Flashes

People & Flashes October 2009

James McLemore has joined MidSouth Bank as CFO and senior executive vice president. He replaces Eustis Corrigan, who left the bank in January to head the new Lafayette office of Postlethwaite & Netterville. For the past seven years, McLemore served as executive vice president and CFO of Security Bank Corporation in Macon, Ga. He has more than 24 years of banking experience, primarily as CFO for publicly traded institutions, and is a CPA and Chartered Financial Analyst. McLemore oversees MidSouth’s finance, accounting, tax and treasury functions, including asset/liability management, profitability and budgeting. A native of Macon, Ga., he graduated from the University of Florida with a B.S. in accounting. Also joining MidSouth Bank are Paul Judice and Ceci Boagni Thomassie. Judice is senior vice president/city president for the Baton Rouge market. He has a bachelor’s degree from LSU and comes to MidSouth Bank from Baton Rouge-based American Gateway Bank, where he worked for five years as EVP and chief lending officer. Thomassie is assistant vice president and marketing services specialist. She works out of the bank’s headquarters at 102 Versailles Blvd. and has almost seven years of banking experience. She previously worked as regional marketing manager for Capital One Bank. The Opelousas native has a BA in mass communication and minor in business administration from LSU. Also at MidSouth Bank, Mike Leatherman, a 13-year veteran of the financial institution, has been promoted to vice president and loan review officer/special assets manager. He previously served as a loan review officer. In his new role, Leatherman is overseeing the bank’s collections department and is also in charge of calculating the bank’s allowance for loan and lease losses, performing individual loan reviews and analyzing the risk in the bank’s loan portfolio.

Jill Butler Merkl has joined IberiaBank as senior vice president and commercial banking group manager. Merkl has more than 16 years of banking experience, most recently working as senior commercial banker and director of private client services in the Lafayette market for Whitney National Bank. In her new role, she will manage the Lafayette commercial banking team as well as work directly with clients. Merkl has an MBA from UL Lafayette.

Knock-out chef Joe Lewis has joined Crawfish Town USA’s team of chefs. Lewis is a native of Lafayette and has been a chef for 20 years. His work history includes LeTriomphe, Oakbourne, City Club and Blue Dog Café. Over the past nine years Lewis won 10 Gold medals, two Bronze medals and two People’s Choice awards from the Acadiana chapter of the American Culinary Federation. The team he coached in 2009 took home Gold and Silver medals. Additionally, the Shreveport chapter recognized Lewis with two 3rd place Best of Show medals in 2007 and two Gold medals in 2009.

Gina Aswell has joined Downtown Lafayette Unlimited as marketing and communications manager. Originally from Opelousas, Aswell is a graduate of UL Lafayette with a degree in performing arts and has an MS in communications from Mississippi College. She previously served as the manager of communications and PR for the Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau in Jackson, Miss. Also, Melody E. Weiss has joined DLU as events/Parc coordinator. The Lafayette native has a BS in business management from UL Lafayette. She has 10 years of experience in customer service.

Jamie Bienvenu has joined Wealth Advisors as an administrative assistant. Wealth Advisors is a financial services firm that specializes in wealth management and retirement planning in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia, Oregon, Maryland, Florida, and California. Bienvenu is a lifelong resident of Lafayette and has 11 years of administrative and customer service experience.

Attorney Charles J. Boudreaux Jr. of Preis and Roy has been reappointed to the Practice Assistance and Improvement Committee of the Louisiana State Bar Association. The mission of the committee includes providing educational and practice assistance programs to attorneys in the state of Louisiana. Included in the committee’s work are diversionary programs that are alternatives to discipline programs. It also focuses on educating and assisting attorneys in ethical practices.

Linda A. Malin, first vice president - investments at UBS Financial Services in Lafayette, has been authorized by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards to use the certification marks CFP. Malin has been employed by UBS since 2004 and is responsible for working with clients to develop appropriate strategies to achieve their wealth planning goals and objectives.

Pamela LaFleur was recently promoted to vice president-administration at LEDA. She provides support and liaison services to the president, handles internal staff issues and legislative issues, and serve as a backup to the president when needed. LaFleur will continue her role as LEDA’s administrator, handling the day-to-day operation, maintenance and contractual agreements of the LEDA Resource Center and LEDA’s four industrial parks, as well as human resource functions. She has been employed full time at LEDA since 2002.