J. Pat Beaird Industry of the Year Awards
One company will rise above the rest this year to receive the coveted Industry of the Year Award when the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, J. Pat Beaird Memorial Fund and The Forum present the J. Pat Beaird Industry & Top Businesses of the Year Awards Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 28 at Sam’s Town Casino.
Griggs Enterprises Inc./McDonald's of Shreveport, owned by Roy Griggs, will be honored with that title at the event held in memory of industrialist and philanthropist J. Pat Beaird Sr.
"Mr. Griggs has been a significant player in the philanthropic life of the community," said Dr. Tim Magner, president of the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce. “He’s head of the Boy Scouts, president of the Norwela Council and a whole range of things – playing a leadership role as a corporate model citizen in the community in addition to making an economic impact on a regular basis.”
The Industry of the Year winner is chosen from a Senior Council comprised of past board chairpersons of the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce.
"These are people who have a keen understanding of our organization's goals and mission and the ability to link those two," Magner said. “That’s a particularly effective group to be evaluating that award.”
Criteria include promoting real dollar expansion, community expansion and creation of new jobs.
“It’s about looking at the organization over time,” Magner said. “The criteria doesn’t change year to year.”
In
business for himself since 1988 and in the Shreveport area since 1997,
Griggs now employs more than 850 people with an annual revenue of $32
million and a payroll of approximately $7.4 million.
The Chamber and The Forum will also recognize six
small businesses at the event, five of which are in the health-care
industry and one in fine arts. They are the Strand Theatre, Magee
Resource Group, LLC, Lang Orthodontics, Always Best Care, Lauve’s
Pediatric Day Health Care and Preferred Care at Home of Northwest.
These
businesses were nominated under specific guidelines as defined by the
Small Business Administration. They must be a service business and/or
retailer with annual revenues of $3.5 million or less, a manufacturer
with fewer than 500 employees or a wholesaler employing fewer than 100
workers.
A
chamber committee then scored the businesses on growth, innovation,
service to the community and job creation, and winners were chosen from
those scores.
Keynote
speaker for the event is Peter Docker, an “igniter” for Simon Sinek’s
Start With Why team and a regular contributer to the Start With Why blog
and podcast series.
Docker likes to help individuals and organizations harness the power of “Why.”
The
result is extraordinary cultures and sustainable high performance. He
illustrates his insights by drawing on examples from his previous
flying, military and industry career to explain principles that can be
applied in any business.
A
leadership consultant and executive coach, Docker’s commercial
experience extends across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, North
America, Latin America, India and the Far East. He has engaged at senior
levels with several of the world’s largest companies, developing an
understanding of many industries including oil and gas, construction,
mining, pharmaceuticals, health care, banking and aviation.
Docker
will lead attendees through a discussion on Sinek’s book “Leaders Eat
Last” and why leadership is not an event but a process that is developed
from simple everyday actions.
"It's
a book that talks about how you can transform organizations through
thoughtful leadership," Magner said. “It’s a neat opportunity to not
only celebrate businesses and people who are examples of this kind of
leadership but give everybody a chance to reflect on their own
leadership styles and their own business performance.”
He said he hopes it will encourage attendees to "give it a go" for another year.
"Imagine
a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels
trusted and valued during the day and then returns home feeling
fulfilled,” Docker said. “This is not a crazy, idealized notion. Today,
in many successful organizations, great leaders are creating
environments in which people naturally work together to do remarkable
things.”
He explains that many great leaders sacrifice their own comfort – even their own survival – for the good of those in their care.
“This
principle has been true since the earliest tribes of hunters and
gatherers. It’s not a management theory; it’s biology,” he said. “When
we create an environment where people feel like they belong and operate
in a ‘Circle of Safety,’ the result is trust and collaboration –
allowing people to spend their time and energy working together toward a
higher cause that inspires them, rather than spending their time and
energy protecting themselves from each other.”
The
annual industry award and event are named and held in honor of
industrialist J. Pat Beaird Sr., whose lifetime of community service and
tireless promotion of the greater Shreveport area helped make Northwest
Louisiana a better place to live and work. Last year the entire banking
industry was honored in an unprecedented move by the Chamber.
Tickets
for the J. Pat Beaird Industry & Top Businesses of the Year Awards
Luncheon are $40. After Sept. 17, they will be $50. Table and event
sponsorships are available. Register at 677-2500 or online at www.shreveportchamber.org.
2017 J. Pat Beaird Memorial Industry of the Year
Griggs Enterprises Inc./McDonald's
Roy Griggs
doesn’t consider his multi-million dollar business a success – in his
words, it’s “nothing but God’s grace and mercy and a lot of hard work!”
The Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce, however, considers Griggs
Enterprises, Inc./McDonald's certainly worthy of bestowing the Industry
of the Year Award during the J. Pat Beaird Industry & Top Businesses
of the Year Awards Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 28 at Sam’s Town
Casino.
"I
am simply proud and honored to be the recipient of this year's J. Pat
Beaird Memorial Industry of the Year Award,” Griggs said. “I never
imagined Griggs Enterprise Inc./McDonald's would hold this prestigious
honor … WOW!” Industry of the Year winner is chosen from a Senior
Council comprised of past board chairpersons of the Greater Shreveport
Chamber of Commerce.
Criteria include promoting real dollar expansion, community expansion and creation of new jobs.
In
addition, Griggs, who relocated to the Shreveport area from Alabama in
1997, prides himself on giving back to his community by recognizing A
and B honor roll students, reading and acceleration of reading, teacher
appreciation, and various levels of donations and sponsorships, which
cover a vast majority of events.
"Most
of all, we basically set the foundation for a lot of individuals, be it
youth, young adults and adults with gainful employment opportunities,
all of this throughout Caddo, Bossier and East Texas,” he said. “We
consider our communities a great way to build relationships and help
our citizens; this is one of our ways of giving back to society.”
Griggs enjoys working with young people, and his advice for them is always to give it your best.
"It's
the simple things in life that are overlooked. You never know who’s
watching you,” he pointed out. “Take pride in any job you do … it may be
picking up paper on the parking lot, or sweeping the floor … doing a
job very well.”
Griggs'
first job was working at a “mom and pop” restaurant where his customer
service skills, “my attitude with a smile were noticed by a McDonald’s
franchisee who offered me a position with McDonald’s. You never know
who’s watching you.”
Letter From Chamber President Don Olsen
Since
its inception over 100 years ago, the mission of the Greater Shreveport
Chamber of Commerce has been to promote economic prosperity, serve as a
business advocate and celebrate the achievements of our region. Each of
our programs, projects and events is designed to fulfill of one of
those three mission components.
As
part of our efforts to celebrate the achievements of our region, each
year in September at the J. Pat Beaird Industry and Top Businesses of
the Year Awards Luncheon, we take time to honor an outstanding corporate
entity and celebrate the impact of its industry on Northwest Louisiana
with the presentation of the J. Pat Beaird Memorial Industry of the Year
Award.
The
award and event are named and held in honor of industrialist J. Pat
Beaird Sr., whose lifetime of community service and tireless promotion
of the greater Shreveport area helped make Northwest Louisiana a better
place to live and work. We are grateful for the Beaird family’s
continued generous support of the luncheon and award.
The
annual luncheon serves as our opportunity to recognize the members of
our business community who have been not only organizationally
successful, but who have been engaged civically and philanthropically in
our community. We honor a single large business or industry that has
made this impact through real dollar expansion, community involvement
and the creation of new jobs. This year we are pleased to honor Griggs
Enterprises Inc. as the Industry of the Year for their outstanding
commitment to our local economy and community life.
In
addition to the Industry of the Year, we also recognize a number of
business that, while smaller in size, also are involved in the kind of
economic expansion, job creation and civic engagement that represents
the economic foundation of Shreveport-Bossier. This year we are pleased
to recognize these six companies for their achievements: Always Best
Care, Lang Orthodontics, Lauve's Pediatric Day Health Care, Magee
Resource Group, LLC, Preferred Care at Home of Northwest Louisiana and
The Strand Theatre.
Our luncheon also allows us to come together as a
business community to reflect on our role as community leaders. To lead
that reflection this year, we are pleased to present Peter Docker as our
luncheon speaker. Peter is a former RAF group captain with significant
leadership development experience and a partner with Simon Sinek in the
Start With Why consultancy group. Peter’s talk will focus on Simon
Sinek’s groundbreaking book, "Leaders Eat Last" about creating an
environment where people are inspired to cooperate, resulting in
remarkable outcomes.
Cooperation
is the hallmark of our efforts at the chamber. Our 1,780 members
individually offer unique products and services to our community, and by
coming together collectively they enable the chamber to engage directly
with our community partners, civic organizations and legislators to
improve the economic capacity and quality of life in our community.
On
behalf of the board and members of the chamber, we offer hearty
congratulations to each of this year’s honorees as we look forward to
celebrating them on Sept. 28.
Magee Resource Group
Magee
Resource Group, founded in 1991, will take home one of six Top
Businesses of the Year awards from the J. Pat Beaird Industry & Top
Businesses of the Year Awards Luncheon, having established itself as one
of the top single-office search firms in the world.
"We're extremely excited and honored," said Terry Petzoid, managing partner of MRG's IT Division.
MRG
is home to award-winning professional recruiters dedicated to helping
their clients grow by introducing them to the right people.
"We've worked predominantly outside of Louisiana for the last 27 years until just the last couple of years," Petzoid said.
To
best serve their clients, MRG has built narrow-focus health-care
leadership recruiting teams to specialize in specific service lines:
cardiovascular and oncology. This allows team members to develop
relationships with key leadership professionals in those programs, and
to understand the intricacies necessary to locate, qualify and present
only those few professionals who will best suit the position at hand.
"Those
specialties have been very successful for us," Petzoid said. "As you
subspecialize in those kinds of practices, you get to know everyone, and
it allows us to place key leaders across the nation in both permanent
roles and interim roles."
MRG’s other division is technology, which has been in place since 1999.
"We
specialized in an area called SAP (systems, applications, products),
which is a major software platform that Fortune 500 companies globally
roll out across the U.S.,” he said.
"A
couple of years ago, we started to have more of a presence in
Shreveport and Bossier City with some of these companies that need
technology experts or technology companies that needed to expand their
work force," he said. "We are able to offer the entire recruitment
process.”
Top
Businesses of the Year awards are nominated, and winners must have
strong core values and show how they contribute to the community.
MRG does so in the following ways:
• To honor God in all we do.
• To help in the development of our employees – our most important assets.
• To serve our customers with a spirit of excellence.
• To invest in our community with a spirit of charity.
• To ensure MRG remains a profitable business.
Lang Orthodontics
Teamwork
and family are driving forces behind Lang Orthodontics and contribute
to why they are one of the Top Businesses of the Year.
"This
award means a lot to our office because it represents our office," said
Dr. Morgan Lang. "We strive to provide an amazing customer experience
with each patient that comes through our door. This award is not about
what someone has done, but rather about what we can get done when we
work collectively."
The
award will have a special place in the office at 814 Pierremont in
Shreveport, "as we are one big family, and we wouldn't be receiving it
without the help of our work-family."
Being
recognized among their colleagues in the small business industry is an
honor Dr. Lang does not take lightly, and the other offices that share
the honor remain a source of inspiration.
By
remaining involved in the community and partnering with their
neighbors, their office has an impact on the community they serve as it
continues to grow.
Lang Orthodontics actively gives back through a number of community initiatives.
“One
of the team's favorite projects is Cards for the Holidays,” Dr. Lang
said. “Holiday cards are colored by local children and delivered to more
than 3,000 heroes in the military, recipients of Meals on Wheels,
hospital patients, nursing homes and the Providence House during the
Christmas and Easter holidays.
Our
goal is for those who receive a card to know how special and loved they
are, especially since they are unable to be home for the holidays.”
Dr.
Lang and her team love to support local organizations, like Girls on
the Run, the Providence House, the YMCA and the community's schools.
Also,
they find ways to give to national movements including The American
Heart Association, Special Olympics, Red Nose Day and the Susan G. Komen
organization. Lang Orthodontics gives back because they enjoy
supporting their community and it helps connect them with their
neighbors.
By
doing their part, Lang Orthodontics is ensuring the community they live
in today is just as rich in culture and opportunities as it will be for
their children and the generation that follows.
Preferred Care at Home
From
the moment Preferred Care at Home’s doors opened in Shreveport, owners
Scott Green and Robert Smith were determined to provide the highest
quality senior home care to their community.That is only one reason they
were nominated and will receive one of the Top Businesses of the Year
honors at the J. Pat Beaird Industry & Top Businesses of the Year
Awards Luncheon.
“At
Preferred Care at Home, we consider it an honor to provide families
with peace of mind that their loved ones are safe and well attended
during stressful and difficult times,” Smith said. “For us, being named
as a recipient of The Forum Business of the Year Award is a
tribute to both our extraordinary staff and our professional caregivers
who have made Preferred Care at Home the area’s premier licensed home
care company.”
This
passion for their community and dedication to excellence was also
recognized at Preferred Care at Home’s 2014 Annual Convention, where
Green and Smith have earned numerous awards.
“We
wanted to make a difference for the senior population of Northwest
Louisiana, and we knew we could accomplish this by opening a home care
company,” Green said. “It’s not only about providing quality senior
care, it’s about safeguarding the dignity and independence of every
client whom we serve.”
Green
and Smith have both earned the professional designation of Certified
Senior Advisor due to their practical and comprehensive understanding of
health, social and financial issues that are important to many older
adults, including ethical issues specific to aging.
“We
understand the stress and feeling of helplessness of someone suddenly
thrust into a new world of caregiving for a family member or loved one,”
Green said. “In our Family Learning Center on our website, we provide
free access to hours of family-caregiver education modules with tips on
everything from senior-friendly activities to Alzheimer’s care. This
information is available not only to our clients but to anyone in our
community.”
Preferred
Care at Home supports community groups which focus on the aging
population through sponsorships of Caddo Council on Aging’s “Meals on
Wheels” program, Alzheimer’s Association’s “Walk to End Alzheimer’s,”
and the Alzheimer’s Agency of Shreveport/Bossier’s “Resource Directory.”
Always Best Care Senior Services
Since
1996, Always Best Care has helped thousands of families with
non-medical in-home care and assisted living referral services, making
it one of six businesses to receive Top Businesses of the Year awards at
the J. Pat Beaird Industry & Top Businesses of the Year Awards
Luncheon.
"I
am honored to receive this recognition for Always Best Care Senior
Services," owner Keith Carter said. "We work tirelessly every day to
provide excellent service to our patients and their families.”
Since
purchasing this business in 2014, Carter's focus has been to build the
best team possible to fulfill his mission of providing excellent care to
seniors and others who benefit from their services.
Their
passion for helping people main tain a safe, independent and dignified
lifestyle represents the foundation of Always Best Care. Every client
receives extraordinary care in an inspiring environment with caring and
compassionate people.
"I
take the responsibility very seriously to offer care and services to
allow seniors to age gracefully at home as long as possible,” he said.
“My team accepts the same responsibility to exceed expectations …
always!” Always Best Care resources include an extensive library to help
the family make better-informed decisions on senior care and more.
Their vision is to work as a united team providing the best senior care
with the broadest range of services and the most loving and consistent
care anywhere.
Always Best Care
Senior Services provides senior care in communities of Northwest
Louisiana, including Caddo, Bossier, Webster, Claiborne, Red River,
Sabine and Natchitoches parishes, and Minden.
Always Best Care combines national strength and standards with local accessibility and personal service.
Carter is a local resident who takes pride in helping families care for their loved ones.
“Our
goal is to join your family's journey and provide the absolute best
care plan for your loved one,” he said. “Our entire team has your loved
one’s best interests at heart, and we'll ensure that exceptional service
and care is provided to all family members.”
Lauve's Pediatric Day Health Care
Lauve's PDHC
(Pediatric Day Health Care) is owned by Crystal Lauve, whose last name
may be pronounced “love” for a reason as it reflects everything for
which her business stands – the love her staff gives the children for
whom they care.
"I
feel very honored, and it just makes us want to continue to do the best
we can possibly do and love on our babies and do what we can to help
them progress," Lauve said.
Lauve's
PDHC is one of the several businesses receiving the honor of Top
Businesses of the Year award, and it is an achievement that is also
close to her heart.
"It's
amazing," Lauve said. “The recognition is something that our
(children’s) parents can be proud of. We run a very open-door day care
and keep our parents
very
involved and make sure we follow our rules and regulations to the
letter of the law and be the best we can possibly be because these
children don’t have a voice of their own. We are that voice for them.”
Lauve's
PDHC provides medical health-care services to infants, toddlers and
children from birth to age 21 whose medical conditions require
technologybased and/or skilled nursing intervention.
Licensed
by the Louisiana Department of Health & Hospitals, Lauve's PDHC
offers a physician-ordered multidisciplinary service, bundling a
comprehensive assortment of pediatric care in a non-hospital setting.
This model accommodates the highest skill level of pediatric care.
Patients
have access to a multidisciplinary team of highly skilled RNs, LPNs,
physical therapists, occupational therapists and oral/motor speech
pathologists. Social workers and dieticians can be arranged on an
as-needed basis. The medical director provides input relevant to the
processes prescribed by each child's physician.
"It is a niche program," Lauve said.
“You must have a doctor’s orders for a medically complex child that requires daily skilled nursing intervention.”
Pediatric
Day Health Care services can be utilized in lieu of or in addition to
private duty nursing in the home. Children must have a skilled need –
whether acute, chronic and/or intermittent.
At
any given time, there may be no more than 17 children at the center or
as few as 10; however, there is always a three-to-one care ratio.
Transportation is provided to and from the center.
The Strand Theatre
July 3, 1925, the Strand Theatre began life as a premier entertainment venue, offering both movies and vaudeville shows.
“In
the dark days, when it looked as though she would be demolished, it was
the community that stepped up to save her,” said Jenifer Hill,
executive director of the Strand. “She has a grace and a beauty that is
felt by all who enter. She is fiercely loved by the community members
who have grown up with her. She is a part of their past, their present
and their future.”
The
Strand Theatre will join five other businesses in receiving the honor
of Top Businesses of the Year at the J. Pat Beaird Industry & Top
Businesses of the Year Awards Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Sept. 28 at Sam’s
Town Casino.
"It
was a wonderful feeling of accomplishment knowing that someone
nominated the Strand for this award,” Hill said, adding her staff is
small and puts in much love and hard work.
“The
simple act of recognition means more than you can imagine. The board
and the community are proud of what we do, and that makes it all
worthwhile,” she said.
The
Strand has an annual economic impact of $3.5 million according to the
Convention and Tourist Bureau. Annually, the Strand brings an estimated
45,000 people through the doors, including many from out of the area who
come in and stimulate the local economy.
"In
the course of doing business, we hire local artists, craftsmen,
tradesmen and other professionals, other than staff, to help bring the
highest quality entertainment to our community,” Hill said.
“It
is a unique venue for weddings, historic tours, meetings, receptions,
photo shoots, and many hundreds of little feet have grown up dancing on
her stage.”
Having
celebrated more than 92 years, the board opened an endowment account at
the Community Foundation to be used for maintaining the building, and
currently in progress is a makeover for the Green Room and dressing
rooms/backstage areas. The 33rd season of Strand-presented shows will
begin Sept. 30 with a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, celebrating her 100th
birthday.
