Zartler, Stanley promoted

With the growing demand for sporting events and sports destination management, Visit Lake Charles named Eric Zartler as the senior vice president of sports and Taylor Beard Stanley as the vice president of sales.

Zartler has been an integral leader in sports destination marketing and management over the past 15 years. Team awards under Zartler’s leadership include the 2021 Louisiana USSSA Hall of Honor and the 2020 Louisiana Travel Association Event of the Year for the USA Boxing National Championships & Olympic Trials.

He was awarded the 2016 Distinguished Service Award by the Louisiana High School Coaches Association, the 2012 Louisiana High School Athletic Association Super Sport Award, and 2012 Thrive Magazine’s 13 Thriving Thirty Somethings. He is a Certified Destination Management Executive, Travel Marketing Professional, and he graduated from the Louisiana Tourism Leadership Academy and Destinations International Sales Academy. Zartler was the founding chair and has served multiple terms as chair for Team Louisiana. He is on the US Sports Congress Advisory Board and the Sports Events Advisory Board.

Stanley has worked to promote Southwest Louisiana for the past six years. She earned her Tourism Marketing Certification in 2022 and was named as a U.S. Travel Emerging Leader in 2022. She graduated from Leadership SWLA in 2021, was named as a Destinations International 30 under 30, and recognized as Louisiana Travel Rising Star of the Year in 2020. Stanley also graduated in 2018 from the Louisiana Tourism Leadership Academy. She is involved as a board member for the Louisiana Society of Association Executives, Fusion Five, and she is on the leadership councils for Destinations International 30 Under 30 and Leadership Southwest Louisiana Alumni.

LC native named Waggoner COO

JACKSON, Miss. — Waggoner Engineering has announced that Matthew Butler has been appointed president and chief operating officer. Butler is based in Waggoner’s Jackson office as a member of the company’s executive leadership team.

Raised in Lake Charles, Butler graduated with a Bachelor of Science from McNeese State University in environmental science. He was also the executive director and market leader for the regional offices of CSRS.

As president/COO, Butler is primarily responsible for managing the company’s day-to-day affairs, accelerating firmwide operational performance, and overseeing the transformation of the company’s business model in collaboration with leaders from across the firm.

A senior executive with over 30 years of experience, Butler has helped transform large engineering and construction firms into recognized infrastructure and environmental leaders.

Before joining the firm, Butler was a vice president for Atlas Technical Consultants, responsible for overall profit growth, execution, and strategy of Louisiana operations. In 30 months, he helped them grow to 60 full-time employees, with a profit growth of 38 percent.

He also held several senior-level executive positions throughout his career, including Vice President with Jacobs Engineering and Senior Vice President for the Shaw Group and CB&I.

A supporter of many social, civic, and charitable organizations throughout Southwest Louisiana, Butler serves on the Board of Directors for the Young Leaders Academy, the Baton Rouge Metro Airport Commission and as a Governor appointee to the Pontchartrain Levee District Board of Commissioners. Butler has also held memberships in several other local and national non-profit agencies.

Butler holds a Master of Science degree from Southern University.

Rashall named CSO of hospital

Memorial Health System is pleased to announce the promotion of Jason Rashall as chief strategy officer.

Rashall has served LCMHS since 2013, most recently as executive vice president of strategy and business development, and has over 25 years of experience working in the healthcare arena.

In recent years, Rashall’s strategic efforts have been instrumental in producing substantial new business growth for LCMHS, and strengthening / connecting provider affiliations across Southwest Louisiana.

As chief strategy officer for the region’s largest community healthcare system, Rashall will oversee various business development, payer contracting strategies, and other initiatives to better align health care services and patient accessibility for the Southwest Louisiana community.

Allen Parish recognized

Allen Parish Community Healthcare is proud to announce that it has been named a 2022 Human Experience (HX) Guardian of Excellence Award winner by Press Ganey, the global leader in healthcare experience solutions and services.

As a winner of the Press Ganey HX Guardian of Excellence Award, Allen Parish is in the top 5 percent of health care providers in delivering patient experience in the last year. Press Ganey works with more than 41,000 health care facilities in its mission to reduce patient suffering and enhance caregiver resilience to improve the overall safety, quality, and experience of care.

Avery, Allured, Zaveri on board

Visit Lake Charles is proud to announce the appointments of Eric Avery, Nathaniel Allured, and Hiren Zaveri to the board of directors.

Avery is the president and managing partner of Crying Eagle Brewing Company and Neighborhood Mini Storage. Over the years, he has been involved with the Board of Directors for SWLA Chamber of Commerce, Louisiana Brewers Guild, Immaculate Conception Cathedral School, American Red Cross, Self-Storage Association of Louisiana, Chamber SWLA and Big Easy Foods. He has extensive civic, medical and non-profit volunteer experience. A native of Sulphur, Avery earned his Bachelor of Science from McNeese State University in 1999 and his master’s degree from LSU in 2001.

A Lake Charles native and graduate of McNeese, Allured spent most of his post-collegiate career in the wine industry as a sales manager with a top national distributor. In 2015, after nearly a decade in the wine business, he formed Calcasieu RR Enterprisess. Allured embarked on two new endeavors in 2018 launching Smoke & Barrel and The Grounds Guys of Lake Charles, a professional lawn and landscape company. In 2021, he was appointed to the Downtown Development Authority and was invited by Just Imagine SWLA to be the Project Champion of the Strong Downtowns team

A Lake Charles native, Zaveri attended LSU and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in accounting in 2014, completing his MBA in 2021 from McNeese. He is the co-founder of Prosperity Hospitality Management, serving as the CFO for Prosperity Hospitality. Zaveri also owns and manages several hotels in the Lake Charles/Sulphur area, and he is a member of the Greater Lake Charles Rotary Club where he serves as a board member and executive treasurer. Zaveri is also a previous ambassador for the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) in the Gulf Region.

Zaveri presents the Southwest Louisiana Lodging Association.