Ron Adams, TRMC named BIG Achievers

Amidst a festive atmosphere at its annual banquet, the Bayou Industrial Group installed a new board of directors, soaked in keynote speaker Rep. Jeff Landry’s message and presented Ronald Adams and Thibodaux Regional Medical Center with its BIG Achiever awards.

Staged at the Bayou Country Club in Thibodaux, the two-hour banquet featured intermittent comedy as delivered by the master of ceremonies and Louisiana Supreme Court Justice John L. Weimer.

Adams, BIG member since 1973 and owner of Ronald Adams Construction in Thibodaux, received the individual award from Charlotte Bollinger, last year’s winner.

“Today, I’m proud of the organization’s membership of professional men and women who have the same common goal,” Adams said. “I think this organization is headed in the right direction, and I will do my best to continue to promote its mission.”

TRMC CEO Greg Stock accepted the BIG Achiever company award on behalf of the hospital, an indicator that the hospital has made a difference in the Bayou Region.

“Everybody makes a difference,” Stock said. “Everybody, especially if you choose to. That’s something we try to teach at our hospital, that everybody matters and everybody makes a difference.”

Landry, elected to the House of Representatives last October, gave a 30-minute address to the gathered elected officials and business leaders, highlighting his ambitions for the currently configured 3rd Congressional District.

Landry said he’s serving on the Natural Resources, Small Business, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees by design, and said Natural Resources Chairman Ben Hastings told him in January the committee will travel to South Louisiana and hold a hearing in the district.

“In April, we are bringing that committee down to this district, and we’re going to hold a hearing,” Landry said. “Y’all are going to get it right here in this district.”

The congressman concluded to a standing ovation after his speech railed against the administration’s ongoing refusal to permit deepwater exploration permits, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the federal government’s apathy towards coastal restoration.

Earlier in the evening, Lafourche Parish School Board member and two-term BIG President Stella Lasseigne turned the microphone over to Chett Chiasson, executive director for Port Fourchon and new BIG president.

Chiasson said congressional redistricting is the region’s most important political issue at the moment and BIG will work hard to prevent a split of Lafourche and Terrebonne.

“This is the most important political issue facing our region today,” Chiasson said. “We recognize that. With a 200-year history of sharing a culture, environment and economy, the strength of the Bayou Region relies on the Congressional solidarity of our two parishes.”

As far as serving as the group’s president, Chiasson said he would continue to learn from his fellow business leaders.

“I expect that I will be learning as much or perhaps more than leading,” Chiasson said. “Learning from you, our members about issues that concern you or programs that would be helpful to all of us. Learning from our monthly luncheon speakers who always have so much interesting information to offer us. Learning from our affiliated organizations, governmental leaders and education institutions who have their finger on the pulse of state and federal initiatives that impact us all in one way or the other. I sincerely invite each of you to teach me something over the next year.”