Newsletter February 2013

PAGE 4
LE V E R T C O MP A NI E S
V O LU M E 4 , I S S U E 1
Family branch briefs
 IN MEMORY — Christine Levert Cameron of Reno, NV,
daughter of Katrina Kirkpatrick and stepfather Scott
Kirkpatrick, also of Reno, passed away Sept. 27, 2012, at age
48 after a long illness. Member of the Jean Baptiste, Jr.,
family branch, Christine is also survived by her father, Lane
Cameron of Reno, her brother, Jimmy Lane Kirkpatrick, of
Vero Beach, FL, and her uncle, James B. Levert, Jr., of St.
Martinville.
V O LU M E 4 , I S S U E 1
 Melissa Parker Harkey of Ocean Springs, MS received a
doctorate in nursing from the University of Alabama Birmingham in December 2012. Wife of Jonathan Levert
Harkey, Melissa has worked as a nurse practitioner for eight
years in the Singing River Health System, Pascagoula, MS.
She received her bachelor's and master’s degrees in nursing
from the University of South Alabama, Mobile, in 1998 and
2003, respectively. Jonathan and his father, Lewis Maybin
Harkey, also of Ocean Springs, are members of the Ella
Marie family branch.
Down on the farm
Farm records highest yield of sugar per acre ever!
Dry field conditions for most of the
2013 harvest, lessening the effects
caused by Hurricane Isaac, and favorable growing conditions experienced
throughout 2012 contributed to the
highest yield of sugar per acre ever
recorded by our self-operated farm,
according to Charlie Levert, vice president, agricultural operations.
“All told, we harvested 3,432 acres
of sugarcane, which averaged 35 tons
per acre,” Charlie said. “This in combination with a favorable sugar content
equated to a yield of 8,012 pounds of
sugar per acre,” compared to 6,219
pounds in 2011 and 7,303 pounds in
2007, the highest per acre yield until
this year.
Director profile
(Continued from page 3)
Trust Co. in Boise, Idaho;
Karen, 37, former school
teacher and graduate of Bradley University, Peoria, IL, and
her husband and their two
children live in Winnetka, IL;
and John, 33, University of
Wisconsin graduate, like his
brother Dan and his father
before him, works for Bemis
in Minneapolis as marketing
manager, meat accounts.
Beginning in 1969-1970
Kearny held various positions
with Gulf Oil, Houston, and
then positions for several
years with Joanna Western
Mills, Chicago, a maker of
windows, window shades,
blinds, shutters, and other
related products.
But Frank really began to
climb the corporate ladder
when he and a partner started
in 1978 Banner Packaging
Inc., Oshkosh, WI., manufac-
turer of such polyethylene
flexible packaging materials
as rubber sheet and plastic
sheet. And it wasn’t long before Frank, as principal, vice
president and president,
helped turn Banner into one
of the most successful companies in its field.
As a tough dealmaker,
Kearny and his partner negotiated a lucrative contract
with Gerber, purveyor of baby
foods and baby products, to
make and supply Gerber with
disposable baby bottles, diaper bags as well as packaging
for other baby products, for
nearly 20 years.
In 1995, Frank sold Banner to the Bemis Company,
continuing as president of
Banner until he left Bemis
four years later in 1999 —
officially retiring from corporate life.
Editor’s note:
Please call or e-mail any current or future family
news and events (graduations, weddings, travels, etc.) to
me at (228) 872-1324 (land), (228) 238-9261 (cell) or at
[email protected] for inclusion in our next newsletter.
Masthead
art,
design
courtesy
of
Katrina
Kirkpatrick, Sugarmoon Studio’s, Reno, NV; former
graduate/recipient of the highest achievement award
from The Art Institute, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Ira Harkey, III, Editor
FEBRUARY 2013
Although domestic sugar prices fell
Steadily in 2012 from the record levels
experienced in 2011, Levert said,
“Some of the past crop’s sugar was sold
on the futures market at 2011 prices,
which will allow us to realize an overall
favorable price and to achieve the
farm’s highest earnings ever.”
Given the bleak outlook for 2013
sugar prices, however, he said, “We can
only hope that we will be blessed with
similar favorable growing conditions in
the coming year to give us the opportunity to attain gainful results.”
The 2013 harvest that began October 2 under wet conditions ended January 5 in the same fashion and the
above-average heavier crop and the wet
field conditions experienced at the end
of grinding really took a toll on some of
the equipment, “Causing us to limp to
the finish line with help of some of our
tenants, Charlie added.
Meanwhile, the mill ran well during
the three-month grinding season and
sugar recovery went well. Charlie also
reported that the mill ground 1,118,000
tons of sugarcane stalks, a record.
President’s message
Directors take prudent action to release dividends early
I’m certain that most of you were
surprised to receive your 2012-2013
dividends in December of last year.
Due to uncertainties surrounding anticipated changes to federal tax rates
and concerns on the effect that this
could have on the forthcoming dividend
distributions, your Boards of Directors
felt that it was prudent to release the
dividends early.
As it turned out, based on the
Pictures from the past
Old Biloxi House, Biloxi, MS, purchased by Company Founder Jean Baptiste Levert in 1898, was the Levert family’s
vacation mecca for many years until Hurricane Camille
destroyed it in 1969. Two of Jean Baptiste’s children, Lawrence (Uncle Lawrence) and Anna Beatrice (Aunt Bea) play
and chat in the front yard of the Old Biloxi House circa
early 1900s.
(Photos courtesy of Jack Swanson and Mary B. Hiegel collections.)
Inside this issue
Mineral LLCs formed
2
Real estate happenings
2
Mercantile distribution
2
Director profile
3
St. John House news
3
Pictures from the past
4
changes in the tax rates that took place
on January 1, only those family members above the recently established
thresholds will experience increases
from 15 percent to 20 percent on capital gains and qualified dividend tax
rates in 2013.
This year’s combined distribution
was greater than that approved by
your Boards of Directors last year and
represents the highest level ever dispensed. This occurrence was a result of
anticipated combined companygenerated earnings exceeding budget
and the prior year’s record performance, thus, making the 2012-2013 level
of earnings the highest total experienced by the Companies during their
almost 100-year existence. This occurrence also was a result of an excellent
2012 sugarcane crop along with the
solid performances of the Companies’
Real Estate Rental Departments.
With the coming of 2013, Congress
chose not to pass a new farm bill and
continued its recent trend of “kicking
the can down the road” by extending
most of the 2008 Farm Bill programs
through Sept. 30, 2013. Hopefully in
the coming months, our policymakers
will understand the need for farmers to
be provided some security in a five-year
farm bill that extends programs to protect farmers from catastrophes and to
afford a safety net when making planting and lending decisions that have
important consequences related to agricultural production activities.
With this in mind, let’s all hope that
2013 also instills confidence in consumers by bringing some favorable resolution to the gridlock that has overtaken
Congress and allows our policymakers
to curb the country's debt burden to
enable economic conditions to continue
to improve.
Andy Andolsek,
President
PAGE 2
LE V E R T C O MP A NI E S
V O LU M E 4 , I S S U E 1
Mineral matters
Levert Companies’ mineral rights redistributed, placed in 2 LLCs
Earlier in 2012, we reported that your
Companies were considering a redistribution of the mineral rights underlying
their south Louisiana properties. Those
rights on all nonproductive properties
came back to the Companies, J.B. Levert
Land, LLC and Levert-St. John, LLC as
owners of title to surface in July 2012.
Those rights were formally owned by the
shareholders of the two Companies as of
July 9, 2002, when the minerals were last
distributed.
The Companies have redistributed
those mineral rights. But instead of
transferring them directly to the current
“shareholders” they placed them in two
separate limited liability companies, the
ownerships of which were transferred,
effective Oct. 10, 2012, to the current
owners of J.B. Levert Land, LLC and
Levert-St. John, LLC in direct proportion
to their interest in the parent Companies.
This process should eliminate the need to
redistribute the minerals every 10 years.
In a letter to the shareholders dated
Jan. 24, 2013, Andy Andolsek, Levert
president, indicated that on Oct. 10, 2012,
each primary Company transferred its
interest in the new LLCs — J.B. Levert
Minerals, LLC and Levert-St. John Minerals, LLC — to its shareholders of record
on that date. This, in turn, represented a
dividend-in-kind.
Shareholder interest in the new LLCs
was established in direct proportion to his
or her ownership interest in the parent
Companies and its worth, or taxable
amount, as of the Oct. 10, 2012, transfer
date. (Consult your tax advisor concerning your specific tax situation as it relates
to this dividend-in-kind distribution.)
Meanwhile, during the past several
years successful exploration activity on
and around Company lands has been
slow. Accordingly, there are very few
properties that are not affected by this
redistribution, the Webre Plantation in
Lafourche Parish being the notable exception.
A recent development in the Atchafalaya Basin, south and east of Company
properties, could bode well for the future.
Freeport McMoran has secured a state
permit to drill a 30,000-foot exploratory
well in the Lake Long area of Iberia and
St. Martin parishes. This will be one of a
number of ultra-deep wells being drilled
in south Louisiana.
To date, most Company lands have
been explored to depths of 12,000 to
17,000 feet. A successful 30,000-foot well
could stimulate increased interest in
south Louisiana and prove very exciting
for the owners of the mineral rights in the
area.
Robert Becker, Director Emeritus
Real estate happenings
Real estate rentals to do well despite fragile economy
Both Companies’ Real Estate Rental
Departments are predicted to exceed the
prior year’s net operating income
amounts despite the effects of a fragile
economy that has plagued the demand for
rental properties, according to Pam
Tapie, vice president, real estate operations.
Tapie said combined earnings from
these departments are expected to increase by greater than 10 percent from
the prior year, thus, maintaining it as the
Office Building owned by Levert-St. John,
LLC at 7434 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge
pillar of the Companies’ income sources.
“This accomplishment occurred as a result of a combined occupancy rate near 95
percent during 2012 together with new
acquisitions made over the past 12 to 18
months,” Tapie explained.
She said the outlook of this trend continuing in 2013 depends on the Companies being able to lease or sell properties
with recent or pending vacancies, such as
the recent vacancy at the 19,218 squarefoot office building located at 7434 Perkins Road in Baton Rouge.
How to handle Mercantile cash distribution for 2012 taxes
Levert Mercantile shareholders who
received a cash payout as a result of the
company being liquidated should consult
their tax advisor regarding their specific
situation for the 2012 tax year, according
to Andy Andolsek, Levert president.
“The cash distribution received by the
shareholders reflects, in part, a return of
capital and, therefore, is likely to be taxed
at a different rate — probably as a capital
gain — rather than as ordinary dividend
income,” Andolsek explained. He said
each shareholder should have received by
January 2013 a 1099-DIV tax form showing the amount distributed to them.
The total cash payout was $382,088.80.
Number of shares outstanding at the time
of the capital distribution was 37,096, and
the amount per share distributed was
$10.30. As of Jan. 31, 2012, Mercantile's
book value per share was $8.39.
Oldest of the three Levert companies
founded by the family patriarch Jean Baptiste Levert in 1909, Mercantile was formally dissolved by the Louisiana Secretary of State on May 31, 2012. The company’s total assets were distributed to 51
shareholders of record on Aug. 27, 2012.
Mercantile was founded and incorporated
to serve the merchandise needs of laborers/farmers and their families who
Calendar of Events
March 5, 2013—Executive Committee Meeting
April 2, 2013—Board of Directors Meeting
May 7, 2013—Executive Committee Meeting
June 8, 2013—Annual Meeting
worked JB’s plantations, cane fields, and
sugar mill.
The upshot of this was the decision by
Levert management, directors of J.B.
Levert Land, LLC and Levert-St. John,
LLC as well as directors of the former
Levert Mercantile Co. Ltd. to dissolve
Mercantile, because it had lacked any
true growth potential for many years as a
result of the limited earnings sources
available to it.
The decision to dissolve Mercantile had
been a difficult one for management and
family members to make, because Mercantile and the little store it had operated
from 1909 until early 2000 were an integral part of family history and heritage.
The store was closed after doing business
for nearly a century in St. Martinville and
St. Martin Parish.
V O LU M E 4 , I S S U E 1
LE V E R T C O MP A NI E S
PAGE 3
Director profile
Frank’s friends say he ‘flunked retirement,’ but ‘I pick my battles’
Frank Kearny, III —
“angel investor” in start-up
companies with which he’s
involved, principal or board
member of profit/nonprofit
companies and organizations,
and yet along the corporate
brick road he apparently
earned a reputation as a
tough dealmaker.
But wait a minute. How
can that be? Frank (Anna
Beatrice family member) officially retired in 1999 from the
business world grind. Supposedly, he stepped away from
the rigors and responsibilities
of 8-to-12-or-more-hour days,
as he put it, “To pursue other
opportunities and challenges.”
And boy! What opportunities
and challenges they have
turned out to be!
“I just couldn’t do nothing
after departing the Bemis
Company,” the 16-handicap
golfer said after a round on
his native Wisconsin links. “I
had to do something, to stay
active, involved. I guess it’s in
my blood.” (The giant Bemis
Co. Inc., Minneapolis, MN, is
a multi-national company and
major supplier of flexible
packaging used by food, medical, consumer products, and
other companies worldwide.)
So, Kearny, who will turn
70 this year, continues to
work alongside other captains
of industry, but on a voluntary basis — serving on
boards, mentoring small companies as principal, leading
fundraisers, helping to establish a firm’s leadership, and
advising plans for a company’s future expansion and
direction. “I spend 10 to 40
hours a month driving and
jetting around the country to
businesses in Wisconsin, the
Midwest, and the South visiting the companies I’m involved with, now,” Frank explained.
He said he particularly
relishes the work he has done
for the Levert Companies as a
director and executive committee member for more than
20 years. “This involvement
with the family through the
companies is one of the unplanned joys of retirement
and I cherish the chance to
continue the legacy that J.B.
[Company Founder Jean Baptiste Levert] left,” Kearny
added.
Always organized to the
hilt, timed to the second,
Frank’s business schedule
before and after he retired
surely was laid out hour by
hour, day by day by his assistants and secretaries. By observing Frank participate/advise as a member of
the J.B. Levert Land, LLC
board and executive committee member at meetings, his
public image seems to be that
of a simple, genuine man, yet
still living a complicated and
busy life. He appears to shun
publicity yet he manages to
attract his share of it.
It’s probably no accident
that Frank Kearny remained
on top for 32 to 33 years in a
business where 10 to 15 years
of good performance was a
meaningful achievement.
Still, as his career lengthened
and his success grew, the
question always loomed:
When would he end his reign
for good?
One could also say that his
success, especially after his
departure and retirement
from Bemis in 1999 at age 56,
was based on a few simple
investing ideas. For he has
invested in some small for
profit/nonprofit companies
through “angel investing” —
providing capital to start-up
Armed with fresh money,
St. John committee plans final work
With an approved budget available to work with, the
St. John House Committee plans to renovate/restore
three of four upstairs bedrooms (northwest bedroom on
the second floor was remodeled last year), to install a
support railing on the front gallery steps leading up to
the screen door, and to replace all central heating/air duct
grills on the first floor of the house.
According to Frank Kearny, committee chairman, “We
put together a tentative budget and discussed the projects
at our recent meeting in Metairie. After this work is done
the plantation house in large part will have been completely restored and remodeled— upstairs, downstairs,
inside and outside.”
Kearny said the capital-budget-for-2014 money
($25,000) will cover the costs of repainting the three remaining upstairs bedrooms, installing new bedroom carpets, and hanging new window curtains, in addition to
the railing and duct grill projects. He added that the committee has set a tentative start-work date of April this
year.
In addition to Frank Kearny, other committee members who have worked hard over the years to maintain
the architectural integrity of the house are: Elizabeth
Perino, Ann Levert, Ginger Burke, Jane Legier, Winnie
Goulas, and Winnie’s brother, Boo Levert.
Meanwhile, money to cover already-completed repairs
and renovations — part of the major overhaul that began
in late 2009 —has been spent. That money was used to
cover the costs of such projects as emergency roof repairs,
renovation of the winding stairs and railing, remodeling
bathrooms upstairs and downstairs, stripping and refinishing hallway floors, repainting the interior and exterior
of the house, and purchasing a new table and chairs for
the back porch.
companies usually in exchange for an equity position
in the company, or a piece of
the action. He explained that
an angel investor usually invests his own funds to help
the other guys get started in
business.
“It’s not charity,” he said,
“but a way to bring entrepreneurs, business owners, and
investors closer together.”
(Kearny has been a board
member and angel investor in
Spaulding Clinical, a medical
concern in West Bend, WI,
since 2007.)
And all of this helps to
explain why many of Frank’s
friends say to this day that, “I
flunked retirement,” but I
explain to them that at least,
“I get to pick the battles I
choose to fight.”
Born in 1943 in New Orleans, Frank, his parents and
other siblings moved to Kansas City in 1957. He was
graduated from the University of Kansas in 1965 with a
B.S. in business administration. He served in the U.S.
Coast Guard, graduating from
Officer Candidate School in
1965.
From 1966 to 1969 he was
chief recruitment officer/assistant personnel officer
for the 2nd Coast Guard Division, St. Louis, MO. And it
was during his military stint
that he met his wife of 45
years, Stella Lou “Kim” Wilson of Dallas one summer on a
volleyball court in Cool Valley,
MO. Kim and Frank live in
Neenah, WI and they have
four children.
Their eldest son, Dan, 43,
temporarily lives in Hong
Kong with his wife and three
children. A Purdue graduate,
Dan is vice president, market
development, of the Bemis
Company and currently is
helping Bemis to transition a
company it purchased;
Jeffery, 40, Indiana University graduate, works in financial relations for Northern
Director profile
(Continued on page 4)