Each year the Greater Shreveport Chamber of Commerce hosts the J. Pat Beaird Industry and Top Businesses of the Year awards, with the support of our sponsors, the Forum, Chase Bank and the J. Pat Beaird Memorial Fund.

“The Chamber is proud to announce that our Industry of the Year Award recipient this year will be Metro Aviation,” affirmed Dr. Timothy Magner, Shreveport Chamber president. “Metro Aviation is one of our city’s hidden gems. They are the largest air medical completion center not just in Louisiana, not just in the US, but in the world as well as the largest traditional air medical provider. We are excited to honor Mike Stanberry and the rest of the Metro family for their industry leadership and their contribution to our community.”

In addition to honoring Metro Aviation and select small businesses, the awards luncheon will also play host to a recognized authority on leadership and crisis management, former Naval Commander Kirk Lippold. CDR Lippold was in command of the USS Cole when it was targeted by a deadly al Qaeda terrorist attack in 2000, 11 months before 9/11. His team training prior to the attack and unflappable leadership after, galvanized his crew to action, resulting in lives and the ship being saved. A compelling storyteller, CDR Lippold draws upon his Five Pillars of Leadership to offer strategies he learned and applied to instill integrity into his team members and mitigate crises throughout his naval career. With takeaways for organizations on assessing their own successes and failures to prepare for what the future may hold, his lessons learned can make the difference when it matters most.