[StBernard] Business and Professional Women

[Westley Annis]

Business and Professional Women

Name Taffaro and Hutter 

2010 Man and Woman of the Year

St. Bernard Parish President Craig P. Taffaro, Jr. and State Representative
Nita Rusich Hutter will be honored by the St. Bernard Business and
Professional Women as its 50th Man and Woman of the Year on Wednesday,
October 20 during National Business Women's Week. The evening gala, which
includes dinner by Patton's Catering, will be held at the Sigur Civic Center
in Chalmette. 'It's also a golden anniversary reunion of past recipients of
the prestigious awards," says President Lauren Gibson. For gala ticket
information contact Deborah Keller at 504-473-3470. Both honorees were
unanimously nominated and chosen by the BPW members at their September
meeting.

Since 1928 National Business Women's Week, a nationwide event, has honored
the contributions of working women.  The awards banquet is one of several
local events.  Other activities include the club's 49th birthday party at
its 6 p.m. meeting on Monday, October 18 at Sebastopol Plantation when the
2010 Model Working Women will be recognized.  For information about the
meeting contact Lauren Gibson at 504-715-7525.

President Taffaro, a native of St. Bernard Parish, was graduated from Holy
Cross High School in New Orleans and holds a Bachelor's degree from the
University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette and a Master's degree in
counseling psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has
spent over 20 years as a licensed professional counselor and a licensed
marriage and family therapist. He has held a faculty appointment in
psychology at Nunez Community College. He founded Straight Street Group Home
and Non-Profit Counseling Organization, and he helped establish and served
as the Treatment Director of the St. Bernard Parish Drug Court Programs.
Taffaro also served as assistant principal at Archbishop Hannan High School
in Meraux, where he established a peer counseling program, was an assistant
coach for the district championship football season, was head coach and
Coach of the Year for track, and was coach for the State runner-up cross
country team. 

In 1996 Taffaro was elected to office as parish councilman for District D
and served a four year term. He was re-elected to a second term and served
from 2004 to 2008.  In 2005, he and other elected officials were thrust into
the national spotlight in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as the parish
progressed from recovery to returning and rebuilding. He next won the parish
presidency and was sworn into office in 2008. His leadership was again
tested in 2010 with the Deepwater Horizon oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico
when he fought to protect the environment, as well as the people and economy
of St. Bernard Parish. Taffaro, in his third year as parish president, is
focused on completing the recovery and growth mission for St. Bernard Parish
and has joined the metropolitan leadership in addressing the effects of the
oil spill.

Taffaro has been married to the former Debbie Curry for 24 years. They are
the parents of eight children- Antonio, Luca, Mollie, Paolo, Grace, Emma,
Craig, III, and Meghan, wife of Jeremy McMullin. They are parishioners of
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Violet. He is the son of June and
Craig P. Taffaro, Jr. 

In his spare time, he has completed two Ironman Triathlons and a dozen
marathons.  He holds the distinction of being the only male to have ever
been a member of the St. Bernard BPW Club. He served as the Royal Knight for
the Knights of Nemesis Mardi Gras parade in 2010. Additionally, he is a
member of the Kiwanis Club, Jumonville Plantation Homeowners Association,
St. Bernard Chamber of Commerce, on the Board of Directors for the St.
Bernard Parish Battered Women's Shelter, United Commercial Fisherman
Association, Irish-Italian-Isleno Community Parade, both his college alumni
associations, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, LCA, Chalmette Track Club, Board
of Directors of Operation Merry Christmas, founding member of the St.
Bernard Recreation Corporation, and an active parish recreation department
coach. 

Taffaro has assisted in establishing several community events designed to
rebuild the social network in St. Bernard, including the Always Home Dance,
the Chalmette Track Club Series, the Employee Wellness Program, the
Recreation Corporation, and the Mental Health Consortium for St. Bernard
during Hurricane Katrina Emergency Response. 

State Representative Nita Rusich Hutter is a descendant of one of St.
Bernard's oldest families-her great, great-grandfather is Sebastian Roy,
dubbed the "Father of Roads" for the parish.  She was graduated from Andrew
Jackson High School and holds degrees from Delgado Community College and
Loyola University, where she majored in Secondary Education.  She served the
children of St. Bernard as a teacher in the St. Bernard Parish school system
for 15 years.  She continued to strive for excellence in teaching by
pursuing her Master's degree and earned dual certification in Guidance and
Counseling and Administration. After a brief stint as a flight attendant,
she started another career at Delgado Community College, where she is
currently Executive Director for Institutional Advancement, Government
Relations and the Foundation. 

Hutter served as councilwoman for District B from 1996-2000, becoming the
first woman to be elected to the St. Bernard Parish Council.  With a grass
roots campaign, she was able to capture the State District 104 House seat in
2000, where she is presently serving her third term.  She has been elected
five times by the women of the legislature to serve as their Caucus
Chairman-the first woman to serve this unprecedented number of years.  

In her current term, Governor Bobby Jindal and Representative Jim Tucker,
Speaker of the House, tapped her to be the first woman to serve as the Chair
of the Transportation Committee.  As a legislator she has gained a
reputation as a fighter for her home parish and those in the field of
education.  She is known as a legislator who supports businesses, both large
and small.  Among her most prominent leadership efforts is legislation to
enable a rural hospital for the community.  Other causes she has championed
include legislative issues regarding child abuse, hurricane relief, the
parish school system, fraudulent contractors, eradicating pain management
clinics, articulation of higher education students, and teen dating violence
curriculum in the public school system.

 In 2010 she was named Legislator of the Year for St. Bernard Parish by the
Alliance for Good Government. Always thinking about the advantages of
bringing business to her community, coupled with her desire to showcase
local artisans, she founded the "Art in April" festival some 15 years ago.
She also founded the annual Louisiana Women of Excellence awards to honor
women from all walks of life.  Hutter was elected to the position of Vice
Chair of the Board of the National Foundation of Women Legislators. 

She is the mother of Edward Jason Hutter and the daughter of Juanita Cortes
Rusich and the late Edward Rusich.