Dr. Ernest Hansen, Jr and his niece Ashley were the guest speakers at Rotary last week who provided a brief history of Dr. Hansen Jr’s parents business, Hansen’s Sno-Bliz located on Tchoupitoulas Street in New Orleans.

The store was started in 1939 by Mary and Ernest Hansen. Ernest, being a master machinist, designed and built the ice shaving machine which is still in use in the store today. Mary was responsible for mixing their very own syrups which provided flavor to the fluffy ice with the motto, “there are no shortcuts to quality.” They build their Sno-Bliz with multiple layers of ice and syrup, making sure the flavor is saturated in every taste of the cool treat.

The store is now operated by their granddaughter Ashley, who strives to maintain the quality and practices of the store as established by her grandparents many years ago. The store is open from the spring through the fall and offers many flavors of Sno-Bliz, including some mixed with ice cream and real fruit.

Hanzen’s Sno-Bliz has become such a part of uptown New Orleans life that it is not uncommon to find a long line of patrons waiting to get a Sno-Bliz during the summer months. The popularity of the cool treat has earned the Sno-Bliz an award as an American Classic by the James Beard Foundation.

Marc Ehrhardt has served as executive director since the Grow Louisiana Coalition’s inception in January 2014. In this position, he represents the Coalition as its spokesperson and works with its board of directors to develop and execute a plan to fulfill its mission of enhancing the value of Louisiana’s oil and gas industry and affiliated industries. The Grow Louisiana Coalition is partnered with LMOGA (Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association.

In previous positions, he managed public affairs, corporate image, national media relations, issues management and crisis management programs in the economic development, retail, financial and manufacturing industries.

Marc presented facts about how the energy sector is a giant economic engine for our state. Louisiana is the nation’s number 2 producer of both oil and natural gas and the number 2 among the states in refining capacity. He said, “It’s time for the industry voices to be heard. The oil and gas industry in Louisiana should not be taken for granted and we have to fight to preserve it.”

The Grow Louisiana Coalition is among the fastest-growing organizations in Louisiana because people around our industry are recognizing the power our voices have when we’re united. With over 30,000 likes on Facebook, Grow Louisiana Coalition uses social media outlets and presentations to help unify our voice and demonstrate to our leaders that the oil and gas industry has profound effects on the entire state and each parish. To learn more about how the oil and gas industry is the most significant funding source for our state, please visit their website at www.growlouisianacoalition.com. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Lafourche Parish Assessor’s Office Digital Mapping Software was developed over a seven year period by Wendy Thibodeaux and former Lafourche Parish Assessor, Mike Martin. The total cost to develop was $750,000. The funds came from annual millage roll backs which enabled the software to be developed without additional cost to the taxpayers of Lafourche Parish. As you enter the software, the first button on which to click is the disclaimer. The disclaimer signfies the office is looking for user feedback regarding questions, errors and/or changes to ensure accuracy. The digital mapping software accuracy is based on legal descriptions and not maps. When a question arises, the office always refers to the legal description of the properties to get the inquiry answered. There are multiple ways to search for properties which include owner’s name, subdivision, physical address and even by well. Properties can be measured as well as structures directly from the software. Property history can be viewed which includes oil and gas well ownership as well as pipelines. The software company can build on what is there to address newly identified land and/or properties. The tax roll in the software is updated every 24 hours while the property lines are updated once per month. Property title changes are completed within one month from the submittal date. Oil and gas entities are taxed once per year on January 1st. Taxes on watercraft occur on January 1st or the first port of entry. Lafourche boat owners strive to have their boat in Lafourche to ensure the tax monies remain local. Furthermore, out of service watercraft get a tax break until the boat goes into service again. Plaquemine is the lowest watercraft tax rate; however, the fuel consumed to travel to Plaquemine is higher than the tax savings. Wendy Thibodeaux is in the process of traveling to each district within Lafourche parish to show how the assessor’s office rolls back the tax millage. Lafourche is the 12th highest in millage tax within the state of Louisiana. The digital mapping system illustrates the tax roll of Lafourche Parish and is not intended for legal purposes. The Digital Mapping Software developed by the Lafourche parish assessor’s office is a tool available to everyone especially the parish citizens to visualize and understand how their physical property is related to their millage tax.