Commerce Bank appointed James P. Ferguson, principal of the Heart of America Beverage Co., to its Springfield region advisory board of directors. Ferguson also has served on the boards for Hickory Hills Country Club, Boatmen's National Bank and The Bank.
Rodney Shellack joined OakStar Bank as executive vice president, and Charles Hachtel was hired as vice president. Shellack has more than 35 years of Springfield banking experience, most recently serving as senior vice president of commercial lending for BancorpSouth. He previously spent 27 years at Commerce Bank. Hachtel previously served as vice president of commercial loans at BancorpSouth's Sunshine Street branch.
Community
Springfield-Greene County Library District received a $15,000 Missouri State Library Summer Program grant for expanding the its Summer Reading to Go program to all children at Boys and Girls Club locations, 35 home child-care sites, eight commercial day care facilities, the Springfield Community Center and Boys and Girls Town.
Education
Best Christian Workplaces Institute named Evangel University one of the Best Christian Places to Work in the U.S. for the fifth consecutive year. BCWI's survey involved 11,869 employees in 124 North American organizations to identify workplaces with Christian missions and values. Fifty-six institutions were certified this year, including seven in the higher-education category.
The Duane G. Meyer Library at Missouri State Unviersity received a Missouri State Library Digital Imaging Grant for $6,502 to digitize prints and aerial photography of Greene County from 1936-38 and 1953. The images and metadata will be publicly accessible via Missouri Digital Heritage, www.sos.mo.gov/mdh.
Jane Colvin and Ashford Stamper, two senior art and design majors at MSU, won the Society of Illustrators Scholarship competition. Colvin, of Washington, and Stamper, of Kearney, will have their work presented at the Museum of American Illustration. Of the 5,600 entries submitted this year, only 146 were accepted. The award ceremony will be May 8, and the students' art will be exhibited May 6-June 6.
Health Care
Dr. James Neill of Lake Regional Health System at Camdenton Medical Center was board-certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. Neill earned his medical degree at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City, Iowa.
Dr. Thomas E. Harris, a CoxHealth-Cassville Medical Care Associates physician, was certified in hospice and palliative medicine. Harris is also board-certified in family practice and geriatrics.
Dr. James Hunter joined Cox Health Center Ozark. Hunter attended medical school at St. Louis University and finished his residency at St. Francis Hospital in Peoria, Ill. He is board-certified in family practice and is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a member of the Missouri State Medical Association.
Insurance
Michael Greenlee, employee benefits adviser for Ollis & Co., was named a top-selling producer by the Total Administrative Services Corp. Greenlee ranked 15th out of more than 4,000 advisers, the highest ranking of the four qualifying benefits advisers for TASC in Missouri.
Manufacturing
SMC Packaging Group earned Sustainable Forestry Initiative fiber-sourcing certification for its locations in Springfield, Kansas City and Conway, Ark. The SFI program is a standard of principles, objectives and performance measures developed by foresters, conservationists and scientists.
Recreation
Conco Quarries Inc. donated $5,000 donation to the Willard Parks and Recreation Department to fund family-friendly events.
Upper White River Basin Foundation was named Conservation Organization of the Year by Conservation Federation of Missouri for its contribution to the use of natural resources in keeping Ozarks' waters clean and healthy. The group also recognized Bass Pro Shops as a corporate conservationist for its support of conservation organizations and causes, including Ozarks Water Watch.
Transportation
Institute of Transportation Engineers' Distinguished Service Awards were presented to Harold E. Bastin, former Springfield traffic engineer with 50 years in transportation engineering, and Kenneth W. Pemberton, a 33-year transportation veteran and former district traffic engineer for Missouri Department of Transportation's Springfield office.
City Utilities Director of Transit Carol J. Cruise received the Transportation Professional of the Year Award for overseeing capital improvements, and changes in transit service and operations that led to record ridership in fiscal 2007.[[In-content Ad]]
Under construction beside the existing Republic branch of the Springfield-Greene County Library District – which remains in operation throughout the project – is a new building that will double the size of the original, according to library officials.
