Newsmakers

Jennifer Hesington joined Buddy Webb & Co. as an intern architect. She earned a Bachelor of Architecture from University of Arkansas.

Joel Thomas joined H Design Group as an architectural intern. Thomas is a graduate of Drury University with a Bachelor of Architecture, and he is working toward Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.

Community

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Missouri named new board members to its Springfield Program Center Board: Mario Pineda, Camille Lockhart, Donn Sorensen, Lindsay O’Reilly French, Meghan Sponenberg, Brittnee Mayse, Emily Wehr and Gina Low.

Pregnancy Care Center of Springfield announced its board officers and three new board members. Officers are Scott Taylor, chairman; Darrell Decker, vice chairman; Paul Schneider, secretary; Joyce Diltz, treasurer; and Gaylen Ball and Steve Perkins, advisers. New board members are Decker, Debbie Johnson and Judd McNaughton.

Springfield Regional Arts Council appointed its new officers and board members. Officers are Gloria Galanes, president; Carl Ian Price, vice president; Anna Squires, secretary; and Erica L. Smith, treasurer. Board members are Jerry Clark, Jeff Cumley, Genevieve Cramer, Michael Freelander and Daniel Wooten.

Education

Melissa Dallas joined Missouri State University as the department head for hospitality and restaurant administration. She was formerly director of the hospitality and tourism management program at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. She also has worked at Trocaire College, University of Central Florida, the Hospitality and Tourism Institute in Seattle, and Washington State University. She has a juris doctorate from the University of Toledo and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Bowling Green State University.

MSU’s Board of Governors elected new officers: Michael Duggan of Dot Foods Inc. in St. Louis, president; Brian Hammons of Hammons Products Co. in Stockton, vice president; Nila Hayes, MSU chief financial officer, treasurer; and John McAlear, staff emeritus, secretary.

Manufacturing and technology company Emerson donated $16,000 to the Missouri Colleges Fund to provide need-based scholarships for the fund’s 16 member schools, including Drury, Evangel and Southwest Baptist universities.

Evangel University received a $12,000 grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks Smith-Glynn-Callaway Medical Foundation to fund eight scholarships. Student recipients will be enrolled in the school’s premedical program.

Engineering

Kelly Hurst joined URS Corp.’s Springfield office as an environmental scientist. He also was recently appointed to the Springfield-Greene County Environmental Advisory Board.

Financial

Ted Nickel, assistant consumer credit examiner for the Division of Finance of the Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration, attended the Fair Lending School at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Seidman Training Center in Arlington, Va. The course reviews fair lending examinations and assists in conducting interviews and preparing schedules and memos.

Marion Lambert, senior bank examiner for DIFP, attended the Barret School of Banking at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tenn. Lambert has been with the department since 1999.

Health Care

Dr. Rachel Hankins joined Cox Family Medicine Associates. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Hankins earned her medical degree from University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and completed her residency with Cox Family Medicine Residency Program.

Drs. Jason and Jamie Ogden joined CoxHealth. Jamie Ogden joined CoxHealth Center Aurora. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She also served as chief resident at University of Missouri-Columbia. Jason Ogden joined Springfield Inpatient Physicians as a hospitalist. He is a member of the American Medical Association and the Society of Hospital Medicine. He also completed the medical school and residency programs at MU.

Hospitals & Health Networks magazine named two local hospitals as winners of its 2008 Most Wired Innovator Award. CoxHealth in Springfield and Skaggs Community Health Center in Branson received the honor, which recognizes innovation in the use of information technology by hospitals and health systems in the United States.

The magazine also named Citizens Memorial Healthcare in Bolivar to its list of the Most Wired Hospitals in the country, recognizing hospitals that use information technology to better serve and treat patients.

Lake Regional Health System hired physicians Rene Galan and Kevin Hooker to provide obstetric and gynecological services at its clinic in Osage Beach. Galan and Hooker both completed their residencies at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport.

Hospitality

AmericInn of Republic was named 2007 Property of the Year by AmericInn International. The award is given to the AmericInn franchise owners who excel in hotel quality assurance and guest satisfaction. Owners Shelly and Don LaRue and Janice and Dale Sprague also were named 2006 AmericInn Franchise Owners of the Year.

Insurance

Dan Burns, employee benefit specialist for Employee Benefit Design, was named to Cox HealthPlans’ 2008 Million Dollar Club. The honor goes to agents with a book of business of more than $1 million in premiums with Cox HealthPlans through 2007.

Kelli Smith of Jon Overacre & Associates earned Aflac’s Fireball Star Award for outstanding sales achievements.

The award is given to agents across the country who produce a minimum of $25,000 in new Aflac premiums in their first month.

Jim Sanders of Southwest Missouri Insurance Group, a division of BancorpSouth Insurance Services, attended Missouri Employers Mutual’s President’s Trip in Calistoga, Calif. The trip recognizes MEM’s Elite Signature Partners, the highest-performing agencies that write workers’ compensation with MEM.

Real Estate

Bryan Properties associates Tammy Lockhart and Kathleen Hammock attended the June 2008 National Apartment Association Education Conference in Orlando.[[In-content Ad]]