUSTON BATON ROUGE COVINGTON

LaPorte.com

C P A s & B U S I N E S S A D V I S O R S

ccountingublic AINSIDE PPu*

wn client fee arrangements, delivesponsible for their oe rand aremier affiliation of independent accounting and consulting firms. Mey Alliance is a prladrcGM

NEW ORLEA

vices and maintenance of clieny of sererwn client fee arrangements, delivemier affiliation of independent accounting and consulting firms. M

ndependently Owned MAn I

orLaP

ONTUSOS HNNEW ORLEA

A s & B U S I N E S S A D V I S O R SC P

© 2012 LaPelationships. t rvices and maintenance of clieney Alliance member firms maintain their name, autonomy and independence ladrcGemier affiliation of independent accounting and consulting firms. M

ey AllianceladrcG, Member,ndependently Owned M

te.comor

GTNVIOUGE CROONT BA

A s & B U S I N E S S A D V I S O R S

usinessityBleans Crrlew ONNe**

CAand, APPAomig Ht Rehrte Sor© 2012 LaPey Alliance member firms maintain their name, autonomy and independence

ONGT



B u s i n e s s

Largest accounting firms on the North Shore(ranked by the number of professional staff on the North Shore)

NameAddress

No. of totalprofessionalstaff,includingCPAs

No. ofCPAsNo. ofpartners

HeadquartersYear foundedlocally

Managing partnerTelephoneFax Specialties

Dyess andAssociates CPAs851 Park Ave.Mandeville 70448

5 41

Mandeville1989

Tony Dyesspresident624-5544624-5533

provide audit, tax and consulting services todiverse clientele including auto dealers

Hurst & LanglinaisLtd.816 Asbury Drive,Suite BMandeville 70471

5 32

Mandeville1997

Ernest Langlinaispresident674-7618674-2311

startup business, business and personaltaxes, payroll, business consulting

Veillon & Gallagher19550 N. 10th St.Covington 70433

5 12

Covington2000

Gene Veillon871-9203871-9204

health care, restaurant, small businessaccounting, consulting and CFO services,tax planning and preparation

Galliand & HoblackCPAs1401 W. CausewayApproachMandeville 70471

3 23

Mandeville2010

Donna M HoblackRaelyn C. GalliandDonna S. MaitreCPA, EACPAmember674-0839674-0826

compilation, review, tax

Schafer Group Ltd.435 Girod St., Suite BMandeville 70448

3 21

Metairie1980

Kernion T. Schafermanaging member626-4066626-4061

forensic accounting

G & B AccountingServices222 N. Vermont St.Covington 70433

2 02

Covington1996

Judy V. Goodreaumanager/member867-1494249-2622

QuickBooks specialist, tax preparation-business and personal

Geralyn Z. SuhorCPA4890A Highway 22Mandeville 70471

1 11

NA1989

626-6160626-6161

reviews, compilations, taxes both businessand individual

Gulf SouthAccounting ServicesP.O. Box 856Mandeville 70448

1 01

Mandeville2004

Bonnie LesterSarverowner(504) 495-9994NA

accounting and income tax

Heier FinancialServices72420 Bullard St.Covington 70435

1 01

Covington1980

Donna Heierenrolled agent893-6956893-9085

tax professional, bookkeeping, payrollservice

The above information was provided by the individual firms. They are ranked by number of professional staff, which includes CPAs, noncertified public accountants and consultants. In theevent of ties, firms are listed alphabetically. All information is for New Orleans area offices only. To the best of our knowledge the above information is accurate. Please send additions orcorrections on company letterhead to Research, New Orleans CityBusiness, 111 Veterans Blvd., Suite 1440, Metairie 70005.



B u s i n e s s

North Shore insurance providers(ranked by number of employees)

CompanyAddress

PhoneFaxWebsite Type of insurance offered Employees

Top localexecutiveTitle

F.A. Richard andAssociates (FARA)*1625 W. CausewayApproachMandeville 70471

624-8383624-8489www.fara.com

third-party administration 370 M. Todd Richardexecutive vicepresident

Gilsbar Inc.2100 Covington CentreCovington 70433

892-3520898-1500www.gilsbar.com

health and benefit planmanagement

295 Hank Miltenbergerpresident

Regions Insurance Inc.529 21st Ave.Covington 70433

893-8138867-8863www.regions.com

group health and individual healthand life

50 Don Lagarde andJonathan Lagardeproducers

Brown & Brown ofLouisiana dba RobertEllis & AssociatesP.O. Box 2140Mandeville 70470

674-3880674-3881www.ellis4u.com

multiple lines 24 W. Robert Ellisleader

Eustis Insurance &Benefits1050 W. CausewayApproach, West PointOffice ParkMandeville 70471

626-4497626-1664www.eustis.com

multiple lines 20 Tommy McMahonpresident

Kennedy Lewis, Renton& Associates Inc.5100 Village Walk, Suite110Covington 70433

801-0280801-0281www.kennedylewis.com

personal and commercial 17 Edward W.Kennedypresident

Erwin Insurance AgencyInc.410 S. Tyler St.Covington 70433

892-1500893-2590www.erwinins.net

commerical, personal, auto, home,health, life

14 James McLachlanIIIowner/president

Lowry-Dunham, Caseand Vivien InsuranceP.O. Box 430Slidell 70459

643-1234646-0249www.ldcv.com

multiple lines 14 Brenda LowryCasepresident

North AmericanInsurance Agency of LA2255 N. Highway 190Covington 70433

871-5480871-5490www.naiala.com

property and casualty 12 Robert W. Lanauxpresident

American InsuranceBrokers Inc.69142 Highway 59, SuiteAMandeville 70470

871-0006871-1779www.americantruckinsurance.com

commercial auto 11 Jill Wheltonpresident

Dussouy InsuranceAgency501 Mariner's PlazaMandeville 70448

624-3031624-3602www.dussouy.com

home, auto, business, flood 11 Guy Dussouypresident

State Farm1972 N. Highway 190Covington 70433

892-5030892-3408NA

multiple lines 10 C.J. Ladnerowner and agent

The Experitas Group109 New Camellia Blvd.,Suite 102Covington 70433

206-9235(601) 510-9434www.experitasgrp.com

health and life, property/casualty,payroll, elite health and lifestyle,human resources

10 Sharon Perschallvice president,property andcasualty division

Pappalardo Agency Inc.2020 N. Causeway Blvd.,Suite 1-AMandeville 70471

674-2695674-0971www.insurela.com

home, auto, flood, business, life,health

8 Albert S.Pappalardo Jr.vice president

Aubert InsuranceAgency614 E. Boston St.Covington 70433

892-3101892-3833www.aubertinsurance.com

property and casualty 6 Steve Hendrypresident

Benefit Management &Brokerage Inc.2250 E. Gause Blvd.,Suite 210Slidell 70461

649-0350649-0370www.bmbla.com

individual and group life health anddisability and retirement

6 Ray Guzmansenior partner



B u s i n e s s

North Shore insurance providers(ranked by number of employees)

CompanyAddress

PhoneFaxWebsite

Type of insuranceoffered Employees

Top local executiveTitle

MetLife601 Asbury DriveMandeville 70471

727-1553727-9883www.dabdoit.com

financial services andinsurance

6 John Kelly Dabdoubowner

State Farm, Dustin R.Dupepe Agency68425 Highway 59, Suite 2Mandeville 70471

892-5770892-8826www.dustindupepe.com

auto, fire, life and health 6 Dustin R. Dupepepresident and owner

Allstate-Frank Carmeli2186 Florida St.Mandeville 70448

624-3444624-3440www.allstate.com

auto, life, commercial,home, flood

4 Frank Carmeliagent

Covenant Health Insurance481 Choctaw DriveAbita Springs 70420

898-1902871-8091www.covenanthealthinsurance.com

health, life and Medicare 3 Joe Miglioreowner

New York Life InsuranceCompany536 Lafitte St.Mandeville 70448

626-5392626-5392www.rickdennie.com

financial services, lifeinsurance

2 Richard Denniefinancial servicesprofessional

Mormino & Associates77096 S. Fitzmorris RoadCovington 70433

892-5858NAwww.DebbieMormino.com

health and supplementalbenefits

1 Debbie Morminoowner/agent

*sold to Avizent in May. The above information was provided by the companies themselves. Any additions or corrections should be sent on company letterhead to Research, New OrleansCityBusiness Newspaper, 111 Veterans Blvd., Suite 1440, Metairie, LA 70005.

NEW ORLEANS

FIREMEN’SFEDERALCREDIT UNION

Federally Insured by NCUA

Experience TheCredit Union Difference!

238 Lafitte St., Mandeville1512 Gause Blvd., Slidell

www.noffcu.org • 800-647-1689

238 Lafitte St., Mandeville1512 Gause Blvd., Slidell

www.noffcu.org • 800-647-1689

We Treat Many DifferentTypes of Pain

including but not limited to

Southern Pain CenterMARK S. DENNIS, M.D.

Diplomate, American Board of Anesthesiology

YOU CAN LIVE PAIN FREE!

985-727-7275235 St. Ann Dr. • Suite 2 • Mandeville

• Neck & Arm Pain

• Backaches & Headaches

• Arthritis & Bursitis

• Leg & Foot Pain

• Nerve Pain

• Fibromyalgia


Window Shopping

A Better YouWe’re already a month into 2012. Perhaps the promises of a better, healthier you and other resolutions of personalimprovement are already falling to the wayside. Or maybe the home workout tape regimen is a bit dull.

Incorporating new, beneficial habits doesn’t have to be allabout treadmills and the same old routine. Explore your options.

Here are some ideas for other types of exercise and maintenance that may get you out of your rut.

FIND YOURCENTERYoga continues to grow in popularity,proving for many to be a relaxing andbeneficial part of life. If you considered itbut maybe prefer a more personalatmosphere, instructors with Yoga Sangaoffer one-on-one instruction.Yoga Sanga, Mandeville705-1337 Private class, $85 an hour

TAKE AIMWant to take some daily-grind frustration out on the gun range or discover your inner Annie Oakley? FITS offers training from expert lawenforcement types and a safe, indoorenvironment where you can learn how to use your firearm. All instructorsare certified by the National RifleAssociation.FITS Indoor Range, Slidell639-3487One-month membership, $30Six-month membership, $100 Nonmember, $11 per hour

LOOK SHARPSure, it may be uncommon for many guys to consider anythingbeyond minimal grooming. But the real question is why not,when there are places like the Lion’s Den out there. Existingsolely for men, Lion’s Den offers services such as haircuts,shaves, 5-minute shoulder rubs, hot towel stress relief treatment and beard trims. It’s time to indulge, gentlemen.Lion’s Den, Covington809-1140Hot towel shave, $35

TEST DRIVEDidn’t commit to a gym yet? Don’t know if you want to or whatyou would use most if you joined? Pelican Athletic Club offers awide variety of activities and temporary passes to figure out if afull membership is good for you. They allow you to use all of thegym’s features just as if you were a regular member. Pelican Athletic Club, Mandeville626-3706Day pass, $15Week pass, $50

REACH FOR IT The Slidell Rocks Climbing Gym, open since2005, offers an enjoyable and challengingexercise. Try it out with a day pass or get all gung-ho with a monthly membership and find muscles you forgot you had.Equipment rental is available.Slidell Rocks Climbing Gym646-1411Day pass, $11Monthly membership, $50

B y J a i m e G u i l l e tContributing Writer




Off the Menu

B y C h r i s t i n e F o n t a n a

Contributing Writer

onvenience foods are often tooprocessed to be wholesome,yet busy families today cravenutritious meals.

Todd Kiviko, owner andoperator of Toad Hollow Café

in Covington, shares some delicious andsimple recipes that make wholesome eatingat home a cinch.

Lentil vegetable soup, for example, is sim-ple to make, hearty and homey.

“It gets better with age as leftovers,” Kivikosays.

The recipe can be easily doubled. Greenlentils are firmer and don’t break down as muchas other lentils. If other lentils are used, the cook-ing time is shortened. Keeping the lid on the potwith a crack allows some steam to escape butkeeps some in so it doesn’t evaporate.

Flat leaf parsley makes a great garnish,and a drizzle of olive oil or grated Parmesan

cheese is nice as well. Adding cumin is aToad Hollow twist.

“Cumin has wonderful antioxidant andanti-inflammatory properties,” Kiviko says.

Kiviko’s favorite aspect of the Asian stir-fry is its ease of preparation. All of the vegeta-bles in his recipe are available year round.

“Knife skills come in handy, then throw itall in one pan,” he says.

Fresh ginger, red pepper flakes and garlicare added to the veggies while sautéing at theend to avoid scorching. Ginger powderinfused into the oil helps cover the vegetablesso every bite has a nice ginger flavor.

Ginger and red pepper flakes give extrakick and heat, but they can be omitted forthose who want to avoid too much spice.

Tamari imparts an earthy, salty umami fla-vor, Kiviko says, and sesame oil and seeds addnecessary fat without going overboard.

He encourages getting creative with thisrecipe — either increasing, decreasing or evenchanging ingredients. It’s also good for cleaningout the vegetable drawer in your fridge, he says.

Vanilla bean yogurt panna cotta is a deli-cious and light dish.

“It’s decadent without being overindulgentand even if you’re full, you’ll still have room forit,” Kiviko says.

Whole milk yogurt contains good fatswith wonderful benefits. It’s a great enter-taining dessert because it’s prepared inadvance and chilled.

Kiviko advises being delicate with theamount of gelatin added to the recipe. Toomuch and it will turn out too firm like Jell-O.

Flavorless grapeseed or canola oil is usedto lightly oil the bowls to aid in the releasewhen you turn it over. Keep an eye on thecream so it doesn’t boil; it’s ready when it bub-bles around the edge of the pan.

Vanilla bean seeds scraped from the podimpart that nice speckled look, and for extravanilla flavor, extract can be added to eitherthe cold yogurt or after the cream is removedfrom the heat.

“It’s great with either fresh fruit or granolaand a drizzle of honey,” Kiviko says.

C

PHOTOS BY FRANK AYMAMI

See OFF THE MENU RECIPES, page 30

Healthy meals can be quick and easy to fix

Wholesome at Home

northshore feb-mar12 22-36 _Layout 1 1/17/12 10:08 AM Page 28

SHARE THE LOVE WITH

21% ALC./VOL. (42 PROOF)Produced by Barton Distilling Company, Louisville, KYPLEASE ENJOY RESPONSIBLY

di Amore Sparkler

1 part di Amore Amaretto 1 part orange juice Sparkling Wine

Combine ingredients over ice and strain into a champagne fluteGarnish with an orange peel

SHASHASHA

AR HAARE AR T

LE OVHE HE OOVLL

WIVE TTTE WWI

HHHTTT



Call 800-451-9998

To Subscribehttps://subscribe.neworleanscitybusiness.com

If you are doing businessin New Orleans,

You should be reading

We bring you the stories that detail the issuesthat matter most to New Orleans Business.

LENTIL VEGETABLE SOUPServes 8-10

1 medium onion, diced1 tsp. cumin2 clove garlic, chopped2 cups carrot, diced2 cups celery, diced1 pound green lentils1.5 quarts vegetable stock

Soak lentils in hot water for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté onions until translucent, add cuminand garlic and sauté till aromatic. Add carrots and celery and sauté for 5 more minutes. Add veg-etable stock and lentils, bring to a boil and simmer partially covered for 1 hour or until lentils aresoft. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If desired, serve topped with flat leaf parsley and drizzle with olive oil or parmesan cheese.

ASIAN STIR-FRYServes 2-3

Ingredients2 cups cooked brown basmati rice1 cup each of julienne carrot, zucchini, yellow squash1 cup broccoli florets1 cup each of chopped celery, red cabbage, red and/or green pepper, red onion2 clove garlic, chopped1 tsp. red pepper flake1 tbsp. fresh ginger, chopped1/2 tsp. ginger powder1 tbsp. olive oil2 tbsp. tamari2 tsp. sesame seeds2 tsp. sesame oil2 tbsp. green onion, chopped

Off the Menu



Your most innovative and productive people are often your strangest. Top human

resources consultant John Putzier explains how managers can harness the natural

weirdness often found in high performers at every level, while curbing behavior that’s

disruptive. Find 32 fascinating, real-world case studies to illustrate the legal, human

resources, and business ramifi cations of unusual behavior in the workplace, and

which solutions are most eff ective.

Order now at:

Weirdos in the Workplace

LEVERAGE INNOVATION

“ w e i r d n e s s ” i n t o

The author takes complex situations and

concepts and boils them down to their bare

essence. I just wish I could have him by my

side when they happen to me! I guess having

this book is the next best thing.

- Mark A. Treat, Client Services Organization Development, Acxiom Corporation”

“

http://dolanbusinessbooks.com

Put olive oil in pan over medium high heat. Add ginger powder and sauté till aromatic. Addall vegetables and sauté almost until desired tenderness. Add fresh ginger, red pepper flakeand garlic, sauté two minutes more. Add cooked rice and tamari and toss until well coated.

Place in serving bowl and top with sesame seeds, oil and green onions.

VANILLA BEAN YOGURT PANNA COTTAServes 7

1 packet unflavored gelatin (about 2 tsp.)1 pint heavy whipping cream1 cup sugar2 1/2 cups whole milk yogurt2 tbsp. lemon juice2 tbsp. water1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and reserved for use

Place water and lemon juice in small bowl with gelatin and let sit. In a heavy saucepan,scald half of the cream with the vanilla bean seeds and sugar. In another bowl, whiskremaining cream with yogurt. Remove cream from heat when scalding and add gelatinmixture. Mix well and add the hot mixture to the cold mixture and stir well. Divide evenlyinto seven lightly oiled small bowls.

Chill in the refrigerator for about four hours or until set. To serve, run a small knife aroundthe inside edge of bowl and invert onto plate. Top with fresh fruit or granola and honey.



Favorite Spaces

Enclosed pool allows for entertainment, exercise inall types of weather

Year-round relaxation

A metal crane sculpture doublesas a water feature at the Rushfamily’s enclosed pool in theirTchefuncte Estates home.

PH

OTO

S B

Y TO

M M

ACO

M

B y S u z y K e s s e n i c h

Contributing Writer

Living in the South, you can enjoy your swimming pool almostyear round. But with our rollercoaster weather, an enclosedpool is a wonderful option.

The Rush family of Tchefuncta Estates enjoys theirscreened-in pool at the home where they have lived for aboutfour years. Their property backs up to the wetlands of the near-by Tchefuncta River, and the poolroom offers an undisturbedview of their unique surrounding landscape.

“I mostly enjoy the way the house opens up to the pool fromour indoor living space,” homeowner Lynn Rush said. “On abeautiful spring day, I can open the French doors and a wonder-ful breeze flows through. It is ideal for parties.”

Options for enclosed pools can complement an existinghome, as manufacturers can customize the design to syncwith rooflines and other features. With metal beams and aheavier cage screen, enclosures can offer sturdy protection

from the harshest of elements — wind, sun, rain — as wellas annoying pests.

An enclosure and screening also eliminates the problem ofleaves and debris, allowing the Rush family more time to enjoythe pool rather than cleaning it.

Upon moving in to their new home, the Rushes hired LouieAubert of New Orleans, a home paint specialist. Aubert select-ed a goldenrod yellow accented with chocolate brown. Theirhouse is a contemporary open design by architects Gossen-Gaseway and Associates of Hammond. Its living space wasintentionally left open to the pool and deck.

The pool design is rectangular with a grey bottom. A waterelement consisting of a rock waterfall flows into the pool,accented with an elegant metal sculpture of cranes.

Lynn selected red stripe cushions for the poolside chaiselounges.

Keep in mind if you live in a residential community withrestrictive covenants, you might require approval of a home-owners’ association to enclose your pool.•



• Have neighborhood association approval where applicable• Build a durable structure to protect from wind, rain and sun • Choose a design that’s aesthetically pleasing and complementary to the existing home• Open your indoor living space to the outside• Water elements provide a pleasant sound and visual appeal• Options include vinyl inserts and retractable screens

— Suzy Kessenich

Taking the PlungeTips for an enclosed pool:

HomeT r e n d s


P H O T O S B Y F R A N K A Y M A M I

NEW ST. TAMMANY PRESIDENT PAT BRISTER PLANS AN OVERHAULOF PARISH GOVERNMENT’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS

B y B e n M y e r s

Staff Writer

[email protected]

The Brister Agenda

at Brister was sworn in Dec. 8 on an interim basis as St.Tammany parish president before permanently takingoffice Jan. 9. Since taking over, she says she has been tak-ing a lot of calls and meeting with a lot of people.

She has also been thinking about plans to reorganizeparish government. They include shaking up the organization-al chart and adding an economic development department.

Do you have a 90-day or six-month strategy?No, and I specifically don’t. I hope I’ll have some things done before90 days.

There are certain things I wanted to do. I wanted to change somepersonnel (and) I did that right away.

We had two people that retired. That was Gibb Farrish … directorof intergovernmental affairs (and) Irma Cry, who was business devel-opment consultant. John Smith, who was head of our engineeringdepartment, has moved on. James Smith, who was Kevin Davis’ assis-tant to the president, (resigned) … I’m not hiring anybody new at thispoint in time. We really wanted to look at the entire organization beforewe start hiring anyone.

So those positions may go unfilled?For the time being they will. We will have a different looking organiza-tional chart. … Bill Oiler has moved from chief administrative officerto chief operating officer. He now will be in charge of special projects,grants, engineering, emergency operations. That’s his side.

The new CAO, when we hire a CAO, which the charter says wewill have one, will be in charge of day-to-day running the business.Personnel, legal, all of those things you just do day to day.

Is that modeled on anything?(Chief operating officer) could have been called anything else. Wecould have had a chief of staff. Our charter says we must have a CAO,so that had to be in place.

A CAO and a chief of staff to me didn’t make sense. It was just myreasoning. … I wanted whoever was in charge of projects to be free ofrunning the day-to-day business so they could concentrate totally onthose projects and get them through the process without a bottleneck.

Are there any other personnel or government structurechanges you’re considering?That’s the major one right now. I have a transition team, and I have sixdifferent tasks for the transition team. They will be giving me theirreports at the end of February on what they see.

They have interviewed personnel. They’ve looked at the books. Iwill look at the reports and share it with the management team to see ifthere are changes to make.

So when it comes to establishing your policies, thatsounds like the groundwork that needs to happen first.Actually, I think the transition team has given me a roadway to get towhere we want to go. We knew our main objectives when I ran for thisoffice. They still are in place.

Primarily, economic development is very important to me. … Inaddition to that, infrastructure will always be an issue for us because ofour growth. The drainage issue, the storm surge issue. Those aregivens. We will always deal with those.

But we are going to kick up the economic development issue anotch or two.

How so?We are going to reorganize ourselves to have an economic develop-ment department working with our economic development founda-tion. … We will have someone that will be dedicated to finding newbusinesses moving here … and someone that will make sure the busi-nesses we have here will have our ear as well. We want to keep themhere. We want them to grow here.

Have you done the bean counting yet in terms of positions you want to eliminate and those you want to add and how that affects the budget?Obviously, we have to have a balanced budget every year. So we willlive within that budget. I think there are efficiencies we can find to havethis (economic development) department I am talking about.

Even if we started today, it would take six months to gear up to that.

P

See THE BRISTER AGENDA, page 36




The Brister Agenda… This is not something that’s going to happen this week. That’s whyI hate to put timelines on anything.

Will this new economic development director have a staff?They will have to have some staff. I don’t think it will be a huge staff. Itwon’t need to be because every department here will have a part to playin economic development — our planning and zoning, our permitting,everybody.

Everything we do will have in the back of our minds: How does thisaffect our economic development? It will be a new overarching atmos-phere as far as I am concerned.

When you think about economic development over thenext five years, what specifically comes to mind?We need to be out recruiting the businesses we want here. In my mind,those would be companies like GlobalStar, the (technology) business-es that moved from Silicon Valley and are happy here.

We need to start looking at getting sites ready. When companiescome in, they want to see what’s available to them. This area is justamazingly abundant with the interstates, the rail, near the water.

Does the 2-cent sales tax for roads and drainage bringsufficient revenue for those needs?Obviously, we would like to have more, but we also know that(increased) taxes at this point in time are not where we need to go. Idon’t think that’s advantageous to our growth. We have what we have

and we just have to make sure we use it efficiently. We hope that with our economic development growth, there will be

more sales tax, and there will be more permits, more homebuilding,more business building.•

St. Tammany Parish Councilmen Marty Gould, left, and Reid Falconer review a parishzoning map with President Pat Brister.




ST. TAMMANY SEEKS BALANCE BETWEEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SMART GROWTH

B y J e n n i f e r L a r i n o

Staff Writer

[email protected]

More than a decade ago, St. Tammany Parish civicand community leadersmapped out where theywould direct growth overthe next 25 years. Areashighlighted on this mapwere deemed suitable for industrial growth at the time, but some say additional areas should be considered as the parish aims to attract more commercial andindustrial development.

Site SpecificsSite SpecificsTwo decades ago economic development in

St. Tammany Parish was a simple as driv-ing CEOs to an empty pasture and weav-

ing a vision of a large factory or distributioncenter around grazing cows, says Brenda ReineBertus, executive director of the St. TammanyEconomic Development Foundation.

“Back then you could show them a cornfield or a cotton field or a field of pine trees andsay, ‘This is it,’” Bertus says.

Today, St. Tammany Parish still hasplenty of cow pastures, but Bertus sayscompanies in a recovering economy aren’tinterested in the raw potential anymore.They want sites that come with the correctzoning and a roadmap detailing transporta-tion and other infrastructure in place. Theywant a surefire plan.

Providing that plan relies on a number offactors, including a clear directive on land use,

zoning and plans for infrastructure improve-ments from St. Tammany Parish government.

Development watchdogs say that hasn’talways been easy to come by.

Ten years ago, the parish drafted NewDirections 2025, a long-range land use planthat, at the time, was intended to lay out rulesfor how the parish would develop over the

See SITE SPECIFICS, page 38



next quarter century. New Directions land usemaps plan much of the unincorporated parishfor residential and agricultural purposes withselect pockets for industrial development.

The St. Tammany landscape has undoubt-edly changed since, adding more than 40,000residents over the past decade. Its southernhalf includes a busy network of newly pavedroads and suburban neighborhoods strungalong Interstate 12.

The document has served a largely adviso-ry role in planning decisions since it was cre-ated, and civic leaders and residents havespent the better part of the decade interpretingthe document, sometimes in court.

As economic development leaders work tomake St. Tammany competitive in nationalsite selections, community leaders say it’s timeto revisit old plans.

Sandra Slifer, president of the League ofWomen Voters of St. Tammany, says it will behard to provide certainty to developers andresidents with the current plan, which is notlegally binding and relies on older data todrive development decisions. The organiza-tion weighed in on the New Directions plan-ning process and the more recent overhaul ofthe parish zoning ordinance, which was com-pleted in April 2010.

“St. Tammany Parish has changed in thepast 10 years, and a plan is only as good as theinformation that goes into it. At this point, wejust don’t have that data,” Slifer says.

Working plansAt a November luncheon in Mandeville, morethan 100 business leaders met to listen to MarkSweeney, a principal at McCallum SweeneyConsulting in Greenville, S.C., who has helpedpick locations for major industrial clients such asNissan and Boeing. The discussion centered onthe competition for economic development.

During the economic downturn, Sweeneysays companies waited “past the last minute”to invest in new locations.

“We couldn’t just know if everything wasgoing to be there eventually. We had to knowexactly when everything we needed was goingto be there and if it was too long, you wereout,” Sweeney says.

To improve its chances at the site selectionphase, Louisiana Economic Development intro-duced a certified sites program last year. Its pre-approval means a site has the correct zoning, titlework and environmental studies in place forlarge-scale industrial and office projects.

Shelby LaSalle, CEO at Krebs, LaSalle,LeMieux Consultants, an engineering andplanning firm with an office in Mandeville,has several St. Tammany clients workingtoward certification.

LaSalle, also an STEDF board member,sees the program as key to promoting business

development in St. Tammany. But he adds theprocess underscores the need for a long-termparish master plan, one that addresses thegrowing need for a parishwide sewer andwater system, for example.

“You have a different era you’re in now. A lotof people want to come here to do business,”LaSalle says. “It’s time to take a harder look atwhere you want to rezone some of these unde-veloped areas light industrial and heavy com-mercial to accommodate these needs that arebeing requested on a day-to-day basis.”

St. Tammany Parish President PatBrister says New Directions 2025 continuesto be updated and evolve with the growth ofthe parish. She was part of the parish coun-cil that oversaw the process that producedthe document.

“I know planning and permits (depart-ments) look at it as a guideline for what theydo, so it’s not a matter of it being ignored. It isthere, it’s there every day, it’s part of our scopeof work,” Brister says.

Brister adds the plan guided redevelop-ment efforts after Hurricane Katrina, therecent parish zoning overhaul and major roadimprovements such as the completedLouisiana 1088 and Interstate 12 interchangeand the four-lane road being built to connectOchsner Boulevard and Highway 1085.

Slifer says the rezoning effort is a step for-ward but should have been guided by a mas-ter plan. Ignoring the master plan leaves thedoor open for future conflict.

She points to a lawsuit the ConcernedCitizens of Lacombe filed against St.Tammany Parish and IESI Corp., a Texas-based waste services company, last March.

Residents filed suit to determine whetherthe parish had the right to permit IESI tobuild and operate a waste transfer station onHighway 434, south of Interstate 12.Construction is on hold until the LouisianaSupreme Court hears the case.

Slifer says the case is an example of the holesthat still exist in parish planning and zoning.

“It costs everyone money doing it thisway,” Slifer says.

Seeking alignmentSo far, St. Tammany Parish planning has yet torun head on into landowners readying their

sites for large-scale development. InDecember 2010, River Chase, owned byStirling Properties, became the first LED cer-tified site in the parish.

Rick Wilke, president of the Association ofAssociations, an alliance of neighborhoodgroups, describes himself as one of the resi-dents who helped “hijack” the New Directions2025 planning process from local government.He says River Chase is a good example of theparish’s master plan and zoning providing the“backbone” for development.

Now that updated zoning is in place, Wilkesays St. Tammany is in a better position toavoid “stupid development.”

“Sometimes the guidelines aren’t as clearas they should be and you end up with some-thing that should go to a public hearing anddoes not,” Wilke says. “We don’t have as cleara set of guidelines as we should have, but weare so far better than what we used to be.”

Slifer worries that the master plan and zon-ing framework still have no teeth.

“Neither of those plans has the force oflaw,” Slifer says.

But Brister argues that the parish still needsthe flexibility of the current master plan. In thepast decade, circumstances have changed sodrastically — from Hurricane Katrina to theGulf of Mexico oil spill — that Brister says theparish might not have recovered without amalleable plan.

“We had the flexibility to do things as weneeded to do then as opposed to what wasbeing mandated in that document,” Bristersays. “I think it would have been an impedi-ment for us to get back to where we needed tobe as quickly as we were able to.”

At STEDF, Bertus says she sees the pushfor large projects and the state certified sitesprogram helping to align parish land use andeconomic development priorities rather thanrun up against them.

She adds that St. Tammany isn’t alone inconfronting planning issues. Competition formanufacturing and attracting headquarters isboiling in southern states and forcing localgovernments to keep up.

“Our job is to keep St. Tammany in themix as long as we can,” Bertus says.•

Staff Writer Ben Myers contributed to this story.

WHAT’S A CERTIFIED SITE?

St. Tammany Parish economic development leaders are urging area landowners to participate in the state’s pre-certified site program to lure more industrial and commercial development. Some question whether the push fordevelopment will have to fight through outdated land use plans.

Basic requirements for sites in the Louisiana Economic Development Certified Sites program include:

• 10 or more contiguous, buildable acres above the 100-year flood plain• Infrastructure in place to provide 50,000 or more gallons of potable water per day• Provision for treating 50,000 gallons of wastewater per day.• Highway access sufficient to support 83,400 pounds.• Zoned industrial or otherwise cleared for industrial development.• An environmental audit

Source: Louisiana Economic Development


Site Specifics


Our Chamber of Commerce | Our Community

Membership with the St. Tammany West Chamber is an

in the region’s business community today and for the

future. It offers instant access to a of over 1,000 businesses

and their nearly 30,000 employees. With four investment levels,

each offering an array of , you are sure to find one designed

to benefit your business. Join our efforts today for continued

in St. Tammany West!

ebmahCChruO

moCCoruO|ecremmoCCofoofre

yttyinumm

ebmahCChruO

moCCoruO|ecremmoCCofoofre

yttyinumm

589

MAHCYNAMMATTS|6123298

GROREBM

016

589

GNIVOC,.DVLBTSERCYLLOH

MAHCYNAMMATTS|6123298

33407AL,NOTG

GRO.REBM



Think big. Move beyond.

504-875-3908.

It’s closer than you think.


DRIVING SCHOOLS ON THE NORTH SHORE HOPE NEW STATE REGULATIONS WILL HELP STEER MORE BUSINESS THEIR WAY

COURSECORRECTION


B y J e n n i f e r L a r i n o

Staff Writer

[email protected]

Jack Varnado, owner of LouisianaDriving School in Slidell, explainshow the passenger side brakepedal is installed in the MiniCooper he uses for instruction.



With nearly 20 years of experiencerunning a small driving school inSlidell, Jack Varnado and his wife,

Sheila, know few businesses have a customerbase as steady as theirs.

The Varnados opened Louisiana DrivingSchool in 1993, the same year state lawmak-ers enacted a law requiring 15-year-olds com-plete a 26-hour driver education require-ment, including eight hours of behind-the-wheel training, before receiving a license.Older drivers were required to participate ina six-hour classroom course before jumpingbehind the wheel.

Since then, high school students with freetime have flooded Louisiana Driving Schoolon weekday afternoons and holiday breakslike clockwork.

But Jack Varnado, who leads a team ofeight instructors and teaches student driversin a blue Mini Cooper splashed with hisschool logo, says the driver education markethas changed in recent years.

Students of Louisiana Driving School havetwo basic course options. At age 15, they canenroll in a 38-hour driver education course for$395, or they can sit through a six-hour pre-licensing course for $50 once they reach 17.

Varnado says more families started waitingfor the cheaper classroom option when therecession hit locally two years ago, and the 38-hour course has been a tough sell since.

Courses are priced to recover the cost ofcurriculum updates, instructors and the one-student-per-car rule Varnado has for behind-the-wheel training.

“I’ve heard students that have had to spend$600 to take some sports training at school.

I’m going to get someone spending $300 to$400 for a class. I just think we sometimes getour priorities mixed up,” Varnado says.

As families rein in spending in the recover-ing economy, driving schools throughout theNorth Shore say they are experiencing a simi-lar shift in the market.

For many driving school owners, fears ofdecreasing revenues are compounded by thepossibility parents will choose what they con-sider inferior options: cheaper, fly-by-nightprivate driver instruction operations or freepublic school driver’s education courses thatare reportedly overcrowded.

This year will be the first that privatedriving schools and public school courseswill be regulated under the Louisiana Officeof Motor Vehicles. Until last year, the OMVoversaw commercial schools and the stateeducation department managed publicschool courses.

North Shore driving school owners hopethe new structure will bring increased supervi-sion and a level playing field to the market.

Charles “Bud” Chauncy, president of theDriving School Association ofLouisiana, says the trend tospend less on driver educationis putting pressure on drivingschools nationwide. He owns aschool in Bossier City.

“In a lot of states, if you waituntil you’re 18 you don’t haveto do anything,” Chauncy says,noting that Louisiana stateschools are buffered by staterequirements enacted in 1993.

Running a driver educationbusiness right is costly, he says.Professional schools continuallyinvest money back into instruc-tor training, course materialsand equipment and can spendupward of $1 million on insur-

ance. Even gas prices are rising.Even so, the Office of Motor Vehicles

licensed 149 driving schools last year, upfrom 133 in 2010. School districts through-out the state requested permits for 11,950driver education seats last year, up 9.6 per-cent from the 2008-09 school year.

Chauncy says he and other driving schooloperators fear competition will supplant safe-ty, noting that it’s common to come acrosspublic and private programs that teach two orthree student drivers in a single car and giveeach student credit for the total hours driven.Others simply coast on the highway for twohours at a time, he says.

“You see a school offering courses at $200or $300, and you have to ask what you’re pay-ing for,” Chauncy says. “Are you paying for acertificate or for an education?”

Gwen Dunware, customer service admin-istrator and head of driver education oversightat the state Office of Motor Vehicles, says thedepartment is now standardizing the curricu-lum for driving schools and public schooldriver education.

The new curriculum will spell out whatschools are required to teach and accompanyother regulations, such as the length of timestudents are permitted to be the behind thewheel in a single day.

“What we’re trying to do is get everyone onthe same page,” Dunware says.

In the meantime, North Shore drivingschools hope to attract business with creativeofferings.

Rick Gardache, who opened PrecisionDriving Academy in Mandeville in 2007 withpartner Dwayne Kern, says he has started offer-ing more options for parents and students.

Precision offers tiered driver educationpackages, ranging from $350 for the 38-hour

MERGE AHEAD

Regulation of private driving schools and driver’s education classestaught at Louisiana public schools will merge under the state Officeof Motor Vehicles. Private driving schools hope improved oversightand a uniform curriculum will help keep public school courses fromovercrowding and spending-conscious consumers from turning tofly-by-night driving schools.

Overall, the private and public sector appear to be meetingincreased demand for driver education courses:

Year Louisiana’s licensed private driving schools2011 1492010 133

School year State school districts learner’s permits requests2010-11 11,9502009-10 11,3502008-09 10,900

Source: Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles, Louisiana Department of Education

Louisiana Driving School owner and instructor Jack Varnado explains the proper use of a seatbelt.

COURSECORRECTION



Free iPhone app now available for CityBusiness

course to a 44-hour course for $550. A nightdriving course and electronic driving simula-tor Gardache added have also been popular.

“Instead of taking the approach of offeringless, we took the approach of offering more,”Gardache says.

Gardache adds that there is at least onegrowth market for St. Tammany Parish — pri-vate schools.

Starting this year, Precision DrivingAcademy will host driver education coursesat Archbishop Hannan High School inCovington. Gardache says most privateschools are looking to enhance their educa-tion options but don’t want an in-houseprogram.

At Louisiana Driving School, Varnadooffers instruction for drivers recoveringfrom debilitating injuries and assessmentsfor companies that require employees todrive on the job.

Varnado says he even tried offering a classto offer support for parents of student driversbut stopped when attendance waned.

Gardache and Varnado are interested inseeing how new directives from the OMVchange the marketplace. But Gardachenotes that the real challenge for drivingschools is beyond their control.

“If the choice is putting food on the tableor sending your child to driving school,that’s obvious,” Gardache says. “I don’tlook at driving school as a need, but it is def-initely a necessity.”•

If the choice is putting food on the table or

sending your childto driving school,that’s obvious.

I don’t look at driving school as a need but it is

definitely a necessity.

RICK GARDACHE

co-owner

Precision Driving Academy

“”



The Daily Journal of Commerce is the “opportunitynewspaper and Web source” of the Gulf Coast states from Louisiana toAlabama designed for and read by industry professionals – architects,engineers, generals, subcontractors and suppliers. For nearly a century, theleaders of companies big and small, throughout the region, have come torely on the Daily Journal of Commerce five days a week to:

Find new bidding and subbidding opportunities on projects out for bid by following our daily Project Calendar;

Learn who’s bidding the lowest, who’s getting the jobs and who’s going to needyour product or service;

Get a “sneak peek” at upcoming projects with our DJC Sneak Preview e-mail service;

Get the first leads on New Projects out for bid; and

Get industry updates and more business building opportunities!

But don’t take our word for it, check it out for yourself – on us – and see how your company can profit from it as well!

www.djcgulfcoast.com

The Daily Journal of Commerce is the “opportunitynewspaper and Web source” of the Gulf Coast states from Louisiana toAlabama designed for and read by industry professionals – architects,engineers, generals, subcontractors and suppliers. For nearly a century, theleaders of companies big and small, throughout the region, have come torely on the Daily Journal of Commerce five days a week to:



Rick Dennie, pictured with his wife, Tess,owns an insurance agency in Old Mandeville.

He says he would like to open additionalbusinesses if the city ever follows through

with investment in the area.


SKEPTICS SAY A LONG-PROMISED DEVELOPMENTIN OLD MANDEVILLE DOESN’T NEED THE CITY’SFINANCIAL BACKING TO BECOME A REALITY

OLD TOWNTURMOIL

B y R i c h a r d A . W e b s t e r

Staff Writer

[email protected]

Proponents of a new town center in OldMandeville say it will spur more commer-cial and residential development in the

city’s historic core.The Mandeville Planning Commission

approved the project near the Tammany Tracein November. The plan, commissioned by theNorthshore Community Foundation and draft-ed by consultant Duany Plater-Zyberk and Co.,calls for new retail and office space, a new library,a wellness building, a recreational square, cultur-al venues, a multipurpose meeting hall, a civicsquare and an expansion of the farmer’s market.

It all sounds great, says Sheilah Goodson,owner of the Kickstand Café on Lafitte Street,but she has seen this story before and knowshow it’s likely to end.

Before Goodson opened her business in2004, which included construction of a newbuilding, she said city leaders encouraged her by

See CENTER OF CONTROVERSY, page 46



Your business & lifestyle magazine

2012 Editorial Calendar

To advertise in North Shore Report please contact

www.northshorereport.com

CASSIE FOREMAN504-293-9222 • [email protected]

JACLYN MEITH504-293-9229 • [email protected]

April/May - published April 1 Health Care/Home & Garden/Real Estate

List: Acute Care Hospitals & Independent Living Options

June/July - published June 1 Legal Report/Office Technology/Investments & Insurance

List: Banks with St. Tammany Branches/St. Tammany Based Banks/Savings and Loans

September/October - published September 1 Education/Top Private Companies/Health Care

List: Private Schools/Two and Four Year Colleges & Top Private Companies

November - published November 1 Real Estate/Construction/Banking

List: General Contractors & Homebuilders & Architecture Firms

December/January - published December 1 Holiday/Dining & Catering/Legal Report

List: Law Firms & Fitness Centers

touting the imminent creation of a town center.They promised Old Mandeville would soon bea destination for people throughout the region and a hub of economic activity,showing her an economic feasibility study that laid it all out.

Goodson dove in. It looked like a sure bet, the perfect place in whichto invest.

Seven years later, nothing has changed, she says. Old Mandeville is stagnant,its businesses are struggling and Goodson doesn’t have much hope that thisnew round of excitement over yet another town center plan will bear any fruit.

“I’m frustrated that the city has a complete lack of vision in terms of whatneeds to happen here,” Goodson says. “I’ve invested a ton of money into thecity. But it’s not just the financials; it’s all the hard work, the seven days a weekyou’ve worked for the last seven years.

“Sometimes you get so frustrated with the whole thing and wonder whatmakes me get up and keep going the next day.”

Goodson is not alone in her frustration.Rick Dennie owns a building on Lafitte Street where he runs an insurance

company. He would like to invest more in the area, possibly buy anotherbuilding or open another business, but he says he refuses to spend any moremoney until he sees a significant commitment from the city to improve OldMandeville.

“We don’t expect the government to write us a check, but you don’t tellinvestors this is what’s going to happen and then don’t do anything,” Denniesays. “Since we’ve been here, this is the fourth time we’ve seen political pos-

Rick and Tess Dennie walkthrough Old Mandeville.


OLD TOWNTURMOIL



Arriving daily on your computer!

Daily Update

Register today

www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/dailyupdate.cfm

FREE

turing (on a proposed town center). Just giveus a flat out yes or no. If you don’t want to doit, don’t lead people on.”

Mayoral supportDespite the naysayers, Mandeville MayorDonald Villere believes something finally willbe implemented this time. It just won’t be asextensive as some have hoped, he says.

Construction of a multipurpose facility is apossibility as well as a zoning change to pro-mote economic activity.

“Whether the town center with all thecomponents envisioned will be implemented,I don’t know. But we can pick off some of thelow-hanging fruit,” Villere says.

The mayor hopes to use a combination ofcity and state funds to bankroll the project,though he doesn’t have an estimate of what itwill cost until the city council approves a finalversion of the plan. It is unlikely anything willhappen until a new council is seated after theMarch elections, Villere says.

Ray Baas hopes nothing happens. Unlikesome residents who want to see OldMandeville remain a sleepy bedroom commu-nity, Baas is not opposed to increased com-mercial development as long as it’s not doneon the taxpayers’ dime.

If business owners want to revitalize thearea to bring in more foot traffic, he says theyshould impose a new tax district on them-selves to pay for it. If that doesn’t work, theyshould consider relocating their businesses tomore heavily trafficked areas.

“I’m a proud American capitalist, but Iobject to spending taxpayer dollars to revital-ize and prop up this corpse of a commercialdistrict that has died a natural economicdeath,” Baas says.

Baas also disagrees with city governmentspending money on projects that will onlybenefit a few “mom-and-pop businesses.”

“Luring all this intense business activity intoOld Mandeville won’t benefit all of Mandeville,”he says. “People on the west side never visit OldMandeville, so how will it help them?”

Opening a new area to economic activitywill increase revenues and benefit the entirecity, Villere said.

“Of course one person or a group can say,‘I’ll never use it.’ But that’s their choice. Noteverybody has a boat and uses the harbor orwalks the lakefront or drives on one particularstreet. But when you look at the community asa whole, it does benefit the community,” themayor says.

Organic growthNick Powers, owner of the Barley Oak OldWorld Draught House, says he does not haveany faith that the town center plan will be

implemented, having failed so many timesbefore. Part of the problem is that the citydoesn’t know what direction it wants to go in,he says.

Some residents want it to remain a bed-room community while others want to seemore investment to attract new businesses andincrease foot traffic.

The politicians have failed to provide anyclarity, Powers says.

“They’re all elected officials so they’regoing to tell the business people one thing andthe residents another. That’s just the game, soI don’t know where they stand. But I do knowthat if the city council and the mayor at anytime really wanted this, it would have beendone already.”

Instead of waiting for the government tomake it a reality, Powers believes entrepre-neurs need to take control. That’s why he isbuilding the Old Rail Brewing Co. next to thetrailhead.

A locally owned microbrewery, Old Rail isscheduled to open in April and is expected toattract people from throughout the region andconvince other businesses that OldMandeville is a wise investment, Powers says.Over time it will create a natural town centerinstead of one created by the city, he adds.

“That’s my hope, that someone else will seethere’s tons of potential there. That’s why wechose the location. Doing something like thison the trailhead is a no-brainer and could be thecatalyst for something bigger,” Powers says.•

I’m frustrated that the city has a complete lack of vision in terms

of what needs to happen here.

SHEILA GOODSONowner

Kickstand Café “ ”



T h e p e o p l e o f S t . T a m m a n y

PeopleAccountingLaPorte CPAs & Business Advisorshas promoted Sarah Franatovichand Daniel Williams to seniormanager, Lester Richoux tomanager, JordonMontz, MeganWild and SarahYrle to seniorauditors andNikki Geeslingto senioraccountant.

AwardsSt. Tammany Parish Hospitalemployees Chloe Coombe andTracey Pierce were nominated forspecial recognition by theirpatients at a Northshore DistrictNurses Association reception.

The Professional Women of St.Tammany has recognized DianLusher with its 2011 ProfessionalWoman of the Year.

The Commercial Real EstateDivision of the NationalAssociation of Realtors has recog-nized Beth Cristina, commercialbroker associate at StirlingProperties, with its 2011 NationalCommercial award.

Slidell Memorial Hospitalnurses Ann McNair andRosemary Palmisano and St.Tammany Parish Hospital nursesRobin Birdsong, MeghannBrown and Kerry Chanson wererecognized by the Great 100Nurses Foundation.

BankingBusiness First Bank has named AliciaRobertson senior vice president and director oftreasury management.

ElectionsBusinessman David Ellis has announced hiscandidacy for the District 1 seat on theMandeville City Council.

EngineeringMWH Americas Inc. has promoted Chris Young to Gulf Coastregional manager.

General businessThe East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce has named PeterCavignac, Kathy Lowrey, Steven Kernahan, S. MicheleBlanchard and Polly Davenport to its board of directors for athree-year term.

GovernmentMandeville Mayor Don Villere has named Frank Oliveri III city finance director.

HealthcareSt. TammanyParish Hospitalhas welcomedDrs. L. ScottClements, AmarDave, ArletteDelcham,Thomas Efird, Alma Gjino, Troy Hutchins and Rodrigo Saenz to its medical staff.

Also at STPH, Caitlin Gallegos has been named to American Society for ClinicalPathology Ambassadors, Randy Lala has received the Certified Surgical First Assistant

Community shots

The East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce held its Athena Leadership Awards luncheonOct. 12. Sharron Newton was the winner of the Leadership Award, and Linda Larkin won theYoung Professional Leadership Award. Front row, from left: Sylvia Black, Newton, Larkin andpast recipient Patricia Hedges. Back row: Past recipients Carol Wolfram, Joan Archer, LydiaAlford, Irma Cry, Susanne Parsons-Stymiest, Mary DuBuisson and Dr. Jeanne Reeves.

Send us your people newsNorth Shore Report welcomes submissions for Around the Parish. To be consid-ered for inclusion in a coming issue, information must be received six weeks tothe anticipated publication date, which is the first day of the issue month.Submissions, including photographs, are published subject to space availabili-ty. Photos submitted by email should be in color and in .jpg format. Black-and-white photos will not be published.

Please email all submissions to Jennifer Nall at [email protected], or call (504) 293-9203 for more information.

All photo attachments and submissions must include the subject’s name.

SarahFranatovich

Daniel Williams

E A S T S T. TA M M A N Y C H A M B E R

Ann McNairBeth Cristina

Jordon Montz Megan Wild

Chloe Coombe Tracey Pierce Dian Lusher

Sarah Yrle Nikki Geesling

Kerry ChansonRobin Birdsong Meghann Brown

RosemaryPalmisano

Alicia Robertson David Ellis

Chris Young

Rebecca Patton Terri JohnstonCaitlin Gallegos Randy Lala

Brenda Reine-Bertus, left, executivedirector of the St. TammanyEconomic Development Foundation,was the guest speaker at the St.Tammany West Chamber’sPresident’s Roundtable on Nov. 16.Chamber Chairwoman Lisa Blossmanis pictured with Reine-Bertus.

S T. TA M M A N Y W E S T C H A M B E R

Lester Richoux



STPH Service Awards

St. Tammany Parish Hospital held its 39th annual Service Award BanquetOct. 6 at Tchefuncta Country Club in Covington where it honored 95 employ-ees who reached service milestones. Employees with 20 years of serviceand more are listed below.

45 years: Pat Pope, human resources

35 years: Sylvia Chapman, NICU; Kathleen Hill, food services; and CatherineLecce, cath lab

30 years: Joan Badon, rehab unit; Levon Harry, materials management; GinaKemp, laboratory, Susan Stahl, oncology; Brenda Sullivan, cardiology; SusanTitman, CCU; and Catherine Travis, 2 East

25 years: Lynda Jeansonne, education, development and training; MaryKrentel, post anesthesia care unit; and Veronica Pregeant, CovingtonSurgery Center

20 years: Mark Baham, information systems; Gloria Bowden, CovingtonSurgery Center; Celina Brumfield, central scheduling; Lori Chopin, medicalstaff office; Gerard Haulard, surgery; Kellie Helm, emergency care services;Grace Herring, 2 East; Seana Hester, labor and delivery; Vincent ImbraguglioIII, security; Janet Kennedy, nursing administration; Lisa Kinler, respiratoryservices; Nancy Ledet, surgical services; Mathilde Lyon, 2 West; JuanitaPlescia, cath lab; Jeannette Rousseau, diabetes education; Rodney Schafer,surgery; and Jane Simmons, endoscopy

OpeningsColdwater Creek, 3410 Highway 190, andBuckle, 3470 Highway 190, have openedat the Premier Centre in Mandeville.

Hospice Compassus has opened at 770Gause Blvd., Suite C, Slidell.

EmbroidMe has opened at 58465 TylerDrive, Suite 11, Slidell.

Christopher’s on Carey has opened at2228 Carey St., Slidell.

The Mande Bay Center, a new retail com-mercial development, has opened at 2595Florida St., Mandeville.

Izabella’s Villa has opened at 3971Pontchartrain Drive, Suite 9, Slidell.

GymMatrix has opened at 796 E. I-10Service Road, Suite 190, Slidell.

Innovative Medical Clinic has opened at1570 Lindberg Drive, Suite 12, Slidell.

Landlubbers Pub and Club has opened at3628 Pontchartrain Drive, Slidell.

The French Address has opened at 345Gause Blvd. W., Slidell.

MovingNorth Oaks ENT & Allergy Clinic andNorthshore Internal Medicine Associateshave moved to the new North Oaks ClinicBuilding at 15813 Paul Vega MD Drive,Hammond.

Speedway Printing and Copy Center hasmoved to 1310 Lakewood Drive, Slidell.

Business notablesStirling Properties has announced its affilia-tion with the Retail Brokers Network.

FYI

Community shots

credential fromthe NationalBoard of SurgicalTechnology andSurgical Assistingand RebeccaPatton has beennamed 3-Southnursing unitdepartment head. Nurse TerriJohnston has received the 2011fall professional education schol-arship from the St. TammanyParish Hospital Medical StaffCommittee, and Susan May andNerle Gutierrez have retired.

The St. Tammany HospitalGuild has awarded St. TammanyParish employees Shannon Holley and Benjamin Wilkins with allied health scholar-ships, Robin Gitz, Brian Melton and Amanda Swenson with nursing scholarshipsand Joseph Cannon III its John Copeland professional education scholarship.

North Oaks Orthopaedic Specialty Center has welcomed Drs. Brian Ladner andJudson Penton to its medical staff.

LawFrank Lamothe III, of Lamothe Lea Aertker, has been named tothe Council of Directors for the Louisiana Association for Justiceand was re-elected to the American Board of Trial Advocates’ 2012national board of directors.

Lamothe Lea Aertker has named Wm. David Coffey an attor-ney in its Covington office.

RealestateLatter and BlumInc. has namedJavonnaMercadel anagent in its Slidelloffice andRawlinsColomb an agentin Mandeville.

Corporate Realty has namedMaureen Clary general manager.

Stirling Properties has pro-moted Chris Abadie to vice pres-ident and manager of the com-mercial brokerage division andnamed Jennifer West an accountssystems analyst.

Gulf States Real Estate Services has named Matthew Saucier a propertymanager and Terrie Hughes a real estate agent.

Susan May Robin Gitz

Brian Ladner

Nerle Gutierrez Brian Melton

Amanda Swenson Judson Penton

Frank Lamothe III

JavonnaMercadel

Maureen Clary

Matthew Saucier

Rawlins Colomb Chris Abadie

Jennifer West Terrie Hughes

P H O T O C O U R T E S Y S T. TA M M A N Y PA R I S H H O S P I TA L

Sylvia Chapman, left, and Kathleen Hill show off their certificates of recognition at St.Tammany Parish Hospital’s 39th annual Service Award Banquet. Both have worked for35 years at the hospital.

St. Tammany Parish Hospital employees celebrated the opening of a new skybridge thatconnects its east and west campuses. From left: Kathy Brumfield, Tomekia Pierre, FredaDarby, Catherine James and Tess Berry.

P H O T O C R E D I T: S T. TA M M A N Y PA R I S H H O S P I TA L



P r e s t i g e P r e v i e w

Advertise YourNorth Shore Business HERE

For information or to reserve space, please contact

JACLYN MEITH504.293.9229

[email protected]

CASSIE FOREMAN504.293.9222

[email protected]

❑

❑

❑

❑



1400 North Lane, Mandeville facebook.com/habitatstwrestore

Building Supplies

Drop. Drop off reusable building materials, home furnishing and appliances at the ReStore for resale.

Shop. building materials and household goods.

Build.

www.edwardjones.comMember SIPC

Tyler V. Gugliuzza2051 East Gause Blvd, Ste. 60

Slidell, LA 70461985-661-8139

Jeanette M Sanford2170 Hwy 190, Ste. 135

Slidell, LA 70460985-781-7683

Jerrold A Rabalais209 West Hwy 22, Ste. H Madisonville, LA 70447

985-845-1072

Evan F Gremillion255 West Florida StreetMandeville, LA 70448

985-674-0888

Debbie P Stuart, AAMS®

3979 Hwy 190, Ste. DCovington, LA 70433

985-892-6154

Chris Thibeaux308 Dalwill Drive

Mandeville, LA 70471985-626-8742

Retirement MayBe Far Off,But the April 17 Deadline forIRA Contributions Isn’t.

P r e s t i g e P r e v i e w



w o r d

For the past few months, attorney and formerfighter pilot Howard Daigle Jr. has helpednew St. Tammany’s new parish president,

Pat Brister, navigate her transition to power. Over the past 10 years, Daigle has committed

more of his spare time to civic endeavors in St.Tammany, including a recent stint as chairman ofthe Northshore Business Council, where he workedclosely with Brister. He is a founding and managingpartner of the law firm Daigle, Fisse and Kessenich.

What was the most rewardingaspect of leading Brister’s transition team?The most rewarding part has been meeting theprofessionals who work behind the scenes. Also,I’ve worked with Pat in the past, but this is (work-ing with her) more as a colleague. For both Patand I, that’s been particularly rewarding.

How did she choose you to lead the transition?I was chairman of the Northshore BusinessCouncil and Pat came on as executive director,(and) I think that’s where we built a mutual rela-tionship and friendship.

What will be the most evident indication a new president is in place, the first thing residentswill see?I’m not certain people will see anything dramaticat first. They should see a seamless transition. Thefirst six months, the changes they will see are tothe organizational structure and to some (new)faces … but we’ve been blessed the last 12 yearswith solid leadership. It’s more of changing thehabit of doing things one way and asking, “Is itreally the best practices in 2012? If not how do wefine tune it to get best practices?”

At this time in your life, why haveyou chosen to get so involved?I’m at the stage in my profession that I want togive back to the community that’s been so good tome. Also, my daughters are at a stage in theircareers where they don’t have as much opportuni-ty here … and are looking to Austin or California.All of us, people around my age, would like to seeopportunity here for our daughters and sons.

What was your first job?I was a bellman at a hotel, the Oak Manor Motelon Airline Highway in Baton Rouge. I learnedmore about human nature working there thananywhere else.

What about human nature did you learn there?That truly successful people always have time tochat with you about your interests despite their jobstatus. Also, that there is always going to be thetype of jerk who wouldn’t tip you if you ran a packof cigarettes out to them in the rain.

You commanded an F4 Phantom inthe Air Force. What is your favoritepilot movie?“The High and the Mighty” with John Wayne.•

Age: 64Family: wife, Jaie; daughters, Meghan, 28, Kelsey, 25Education: Louisiana State University Law SchoolHometown: Baton Rouge

PH

OTO

BY

FRAN

K A

YMAM

I

with Howard Daigle Jr., attorney

B y J a i m e G u i l l e t

Contributing Writer


1 - 8 6 6 - 7 - L U C K Y - 1 ( 8 6 6 - 7 5 8 - 2 5 9 1 ) h o l l y w o o d b s l . c o m

$29 golf rate valid Monday thru Thursday after 1pm, must be Club Hollywoodsm Member. Subject to availability. Some restrictions apply. Must be 21 to gamble. Problem Gambling? Call 1-888-777-9696.

Call now to make your reservation 1-800-WIN-BIG-2 (800-946-2442)

WE’VE GOT GREAT GREENS

LOW RATES STARTING AT

$29 PER PERSON

Play like a star and enjoy the 24-hour action of slots, tables and live poker.

Then experience the fantastic nightlife and the incredible flavors of our four

restaurants, including Bogart’s Steakhouse.

EW

E GV’’VE

OTE G

G

AEEARGW

RGTAATE GV

NEEROTE G

SN

$W ROL

SOREPEP29$TRATTAS SETAATW R

NSOR

TG AATNIT

T

P

uoe ykao mw tol nlaC

anruatser

tnae fhe tcneirepxn eehT

ojnd enr aate a skiy lalP

NIW-008-n 1oitavreser ru

Ss’targo Bgnidulcn is,tan

e ihd tne afilthgic nitsat

f sn ooitcr auoh-4e 2hy t

)2442-649-0082 (-GIB-N

.esuohaket S

r fuf os orovale flbidrecn

e povid lns aelba, tstolf s

ruor f

.reke po

f rlo9 g2$

8-1

m,mpr 1etfy aadsruhTu rhy tadnod Mile vataf r

1-YKCUL7 --668

6969-777-888- 1lal C?gniblam GmeblorPo at tcejbu. Srebme MsmoodHollywb ule Ct bsu m

)192 5-857-6 68(

.6e 2t bsu. Mylpps anoitcirtsee rmo. Sytilibaliavo a

.lsbdoowylloh

.elbmao g1 te 2

moc.


36 SPECIALTIES, A 24-HOUR ER, 340+ DOCTORS &

Call 985-649-7070 for more information. Visit ochsner.org/northshore for locations, to find a doctor and to see a complete list of accepted insurance plans.

OVER 26 INSURANCE PLANS ACCEPTED

©2012 Ochsner Health System (ochsner.org) is a non-profit, academic, multi-specialty, healthcare delivery system dedicated to patient care, research and education. *Private room offering subject to availability depending on capacity or constraints.

- Most insurance plans accepted at our full-service hospital with 24-hour emergency room, six health centers, two women's health centers, heart and vascular health center, and our dedicated children's health center with pediatric cardiology services

- Over 300 experienced and compassionate physicians and specialists caring for your health

- Private inpatient rooms* for you and your loved ones at our hospital


old town turmoil taming the teen · carnival season now that i can fully enjoy all of the parades,...

Documents