{"id":4260,"date":"2015-12-03T08:00:10","date_gmt":"2015-12-03T14:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=4260"},"modified":"2015-12-08T10:04:55","modified_gmt":"2015-12-08T16:04:55","slug":"full-circle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2015\/12\/03\/full-circle\/","title":{"rendered":"FULL CIRCLE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oliver G. \u201cRick\u201d Richard, III<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Story By Scott E. Raymond<\/em><\/p>\n

Photos By Lindsey Janies<\/em><\/p>\n

\"RRichard-2597.tif<\/a>Rick Richard\u2019s life, when told, unfolds like a best-selling novel of a small-town native\u2019s unlikely road from relative obscurity to riches and fame: the son of a refinery worker and school nurse; the quiet, yet determined, smart as a whip high school student who goes off to college, then marries his high school sweetheart; the Louisiana lawyer who goes to Washington and works for a nationally known and respected politician then, shortly thereafter, receives an appointment to a federal commission by the president of the United States; the businessman who rebuilds energy companies; the business magnate who returns home three decades later and helps rebuild his hometown, following a devastating hurricane; the philanthropist who gives generously to good causes; and\u00a0 the volunteer who donates countless hours of his valuable time to the greater good.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about the story,\u201d Richard says with conviction, responding to a question from this writer.<\/p>\n

Beginnings And Divine Intervention<\/strong><\/p>\n

The story of Oliver G. \u201cRick\u201d Richard, III, 63, has its roots in central Lake Charles, where he grew up in a couple of modest neighborhoods and, for the most part, went to public schools.<\/p>\n

His father worked at a major refinery across the river, and his mother worked as a school nurse \u2014 one of the first two in Calcasieu Parish. He was raised with three sisters.<\/p>\n

Early on, Richard experienced an incident dealing with his first name that prompted him to adopt the nickname \u201cRick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandfather was the first (Oliver Richard) \u2014 senior \u2014 then my dad, the junior, and I\u2019m the third,\u201d he says. \u201cOf course, I went by Oliver, which was not a common name back then. When we moved from Rose St. to Dautel St., these young tough guys came around and surrounded me, and said, \u2018What\u2019s your name?\u2019\u00a0 I said it was Oliver Richard, and they retorted, \u2018That\u2019s too hard to pronounce; you are now \u2018Rick.\u2019\u00a0 So that\u2019s where I got the nickname Rick, and it stuck with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard graduated from Lake Charles High School in 1970. There, he was very active in a collage of organizations and sports. It was at Lake Charles High that he met his future wife, Donna \u2014 a meeting he attributes to divine intervention.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had two sisters that went to LaGrange (High School), and (the school district border changed), so I went to Lake Charles High \u2014 a divine intervention, in a way, because I met Donna (there). Donna asked me out to TWIRP, and I had a wonderful, wonderful time, just a great time, but I was so shy. What a great self-confidence builder, but it could have ended there, because I was pretty shy about it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Richard says a note by a friend of Donna was intercepted by a friend of his, who read it out loud in the hall \u2014 a note indicating she wanted Rick to ask her to Homecoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I heard that, I thought, \u2018Oh, God, she wants me to ask her out to Homecoming!\u2019 and I did,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cEven though I (later) went to LSU and she (to) McNeese, there was always that moment, which I call divine intervention, that put me and Donna on the path to being married all these years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard cites two uncles who had an influence on him early on in his life: one, a senior prosecutor for the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney\u2019s Office, who, he says, impressed him regarding the law; and, the other, a marketing executive for a major oil company, who also impressed him regarding the energy business.<\/p>\n

While at LSU, Richard earned his B. A. in Journalism and Juris Doctorate of Law degree. He was inducted into the Student Hall of Fame, and elected student body president of LSU Law School. Also, he was installed in the Omicron Delta Kappa Service Fraternity.<\/p>\n

Off To Washington<\/strong><\/p>\n

After LSU Law School, Richard says he went to work for a law firm in Baton Rouge, and less than a year later, in late 1977, got a call from one of his LSU law professors, who was good friends with Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, telling him that Johnston was looking for candidates to interview for a legislative assistant position in Washington, D. C.\u00a0 Richard was subsequently recommended, interviewed by Sen. Johnston, and hired.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just fell in love with the idea of living in Washington and doing energy work, because I had had a little bit of a background in politics at LSU. I was president of the Student Bar Association, but I never thought I would go into politics. I really liked Bennett Johnston. (I) had gotten to know him a little bit as a photographer for The Daily Reveille, when he was running for governor. I went to interview with him, and I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d get the job, and on the way out, after we had lunch in the senators\u2019 dining room, he said, \u2018Well, would you like to come to work for me?\u2019 And I went \u2018Yeah!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI went up there for a couple of months in \u201877, and stayed there through \u201881. Donna and I just had a wonderful time (with my) working in the United States Senate. (It was) like getting paid to get a graduate degree.\u00a0 It was a great experience that helped make my career in energy, because my first exposure to the energy field was working on the Carter Energy Plan, (and) Bennett Johnston was the leader in energy on the Senate at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his four-plus year career with Sen. Johnston, Richard attended Georgetown University at night, and obtained a Master\u2019s of Law in Taxation degree, thinking his calling was to be a tax lawyer.<\/p>\n

In 1981, after working for Johnston and getting his Master\u2019s, Richard went back home to\u00a0 Louisiana, and worked as a partner in the Lafayette law firm of Hayes, Durio and Richard.<\/p>\n

In 1982, Richard was appointed by President Reagan, and confirmed by the United States Senate, to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as a commissioner, an appointment he held through 1985.<\/p>\n

Richard was awarded the FERC Chairman\u2019s Medal and the Distinguished Service Medal from the U.S. Secretary of Energy \u201cfor his role in unbundling Interstate pipeline markets to create economic opportunities in natural gas markets,\u201d his bio reads.<\/p>\n

Says Richard:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president needed to appoint someone to the Federal Energy Commission, and even though I was a Democrat, I think he was looking for someone who had similar views on energy. I was shocked and deeply honored, and just had a wonderful time there. I kind of fell into my next career (after serving on the FERC).\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard says he loved his time as a Reagan appointee on the FERC, and was impressed with how Reagan managed as a president.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember going to the East Wing, I think it was, and he had all of his appointees over when he had this big tax plan he was trying to pass,\u201d Richard says. \u201cHe was just a fabulous communicator. He could talk to everybody in the room, and you felt he was speaking directly to you. What he would do is gather really good people around him \u2014 and (others) could argue whether they liked them or not \u2014 he had good people, and he lightly managed them, and they did a good job. He was a really stand-up guy, and Vice-President Bush and he made a great team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Success In The Energy Business: \u2018I Followed The Storm\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rick Richard made his living in the energy business, and managed several major energy companies as president and CEO.<\/p>\n

When I ask Richard how he became successful, he sets the stage for his response by telling me about his first business experience, as a paperboy for the American Press, and how it positively influenced his and other young peoples\u2019 work ethic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn young people, the first job can instill a work ethic that in the United States, if you get into the work force and you really work hard, you can be successful,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Richard continues, \u201cFor Donna and I, both our fathers worked at the plants, so it was just this (instilled) work ethic that, over time, continually built up. But I never went into any work with the sole expectations of what I would be paid.<\/p>\n

\u201c(To) give you an example: When I was running Columbia Gas, U.S. News and World Report had a box in an article on executive pay, which noted the most underpaid CEOs as to shareholder value. Warren Buffett was number one, and I was five. I didn\u2019t care about the salary; I cared about what I was doing with the job.\u00a0 That\u2019s not being underpaid. It was all about value, living corporate responsibility, and engaging fellow employees to be productive and, yes, having fun doing it. When you believe that, good things happen. So it wasn\u2019t the measure of what pay I received, it was what we all succeeded in doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I ask Richard if the combined background he brought to the energy business \u2014 communications, law and politics \u2014 was, positively speaking, a perfect storm, he says \u201cit was,\u201d and explains:<\/p>\n

\u201cI followed the storm in this sense,\u201d he says, \u201cDonna and I moved quite a bit, (and) I was asked to run troubled companies. My motto is always, leave your campsite better than what you found it. I would see opportunities for companies that just had lost their way for a while, and I thought I could make a difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonna and I took risks in moving in the first place, when I had a secure job. We were moving to different parts of the country \u2014 from Houston to Omaha to New Jersey to Virginia.\u00a0 I have to say, upon arrival, if you\u2019re uncomfortable, you are in the right place, meaning that if you don\u2019t know something, you really learn by being there \u2014 immersion, so to speak. You\u2019re uncomfortable because you\u2019re learning while you\u2019re doing it. If you\u2019re too comfortable, that means you may not really be learning as much as you possibly could.\u201d<\/p>\n

Home Sweet Home<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"RRichard-2618\"<\/a>In 2005, just a few months before Hurricane Rita slammed into Southwest Louisiana, and after three decades away, the Richards returned to their beloved hometown of Lake Charles. They had barely settled into a new home when the storm hit, and recovery became the area\u2019s operative word. Richard explains why investing in downtown Lake Charles and, among many other worthwhile endeavors, being a member and chairman of the city\u2019s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) were natural decisions to make.<\/p>\n

\u201cA little background,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cDonna and I worked at the downtown Pitt Theatre as kids. We got 90 cents an hour, and we thought we were doing really (good). Actually, I think she got 95 cents! I\u2019d walk or take the city bus from 1st Avenue (to) downtown, and I\u2019d eat downtown at the Busy Bee Cafe on Ryan St., where our Phoenix Building now stands. I\u2019d see the old Arcade (Theatre), the Majestic (Hotel); (it) was all here.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had this really warm feeling for downtown. When we came back 30 years later, and saw that a lot of these historic buildings were gone, it really was disconcerting. The downtown of anywhere we\u2019ve ever lived \u2014 we\u2019ve lived in nine different places \u2014 is the living room. It is a gathering place that you come to see what\u2019s going on in town.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was asked to get on (the DDA), my first reaction was \u2018God, this is like open field running; there is so much that could be done, if we just all put our heads together.\u2019\u00a0 My fellow members were great; we had a great group. The (city) administration knew that we needed to do something after Rita. The rebirth and reawakening of downtown was a lot the result of Rita, and the citizens of this area realized\u00a0 (the $90 million Bond Issue of the city) made that happen. (The DDA was) just one of the pieces moving the ball forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard was chairman when several major projects of the bond issue were implemented, including the Lakefront Promenade and Marina, and the Ryan Streetscape. He says the Phoenix Building he built was under the new Smart Code standards the DDA had implemented.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had no leases,\u201d he says. \u201cYou know, a lot of times, you have the leases then you build. I built it on spec that this would work with what the city had done (and it) would help attract people downtown. So that\u2019s why we built it. And now, I have to say it\u2019s full, but it didn\u2019t start out full.\u00a0 You could say I took \u2018calculated risks.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

A Vision For Southwest Louisiana\u2019s Expansion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rick Richard talks about the historic expansion underway in Southwest Louisiana, and some of the building blocks he sees to a successful outcome.<\/p>\n

Says Richard: \u201cWith $97 billion in announced projects, and $40 billion under construction capable of creating 20,000 permanent direct and indirect jobs, I\u2019d like to see the assimilation of really good jobs for Southwest Louisiana. When all these projects are built, or a substantial amount of them, have we trained our workforce so that the people of Southwest Louisiana can take this as a great opportunity?<\/p>\n

\u201cA major condition for quality of life is jobs. With a job, you can do a lot of things; it affirms your talents and creates income, allowing the nurturing of your quality of life not only for yourself but for others in your lives. \u2018A rising tide lifts all boats.\u2019\u00a0 We need to inculcate our workforce into the completion of all of these major industries, because at the end of the day, it may change, somewhat, what Lake Charles is, but the quality of life is what\u2019s most important for a sustaining community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard emphasizes the importance of local industry and government working together on such things as workforce development, coupled with scholarship programs and impactful social services provided by state, parish and local government.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccess is the private community providing the jobs, (partnering) with the social services of the community. It\u2019s a joint partnership, and that\u2019s what leads to a great quality of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must act together. Just look at the amount of tax dollars that are coming on both property and sales tax.\u00a0 Elected officials should see this as waving the flag on the mountain.\u00a0 Take charge of this opportunity, not complaining about how much money you have to spend. Take it as one of the best opportunities this region will have in a century. Talk about the money coming in, and how we disperse it. But don\u2019t do it year to year; plan on a multi-year basis. The GO Group is working at that level now, with public and private resources; the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance is one organization taking the lead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard emphasizes the importance of the area\u2019s higher learning institutions and local businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my opinion, the home-grown entrepreneurship of this area is budding, is coming to fruition,\u201d he says. \u201cYou look at what McNeese has done, using the College of Engineering as an example. A degree from McNeese is third in the United States as to educational value delivered on a list where Rice (University) is number one.\u00a0 SOWELA is just hitting home runs. These two higher education institutions are working together \u2014 it\u2019s all about job creation and workforce development. They can lead the charge, and do even more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly believe McNeese can serve as a local think tank. We\u2019ve got the talent at McNeese to engage them to be an unbiased third party independent consultant for our police jury (and) our city council. Let\u2019s don\u2019t forget with our new leadership at the superintendent and school board, education from K-12 opportunities abound for creativity here, as well. Altogether, it\u2019s a trifecta!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s All About The Story\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

When asked about the most satisfying things for Rick Richard, personally and business-wise, he first pays tribute to his family, then talks about the mindset forged by his experiences in Boy Scouts that he has brought to every business opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, my marriage to Donna and having a son, David; that\u2019s the first two,\u201d he says with pride. \u201cOn the business side, it truly is what I learned in scouting: leave your campsite better than what you found it. Boy Scouts was a major, major complement to my work ethic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RRichard-2634\"<\/a>Richard elaborates: \u201cEverywhere I went in a job \u2014 one Fortune 500 company was in bankruptcy, (and) we took them out of bankruptcy, and (they) did very well \u2014 (in) every company, from Omaha to New Jersey to Virginia (to) Wilmington, Del., you (would) find a set of assets with a lot of good people.\u00a0 Not everybody was great. Some people just didn\u2019t want to be where they were.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go into a new organization, you figure out who has the fire in their belly about doing something (that) they have never had the opportunity (to do). You start to find those pearls that haven\u2019t been able to move ahead or enact change. Then you bring in some new people, if you have to \u2014 but I never did that first.\u00a0 And once you get a new strategic plan \u2014 and it\u2019s all about the story; it\u2019s a story about southwest Louisiana; it\u2019s a story about whoever is running for office \u2014 that makes sense connecting, and you implement it, you can improve your lot. When I left, I always felt like the assembled team of many employees had improved the lay of the land, and left our campsite better than what we found it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are so many good things that could happen in Southwest Louisiana, (and) that is the reason I am so fortunate to be back with the great people of Southwest Louisiana. Your work is helping build a Southwest Louisiana Community Foundation, or helping the education institutions, or helping job creation. There are so many talented people who can make things happen here, and this is a perfect laboratory. Where else in the nation can you go \u2014 and you can talk about Silicon Valley and all that \u2014 where else can you go in the nation where you have the opportunity to try to do something, to share your values, and to share the strengths that God gave you?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe underestimate our gifts, (and) we don\u2019t count our perseverance and innovation of the people of Southwest Louisiana. I say, no more; \u2018seize the moment,\u2019 with pride of who we are!\u00a0 We ARE Southwest Louisiana proud!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oliver G. \u201cRick\u201d Richard, III Story By Scott E. Raymond Photos By Lindsey Janies Rick Richard\u2019s life, when told, unfolds like a best-selling novel of a small-town native\u2019s unlikely road from relative obscurity to riches and fame: the son of a refinery worker and school nurse; the quiet, yet determined, smart as a whip high [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":4341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,71,834,982],"yoast_head":"\nFULL CIRCLE - BestOfSwla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2015\/12\/03\/full-circle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FULL CIRCLE - BestOfSwla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Oliver G. \u201cRick\u201d Richard, III Story By Scott E. 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