Two alumni share success stories

As the Southern University 2005 Homecoming festivities continue and the football game approaches, students, faculty, staff and especially alumni reflect on the theme of this year’s events, “Honoring the Past, Charting the Future.”
G. Jean Davis, entrepreneur and head of Launch Coast Services and Class of 1962 alumnae said Southern prepared her for her success.
“Everyone in my family that went to school went to Southern,” Davis said. “I have been back to Homecoming a couple of times over the years.”
After graduating from Southern University, Davis worked in the Baton Rouge Public School System until she journeyed to Seattle to serve as an executive secretary and teacher at Boeing. After several years, she moved to Washington, D. C. where she worked with the federal government as an executive secretary to a presidential appointee. With her husband, they started a janitorial business and worked together until they were able to hire help and have been going strong for over 30 years.
Davis currently owns and operates two companies and closely held corporations, Launch Coast Services, Inc. and Unibar Maintenance Services, Inc. The two businesses operate in 12 states and have a combined sales volume of over $30 million annually.
“We started with nothing,” Davis said. (Since then) “I have been able to maintain two companies, grow and provide opportunities for others.”
Davis had approximately 70 employees in New Orleans that were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The employees have all been able to keep their jobs in new locations. In addition, Davis and her company are in the process of finding housing for their families that have been displaced.
“I am most proud of being able to provide resources to help people. I like being able to help,” Davis said. “When we can do something in a real way, the rewards are great. I feel very good about that.”
She will be the keynote speaker at the Beta Gamma Sigma and Advisory Council Luncheon Friday sponsored by the Southern University College of Business. The event will take place at 12:15 p.m. in Mayberry Dinning Hall and is $15 per person.
In addition to the completion of her undergraduate studies, Davis has graduate credits from Louisiana State University. Davis has also completed The Smaller Company Management Program through Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
Launch Coast Services, Inc. is headquartered in College Park, Md. and Unibar Maintenance Services, Inc. is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Another Southern alum is Baton Rouge native and professor and minister Michael Combs, Ph.D. Combs received his political science degree from the Southern in 1973.
(Homecoming is) “A time that persons who have moved on come back and reminisce,” Combs said. “It’s a celebration of what Southern has done and what it means in our lives.”
After completion of his undergraduate studies, Combs studied at Washington University in St. Louis where he received his Doctrine degree in Political Science. It was then Combs was offered a job at the University of Nebraska — Lincoln where he taught and obtained tenure.
After some time, Combs left Nebraska to teach at LSU. While there, Combs said he received his calling to preach and returned to Nebraska three years later. He currently serves as professor of political science at the University of Nebraska — Lincoln and minister of Mount Zion Baptist Church.
“I was rooted in my faith and I was a hard worker,” Combs said. “I was determined to overcome barriers, rejection, and opposition.”
Combs attributed his success to three primary objectives: his steadfast faith in God, the positive and supportive people in his life, most importantly his wife and family and his determination.
Combs said he received a very good education on The Bluff and had some of the best teachers who had a profound impact on his life. In addition, he said he has been blessed with many friends through the years.
“It made me feel like I was the most important person in the world,” Combs said. “It reaffirmed my self-worth, talents and ability to learn and achieve. I was ready to enter the world.”