NEW ORLEANS — ACG Louisiana (the Louisiana Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth) has announced the award winners for the 13th Annual ACG Louisiana Awards, which recognize growth companies, business professionals and noteworthy transactions throughout Louisiana. The winners will be honored at an awards dinner on Thursday, May 12, 2022, at the Roosevelt Hotel New Orleans. The reception will begin at 6 p.m. with a seated dinner at 7 p.m. Sponsorships for the event and tickets are available for purchase at www.acg.org/louisiana.
The winners:
Outstanding Corporate Growth: Turner Industries
Turner Industries was founded in 1961 by the late Bert S. Turner after purchasing Nichols Construction Company out of bankruptcy. Today, Turner Industries’ 20,000 employees move the world forward by providing “turnkey services and solutions to the companies that produce the fuel, energy, and materials essential to modern life.” The company provides a single solution in heavy industrial construction, maintenance, turnaround, pipe and module fabrication, equipment, rigging and specialized transportation and associated specialty services. The company is headquartered in Baton Rouge, has facilities located across the Gulf Coast and works across the United States.
Emerging Growth Company: Marucci Sports
Kurt Ainsworth is co-founder and CEO of Marucci Sports, a leading manufacturer of metal/composite bats, wood bats, gloves, active apparel, and other baseball and softball equipment. He oversees product innovation, progressive direct to consumer sales and engaging marketing strategy.Ainsworth spearheaded the growth of Marucci Sports by acquiring Marucci Bat Company, a previously founded wood bat manufacturing business, as well as Victus Sports and Carpenter Trade. He secured Marucci Sports’ supply chain by acquiring two Pennsylvania wood mills to reinforce Marucci’s dominance as the No. 1 bat in the Major Leagues. Mr. Ainsworth most recently brokered a strategic alliance with Baseball Performance Lab. Prior to founding Marucci, he was a MLB pitcher for the San Francisco Giants and Baltimore Orioles, after playing at LSU and being drafted in the first round of the 1999 MLB draft. He also won an Olympic gold medal with the United States’ baseball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Deal of the Year: LongueVue Capital Partners
In May 2019, LongueVue Capital Partners invested in Soho Studio (dba TileBar), a leading provider of high quality and price-competitive ceramic, porcelain and mosaic tile, as well as specialty interior products. Based in New York, NY, Soho Studio experienced rapid growth – tripling revenue over the last four years from $25 million to over $70 million (30% CAGR) – by disrupting a highly fragmented and relatively sleepy flooring and wall coverings industry with a high degree of innovation, sophistication, and customer service. LVC sourced the transaction on a proprietary basis through a former portfolio company founder, and negotiated directly with Soho Studio’s entrepreneurial founder to form a unique 50/50 partnership. As a part of the transaction, Soho Studio received $6 million of growth capital and a committed financing vehicle from a well-known lender to accelerate the company’s next phase of growth. Founded in 2001, LongueVue Capital Partners focuses on providing human capital, financial capital, and a skill set built upon a successful 20 year track record of partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams to drive value creation in middle-market companies.
Deal Maker of the Year: RTC Reserve Communications Management
On May 31, 2019, RTC Holdings LLC through its Reserve Communications and Computer Corp. (RCC) subsidiary acquired 100% of EATELCORP, LLC (EATEL) and its subsidiaries. The acquisition of EATEL by Reserve Communications united two companies that were both founded in 1935, forming a business that spans from Livingston Parish to Grand Isle and serves nearly 60,000 customers. The sale of EATEL was handled by auction, and was a huge win for the region when it was purchased by locally-owned Reserve Communications – rather than a national company that would have likely dismantled EATEL. Under the RTC-EATEL deal, the two will remain local, family-owned, and community oriented, retaining a sense of familiarity among customers. Roughly 20 entities were involved in the bidding, and RTC was the only Louisiana buyer at the table. The deal created a south Louisiana enterprise that allows it to compete more effectively with national rivals such as Cox Communications and AT&T.
Young Deal Maker of the Year: Joanna McCay
McCay is assistant vice president and associate general counsel at Ochsner Health, Louisiana’s largest nonprofit, academic, multispecialty healthcare delivery system. She serves as head of the corporate and transactional legal team and advises Ochsner’s senior leadership team on a broad range of business, transactional, and healthcare regulatory matters, including large-scale hospital affiliations, multi-party joint ventures, provider mergers and acquisitions, complex physician arrangements, physician self-referral/fraud and abuse regulations, provider network arrangements, and antitrust matters. Prior to joining Ochsner in 2013, McCay practiced at Sullivan Stolier, a New Orleans-based law firm specializing in health law. She received her J.D. from Tulane University Law School and her B.A. from Loyola University New Orleans.
Lifetime Achievement: Alden J. McDonald Jr.
McDonald is president and CEO of Liberty Bank and Trust Company, one of the top African American-owned financial institutions in the United States. McDonald oversees an expanding network of financial institutions serving urban communities and provides leadership in community development to a diverse customer base throughout America. He is recognized as a passionate advocate and dynamic catalyst in providing avenues for economic growth, home ownership, wealth building and leadership development in the African American community. McDonald has gained a national reputation as a creative, insightful, yet practical problem solver who has developed mortgage and banking products that enhance the opportunities for the financially underserved, as well as upwardly mobile populations of America’s cities. A graduate of the LSU School of Banking and of Columbia University’s Commercial Banking Management Program, Mr. McDonald has celebrated nearly 50 years as President and CEO of Liberty Bank. Under his stewardship, Liberty has grown from an initial asset base of $2 million to more than $700 million in assets. Over the past 10 years, Liberty has closed over $1 billion dollars in loans. Liberty now operates financial institutions in nine states and 11 major urban areas.
