Names in the News: People shaping the future of Lake Area business

Published 7:37 pm Tuesday, March 15, 2022

French LNG Center director

McNeese State University announced that Jason French, a leader and highly regarded consultant in the liquid natural gas industry, has been named executive director of the McNeese LNG Center of Excellence.

French is the principal and founder of French Strategic Partners, a full-service governmental affairs and business consultancy firm based in Baton Rouge. He has extensive experience in the LNG industry. Prior to establishing his firm, he served as senior director of governmental and public affairs for Cheniere Energy Inc. and vice president of government and public affairs for Tellurian Inc. He served as the first chair of the Louisiana Energy Export Association, a trade group dedicated to advocating on behalf of the LNG industry.

Email newsletter signup

French holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Louisville. He has served on boards for the World Trade Center of New Orleans, Council for a Better Louisiana, Committee of 100 of Louisiana and the Louisiana Gulf Coast Oil Exposition.

Partin named  to state board

BATON ROUGE —Kalyn R. Partin of Lake Charles has been appointed to the Chenier Plain Coastal Restoration and Protection Authority by Gov. John Bel Edwards.

The Chenier Plain CRPA is a political subdivision of the state of Louisiana, and through its board of commissioners, is organized with the primary duty to establish, construct, operate, or maintain flood control works as they relate to hurricane protection, tidewater flooding, saltwater intrusion, and conservation, and a secondary duty to establish flood control, adequate drainage relating to tidal or riverine flooding, and water resources development including but not limited to construction of reservoirs, diversion canals, gravity and pump drainage systems, erosion control measures, and marsh management, and is authorized to enter into contracts and agreements.

Partin is a District 7 construction coordinator for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. She was nominated by the Police Jury of Calcasieu Parish and will serve as a professional engineer.

Guillory finishes term as president

Tony Guillory, District 4 Calcasieu Parish Police Juror, and past Police Jury president for 2020, has completed his term as president of the Police Jury Association of Louisiana’s Executive Board for 2021.

Guillory was sworn in last February and was officially recognized at the Police Jury Association of Louisiana’s convention, held last May in Baton Rouge.

Guillory is the sixth police juror from Calcasieu Parish to serve on this board. He served as third vice president in 2019 and as vice president in 2020.

As president, Guillory said he and PJAL fought hard in Baton Rouge and Washington D.C. in support of offshore drilling and tax incentive programs to bring business to the state.

Guillory is serving his fourth term as District 4 Police Juror. A lifelong resident of Lake Charles, he is employed by Don Harris State Farm Insurance Company.

Established in 1924, the Police Jury Association of Louisiana was created to improve parish government in Louisiana. Membership is open to each of the 64 parishes whether they’re organized as a Police Jury, Parish Council, Parish Commission, or a consolidated or city-parish form of government.

Primeaux named to state board

BATON ROUGE — Wendy B. Primeaux of Grand Lake has been reappointed to the Volunteer Louisiana Commission.

The commission serves to encourage community service as a means of community and state problem-solving, promote and support citizen involvement in government and private programs, develop a long-term comprehensive vision and plan for action for community service initiatives in Louisiana, act as the state’s policy-making body for the Corporation on National and Community Service, and serve as the state’s liaison to national and state organizations that support its mission.

Primeaux is a former case manager supervisor at Catholic Charities of Southwest Louisiana. She will represent community-based organizations.

EXIT welcomes three to team

Local EXIT Realty affiliated offices are pleased to announce the addition of the following individuals to their teams of dedicated real estate professionals.

Mallory Monteith has joined EXIT Realty Southern located at 2915 Commons St.

Lauren Hoffpauir and Sabryna Savell have joined EXIT Bayou Realty located at 824 Sam Houston Jones Pkwy Suite C.

These EXIT Realty offices are proud members of EXIT Realty of Louisiana’s rapidly expanding network of independently owned and operated brokerages across the region.

OGA, LOGA host industry meeting

BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association and the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association held a joint industry annual meeting March 7-8 at The Golden Nugget. The meeting brought local, state and national stakeholders together to discuss the state of the oil and natural gas industry, its vital impact on the state and the importance of making Louisiana an attractive place for industry to continue to invest.

The meeting program featured panel discussions on carbon capture technology and industry’s role in the energy transition. Other meeting highlights included a panel on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the future of the workforce. Speaker highlights included Attorney General Jeff Landry, Mayor of Lake Charles Nic Hunter, Senate President Page Cortez and Speaker of the House Clay Schexnayder.

LMOGA and LOGA each held meetings of their respective board of directors during the meeting as well. During the LMOGA Board Meeting, the trade association elected new board leadership, Selby Bush Lilley, BHP as LMOGA Chair and Joel Noyes, Hess Corporation, as LMOGA Vice Chair.

Fairbanks to lead Cameron LNG

HACKBERRY — Cameron LNG today announced that Whitney “Whit” Fairbanks has been named president of Cameron LNG effective March 9.

Fairbanks spent over a decade at Hunt Oil Company, where he managed Hunt LNG Operating Company, the operator of Peru LNG, consisting of a 4.4 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) LNG liquefaction plant, a 400-kilometer natural gas pipeline, and more than 400 employees. While at Peru LNG, Fairbanks led numerous successful initiatives centered around operational excellence, customer satisfaction, stakeholder engagement, and facility expansion.

Prior to joining Cameron LNG, Fairbanks served as a managing member of El Bucare Consulting, LLC, a strategy and management advisory company based in Dallas, Texas. Previously, Fairbanks held various leadership roles at Hunt Oil Company, including vice president for strategy and planning; vice president and general manager, Hunt LNG Operating Company; and general manager, Hunt Marcellus.

The Cameron LNG liquefaction export project in Hackberry reached full commercial operations of Phase 1 in August 2020. To date, the facility has exported more than 351 cargoes of U.S. natural gas to 29 countries worldwide.

Hospital awarded lab accreditation

SULPHUR — West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Laboratory Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects a healthcare organization’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care.

West Calcasieu Cameron Hospital underwent a rigorous onsite review in October 2021. During the visit, a team of Joint Commission reviewers evaluated compliance with laboratory standards spanning several areas, including bacteriology, blood transfusion services, clinical chemistry, urinalysis, hematology, coagulation, immunology, molecular testing, parasitology, virology, blood gases and information management.

The Joint Commission’s standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. They are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus to help healthcare organizations measure, assess and improve performance. The surveyors also conducted onsite observations and interviews.

The Game adds new voice

LAFAYETTE — THE GAME (KLWB & KLCJ) is proud to announce that Matt Miguez is joining the station as the new afternoon drive host. “Crunch Time with Miguez & Meche” will air weekday afternoons on 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles from 4-6 starting today, March 14.

Miguez will also serve as a content creator for the station’s website — www.1037thegame.com — and social media accounts.

The 24-year-old Miguez comes to THE GAME after having hosted Ragin’ Review Podcast for the past four years, covering the Ragin’ Cajuns for Underdog Dynasty for three seasons, and also contributing to Canal Street Chronicles.

The Crowley native will be graduating this May from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a bachelor’s degree in general studies. He attended and graduated from Midland High School (Class of 2015).

Royer graduates as CTS specialist

ALEXANDRIA — The Louisiana Travel Association celebrated the graduation of Kyler Royer, tourist information manager of the Jeff Davis Parish Tourist Commission from the inaugural class of Louisiana’s Certified Travel Specialists (CTS) at the association’s 2022 annual meeting.

The 47 members of the CTS class spent all of 2021 developing their skills through four educational sessions. The graduates learned about customer service, heard from leaders in the state travel industry, explored their personal growth process, learned how to navigate Louisiana tourism resources and connected their jobs with their community.