Brad Pecot has joined Comit Technologies, a Lafayette-based Web site design and search engine optimization firm, as Internet marketing specialist/project manager. Pecot is managing clients’ Web projects from inception to completion and ongoing maintenance, performing all Internet marketing and project management responsibilities, including interacting with clients on a daily basis. The UL grad returned to Lafayette from Houston, where he was team leader/search marketing specialist at Pop Labs, a full-service digital media agency. Before moving to Houston, Pecot was Internet market assistant and eBay manager at Golfballs.com.
B. Dal Miller of Lafayette has been elected to the board of directors of Tri-Parish Bank. He has more than 17 years of business and management experience in the accounting and oilfield services arenas, currently serving as vice president of operations for Smith Services, where he is responsible for operational, financial, marketing, human resources and administrative performance of all product lines in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, as well as the entire Gulf of Mexico region. He has an MBA from LSU and is a CPA. Tri-Parish Bank has offices in Eunice and Lafayette.
Thomas Huval has been named chairman of the board of directors for Farmers-Merchants Bank and Trust Co. Huval has been a director since 2006. He is executive vice president of mergers & acquisitions for Brown & Brown Louisiana Inc. (formerly Huval Insurance Agency), the nation’s 6th largest insurance intermediary. He also is the owner of Accel Protection & Technologies. Active in the community, Huval is a graduate of Leadership Lafayette XI; a past member of the Diocese of Lafayette school board; a board member of Prevent Child Abuse Louisiana; and past president of the Breaux Bridge Area Chamber of Commerce.
Kelli Shealy, director of human resources at Fenstermaker, has earned certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. Awarded by the Human Resource Certification Institute, the SPHR certification signifies that Shealy possesses theoretical knowledge and practical experience in human resource management. To become certified, an applicant must pass a comprehensive examination and demonstrate a strong background of professional human resource experience.
A team of Lafayette area bankers with more than seven decades of combined financial services experience has joined Business First Bank to lead the Baton Rouge-based bank’s expansion into the Acadiana market. Eric Marter, Jo D. Breaux, Larry Lanclos Jr., Tina Kaufman, Annette Corzine, Madonna Dugas and Lauren Frederick, many of whom have previously worked together in the financial services industry, have joined Business First Bank’s banking center in the Oil Center at 900 E. St. Mary Boulevard, Suite 100. The bank was founded by former Gov. Buddy Roemer. Additional offices are planned for Lake Charles, Houma and Texas.
Donnie Landry, chief lending officer at MidSouth Bank, has been promoted to senior executive vice president. Landry joined the bank in 1989 and has 32 years of lending experience, having also worked at Guaranty Bank for more than a decade. MidSouth Bank has a commercial loan portfolio in excess of $560 million, with Landry leading the team of 32 loan officers. Chief Marketing Officer Alex Calicchia has been promoted to executive vice president. Calicchia joined the bank in early 2007 as SVP and CMO, charged with leading the bank’s marketing efforts in Louisiana and Texas. His 24-year career in marketing and advertising — most of which is in the banking field — includes work in New Orleans, Houston, Dallas and New York. MidSouth Bank’s director of human resources since 1999, Sara Huval has been promoted from vice president to senior vice president. Huval handles all of the processes involved in managing MidSouth’s Bank’s 470 employees in two states. She worked at FNB of Lafayette for 13 years, leaving shortly after its 1998 merger with Bank One (now Chase). The Breaux Bridge native has 23 years of banking experience.
City-Parish President Joey Durel received the American Public Power Association’s Spence Vanderlinden Public Official Award at the association’s national conference in New Orleans. This award was initiated in 1984 to recognize personal service to APPA by elected and appointed officials. Durel was honored in part for spearheading LUS’ fiber-to-the-home initiative.
R. Scott Sudduth, a 23-year banking veteran who has spent most of his professional career in the southwest Louisiana market, has joined Chase’s Lafayette operations as senior commercial banker. He is a graduate of Loyola University and an alumnus of the Graduate School of Banking. He is a member of the Lafayette Lions Club and the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and is on the board of directors of both the Evangeline Area Boy Scout Council and the Lafayette Education Foundation.
Lisa M. LeBlanc has been named executive director for the Family Violence Intervention Program. LeBlanc was previously employed at Woman’s Foundation as the community program coordinator. She has worked in the non-profit arena since graduating from UL Lafayette in 2000. LeBlanc is a nationally certified health education specialist. The FVIP board of directors also promoted Michelle Gaines to the position of administrative assistant. Gaines is a New Orleans native and has previous HR experience from AmSouth Bank and Lockheed/Martin. She will coordinate the non-violence education program along with providing administrative support for the organization.
Shannon Bernard has been promoted to sales support manager and Doug Hill to production manager for Cox Media’s clients in Acadiana and Baton Rouge. Bernard joined Cox Media as an account executive in 2001. Before that she worked for Goodwill Industries of Acadiana. She has a master of science from UL Lafayette and served as an adjunct faculty member. Hill joined Cox in February 1999. Prior to joining Cox, he was an instructor at Huf Espana in Madrid, Spain, and a freelance producer in San Francisco, Calif. He attended San Francisco State University majoring in broadcast electronic communications.
Accel Protection and Technologies has recently expanded into the residential market and has named Craig DeRoche director of operations for Accel Home. DeRoche most recently served as general manager of Argus Security Group in Lafayette. His focus will be applying his 16 years of sales and management experience to operations, new customer development, customer service and public relations. He is active in the Louisiana Life Safety and Security Association. Also at Accel Home, Jeremy Gaspard was named senior technician. Gaspard has seven years of residential security experience, and his main responsibilities will include design, installation, service, and customer relations.
Medco Energi US, the Lafayette-headquartered subsidiary of PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk, has appointed four new vice presidents as a part of the company’s realignment of executive positions. The new executives are Daniel Frugé, vice president and chief financial officer; Steve Goff, vice president of petroleum engineering; Gary Johnson, vice president of production operations; and Ted Russell, vice president of drilling and capital projects. Frugé has extensive experience in all aspects of accounting, taxation, financial management, litigation and risk management. Prior to his new position, he served as executive vice president and CFO for WHC Inc. Goff has more than 30 years of experience in managing operations and engineering functions and will be responsible for production and surveillance engineering activities on the company’s properties. Prior to joining Medco, Goff served as president for EPiC Energy Resources. Johnson has more than 34 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, and comes to Medco from ENI Petroleum, where he was offshore operations manager. Johnson also spent 29 years with predecessor companies CNG and Dominion, ultimately becoming operations manager for Dominion before its acquisition by ENI. A registered professional engineer, Russell has more than 30 years of domestic oil and gas experience in drilling/workover operations, asset management and production operations with offshore Gulf of Mexico and Gulf Coast expertise. Medco Energi US is engaged in the exploration, development, acquisition and production of oil and natural gas reserves in the Gulf of Mexico.