• BBB NAMES TORCH AWARDS FINALISTS The Better Business Bureau’s 12th Annual Torch Award Event will be Oct. 20 at East Ridge Country Club. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with a cash bar followed by dinner, program and awards presentation at 7 p.m. Seats are $40 per person: Sponsor tables are available. Proceeds benefit student scholarships. The featured speaker will be Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator. The 2016 finalists are as follows:

• Integrity category: Lee Michaels Jewelers, Shreveport Security Systems and Heard, McElroy & Vestal, LLC.

• Customer commitment category: Bayou Belle Waste, Harrison Paint Company and Porter’s Carpet Cleaners.

• Good neighbor category: Vicki’s School of Dance, Home Federal Bank of Louisiana and Webb Professional Remodeling Services, LLC.

• Non-profit category: Louisiana Association of the Blind, North Shreveport Business Association and The Glen Retirement System.

Call the BBB office for reservations: 797-1330, Ext. 108.

• Kathy Levingston, a client service specialist with Ameriprise Financial, has obtained her Louisiana Notary License. Levingston will witness and authenticate signatures, administer oaths, verify identification documents and maintain liaison with state agencies for Ameriprise. She will also be able to notarize investments plans, certificates, insurance plans and trust accounts. Levingston’s office is located at 738 N. Ashley Ridge Loop, Shreveport.

• Century 21 Elite welcomes Mary Ann Van Osdell to the company. She completed training at Adams Real Estate Institute. She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from LSU in Baton Rouge and has lived in Shreveport-Bossier City since 1965. She will represent buyers and sellers. 

• Citizens National Bank announces the promotion of Kim Bailey to senior vice president and retail banking division manager. Bailey was named vice president of the downtown branch when it opened in 2009. She has worked in the banking industry since graduation from Southern Arkansas University. Bailey’s expanded duties will include asset quality, management of sales function, staff development and community development.

• Belinda Roberson, Ph.D., M.B.A., has been named executive director of YWCA Northwest Louisiana. Roberson comes to YWCA from the Samaritan Counseling Center, where she recently served as the executive director of marketing and finance. She also worked over seven years in the marketing department at a local gaming organization.

Roberson has a Doctor of Philosophy in management from Walden University, an MBA from New York Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wiley College. She attended her first two years of undergraduate school at Southern University at Shreveport. 

• Citizens National Bank announces the promotion of Pat McConathy and Stacy Dart to business banking division managers. New responsibilities include management of the sales function, asset quality, and community involvement and staff development within their respective divisions. McConathy is a native of Bossier City, while Dart is a native of England.

•Mason McGee joins the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana as the new aquatics director. Mason, a Shreveport native and lifetime swimmer, is a graduate of North Carolina State University, where he competed as a four-year varsity letter winner for the NC State swim team, and competed in both the U.S. Open Swimming Championships and the United States Olympic Trials. Mason went on to receive a doctorate of physical therapy from LSU Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, before moving back to Shreveport, where he completed a residency at LSU Health Sciences Center. Prior to his acceptance of the YMCA position, he worked as a physical therapist for the Willis-Knighton Health System.

EVENTS / SEMINARS

•The Red River Lions Club invites you and your guests to participate in a “Beer and Business Cards” networking event at the Red River Brewing Co. at 5:30 p.m., Oct. 27. Enjoy a facilitated networking event, make connections and create opportunities to grow your business network. Food trucks will be on site along with live music and door prizes. Bring business cards and friends. For more information: www.facebook. com/RedRiverBeer/

•Vickie Rech has achieved the designation of certified medical planner through the Wealth Preservation Institute. Rech is client care coordinator in the estate planning practice of Weems, Schimpf, Haines, Landry, Shemwell & Moore, APLC. She assists clients with their long-term care planning, including qualification for veterans benefits and long-term care Medicaid. To become a CMP, a candidate must meet certain educational and experience requirements, successfully pass the certification exam and agree to abide by the highest ethical/professional conduct.

HONORS AND AWARDS

•Gregorio, Chafin & Johnson attorney Sam N. Gregorio was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2017 in the field of Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Law. Best Lawyers is the oldest and most highly respected peer review guide to the legal profession worldwide. Ranked attorneys reflect the high level of respect earned among other leading lawyers and clients within their communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism and their integrity. Sam has practiced law for 40 years.

•The law firm of Cook Yancey King & Galloway announced that 11 attorneys were selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America. Sam Caverlee, Sid Cook Jr., J. William Fleming, Albert M. Hand Jr., Brian Homza, Bernard Johnson, John T. Kalmbach, William C. Kalmbach, Robert Kennedy, Ken Mascagni and Herschel E. Richard Jr. have been chosen for this distinction.