Adam Knapp, Keynote Speaker for the Times Top 50 Luncheon

The Times Top 50 Luncheon will be held today at the Lake Charles Country Club. Sponsored by Jeff Davis Bank, the Top 50 businesses in Imperial Calcasieu will be honored for their performance in 2008. A full listing can be found at http://timesswla-top50.blogspot.com.

Keynote speaker will be Adam Knapp, a Lake Charles native and son of Lynn and Ann Knapp.

Adam serves as the President and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, where he started in April 2008. He previously served as the Deputy Director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) and was a key figure in the creation of the entity, which led the State’s long term recovery efforts after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Prior to the LRA, Knapp served as the Economic Development Advisor to two Governors and the Policy Director for Louisiana Economic Development. Before that, he worked for Accenture, one of the world’s premier technology and management consultancy firms, as an emerging technology consultant.

Knapp graduated from Davidson College in 1996, and also studied at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Julius-Maximilians Universität in Würzburg, Germany. Outside of work, he spends his life surrounded by women: a lovely wife named Megan Johnson Knapp, a gorgeous new daughter, Sadie, and an intelligent, but hyperactive dog named Mia.

Brian Chriceol

Brian Chriceol has joined The Times team as an Account Executive.

Born and raised in Lafayette, Brian graduated from The University of Louisiana with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

He has over seven years of media advertising sales experience where he once worked for The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette and recently with the American Press.

Over the past year Brian has served on the Board for the Southwest Louisiana Chamber of Commerce.

Brian is looking forward to working with the local businesses here in Lake Charles.

Cassondra Guilbeau

Cassondra Guilbeau joined The Times as a Freelance Writer. Born in Lake Charles, she grew up in Eunice. She received her BA in journalism from Northwestern State University. Cassondra worked as a reporter in New Iberia for the Daily Iberian before moving back to Lake Charles 11 years ago. She transitioned into public relations and currently manages both Southwest Louisiana and Central Louisiana’s American Heart Association as the senior regional director. Cassondra is a member of Fusion Five, Ad and Press Club of Southwest Louisiana, and First United Methodist Church. She lives in Lake Charles with her husband of almost 11 years, Brian Guilbeau, and their eight-year-old daughter, Lillian Faith.