Newsmakers

Banking

Jamie Clark, vice president and loan officer for Empire Bank in Marshfield, earned the certified mortgage banker designation. Clark has 13 years of lending experience and is responsible for personal, construction, mortgage and commercial lending. He has a master's degree in banking from Louisiana State University.

Community

John Rush, former executive director of United Way of the Ozarks, received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Ozark Trails Council of Boy Scouts of America. The award is the highest level of community service recognition presented by the 13,000 members of the Ozark Trails Council.

Community Foundation of the Ozarks awarded 11 community agency grants totaling more than $140,000 through its Metropolitan Springfield community grant-making program. The grants went to Springfield Public Schools, Ozarks Greenways, Drury University, Sierra Club's White River Chapter, James River Basin Partnership, The Kitchen, Ozarks Regional YMCA, Jordan Valley Community Center, Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Inc. southwest Missouri chapter, Council of Churches of the Ozarks and Missouri State University.

Education

The Evangel University yearbook, Excalibur, was named one of the top five yearbooks at the Associated Collegiate Press National Convention, in the category for yearbooks with fewer than 300 pages. Other schools that placed in the category were North Carolina State University, Oklahoma City University, Pittsburg State University and Shorter College in Rome, Ga.

Springfield Catholic High School was named an honorable mention school for academic excellence in Acton Institute's 2008 list of the top 50 Catholic high schools in America. Nearly 1,300 high schools nationwide were eligible for the honor from the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based nonprofit research organization.

Steelman Transportation Inc. co-owner Jim Towery received the Distinguished Business and Industry Award from the Missouri Community College Association. Towery, who was nominated by Ozarks Technical Community College, helped establish OTC's Transport Training Institute, which currently has a 100 percent placement rate for its truck-driver graduates.

Law

David W. Ransin of David W. Ransin PC was included in the 2008 Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers list by Law & Politics and KC Magazine. Ransin was recognized for 25 years of plaintiff personal injury litigation concentrating on car, motorcycle and tractor-trailer crashes. Candidates are selected based on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement.

Real Estate

Angie Mullings, a Century 21 Integrity Group broker, completed the Century 21 International Management Academy. The five-day course educates new and experienced company affiliates on the latest management techniques.

Julia Benage, sales associate with Murney Associates, received the certified residential specialist designation from the Council of Residential Specialists, an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors. CRS recipients have completed advanced courses and demonstrated professional expertise in residential real estate.