LABI Announces 2020 Board of Directors, Emerging Leaders Council

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry formally announced its officers and board of directors for 2020 along with the members of the 2020 LABI Emerging Leaders Council, a group of distinguished entrepreneurs and young professionals.

“I look forward to working with this talented group of leaders willing to lend their time and voices as we look to bring solutions and ideas grounded in the principles of free enterprise to the State Capitol,” said LABI President Stephen Waguespack. “LABI is a member-driven organization with a 100-member board, and we’re proud of the fact that our board members come from every region of the state and across the many sectors of business and industry in Louisiana. We’re glad to have them on our team as we tackle the important issues that directly affect their ability to create jobs in Louisiana.”

Tom O’Neal, president of O’Nealgas Inc., will serve as the chair of LABI for 2020. He replaces Sonia Pérez, president of southeast states for AT&T, who becomes the immediate past chair. “It is truly an honor to be chosen to lead this group in such a critical year,” O’Neal said. “I look forward to working with all of LABI’s members to help address the state’s most pressing issues. Chief among them in my mind is the need to pass meaningful legal reform legislation, a desire shared by many across this state. Working together, I am confident we can get something done.”

Terry Baugh, chief financial officer of D&J Construction Company Inc., will serve as the board’s vice chair. Christel C. Slaughter, CEO of SSA Consultants, and Jude Melville, president of b1 Bank, will serve as secretary and treasurer respectively. Serving as chair of the Emerging Leaders Council is Meagan Shields, investment portfolio manager, Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corporation.

11 LABI members are new to the board and 20 leaders were re-nominated for another term. The combined list is as follows:

Jeff Albright – Trade Association Representative

Executive Vice President, Independent Insurance Agents of Louisiana (Baton Rouge) 

Robert Angelico

President and Managing Partner, Liskow & Lewis (New Orleans)

James A. Babst 

Attorney, Wegmann & Babst, LLC (New Orleans)

Bobby Barousse

Chief Financial Officer, Elmer Candy Corporation (Ponchatoula)

Bob Barton

Managing Partner, Taylor Porter (Baton Rouge)

Terry Baugh

Chief Financial Officer, D & J Construction Company, Inc. (West Monroe)

Robert S. Boh

President, Boh Brothers Construction Company, LLC (New Orleans)

Ayres Bradford

Business Development Director, Lincoln Builders, Inc. (Ruston)

Tom Cox

President, Golfballs.com, Inc. (Lafayette) 

Eric Danos

Owner Executive, Danos, LLC (Gray) 

Lavelle Edmondson 

Manager, State Government Affairs, Marathon Petroleum Company, LP (Texas City, Texas) 

Ronald Evans

Owner, International Packaging Company, LLC (Gretna)

Tommy Faucheux

Southeast U.S. State Government Affairs Leader, Dow Inc. (Plaquemine)

Courtney A. Fenet, Jr.

VP & Special Assistant to CEO and President, R. E. Heidt Construction Company, LLC (Sulphur)

John J. Finan, Jr.

President/CEO. Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System, Inc (Baton Rouge) 

Jay Guillot

Senior Vice President, Hunt, Guillot & Associates LLC (Ruston)

Chris Haskew

Louisiana Market President, Capital One Bank Louisiana (Baton Rouge) 

Bryan Jones

Gulf Coast Deputy Office Leader, HNTB Corporation (Baton Rouge) 

Raymond Lasseigne

President, TMR Exploration, Inc. (Bossier City)

Jerry Lebold

Senior Vice President & General Manager, BASF Corporation (Geismar)

Sandra Lindquist – Chamber of Commerce Representative

Vice President – Chief Operating Officer, New Orleans Chamber (New Orleans)

Melissa Mann

Senior Director of Government Affairs, Central Region, CenturyLink (Monroe) 

Jude Melville

President, b1 Bank (Baton Rouge) 

Jennifer Neil

General Counsel, Pool Corporation (Covington) 

Kenneth L. Ross

Managing Partner, Seale & Ross (Hammond)

Meagan Shields – Emerging Leaders Council Chair (ex oficio)

Investment Portfolio Manager & Enterprise Risk Specialist, Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation (Baton Rouge)

Dana Stumpf

Chief Executive Officer, Durr Heavy Construction, LLC (Harahan)

Kristin Wall

President/CEO, Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation (Baton Rouge) 

Peter Wilson

President & CEO, Barriere Construction Company, LLC (Metairie)

Robert Yarborough

Chief Executive Officer, Manda Fine Meats (Baton Rouge) 

Angela Zeringue

Polyolefins Plant Manager, ExxonMobil Chemical Company (Baton Rouge) 

The 13 new members of the 2020 LABI Emerging Leaders Council include:

Matt Adams

Regional Director, External Affairs, AT&T Louisiana (Baton Rouge) 

Hunter Chauvin

Partner, Liskow & Lewis (Lafayette) 

Carroll Devillier, Jr.

Partner, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, LLP (Baton Rouge) 

Arthur Dupre

President, ACE Scholarships Louisiana (Metairie) 

Chelsea Harris

Economic Development Marketing Strategist, Entergy Corporation (Baton Rouge) 

Jessica Judice

General Manager, Cintas Corporation (Lake Charles) 

Julie Laperouse

Director, Emergent Method (Baton Rouge) 

Trenton Rives

Project Manager, Hunt, Guillot & Associates LLC (Baton Rouge) 

Micah Schilling

Business Development, Pactec, Inc. (Clinton) 

Jeremy Stine

Marketing Director, Stine Lumber Company (Sulphur) 

Bo Thornhill

Director of Loss Control, Stupp Corporation (Baton Rouge) 

Allyce Trapp

Director of Governmental Affairs, Home Builders Association of Greater Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge) 

Trey Williams

Managing Partner – Owner, JRE Private Equity Group (Baton Rouge)