News | November 2016

Douglas Menefee has joined Stuller Inc. as the vice president of business solutions, responsible for the jewelry manufacturer’s Gemvision and TDM Solutions’ development and support teams. 

“Doug, a Lafayette native, brings with him more than 20 years of experience in entrepreneurism and information technology,” Danny Clark, president and COO of Stuller says in a release announcing the new hire. “With a career history in strategic planning and the development of innovative technologies, we felt he would be a great fit to evolve our software solutions.”

Iberia Parish made history last week when it claimed its first certified Louisiana Economic Development site.

One Acadiana, Cleco, Acadiana Regional Airport and the Iberia Industrial Development Foundation worked in conjunction to obtain the necessary reports and documents for the certification, which is the fifth such certified site in the region. A site classified as LED certified is a development-ready site for potential businesses.  

1A Member Empire Today is now open inside JCPenney in Lafayette inside Acadiana Mall. Customers can save $500 off* flooring during Empire Today Store’s Black Friday Sale valid Thursday, November 24th – Friday, November 25th.

See Coupon for Details

Acadiana students have a new pathway to an education in computer science thanks to a new articulation agreement between local schools.

A "2+2" articulation agreement signed Tuesday connects South Louisiana Community College’s application software development program and University of Louisiana at Lafayette's informatics program.

As he's done many times over the past few months, Department of Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc got up in front of a crowd last week to talk about criminal justice overhaul. 

LeBlanc has been going around the state for most of the past year talking about what can be done to bring down Louisiana's prison population. He headed the corrections department for Gov. Bobby Jindal and is now working for Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Offering customized incentive packages and aligning its post-secondary educational programs with local industries, Acadiana has created a choice location for growth. A recent tech boom – sparked by public and private investments – gives a glimpse into the bright future of this region.

Board and Officers Chosen for 2017

BATON ROUGE -- The Louisiana Industrial Development Executives Association (LIDEA) has elected its board and officers for 2017. The Board of Directors includes representatives ranging from parish level economic developers, regional economic development organizations, state economic development officials, and industry consultants. In addition to its Board of Directors, LIDEA's membership has elected its officers to help guide and prioritize the association's 2017 activities. The 2017 slate includes:

Officers:

The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry presented its Free Enterprise Award for dedication in moving Louisiana forward to recipients, naming two Lafayette companies. 

The awards presented were the Free Enterprise Champions awards to Andree Begneaud, of Begneaud Manufacturing Inc., and Companies of the Year with more than 100 employees to CGI.

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1. Give me a brief history of your company. Now in our 24th year, Engel & Völkers Lafayette-Lake Charles began as PAR Realty. The name reflected founder Peggy Grace’s maiden initials and simultaneously alluded to Le Triomphe Golf and Country Club, where she launched her independent brokerage.

The Louisiana Department of Education released the 2015-2016 school and district performance score reports, showing a continued increase in student achievement in nearly every measure of academic progress in Louisiana's public schools.

Recent performance scores illustrate the great strides that our regional educational systems are taking to improve education across the region. We congratulate our students, teachers, staff, administration, and school boards for the hard work they have done over the last year.

Read coverage from around the region: