New Orleans

Matthew Wypyski has been added to the executive team at the Port of New Orleans as chief operating officer.

He replaces Mike Stolzman.

Wypyski has more than 32 years of experience in the port industry. He spent the past 13 years with the Mississippi State Port Authority in Gulfport, Mississippi, serving as deputy executive director and chief operating officer.

He earned a bachelor's in business management/marine transportation/nautical science from New York State Merchant Marine Academy and a master's in business administration from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Baton Rouge

Chuck Carr Brown and Bijan Sharafkhani have joined the Baton Rouge offices of G.E.C. Inc.

Brown will serve as senior vice president of the firm's new Environmental Industrial Division. He was secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality from January 2016 to March. Before that, Brown was a special research scientist for ExxonMobil Chemical Co. for more than 20 years.

He earned a bachelor's in chemistry from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master's and a doctorate, both in public policy, from Southern University.

Sharafkhani will serve as vice president of the Environmental Industrial Division. He has more than 40 years of experience in civil engineering and environmental fields, most recently serving as a confidential adviser to the LDEQ. 

Sharafkhani serves as vice chair of the planning and zoning commission for Central. 

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Dr. Kristen Pontiff is now medical director of the pediatric emergency department at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.

Pontiff served as an assistant professor of pediatrics in emergency medicine at both Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri.

She earned a medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital.

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Chris Landry has been selected as president/CEO of the Louisiana Travel Association.

Landry has more than 16 years of sales and marketing experience in the hospitality industry. He serves as regional director of sales for Larry Blumberg and Associates, whose holdings include the Hilton Garden Inn Lafayette/Cajundome and the Springhill Suites Lafayette South at River Ranch. Before joining LBA, Landry was athletics sales manager for Southwest Louisiana/Lake Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau.

He is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi.

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Tim Smith has been promoted to central region president of Investar Bank.

Smith will oversee the operations and growth of Investar's Commercial Banking team in the bank's central region, which includes metro Baton Rouge.

He has more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry.