LSBDC business consultant named ‘State Star’ for second time
Tuesday, September 15, 2015 
by: Rene Abadie
RICKS A ‘STATE STAR’ AGAIN – Rande Kessler, left, director of the state’s Small Business Development Center, congratulates business consultant Wayne Ricks of Southeastern’s SBDC, on being named a “State Star” for his work with businesses and entrepreneurs in the Northshore area. The award, the second for Ricks, was presented at the national SBDC conference in San Francisco.
HAMMOND -- Wayne Ricks, senior business consultant at Southeastern Louisiana University,
was honored for his second time as a “State Star” at the recent annual conference
of Small Business Development Centers held in San Francisco.
Ricks received the award – presented to top business consultants across the nation
– for his work with Southeastern’s Louisiana Small Business Development Center.
In his 10 years with the SBDC, Ricks has been able to garner approximately $173
million in funding and help create more than 600 jobs for the Hammond and Northshore
area business community. In the last fiscal year, he brought in about $26 million
in capital and created more than 100 jobs through the LSBDC at Southeastern.
“Wayne Ricks has consistently performed at the top level for the LSBDC,” said
Southeastern President John L. Crain. “His personal attention to clients’ needs have
successfully resulted in the creation of numerous jobs and significant capitalization
for businesses and entrepreneurs in the area. Working at Southeastern’s SBDC – named
the best in the nation earlier this year – means he must meet high expectations and
being named a State Star for the second time attests to that.”
Ricks’ areas of focus are consulting with clients on an individual basis and assisting
them in creating financial projects and industry research.
“It’s nice to be recognized for the hard work we put in,” said Ricks, a certified
global business professional. “As a center, we do a lot and work hard to help the
region’s business community.”
The Southeastern LSBDC is a nationally accredited network of nine centers statewide
dedicated to promoting business formation and growth through no-cost, confidential
business consulting, low-cost entrepreneurial and business training, and online information
and resources. The center covers the five-parish region of Livingston, St. Helena,
St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes. For more information about the Southeastern
center, call 985-549-3831.
