Education Edie Boatright, CEO assistant at Drury University, was named 2010 Outstanding Administrative Professional of the Year by the Springfield Metro Area Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals.
Evangel University alumnus John Deegan, professor of national security studies at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., received the 2010 Regius Award, given by Evangel’s social sciences department to honor alumni for outstanding professional accomplishments. He has a bachelor’s in political science from Evangel, and a master’s and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Environment Chuck Kroeger joined Aquaterra Environmental Solutions Inc. as a senior project manager. He has 30 years of regulatory experience.
Finance Mandee Hunsicker was hired as assistant branch manager at Arvest Bank’s Nixa location. Her responsibilities include managing tellers and teller operations.
Jackie Bonner was promoted to chief operations officer from senior vice president at Metropolitan National Bank. She oversees the bank’s retail branches, customer resource center and deposit operation. She is a graduate of American Bankers Association School of Marketing and Management and is a certified financial marketing professional. Bonner has more than 29 years of banking experience, the last nine with Metropolitan National Bank.
Food Hiland Dairy Foods Co. received the Quality Chekd Irving B. Weber Distinguished Award for Quality Excellence by achieving the highest scores of Quality Chekd members.
Government Former Greene County Sheriff Jack L. Merritt was appointed to the Missouri Gaming Commission to assist with statute enforcement and regulations relating to charitable bingo and riverboat gambling. His term ends April 29, 2013.
Health Care Cox HealthPlans Management Information Systems Director Susan Butts was named board president of the QNXT User’s Group, which consists of 25 health plans nationwide. She has worked at Cox HealthPlans since 1997 and at CoxHealth for 29 years.
Hospitality Doubletree Hotel Springfield received its second consecutive “Outstanding” assessment from Hilton Worldwide. Hilton evaluates cleanliness, condition and compliance with standards in brand, commercial facilities, food and beverage facilities, and guest rooms. The hotel, managed by O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC, also ranks first out of 211 Doubletree hotels worldwide for guest service scores.
Three Myer Hotels of Branson-owned hotels were recognized by Choice Hotels International for hospitality excellence. Comfort Inn & Suites Branson Meadows and Comfort Inn at Thousand Hills received the company’s 2010 Platinum Hospitality Awards, given to the top 3 percent of Comfort Inns.
Comfort Inn West received the Choice Hotels International 2010 Gold Hospitality Award, awarded to the top 10 percent of Comfort Inns in the U.S.
Journalism KTTS-FM 94.7 won four regional Edward R. Murrow awards for small-market radio from The Radio Television Digital News Association. The awards were for its newscast, Web site, reporter Nancy Simpson’s feature writing and overall excellence.
Nonprofit The Kiwanis Club of Downtown Springfield received a $7,500 grant from BNSF Foundation to purchase a universal playground structure designed for children with all abilities to be located in the Springfield-Greene County Park Board’s Jenny Lincoln Park.
Community Partnership’s Task Force on Gangs and Youth Violence was awarded a $3,958 grant from the Missouri Department of Mental Health, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse to help provide 25 scholarships for children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Springfield and the Ozarks Regional YMCA.
Dr. Lee Godwin, Brandon Jenkins, Joe Johnson and Tina Phillips were named to The Arc of the Ozarks’ board of directors, joining Richard C. Dunn chairman; Clif Smart, vice chairman; Warren Davis, treasurer; and Linda Steinshouer, secretary. Dr. Arthur Mallory is director emeritus.
Jackie King was hired as job developer at The Arc of the Ozarks. She will identify and create job opportunities for disabled people. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Drury University and a master’s degree in community psychology at Penn State. The J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation in Tulsa, Okla., has issued a $2 million challenge grant to help build a new Monett Area YMCA. The Monett capital campaign will receive the challenge grant money if it reaches $8 million by Jan. 13, 2011. So far, $6 million has been pledged towards the construction of a new YMCA and aquatic center.
Religion The Rev. Jeff Peterson was elected senior pastor of Central Assembly of God. Peterson has more than 20 years of experience as a pastor, most recently at Red Mountain Christian Center in Mesa, Ariz. He is a graduate of Central Bible College.
Real Estate Continental Title Co. was named Affiliate of the Year award by the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors for its volunteerism, business ethics and promotion of Realtor-endorsed programs and policies.[[In-content Ad]]
