Business Beat

By Staff
August 18, 2002
Bynum named to top 50 Mississippi business women
Sandy Bynum, executive director of the Lauderdale County Tourism Bureau, has been named one of Mississippi's 50 leading business women by the Mississippi Business Journal.
The Jackson-based weekly business newspaper, which circulates statewide, said Bynum was selected for the 2002 program based on a number of accomplishments, including her work to promote tourism in east Mississippi and her active involvement in a number of cultural and civic projects, such as the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center.
Bynum, who has held the Lauderdale County position since January, holds a master's degree in public relations and a bachelor's degree in radio, television and film, both from the University of Southern Mississippi. In previous jobs, she taught broadcast technology at Meridian Community College and handled marketing and media relations for the Mississippi division of tourism.
Joe Jones, publisher of the Mississippi Business Journal, said the 50 Leading Business Women program was initiated "in response to the increasing importance of women leaders in our state.
Jones said Mississippi's business society "is changing from an old boys' club to a more inclusive environment that judges on merit rather than on race or gender. However, change is slow and needs all the encouragement it can get. It is our hope that our 50 Women program provides exposure for some of the successful women in our state and offers an opportunity for successful women to network together with other women of similar accomplishments."
Women business leaders honored in the Mississippi Business Journal program will be profiled in the publication and attend a day-long session this week at the Eagle Ridge Conference Center on the campus of Hinds Community College in Raymond. They will hear from an array of nationally known speakers and have the opportunity for networking with each other on shared experiences in the business world.
Sta-home, Alliance announce Laird agreement
Sta-home Health Agency and Alliance Health Services have announced a lease agreement with an option to purchase Alliance-Laird Home Health Agency of Union.
The agreement also expands the Sta-home service area to permit service to all the Mississippi counties that are part of the Meridian-area medical community. Alliance-Laird Home Health served a 12-county area, including Clark, Kemper and Noxubee counties, which will be new territory for Sta-home, Caracci said.
Rogers honored
Fred Rogers, vice president and chief resources officer for Rush Health Systems, was recently named president-elect for the Society for Healthcare Facilities Managers.
Rogers was elected at the annual Mississippi Hospital Association meeting in June in Gulfport. Rogers, who came to Rush in 1995, will serve the society as president-elect for the next two years.
After that, he will serve as president for two years. Rogers and his wife, Barbara, have three children and two grandchildren.
NBC promotes Meridian native
BURBANK, Calif. The NBC television network has promoted Meridian native Lee Straus to vice president, business affairs, NBC Studios.
Straus will continue to report to Beth Roberts, senior vice president, business affairs.
Straus graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor of arts degree in production from the USC Cinema-Television School.
He joined Walt Disney Pictures/Touchstone Pictures as a creative assistant in 1991. He later moved to Buena Vista Home Video International as a production assistant handling promotional trailers and television spots.
While at Disney/Touchstone, Straus attended Loyola Law School at night and transferred to the corporate legal department as a paralegal in 1994. He remained there until his graduation with a juris doctor degree in law in 1996.
He supervised the business aspects of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." the Comedy Central series "Win Ben Stein's Money" and the syndicated "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."
Straus joined NBC Studios in January 2000 as director, business affairs.
Alman named senior vice president
LONDON  Former Meridian resident Rex Alman III has been named senior vice president, Algeria, and managing director of Anadarko Algeria Co. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., one of the largest independent exploration and production companies in the world.
Alman has worked for Anadarko since 1976. He will transfer from Anadarko's Houston headquarters to the company's London office, where he will assume responsibility for exploration and production operations in Algeria.
After graduating from Meridian High School in 1969, Alman attended Meridian Junior College for two years and then graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor of science degree in petroleum engineering.
He joined Anadarko as an evaluation engineer and has held a number of senior positions in exploration and production. He assumed his most recent position as senior vice president, domestic operations, in 2001.
Alman and his wife, Belinda, have three children.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is one of the largest independent exploration and production companies in the world.
The company reported average daily production of 553,000 barrels of oil equivalent in the first quarter of 2002. U.S. operations are in Texas, Louisiana, the Mid-Continent and Western states, Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico.