Southern Miss Business Excellence Awards
Southern Miss Business
Excellence Awards
Friday, November 7, 2025 | Noon
Trent Lott National Center, Hattiesburg Campus
The Southern Miss Business Excellence Awards is an annual luncheon hosted during the fall semester that recognizes the Entrepreneur of the Year, and Alumni of the the Year, and the Young Alumni of the Year for their professional achievements. This event is hosted by the College of Business and Economic Development.
Meet the 2025 Honorees
Keith & Melissa Saucier
2025 Entrepreneurs of the Year
Keith & Melissa Saucier are the owners of Keithco Petroleum, BRJ Oil Co., Keith’s Superstores, Saucier Enterprises, Shop Local Mississippi, and Mississippi Made & More. Together, they have six children ranging in age from 12 to 26, including 12-year-old triplets.
Keith attended North Forrest High School, Jones College, and The University of Southern Mississippi before earning his bachelor’s degree in business administration from William Carey University. He began working at age 13 for his uncle and father at Big K Oil Company. Over the years, Keith has worked in every area of the business, from pumping gas and changing truck tires to dispatch, fuel hauling, and scouting and constructing new store locations.
Melissa attended South Jones High School, Jones College, and The University of Southern Mississippi. The daughter of two entrepreneurs, she began working at age 12 in her parents’ businesses, gaining early experience that shaped her own entrepreneurial path.
The first Keith’s Superstore opened in 1996. Today, the chain operates 43 stores, with one more under construction and several new locations breaking ground soon. Their fuel transport business spans the southern United States. Keith and Melissa remain deeply involved in their companies, working full-time while also managing their 5B Ranch for horses and Saucier Farm, home to a variety of show animals. Their children and nephews actively compete in livestock shows and rodeos, and Keith and Melissa can always be found cheering them on.
Faith and family are at the heart of the Sauciers’ values. They prioritize giving back, especially to causes supporting children, education, and their community. Their philanthropic efforts include funding five suites in the new Children’s of Mississippi Hospital NICU Tower, membership in the USM Circle of Champions, support for William Carey University’s School of Nursing, and multiple scholarship programs throughout Mississippi.
Steve Ainsworth
2025 Alumnus of the Year
Major General (Ret.) Steve Ainsworth is a retired EVP-Managing Director for Cadence Bank and has over 42 years of military service. He graduated from Southern Miss with a Bachelor of Science in 1983 with Honors and Master of Business Administration in 1985 with Honors. He started his civilian career at Deposit Guaranty Bank in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1985 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, when the bank merged with First American Bank in 1998. He managed corporate banking groups for Truist Bank and Fifth Third Bank. He started the Corporate Banking Group in Nashville for Cadence Bank from which he retired in 2024 as an EVP-Managing Director. His banking career involved the financing of numerous corporate entities, mergers/acquisitions and specialized financing situations.
He started his military service as an enlisted Soldier in the MS National Guard’s 155 Armor Brigade. In 1983, he graduated from USM’s ROTC program as a Distinguished Military Graduate. In 2004, he served overseas as the Chief of Operations – Deployment/Redeployment, 377th TSC, 3d Army - Coalition Forces Land Component Command, in Southwest Asia. Thereafter, he commanded the 648th RSG (Brigade) of the Military Intelligence Readiness Command. During his tenure, the 648th deployed over 65% of its military intelligence forces to support contingencies. Other past positions include Commander - 94th Division (Force Sustainment) and Deputy Commanding General of the Sustainment Center of Excellence – Combined Arms Support Command, in Virginia, Commander of the 7th Mission Support Command (overseas) and Deputy Commanding General of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command.
He later returned from overseas to command the 377th Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) in New Orleans, Louisiana, the largest two – star command in the Department of Defense. There he led a team of 35,580 Soldiers and 1,050 Civilians. During his tenure, the 377th TSC supported numerous contingency operations overseas and domestically including the deployment of thousands of Soldiers to support Middle East operations. He retired as the commander of the 84th Training Command (3500 Soldiers) at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, in 2020.
Major General (Ret.) Ainsworth’s awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and other awards and medals.
He also holds a graduate degree in banking from Louisiana State University and a master's in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. He also graduated from the Army Strategic Education Program (ASEP), Joint Forces Staff College, and CAPSTONE at the National Defense University.
He has served on the boards of numerous Middle Tennessee service and community organizations. He was a former member of the Department of Army Staff, the Army Reserve Forces Policy Committee (ARFPC) and was a board member of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), a $7 Billion annual revenue entity. He and his wife, Susanne still reside in Nashville.
Ashton Williams, CPA
2025 Young Alumnus of the Year
Ashton Williams, CPA is the Vice President of Finance at Codaray Construction. After earning his associate's degree at Jones College, Ashton transferred to The University of Southern Mississippi in 2013. During his undergraduate years, he was an active member of Beta Alpha Psi and studied abroad in Japan through the Business and Culture in Asia program. In 2015, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and immediately began pursuit of a Master of Professional Accountancy. While in graduate school, Ashton worked as a graduate assistant in the Dean’s Office and passed two sections of the CPA exam before completing the program in 2016.
That same year, he married his wife, Hayley, and the couple moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he began his career in public accounting and successfully completed the remaining sections of the CPA exam. Since then, Ashton has steadily advanced in his profession, moving from assurance associate to his current role as Vice President of Finance at Codaray Construction in Hattiesburg, a position he has held since 2024.
Since joining the company in 2020, Codaray has seen remarkable growth, expanding its team from 28 to 68 employees and increasing annual revenues by 249% over five years, all while completing commercial construction projects across the state of Mississippi.
Beyond his professional achievements, Ashton is deeply committed to service and leadership. He is a recipient of the Jones College Rising Star Award, a graduate of both the Jones Leadership Academy and Leadership Pinebelt Class of 2022, and he continues to serve on the USM School of Accountancy Advisory Board and the USM Alumni Association Finance Committee.
Ashton live in Petal, Mississippi, with his wife and their two children, Jack and Sophie. While proud of his professional accomplishments, he considers his greatest role, responsibility, and blessing to be that of husband and father.