Baton Rouge
Andy Gutacker has been named senior vice president and general manager of BASF’s Geismar site, the firm’s largest North American manufacturing facility with more than 2,000 employees and contractors.
Andy Gutacker joined BASF in 2019 as maintenance and production director in Freeport, Texas.
Gutacker began working for the German chemical company’s petrochemical division in Freeport, Texas, in 2019 before being promoted to various vice president positions. Most recently, he was vice president of operations for European and North American operations.
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JD Bank has hired Martin Holifield as a mortgage loan originator serving the Baton Rouge and northshore markets and operating from an office in the community bank’s new full-service branch due to open in Baton Rouge in December.
Jennings-based JD Bank hired Martin Holifield to work as a mortgage loan originator in a new Baton Rouge branch.
Holifield previously worked for First Guaranty Bank in Hammond, where he managed a team of 15 employees. He has served as treasurer and a committee chair for the Central City Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Greater Baton Rouge Board of Realtors.
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LSU Law professors Bill Corbett and Del Wright Jr. have been awarded the Cheney C. Joseph Endowed Professorship. They are the first faculty members picked for the Joseph Professorship.
Corbett, a longtime colleague of Joseph’s, has been on the LSU Law faculty since 1991, focusing on labor and employment law, torts and civil procedure. He previously served as interim dean and is the executive director of the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel.
Wright, who joined the LSU Law faculty last fall, teaches classes in business, finance, taxes, securities, entrepreneurship and cryptocurrency regulation. Previously a federal prosecutor in the Justice Department’s tax division, Wright prosecuted white-collar tax and fraud cases and served on an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force in Maryland.
Professors Del Wright Jr., at left, and Bill Corbett were named the first Cheney C. Joseph endowed professors at LSU Law School.
New Orleans
Giovanna “Gio” Savorgnan has been hired as vice president of sales for advertising firm 3131 Media, where she will lead sales strategy and growth as the New Orleans-based agency looks to expand.
Savorgnan, who previously worked as sales director for WWL-TV in New Orleans and, later, WFAA-TV in Dallas, has been recognized by the Alliance for Women in Media on multiple occasions. Her new position will be based in Dallas.
Giovanna “Gio” Savorgnan worked for the ABC affiliate in Dallas before becoming vice president of sales for New Orleans-based 3131 Media.
Alejandra Guzman has been promoted from chief business development officer to become the new chief operating officer of LSU Health Foundation New Orleans.
Before joining the foundation, Guzman held various leadership roles at the New Orleans Business Alliance. She currently serves as board chair of the Louisiana Urban Land Institute and sits on the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana and the Xavier University Presidential Advisory boards, having previously served on the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans.
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