Barfield doesn’t disappoint – TIM BARFIELD, 45, Chief development officer for Amedisys Inc.

Editor’s note: This story has changed from original publication.

225 selected nine People to Watch in 2010, and just six days into the year one of them has already lived up to his billing.

Baton Rouge attorney and business exec Tim Barfield has turned up in local and business news after a high-profile change in jobs.

In December, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office announced Barfield’s departure from his post as executive counsel, moving to what was at the time an undisclosed position in the private sector.

When Barfield, who had headed up the state’s labor department, took over as Jindal’s executive counsel, he was tasked with patching up strained relationships with some lawmakers as the governor’s point man with the Legislature. That role now presumably falls to Stephen Waguespack, who succeeded Barfield as executive counsel.

In the weeks following that announcement, we were left to speculate where Barfield would actually land. The former chief operating officer of Shaw Group Inc., he left that lucrative corporate job for a public service post with Jindal’s administration — earning a fraction of his former salary — where he put his sharp mind and affable demeanor to work for state government.

Then on Tuesday we learned what Barfield’s new role would be: chief development officer for Amedisys Inc., Baton Rouge’s growing home health company and one of only a handful of publicly traded local companies. At the same time, Amedisys announced the hiring of Michael D. Snow, who used to run one of the nation’s top outpatient surgery businesses.

Barfield and Snow’s mere arrival at Amedisys sent shares up nearly 3 % in one day, pushing it to its highest stock price since late 2008.

While Barfield’s job has changed, look for him to help Amedisys continue to grow and make headlines in 2010.

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