Stough joins FlyGuys team

Joe Stough, a 30-year enterprise software business entrepreneur and prior President and COO of Waitr, has joined the FlyGuys team as executive chairman.

A Louisiana native and current Lake Charles resident, Stough will serve as strategic adviser and leadership coach for the local Lafayette-based startup. Since 2013, Stough served in multiple key roles for Waitr including initial seed investor, founding board member, and president and COO.  Since then his focus has been on building the tech economy in Louisiana.

Before Waitr, Stough was the sole founder of Syntex Management Systems, Inc. (acquired by IHS, Inc.), which provided enterprise-level operational excellence software and analytics to the Energy and chemical industries and other heavy industry businesses. Prior to the acquisition by IHS, Stough was the original designer and visionary behind its flagship software and analytics platform, IMPACT, which he grew to a global footprint in over 100 countries and over 20 languages with corporate contracts and worldwide implementations for ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Shell, Total, LyondellBasell, and many other world leaders.

In 2018, Stough became president and COO of Waitr helping guide the team through its emergence as a public company. Stough provided oversight and vision for Waitr’s scalable management structure and intentional culture development efforts using the leadership coaching program, Interpersonal Technology, for which Stough has obtained exclusive rights and is using to enhance FlyGuys leadership team capabilities.

Stough not only brings his record of successfully stewarding technology businesses to FlyGuys but also shares his wealth of knowledge with other Louisiana-based companies. In addition to serving on the board of other tech startups, Something Borrowed Blooms (also Lafayette-based) and LandTrust.com, Stough serves as an independent director and technology committee member for both First Federal Bank of Louisiana and Ducks Unlimited, Inc North America. He advises the management team at First Federal Bank as they transform their services into digital platforms. At Ducks Unlimited, Stough advises the board on governance metrics as well as technology transformation.

Thomas named adminstrator

At Home Compassionate Care is pleased to announce that Callie M. Thomas has been approved by the state of Louisiana as executive administrator of the agency.

Thomas has been employed with At Home Compassionate Care since May of 2020 as vice president of operations and marketing. She will expand her role with executive duties as our agency continues to grow throughout the state.

At Home Compassionate Care is Southwest Louisiana’s premier personal care service provider. Their focus is providing quality, compassionate, and reliable care.

Jackson named VP at Boys Ranch

When star player Adrian Jackson of Lake Charles finally played his last game, it was to begin a life of service.

The 1992 graduate of Washington-Marion High School has worked since January 1997 at Boys Ranch, a residential childcare facility, where he is now vice president of home life.

After graduating from high school, Jackson played basketball for Clarendon College in Clarendon, Texas, for two years before playing for and graduating from Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Okla.

After graduation, Jackson and his wife, Telita, searched for jobs in nearby Amarillo, Texas.

They found Boys Ranch, a facility for at-risk youth that serves children at no charge to the families, and they began work as houseparents. They will mark 25 years with the organization in January 2022.

Pinch named  to state board

BATON ROUGE —  Captain Robert N. Pinch of Lake Charles has been appointed to the Associated Branch Pilots for the Port of Lake Charles by Gov. John Bel Edwards. The Associated Branch Pilots for the Port of Lake Charles help safely navigate crude oil, gasoline, liquefied natural gas, chemicals, aggregate, bulk agricultural, and bulk pet-coke through the ship channel to their ports.

Pinch is a river pilot for the Lake Charles Pilots Association.

He will serve as a River Port Pilot for the Intracoastal Canal, Calcasieu and Sabine Rivers bars and passes.