CSE multiple Diamond Award winner

LAS VEGAS – CSE Federal Credit Union was among 168 credit unions nationwide named as winners of prestigious Diamond Awards – the Marketing & Business Development Council’s annual marketing excellence competition.

CSE’s first award presented for the Annual Report category with an entry, entitled “The Grass Is Greener at CSE – 79th Annual Report” earning Category’s Best Diamond Award. The second category win was Video Non-Commercial – Single, titled “Pink is Powerful” impressed the judges with CSE’s efforts in speaking about why employees wear pink for breast cancer awareness month.

CSE rounded out its honors with a win in the Email – Single or Series category, an email sent to Members asking them to leave a Goole Review to enter to win a King Cake. Reviews about employees were shared on social media with their pictures, making post engagements skyrocket! Design partnerships include Parker Brand Creative of Sulphur, PMD Group of Houston and Lundmark Creative LLC of Lake Charles.

This year’s Diamond Awards marked a milestone, celebrating 30 years of excellence in credit union marketing and setting a record with over 350 awards distributed – underscoring the exceptional quality of marketing work being produced by credit unions nationwide.

First Federal Bank promotions

The Board of Directors of First Federal Bank of Louisiana has announced several officer promotions.

Mallie Bowers, director of human resources, has been promoted to senior vice president.

Matthew Knighton, lender and Sulphur branch manager, has been promoted to vice president.

Melissa Dickson, CRA manager, has been promoted to assistant vice president.

Veronica Declues, collections manager, has been promoted to bank officer.

John Faust, internal auditor, has been promoted to bank officer.

Foundation elects board

The Community Foundation elected four new members of the Board of Directors at the annual meeting.

Joining the Board of Directors are Mollie Broussard, CPA with McElroy, Quirk, & Burch; Kody Cannon, partner at Sigler, Arabie, and Cannon; Kade Trahan, business development manager at Trahan Construction; and Maria Laborde, community volunteer.

Newly elected Executive Committee members are: Jim Rock, board chair, Clair Hebert Marceaux, vice chair, Glenn Pumpelly, secretary, Owen Thompson, treasurer and Marshall Simien, Immediate Past Chair.

The Community Foundation Southwest Louisiana connects people who care with causes that matter to enhance the quality of life in Southwest Louisiana both now and forever. To learn more about the positive impact of the Foundation and how you can be involved, www.foundationswla.org.

Travis sworn in as board president

Vernon Travis has been sworn in for a one-year term with the Louisiana School Boards Association by Judge Elvin Fontenot during the Association’s 86th annual convention.

Travis was elected to the Vernon Parish School Board in 2007 and represents District Six.

Travis has served on the LSBA Board of Directors since 2018 in various leadership roles including the resolution committee, federal relations advocate, board of director, vice president, and president-elect over a period of 17 years.

Latiolais receives humanitarian award

BATON ROUGE – Dr. Steven R. Latiolais of Moss Bluff was named this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Service Award during the 143rd House of Delegates of the Louisiana Dental Association.

The LDA Humanitarian Award recognizes dentists who have distinguished themselves through outstanding dental service activities in the USA or abroad.

Latiolais’ humanitarian service includes a series of dental mission trips to Monterrey, Mexico; Potrerillos, Honduras and La Esperanza, Honduras. These mission trips provide critical dental care to residents of these locations who have little to no access to dental care. In addition to these missions, Dr. Latiolais is heavily involved in his church activities at First Baptist Moss Bluff and coached youth sports in his hometown in his younger years.

Outside of his charitable work, Latiolais has served as a delegate for the LDA House of Delegates, a member of the LDA Distinguished Award Committee, president of the Southwest Louisiana Dental Association, president of the Calcasieu Parish Study Club, a fellow in the American Endodontics Society and a member of the Christian Dental Society.

Latiolais has been a tripartite member of the ADA, the LDA and the Southwest Dental Association member for 45 years. He began his career with a BS degree in Biology and an MS degree in Zoology from McNeese State University. He then received a DDS degree from the Louisiana State University School of Dentistry in 1979 and has membership in the Orthopedics and Orthodontics arm of the United States Dental Institute. He practiced family dentistry for nearly 40 years in Moss Bluff.