Investar Holding Corporation Appoints 3 New Board Members

BATON ROUGE – Investar Holding Corporation, the parent company of Investar Bank, has announced the addition of three new members to its board of directors.

Anita Fontenot is a Lafayette, Louisiana resident and has served as president of Southwest Fidelity Corporation since 2001. Southwest Fidelity Corporation is the holding company for nine finance companies in Louisiana’s Acadiana region that manages real estate, rental properties, other investments and a full-service independent insurance agency. She is involved in numerous civic and nonprofit associations and has been a member of Investar Bank’s board of directors since May 2017.

Julio Melara is the president and CEO of Melara Enterprises, which publishes the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, 225 Magazine, inRegister Magazine, Daily Report online news, 1012 Industry Report and other specialty publications. He is also the president and CEO of StudioE, a content, communications and creative studio. He has served on numerous boards of directors, including the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, National Alliance of Area Business Publishers, Tiger Athletic Foundation and the Joe Burrow Foundation. He has served on Investar Bank’s board of directors since July 2020.

Dr. James Yegge is a board-certified nephrologist at Renal Associates of Baton Rouge. He has lived in the Baton Rouge area since 2002. Yegge has been a member of Investar Bank’s board of directors since May 2017.

“We are very excited to have Anita Fontenot, Julio Melara and Dr. James Yegge join the Investar Holding Corporation board of directors. The leadership, guidance and wisdom they have provided have been invaluable. I have no doubt they will continue to help lead this corporation forward and strategically position us for continued success,” said John D’Angelo, the corporation’s president and CEO.