Benny Cenac Philanthropy Archives - Arlen "Benny" Cenac Jr

Benny Cenac, Business Owner, and the SLCC Open House

On Friday, October 26, 2018, the sun was shining and the smell of a fresh Boucherie was in the air as members of the Benny Cenac business, Cenac Marine Services, attended a celebration for a partner in maritime education. South Louisiana Community College (SLCC) and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) celebrated their new and recent partnership at the Maritime and Corporate Training Center in Houma.

SLCC hosts a Marine Operations program within their Continuing Education outpost of their Corporate College to support the needs of businesses and industries throughout South Louisiana. The Marine Operations program provides specialized Coast Guard-approved classroom instruction and practical training to prepare students for many jobs available in the field.

SLCC administrators along with area dignitaries shared remarks and then later enjoyed the afternoon over delicious food and a discussion of what exciting things are to come in the future for both parties as they partner together.

The program began with a warm welcome from Mr. Anthony Baham of SLCC and was followed by fellow representatives of SLCC: Dr. Craig McClain and Dr. Kristine Strickland. Also in attendance were Mr. Gordone Dove, Parish President, Mr. Jerome Zeringue, Represented of District 52, and Ms. Beryl Amedee, Representative of District 51.

The SLCC Maritime training program is enhanced from the refurbished barge donated by Benny Cenac, business leader and philanthropist. — The dedicated barge is an exact replica of a standard Cenac Marine Services tank barge and will allow for the highest quality education and training.

Mr. Walt Cenac with the Benny Cenac Towing Company was in attendance of the open house for CEO and Owner, Benny Cenac. The company donated a fully refurbished barge to SLCC’s Maritime Training program back in November 2017. The dedicated barge, which measures 158 feet by 40 feet, is an exact replica of a standard Cenac Marine Services tank barge with all the bells and whistles. The barge is located in Munson Slip in Houma, just off the Houma Navigation Canal. These updated real-life barge features now allow for the highest quality education and training for those that attend the program that are set to be the next generation of maritime industry leaders.

Cenac’s donated fully refurbished barge has everything a current Cenac employee would work with on a daily basis. Benny Cenac, Houma business owner, proudly announced that it is the most state-of-the-art training barge in Louisiana, and likely the most advanced of its kind within the Gulf Coast.

Cenac Marine had donated the barge to the state years ago for use in workforce development. Members of the board of supervisors of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System approached Benny Cenac to see if his towing business would partner with the area schools to modernize the training barge. Mr. Cenac jumped at the chance to aid local students and interested professionals committed to training and strengthening the local maritime workforce.

Benny Cenac, Business Leader and Philanthropist for Education-Related Causes

Benny Cenac, business magnate from Houma, has long supported higher-education programs throughout the state of Louisiana. Mr. Cenac understands the value of education and dedicates his resources to supporting those who love to learn. Benny Cenac’s business successes at Cenac Marine Services has prompted his support for maritime-focused training programs to ensure a continued and thriving maritime industry within his home state.

Benny Cenac, business owner and philanthropist, celebrated with their partner for maritime education at the Maritime and Corporate Training Center in Houma. — Benny Cenac, business owner, at a related event

Workforce development is always at the top of Benny Cenac’s list business priorities—and community partnerships like this one are crucial for orchestrating workforce development systems in such vital industries.

“Terrebonne Parish is and always will be near and dear to our hearts here at Cenac as our birthplace,” explained Cenac. “This company will always invest in continuing to produce the best marine personnel in the business. This also assists in making training more readily available to the area. We are all for supporting maritime education, especially so close to home.”

Cenac noted that students and existing mariners in the Terrebonne area were forced to travel for certain classes to less-convenient areas like Slidell, LA, east of New Orleans.

“Now our employees will be able to have a place right in their backyard to do this,” Cenac said.

The very first open enrollment SLCC Maritime Training class began in August. Depending on the size of the class, hands-on barge training can last approximately eight hours long. The goal of the South Louisiana Community College and their Maritime training program is to offer the class every two weeks, depending on instructor availability. They currently have two Cenac Boat Captains serving as tankerman instructors during their off time. The Cenac instructors have been certified through the state of Louisiana to teach the course. It takes a total of 32 hours to complete the tankerman training course. After completion of the course, they are required to complete basic firefighting training before they can become a certified Tankerman.

Benny Cenac stated, “From the very start of this project I have been excited about what we can offer to the community and to those interested in becoming Tankermen. My company and I are fortunate to have the opportunity to provide a hands-on learning experience to many people for years to come.”

The Benny Cenac Towing Company was very proud to be a part of the open house that took place at the Maritime Training Center. The event was perfect and closed out with words from Mr. Stevie Smith in place of Mr. Vinny St. Blanc, Louisiana’s Community and Technical College’s (LCTCS) Board of Supervisors.

“When you look at higher education where we’ve had so many budget cuts, and a man steps up and offers equipment or a simulator in support of our community technical college, it speaks to his love for his community and his state,” Willie Smith said. “We appreciate you, Mr. Cenac, and all that you’ve done for us in support of the community and technical college.”

The barge dedication ceremony featured a benediction from Father Mark Toups from the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and a prayer from the Rev. Simon Peter Engurait, vicar general of the diocese and pastor of St. Bridget Church in Schriever, La. The ceremony concluded when representatives from SLCC and the Cenac family shattered bottles of champagne over the bow of the tank barge.

To learn more about South Louisiana Community College and its Maritime training offerings, please visit, http://www.solacc.edu. More information on this inaugural class was featured on Workboat’s website. To read about the barge dedication that took place in 2017 please see this article.

Cenac Towing and Son Rise Music Fest

The Benny Cenac Towing Company was so proud to participate in the third annual Son Rise Christian Music Fest. The event took place on Saturday, October 27, 2018 at the Lafourche Central Market Pavilion in Mathews, Louisiana. The day was full of family fun, musical praise and worship and for some that attended, life changing events. The Son Rise Christian Music Fest was created to celebrate the common belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, bringing the various Christian faiths of the area together through the common love of music! This year’s Son Rise Christian Music Fest was brought to you by Cenac Marine Services, LLC of Houma, LA and Lift 3:16, Inc., a nonprofit based in Houma.

Benny Cenac, owner of Cenac Marine Services and local entrepreneur, knew immediately he wanted to help bring Son Rise Music Fest to the area when he heard of its mission. He is no stranger to philanthropy and frequently gives back to his community by donating to several events and programs that help to enrich the lives of us and our neighbors. The Cenac Towing Company also participated in the event last year. Seeing its success and the impact it had on the community made it that much more important for the Houma based entrepreneur and his team to support the Son Rise Music Fest efforts.

Throughout the day, the community was brought together with a variety of dynamic musicians from South Louisiana. The day kicked off with the Cajun Music band, L.A. Rose at 8:45am which was a great way to start the morning for many South Louisianians who love to Cajun dance! The Cajun music was followed by a Christian worship band led by Dr. Karl Haydel then the Gospel group, 3MC! Throughout the rest of the day, Christian Rock bands Like Giants and Empowered, as well as a rap group K. Levy & The Legends rocked the stage and kept all attendees on their feet! The events of the day culminated a huge praise & worship session led by More Than Sunday featuring a number of the musicians who played throughout the day.

The Son Rise Christian Music Fest was a free event and open to all ages. Food booths offered a variety of small meals and snacks throughout the day that were also available to guests. The craft vendors selling their goods to attendees were kept busy as many people stopped by each booth. The Mario Kart Tournament for ages 4-12 was a huge success as the winners were awarded Chik-fil-A gift cards to 1^st and 2^nd place winners for each round of the tournament, with a new tournament that started every hour on the hour. It is safe to say the entire day was full of fun, happiness, joy and a HUGE success.

Mr. Benny Cenac, of Cenac Marine Services prides himself, his company, and his employees in their philanthropic and helpful volunteer endeavors and this festival was a perfect way for them to serve that purpose. Not only is the mission of Son Rise Music Festival to help bring the love of God to the community of Houma but they were also mandated as a drop off point for Hurricane relief supplies. This is a perfect example of the selfless and helpful spirits we are blessed to interact with as we look back on our experience at the third annual Son Rise Christian Music Festival.

For more information and registration forms, please visit www.SonRiseMusicFest.org. Lift 3:16 wishes to thank Benny Ceanc and Cenac Marine Services for their support and sponsorship of the event and its evangelization efforts.

For more articles similar to this one, click here.

Benny Cenac Towing Co. Presents Fall Fest

Benny Cenac, Houma Philanthropist, recently donated to the first annual Downtown Houma Fall Fest. Downtown Houma was able to successfully host its First Annual Fall Festival over the weekend. Presented by Cenac Marine Services and filled with a variety of local bands, the fall festival was a huge hit throughout the town. Cenac Marine Services owner and philanthropist Arlen Benny Cenac, Jr. jumped at the opportunity to help support this event as he is always an avid proponent of arts, music, and community and believes the incorporation of arts in a community significantly increases the strength of the community.

The vision that the creators of Fall Fest had in mind was brought to life as they received support from local companies, vendors and the very talented native music community. As stated on Downtown Fall Fest’s website, “Downtown Fall Fest, in its infancy, was an idea forged from the minds of local musicians, yearning to rebuild a local music scene that has largely been dormant the past few years. The idea gained traction quickly and began to grow as more individuals gave their input. Within days, a simple comment grew into an idea, then a concept revolving around building support for local musicians, while also giving back to the community.” All proceeds from the Downtown Fall Festival will benefit local music programs for the purchase and repair of musical instruments.

Music has been shown to significantly increase the strength of a community since prehistoric times. Music was one of the earliest forms of communication so it was not only inseparable from early communities, but was absolutely integral to positive community relationships. In fact it’s now been proven that early cultures with a strong musical tradition thrived whereas cultures without a musical tradition struggled to survive. One reason for this is because music evokes strong emotions and since music coordinates their emotions, it helps important messages to be communicated and motivates individuals to identify with and to support other members within their community. Recent research has shown that when an individual feels positive, relaxed and confident they are much more able to integrate with other members of their community which increases their capacity for social integration. This in turn strengthens the community as a whole because when all the members of a community are fully integrated each individual is able to contribute a diverse and unique set of skills and talents to that community.

There are two major benefits of incorporating music into the community- it improves the social development of the individual by increasing their feelings of well being and connectedness, and it also increases that individual’s ability to then integrate within their community which results in a stronger community for all of its members.

Residents, along with Mr. Benny Cenac, are hopeful that more affordable arts events will be brought to the area. There was free admission to all stages of the festival except for the Brick House Stage which was only $5. Local residents were able to enjoy their favorite local bands including Sheauxdown, Southern Cross, Category 6, and much more. The festival also includes a jambalaya cook off, BBQ cook off, craft booths, and more.

To read a full article on the events, click here. To learn more about Mr. Cenac’s philanthropy efforts and community involvement visit here.

Tag: Benny Cenac Philanthropy

Benny Cenac, Business Owner, and the SLCC Open House

Benny Cenac, Business Leader and Philanthropist for Education-Related Causes

Read More about Benny Cenac’s Education and Philanthropic Activities:

Cenac Towing and Son Rise Music Fest

Benny Cenac Towing Co. Presents Fall Fest