Design
Buxton Kubik Dodd Creative hired Erin Cox as an interior designer. With a bachelor’s in interior design from Western Michigan University, she has experience in corporate, religious, financial, health care and residential design projects.
Education
The Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs accredited Evangel University’s business program. The international accreditation covers Evangel’s associate and bachelor’s of business administration degrees for traditional students, bachelor’s in management for adult degree completion students and master’s in organizational leadership for graduate students.
Farmers Insurance agent Kip Baker awarded Everton High School teacher Jennifer Miller with a $2,500 educational grant as part of the insurer group’s Thank America’s Teachers program. Miller plans to use the funds to send low-income student leaders on a trip to Washington D.C., New York and Boston.
Government
Greene County was recognized as a Top 25 program in Harvard University’s 2017 Innovations in American Government Awards competition for playing the Great Game of Government. The game is modeled after Jack Stack’s Great Game of Business open book management philosophy to give employees a greater stake in an organization. Greene County, which adopted the great game method in 2012, represents the top 2 percent of all initial applicants for the honor.
Hospitality
The Best Western Music Capital Inn in Branson received the Champion Green Award at the Best Western Hotels & Resorts District I meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Music Capital Inn was among 87 hotels recognized out of over 2,100 properties systemwide in the United States and Canada.
Law Enforcement Springfield Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit was recognized during an internal awards ceremony for record-breaking work. In 2015-16, the unit recorded 578 felony arrests, eclipsing the peak of 314, and increased the number of weapons seized to 197.
The Emergency Management Accreditation Program granted full accreditation to the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management for compliance with hazard mitigation, operational planning, resource management and public information. EMAP accredits emergency management programs worldwide.
Politics
The Greene County Democratic Central Committee elected Wes Zongker as chairman and Lanae Gillespie as vice chairwoman, following Chairman Chris Brown’s resignation for health reasons. Zongker and Gillespie, both retired educators, will serve the remainder of their predecessors’ terms of office, ending August 2018.
Real Estate
Chambers Real Estate Services LLC hired Kevin Gillogly as a commercial real estate broker. He has a 40-year career in banking, most recently employed with Bank of Bolivar, and has held a real estate broker’s license since 1991.
Isabelle Jimenez Walker of Eagle Management & Realty 1 LLC received the At Home with Diversity certification from the National Association of Realtors. She joins about 25,000 other real estate professionals with the distinction, having completed an eight-hour course designed to meet the nation’s fair housing commitment while addressing topics of diversity and business planning development.
Tim Gregory of Kingsley Group Business Brokers became a licensed Missouri real estate broker. He’s worked as a business intermediary/broker for Kingsley Group and had been a licensed Missouri real estate salesperson since 2007.
Retail
Petsway Inc. received the Retailer Excellence Award for Community Service Excellence by Pet Business Magazine, Coastal Pet Products and organizers of Global Pet Expo, the pet industry’s largest annual trade show. The award recognizes a retailer’s connection with the community through a variety of events or causes that reach out beyond store operations.
U.S. Cellular named Kevin Lehman sales manager for the Springfield store in Battlefield Mall. He started with the company as a part-time retail wireless consultant and worked up to his previous position as a sales manager in Rolla.
Date Lady Inc. won a 2017 Bronze Sofi Award for its caramel sauce in the dessert sauce or topping category by the Specialty Food Association.
