Business
• Boomtown Casino and Hotel announced the addition of Mark Starrett, director of hospitality, to the Boomtown management team. Starrett is returning to Bossier City from Lady Luck Casino in Nemacolin, Penn. He will oversee operations in food and beverage, hotel, retail and valet. Starrett will report to Rod Centers, vice president and general manager of Boomtown Bossier City. Starrett brings a wealth of gaming and hospitality knowledge to Boomtown with more than 28 years of industry experience. He has more than three years of experience in Louisiana markets, including director of customer service at Horseshoe Bossier in 2005.
• Two new agents have joined the brokerage and leasing services team at Vintage Realty Company. Anne Dixon joined Vintage Realty Company in 2013 and for the past eight years has been actively involved in all aspects of investment real estate. She handles both brokerage and leasing activities within the office, industrial, multi-family and retail arenas and her clients include private investors, corporations and government entities. Her experience has led to opportunities to work with sale/leasebacks, build-to-suits; as well as, alternate use for investment properties. Dixon obtained a bachelors of science in business administration from Northwestern. She was chosen by her peers to present the Industrial Market Summary in 2009 and the Office Market Summary in 2011 for the Real Estate Trends Conference presented by the Commercial Investment Division of Northwest Louisiana Association of Realtors. Trenton S. Siskron, a Louisiana and Texas licensed real estate agent, joined Vintage Realty Co. in 2013, after having worked in commercial real estate and finance since 2003. Trent started his real estate investment sales career with Marcus & Millichap in Houston, Texas, covering multi-tenant office, medical office and industrial centers in Houston, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. During his commercial real estate brokerage tenure, Trent’s team compiled a six-year sales transaction resume in excess of $750 million and earned a 2008 industry designation as one of the most active investment sales groups in Houston. In 2012, he returned to commercial real estate where he ran property management services for retail and industrial centers, tenant relations for local/national tenants and leasing/ renewal services. Trent is a graduate of Centenary College.
• Dr. Andrew L. Chesson, Jr., Dean of the School of Medicine at LSU Health Shreveport, has announced his retirement Chesson, a neurologist, spent his entire career of more than 35 years at the health sciences center in Shreveport, rising through the faculty ranks to professor of neurology. He served as associate dean for academic affairs for 15 years and acting chancellor and dean for one year. He was the first to hold the separate title of dean of the School of Medicine under the chancellor/dean organizational structure. Chesson is also director of the LSU Sleep Disorders Center and director of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program. Dr. John Marymont, who has been working closely with Chesson during the past several months, will serve as interim dean. He is currently chief of orthopedic surgery. “Chesson has been instrumental in the growth and excellence of our academic and clinical missions and brought distinction to our campus through his national recognition in the field of sleep medicine,” said Chancellor Dr. Robert A. Barish. “Andy is an exceptional leader and a man of great integrity and thoughtfulness. We thank him for his many contributions and wish him continued fulfillment in his retirement.” LSU President and Chancellor F. King Alexander expressed gratitude to Chesson for his contributions. “Chesson leaves a remarkable legacy in his 35-plus years of leadership and dedication to the LSU Health Sciences Center Shreveport School of Medicine,” he said, adding: “I would also like to welcome Dr. John Marymont who will make an excellent addition to Dr. Barish’s leadership team.”
A nationally-recognized expert in sleep medicine, Chesson developed the LSUHSC-S Sleep Disorder Center, the first and longest continuously certified sleep disorder center in Louisiana and a model for other centers nationwide. He helped establish national standards of practice and fellowship training for the discipline of sleep medicine. A founding member of the Louisiana Sleep Society, he served as president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and, in 2007, received their Distinguished Service Award. Chesson continued to teach and treat patients even after joining the administrative ranks. Under his leadership, the school developed a nationally-credentialed simulation center for medical training. He led the school’s accreditation process and a significant restructuring of the medical school curriculum. Over the years, he has been named to local and national Best Doctors lists multiple times. He received the Humanism in Medicine Award given by the Association of Academic Medical Centers and Pfizer. A native of Raleigh, N.C., Chesson earned his doctorate from the University of Texas Medical Branch, where he also completed his internship and residency in neurology. His undergraduate studies were at Southwest Texas State College and the University of Texas at Austin. Marymont is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Northwestern University in Illinois and received his doctorate from Vanderbilt Medical School.
• Home Federal Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Home Federal Bancorp, Inc. of Louisiana, announced groundbreaking on a new branch location at the intersection of Highway 80 and Stockwell Road in Bossier City. The additional location in Bossier City represents a firm commitment to expand HFB’s full-service banking presence in Bossier Parish.The branch will offer amenities such as drive-through banking, 24-hour ATM and onsite parking. As do other HFB locations, the Stockwell Road location will offer customers a wide array of personal and business banking services. Those services will include mortgage loans, checking accounts, CDs, IRAs and consumer lending, as well as wealth management services.“HFB knows the importance of making a commitment to Bossier City,” Jim Barlow, Home Federal Bank’s president and CEO, said. “We are excited about our development, and this location will support our continued growth, allowing us to better serve customers throughout Shreveport and Bossier City.” The current timeline sets completion of the project for fall 2014.
