Signature: Douglas Andrews Diez

A logger named Vince Purpera moved to Louisiana from Texas in the 1930s and proceeded to cut down lumber trees across half of Ascension Parish.

Seventy years later his grandson Doug Diez and his business partners spent $3 million replanting much of that land.

“I’m paying for my grandfather’s sins,” Diez says. “He knocked them down. I’m planting them back!”

In the ’40s and ’50s Purpera transitioned from logging, to owning a sawmill, to operating a full-fledged construction company. As Purpera’s oldest grandson with a keen eye for development, Diez inherited the lumber company. Only 19 at the time, he left LSU to go into business for himself, and by 21 was developing his first community, Lake Village near St. Amant High School.

Today Diez owns or is a partner in multiple developments, including the Barringer Foreman Technology Park on Airline Highway, and Pelican Point, the 800-acre location of his redemptive tree planting. Ironically, Pelican Point exists thanks to his musical hobby. A guitarist and singer since his teens who has released a couple country albums, Diez sat in on an informal jam session one night while vacationing in the Caribbean. An older man was playing ukulele, and the next day introduced himself as Phil Ratcliff, a real estate magnate from Baltimore.

Age: 53

Title: Owner of Acadian Builders, co-owner of Pelican Point

Hometown: Gonzales, La.

A friendship was struck. Years later, when Ratcliff retired, he called Diez with a proposition. “He said ‘You want to do something together?’ And I said ‘We can do everything together!’” The Pelican Point golf course, subdivision and retail center was born.

Although he owns 36 holes, Diez is a certified pilot and seemingly does everything but play golf. He travels the world collecting vintage bottles and pipes—a hobby he picked up from his grandmother—and still plays music whenever he can.

Business keeps him busy. This summer Diez broke ground on his latest project, the Industriplex Commerce Center in Ascension.

“When I started at 21, I really shouldn’t have been the conductor [of the company],” Diez says. “But over 30 years I’ve gained the experience, and working with great employees now is just like conducting an orchestra.”

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