News Bits
Welcome Ted Falgout As New SCIA President
Throughout his life, Ted Falgout, a native of Lafourche Parish, has made it a priority to support a coast, community and culture he cherishes. Whether while overseeing one of the most important energy ports in the nation or fishing and hunting in the marsh of south Louisiana, Ted has made improving his surrounding environment a personal goal, all while striking the balance between economic development and environmental preservation. He has done it with little to no fan fare, just the satisfaction of knowing he has done what he can to help the place he loves, while encouraging others to do the same along the way.
Early in his tenure as Executive Director, Ted compelled the Greater Lafourche Port Commission (GLPC) to become good stewards of their environment in coordination with the Port’s phenomenal growth and success. He is now retired from the Port and serving as a consultant with his own company, Ted Falgout & Associates.
Ted has been active in many organizations and has received numerous awards along the way. We welcome this energy and level of commitment to steer our SCIA Board of Directors and the organization for this year.
His board members are Lori Davis, Rig-Chem - Executive Vice President; Lynn Falgout, Bollinger Shipyards -Vice President; Charles Theriot, Charles Theriot, CPA - Treasurer;
Robert Clemons, Seacor - Secretary; O'Neil Malbrough - Shaw - Director; Edward Bouterie, Bourgeois Bennett - Director; Travis David, RAMCO - Director; Tony Alford - ASLR and Kirk Meche, Gulf Island Fabrication - as Advisors.
SCIA Committed to Education
By: Jane Arnette, SCIA Executive Director
Many years ago, SCIA made a commitment to champion education in our region by working to bring nobility back to the workforce and integrity back to the students. Our primary ambition is to assure a healthy, well-trained workforce by "growing our own" through our local youth. As an organization, we try to accomplish these goals in several ways. A long term goal is our Work It! Louisiana program, which is dedicated to working with the school system in three parishes (Terrebonne, Lafourche, and Assumption) to educate the students on career paths.
Another major way we champion education is through our scholarship program. Each year, we give four scholarships to graduating seniors who are children of member company's employees. We consider this a valuable benefit of belonging to SCIA, which is one of my most rewarding things we do as an organization. Through our contributors, the Gordon "Bubba" Dove Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Bobby Barthel, SCIA funds, and additional SCIA funds to Fletcher Technical Community College, Young Memorial and South Central Community College - Lafourche campus, we give over $10,000 in scholarships to students.
That is a huge amount of money from a non-profit service organization. The old adage, "put your money where your month is" is definitely being applied in this instance.
We recently presented our scholarship at a regular monthly SCIA meeting. The Dove scholarships were presented by the Gordon "Bubba" Dove family in the amount of $2500 each to: 1. Andrew Paul Roussell, son of member company Thibodaux Regional Medical Center employee Rebecca Roussell and her husband, Anthony. Andrew Paul is a student at Central Lafourche High School. Over the years, he has received many academic awards while active in athletics and clubs. His plans are to attend LSU and major in Engineering. 2. Jace Dylan Bigler is the son of Danos employer, John and Durlene Bigler. He attends Vandebilt Catholic High School and has received several academic awards. One of the things that he has championed is serving as a volunteer at the Regional Military Museum. His plans are to attend LSU, U of Alabama or Louisiana Tech and major in Engineering.
Bobby Barthel and his wife Brenna presented the Aimee Celeste Lagarde Scholarship in honor of their daughter in the amount of $1,000 to Brandon Patrick Borne, son of Mc Dermott employee, Linda Borne and her husband Patrick. This honor student has been involved in many Christian activities and athletics while maintaining an honors curriculum at ED White Catholic High School. His plans are to attend LSU and major in Civil Engineering.
SCIA president Kirk Meche presented the SCIA Otis T. Logue (SCIA founding member) scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to Joshua Paul Robichaux, son of Whitney Bank employee, Tammy Robichaux and her husband Ryan. This FFA member and athlete maintained a 4.0 at Central Lafourche High School where he ranks number 1 in his class. His plans are to attend LSU and major in Petroleum Engineering.
SCIA scholarships are based on a weighted computerized scale. Credit and thanks must be given to Rusty Fernandez with Cintas, Tom Reckert with John Deere Thibodaux and Tony Boudreaux with Allied Shipyard for developing the scale, components and computer program used by SCIA. Judges are given copies of the applications without names, so the process remains totally anonymous. I don't know how this happened, but all of our recipients this year are majoring in Engineering in college. We certainly hope they return to the Bayou Region once they complete their education.
Our final education goal is to provide funds to the technical colleges in the region. The money given by SCIA to these schools may be used for student scholarships or to buy needed equipment for a technical program at the school.
Finally, we are able to fund these scholarships through our two fundraising activities, our annual banquet held each June at The Cypress Columns and our annual golf tournament held the first Monday in October at La Tour in Mathews, LA. We remain very proud of our fundraising efforts that are made possible through our active membership.
With the summer beginning and a new SCIA Board of Directors in the near horizon, I would like to sincerely thank each member company of SCIA that provides us with superior support in everything we do. You have faithfully participated in our banquet, golf tournament, workshops, crawfish boil and brought crowds to our monthly general membership meetings.
In these fifteen years, each member has helped to make SCIA a viable organization for this region. I am full of gratitude as I come to work each day, knowing that I am representing people who care about this region, this organization and me.
Thank you, People.