THE POWER GENERATION profiles: David Guidry

David Guidry

President

Lakeside Camera & Imaging

Age: 33

It was the dark room that snagged him. Going into the family business was not really on David Guidry's agenda when he graduated from the Louisiana State University with a bachelor's degree in history. He didn't

"Also, (it was) the idea of how do you market something like that - an artistic pursuit," he says. Guidry, a native New Orleanian, had started a graduate degree in history, but found he liked working at the family store better and started there in 1992.

Lakeside is a film processor, but it has also become a one-stop photo shop for buying equipment, getting old photos restored, doing custom framing, making posters out of color prints and creating posters and other images for businesses and trade shows. Keeping the processing in-house has been key, Guidry says. Lakeside can turn projects around quickly and control the quality.

Technology has changed drastically since Guidry's parents, Susan and Rodney Guidry, started the company in 1972. But Guidry says his biggest challenge has been to modernize the compensation structure and the way he encourages employees.

"We went from a mom and pop camera store where bonuses were given based on longevity and somewhat subjectively, and we completely revolutionized that," he says. "We have a fairly sophisticated pay-for-performance plan where everyone in the company has incentives to produce and perform." This in turn has helped the company adapt quickly as new technologies revolutionize the whole business of processing photographs, he adds.

He says he considers his biggest achievement the continuing success of Lakeside Camera. The company now employs 58 and has a second location in Mandeville. It recently purchased an adjacent building near its flagship store in Metairie to expand its lab facility. This will create a bigger production base to allow the company to possibly open more locations.

These days, Guidry definitely has a camera and enjoys shooting pictures in his spare time. He was featured in a show at the Hotel Inter -Continental last year and was published in 50 years of Leica Fotografie. But he considers his real expertise to be in the production side of the business. "We try to yield more out of every image than most competitors do."

He is active with the Young Entrepreneurs Association and has taught for Junior Achievement.