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

Lofton named award recipient

AUBURN, Ala. — The late Dr. Robert Lofton was among the a few outstanding alumni of Auburn University’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine to be honored as the 2022 winners of the Wilford S. Bailey Distinguished Alumni Awards.

The award is the maximum honor provided to Auburn Faculty of Veterinary Medicine alumni to realize their professional achievements in veterinary medication, superb contributions to their communities and the all round progression of animal and human wellness.

Awardees are identified in 3 spots of eligibility: community plan and exploration, academia and personal exercise.

Lofton was named receiver of the 2022 Bailey Award in non-public follow. Lofton gained a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Louisiana State College in advance of finishing a health practitioner of veterinary medicine from Auburn in 1972. Subsequent graduation, he founded College Animal Clinic in Lake Charles, wherever he practiced for the future 36 a long time. He joined the Auburn faculty in 2013 as an assistant scientific professor in the Office of Medical Sciences. During his five-year tenure at Auburn, he was a principal developer of the Auburn University Veterinary Clinic, the Auburn Veterinary Academy and the Hoerlein Corridor Spay-Neuter Application.

Lofton, Louisiana Veterinarian of the Calendar year in 1999 and a previous chair of the Veterinary Advisory Council at Auburn, served on the board of administrators of the American Animal Hospital Association from 2003-08. He was also a Diamond Amount Member of the Auburn Vet Med Centennial Club.

He and his wife, Lela, established the Robert M. and Lela Lofton Endowed Scholarship fund in 2017. He was also elected to the Opelika, Alab., Town Council in 2020. Lofton fought valiantly in opposition to a rapidly progressing disease in 2021 and passed absent in January 2022.

“Dr. Lofton was a definitely inspiring graduate of our college,” mentioned Calvin Johnson, Auburn veterinary dean. “He derived great pleasure from instructing and his contributions to Auburn will last for many yrs via his students’ achievements. Even though his existence was shortened by a tragic ailment, Dr. Lofton left a everlasting mark on many people today who experienced the superior fortune of studying from and functioning along with him.”

Erickson to lead NWS office

Roger Erickson has been named the new Meteorologist in Cost for the National Climate Support in Lake Charles. He replaces Andy Patrick, who retired.

Roger has labored in the NWS Lake Charles business office for 27 yrs as the warning coordination meteorologist, the place he led the instruction and outreach method. He has labored various significant-impact weather conditions situations, including major Hurricanes Rita (2005) and Laura (2020).

Center welcomes board associates

The Southwest Louisiana Law Centre is proud to welcome Shonda Manuel, Duane Piranio, and Brandon Lestage as its newest board customers.

A lifelong resident of Lake Charles and graduate of McNeese State College in visible arts, Manuel is a lover at Wholesome Picture Advertising and serves as its affiliate resourceful director. Her profession has spanned in excess of 20 several years, and she has gained several promoting awards for graphic structure and pictures.

 Passionate about the metropolis that has elevated her, Manuel serves on numerous boards these as the Lake Charles/SWLA Convention & Readers Board of Directors, Christus LiveWell Advisory Council, Sowela Electronic Arts & Conversation Advisory Board and the SWLA Youth Foundation. She is a graduate of the Chamber Leadership method and has also been identified as a “Thriving 30-Something” for Thrive magazine.

When not doing the job or volunteering, she is a Les Mills-accredited Physique Pump and Physique Overcome instructor and teaches team conditioning lessons at Club4In shape. She has been married to Chris Manuel for 20 yrs and they have two teenage children, Aiden and Reese.

Piranio is a licensed geologist doing work as an environmental specialist in Lake Charles. Born and raised in central Louisiana, his occupation led to many years of home in the Sultanate of Oman and numerous japanese American states before returning to Louisiana in 2003. In addition to board support with The SWLA Legislation Middle, he serves on the SWLA Financial Progress Alliance Environmental Affairs Committee and is president-elect of the Lake Charles Happy Hour Rotary Club. He is also a 2010 graduate of the SWLA Financial Improvement Alliance Leadership Course.

Piranio enjoys touring, checking out the outdoor, and shelling out time with his wife, Amanda White, and doppelganger son, Henry.

Lestage was born in DeRidder, and is a resident of Lake Charles. He attended McNeese Point out College, where he received his bachelor’s degree in small business administration. Upon graduation, he commenced his banking vocation as a industrial lender with Very first Countrywide Lender of DeRidder.

He and his spouse, Caryn, bought married in 2018 and welcomed their son Henry to the globe in August 2021.

Together with the SWLA Regulation Centre, Lestage is also an active member of Fusion Five, SWLA Youth Foundation, and Louisiana High Faculty Sports Officers Association.

White named VP of company affairs

Mona White has been named vice president for business enterprise affairs at McNeese State University.

White has served as the university’s chief fiscal officer given that 2001 and was accountable for taking care of and supervising all of the university’s accounting capabilities including accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll and income management, planning annual fiscal reports and performing with the Legislative Auditor’s Office to assure compliance with all regulatory needs.

As vice president for small business affairs, White will be responsible for all administrative accounting and spending budget capabilities, the Place of work of Human Methods and Pupil Employment, Office of Obtaining and Residence Manage and the University Bookstore.

White has more than 30 years of monetary and accounting practical experience and worked in the health and fitness treatment marketplace ahead of becoming a member of McNeese. She earned a bachelor’s diploma in accounting from McNeese.

Hunter named Housing Hero

Gov. John Bel Edwards and the Louisiana Housing Corporation lately honored Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter with the V. Jean Butler Housing Hero Award.

The 2022 Housing Heroes Initiative released in response to purely natural disasters and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A new tradition was also established this calendar year as component of the initiative — the naming of the inaugural V. Jean Butler Housing Heroes.

Butler, the previous president and vice president of the initial housing and finance company that birthed LHC, was on hand for the ceremony.

The Workplace of the Governor, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Progress, Governor’s Place of work of Homeland Safety and Emergency Preparedness and the Louisiana Housing Corporation established the Housing Heroes Initiative. It signifies a collaborative approach that is effective to identify move-in all set condominium and rental housing possibilities across the state and encourages an inclusive method to discover and assess readiness significant to the state’s ongoing recovery endeavours.