With the Evangeline Chamber of Commerce’s big night set where it will hand out its annual awards being a week away, here are the remainder of the honorees.
Nominated for Business Innovation of the Year are the following:
Butler & Co. Tree and Storm Recovery Inc.
The company, owned and operated by Frank and Rhonda Butler, continued to operate throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Hurricanes Laura and Delta, and other catastrophic weather conditions. In an effort to provide work for their employees, create more jobs, and grow their reach, the Butlers expanded their business and introduced new equipment and technologies.
They began a new pallet recycling service to save money for companies who were paying premium prices for the removal of used pallets. The Butlers are also refurbishing and recycling pallets. They expanded their firewood business with new equipment and processes to cut and prep logs for bundling, labeling, and wrapping and now provide wholesale delivery throughout the state. They are also building their own kiln and have created at least five new jobs and are still hiring additional employees.
Laville Funeral Home
In the week of the COVID-19 pandemic, many changes were required, and Laville Funeral Home adapted to state mandates and universal health precautions. They changed the traditional way of providing funeral services by reducing the amount of people and duration of funerals for families. The staff adapted to a new way of protection while continuing to serve the public. Alterations started at the front door. Meetings with families were reduced to a minimum, funerals were reduced to a minimum, and protection for the public stayed the number one priority.
Vidrine’s Ace Hardware
Cody and Louise Vidrine purchased the business from Cody’s parents (Wayne and Beverly Vidrine) in 2003. The store was located at 130 East Main St where they operated the business until 2011. In September of 2011, they moved to 320 West Main Street (Old Veillon Motor Company) in an opportunity to grow the business.
Ace Hardware changed the operation of the business to remain open and help others during the COVID-19 pandemic and storm recoveries. Vidrine’s donated generators and/or supplies for communities in need after the hurricanes. They extended their operation hours prior to and after the hurricanes and were on call after hours to ensure their customers could obtain all supplies needed in a timely manner. New and different stock was ordered, and the business is expanding to better serve the needs of customers.
In December of 2020, they decided to add 2,000 square feet to the side of the building which was completed in April of 2021. The store now has 12,000 square feet of retail space with a total of approximately 28,000 square feet. They currently have a staff of 19 people.
The nominees for Young Business Person of the Year are the following.
Darion Arvie
Darion Arvie is a 2013 graduate of Ville Platte High School and the owner of Arvie’s Janitorial Services. He has eight years of experience as a welder, of which four years were served at union tank car and four years at Cameron, a Schlumberger Company, where he is currently employed.
Darion’s business offers a variety of services such as floor care, pressure washing, commercial and residential moving, commercial cleaning, and parking lot stripping. He adjusted his janitorial service to ensure his clients were comfortable by researching and abiding by COVID-19 restrictions.
Darion has been fortunate to receive mentoring from outstanding members of this community including the late Ronald T. Doucet, Daniel Arvie, Phil Lemoine, and Donald Thomas. He is involved with the Evangeline Chamber of Commerce.
Damon Blanchard
Damon Blanchard has owned InVision Technical Solutions since its opening in 2017. Prior to that, he was co-owner of Focus’N, a security system supplier in Lafayette. Damon served in the United States Marines for four years focusing on field communications and received a number of awards and honors while enlisted. After leaving the Marines, he worked for a telecommunication company in Lafayette.
InVision provides a variety of service needs to a number of businesses and residents in the community such as Evangeline Parish Courthouse, Evangeline Parish Police Jury, fire departments, and several stores in the area. Over the past five years, Damon has nearly doubled the company’s gross sales annually with this past year grossing near the $1 million mark.
Damon is involved in the community and donates his time and money to many parish organizations including the Crooked Creek Recreational Area, Boggy Bayou Festival, parish schools, and youth recreational organizations.
Ashley Deville
Ashley Deville is the owner/operator of Sign Gypsies Ville Platte which provides yards signs for special occasions. She worked in public relations and healthcare marketing for 12 years specializing in mental health and Hospice care, and in 2018-2019 Ashley held the title of Ms. Boggy Bayou. She is an advocate for infertility support within the local community and is involved with Relay for Life, American Heart Association, and the Alzheimer’s Association.
Aubree L. Fontenot
Aubree Layne Fontenot graduated from ULL with a secondary education degree and a concentration in business. She also holds an associate’s degree from LSUE in arts and management. Aubree has been the owner/operator of The Dance Place in Ville Platte since 2017 and the director of Summer Swimming Lessons by Aubree since 2010 in which she teaches water safety and survival skills for all kids. She was a teacher of business education and CTE (Career and Technical Education) Courses at Pine Prairie High School for four years while serving as the dance team coach.
Aubree’s community involvement includes coordinating The Annual Mitten Tree Project hosted at The Dance Place which involves collecting mittens, hats, and scarves in the winter months to donate to the Faith House and other shelters in the surrounding areas. She also volunteers her time working with spirit groups and clubs at local schools in the parish.
She is driven towards educating and promoting the arts to the youth of the parish and is looking forward to becoming more actively involved with the Evangeline Chamber, as well as continuing to motivate and empower the youth of the parish to use their talents and gifts to make a positive movement in our world.
Martin Jason
Martin Jason is the creator of New Level Sports and Fitness. At 18-years-old, he started the business and has been operating it since. He has also worked at Ville Platte Elementary as a physical education coach and at Mercy Regional Outpatient Physical Therapy Clinic as a physical therapy technician. In 2018, he became the athletic director for Next Level Youth Basketball, where his team coached and trained 100 kids the entire summer.
In 2019, he and his team operated two football camps and were featured at the 2019 Tee Cotton Bowl because of their hard work and unity of Evangeline Parish’s student-athletes. He was also honored to coach beside former professional basketball players Kenny Demouchet and Portland TrailBlazers star Enes Kanter at a basketball camp in 2019.
Kayla Lazard
Kayla Lazard operates Kayla Lazard Photography. She artistically captures clients in real-life situations, events, and other memorable milestone moments. Kayla also has a secondary business in real estate, Pearl Properties and Investments, where she provides quality and affordable homes in this region.
Kayla works for St. Landry Parish School Board in the payroll department and also volunteers with Ninth Baptist Church’s Food for Families servings families in need.
Nominated for Woman of the Year are Carleen Bellard, Annette Johnson, and Nicole Wenger; and nominated for Man of the Year are Brian Ardoin and Dr. Charles “Chuck” Aswell.
The winners will be announced at the Evangeline Chamber Awards Banquet on Thursday, May 6, at the Chauncey Pitre Memorial Facility.
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Staff Report