Financial Services Newsmakers

Accounting

BKD LLP announced several staff promotions.

Rachel R. Dwiggins and Jeri Ann Loomis, CPAs, were promoted from senior accountants to supervisors. Dwiggins is a 1998 magna cum laude graduate of Southwest Missouri State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in accounting. She provides audit and consulting services for governmental and not-for-profit organizations and clients in the real estate industry.

Loomis is a 1998 graduate of SMSU with a bachelor's degree in accounting. She is a member of BKD's tax services department, providing tax planning and preparation services for individuals and businesses, with an emphasis in tax services for financial institutions.

Kerry B. Koone, Kelly A. Morrow, Misty D. Weiss and T. Diwa Wong, certified public accountants, were promoted from staff accountants to senior accountants with BKD LLP.

Koone is a 1999 honors graduate of Arkansas State University with a bachelor's degree in accounting, and a 2000 graduate of SMSU with a master's degree in accounting. Koone provides tax planning and preparation services for individuals, not-for-profit organizations, corporations, partnerships and trusts.

Morrow is a 2000 graduate of SMSU with a bachelor's degree in accounting. She provides auditing services for long-term care facilities, hospitals, rural health clinics and other health care facilities.

Weiss is a 2001 summa cum laude graduate of Southwest Baptist University with a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's degree in administration. Weiss provides auditing services for the real estate industry and for not-for-profit and governmental organizations.

Wong is a 1999 summa cum laude graduate of SMSU with a bachelor's degree in accounting. He provides auditing and financial reporting services for businesses in the real estate, manufacturing and distribution industries, and he also audits the financial statements of employee benefit plans and provides benefit plan consulting services related to compliance issues.

Cyndy Elworth, CPA, certified internal auditor and a senior consultant with Kirkpatrick, Phillips & Miller CPAs PC, successfully completed the certification process with the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts to earn her Certified Valuation Analyst designation. The CVA designation qualifies CPAs who provide business valuations and litigation consulting services. Elworth has more than five years of experience in the accounting industry, serving clients in all industries with litigation support, fraud investigation and prevention, internal audit and business valuation services.

Banking

Commerce Bank announced two staff promotions.

Nikki Ingerson was promoted to officer and senior human resources representative. She has eight years of experience in Commerce's human resources department, where she is responsible for recruitment, employee relations, benefits administration and general resources. She is a 1995 graduate of SMSU, where she earned a bachelor's degree in communication management.

Tonya Hammons was promoted to officer and human resources representative with Commerce. She also has eight years of experience with Commerce, and previously held positions in retail and human resources. She handles recruitment, employee relations, benefits, administration and general resources. Hammons is a 2000 graduate of SMSU, where she earned a bachelor's degree in human resource management.

Kenton DeVries was named vice president in commercial loans for The Bank. He has 22 years of banking experience, with 16 of those in lending. He is a graduate of Evangel University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business management. In his new position, he is involved with servicing loan portfolios and generating new business relationships.

Guaranty Federal Savings Bank's board of directors announced the appointment of two vice presidents.

Kenneth N. Johnston, vice president of information systems and chief technical officer, has been with Guaranty Federal Savings Bank as chief technical officer since August 2001. He has more than 20 years of data processing experience in various industries. His previous experience includes time with John Q. Hammons Hotels and SMSU.

Brenda K. Becker, vice president of consumer lending, has 35 years of finance, collection and banking experience. She started working with Guaranty Federal in 1997 as an assistant vice president, but her previous experience includes time with Springfield Credit Bureau Services and time in third-party collections, consumer lending and collections.

Mortgage lending

Aaron Jernigan, president of The Bank's Mortgage Bank, was named January's Superstar of the Month by Mortgage Originator Magazine. The award is based on the $67.3 million in loans he closed in 2002. The magazine chooses one top mortgage banker each month as the Superstar of the Month.