Newsmakers

Jennifer Hesington joined Butler, Rosenbury & Partners as an intern architect, assisting in design. Hesington graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a bachelor’s degree in architecture.

Banking

Matthew Keeth joined Guaranty Bank as a credit analyst. Keeth assists in monitoring and evaluating borrowing requests and conducting market studies of industries and commercial real estate. He has a bachelor’s degree from Missouri State University and a master’s degree in business administration from Drury University. He was formerly a financial analyst for BKD Corporate Finance LLC.

Community

Springfield Regional Arts Council received two grants. A $20,000 gift from the Musgrave Foundation and $12,979 from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks will fund infill for visual arts studio space in the original basement of the Creamery Arts Center.

Community Partnership of the Ozarks named new officers and board members. Officers are: Leslie Peck, Peck Insurance & Financial Services, president; Roseann Bentley, Greene County Commission, vice president; Tim Bellanti, Associated Wholesale Grocers, secretary; and Janice Duncan, Greenwood Laboratory School, treasurer. Board members are: Tonya Collister, Consumer Credit Counseling Services; Sally Hargis, Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co.; Julie Leeth, Community Foundation of the Ozarks; Belinda McCarthy, MSU Office of the Provost; Brad Stokes, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 753; and Greg Williams, Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

Education

Debbie Hammer, fifth-grade teacher at Disney Elementary School, is Springfield R-XII Schools’ latest Starcatcher Award winner. Hammer is a 13-year school system veteran who also taught at Shady Dell and Fremont elementary schools. The award is presented three times a year to an employee who is committed to the district’s mission.

Shelly Brown, director of Web services for Southwest Baptist University, passed the certified “Dreamweaver 8” Developer exam. Brown is the only person in Missouri certified in “Dreamweaver 8,” a Web development tool by Adobe Systems Inc.

Martha Baker, SBU professor and director of the St. John’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences at SBU, served as secretary and newsletter editor for National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association. She was also elected president-elect of the organization.

Carole Eldridge, assistant professor at St. John’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences at SBU, successfully defended her doctoral project, “Creating an Online Training Center for Faculty in a College of Nursing.” As a result, Rush University awarded her a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.

Finance

Troy Kennedy, executive vice president and shareholder at Springfield Trust Co., was elected president-elect to the National Board of Directors of the Association of Independent Trust Companies.

Health Care

Dr. Lawrence Gurian, physician at Ferrell-Duncan Clinic, was named a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association. Through the fellowship program, AGA honors achievement in clinical, private or academic practice and in basic or clinical research. Fellowships are awarded to AGA members whose accomplishments and contributions demonstrate personal commitment to the field of gastroenterology.

Jane Thomas, registered nurse with CoxHealth Educational Services, received the 2005–2006 Missouri Pediatric Advance LifeSupport Regional Faculty of the Year Award from the American Heart Association. PALS is an AHA program that instructs health care workers about how to recognize infants and children at risk for cardiopulmonary arrest and how to perform cognitive and psychomotor skills for resuscitating and stabilizing children in respiratory failure, shock or cardiopulmonary arrest.

Dr. Nathan Melton, orthopedic surgeon, joined the Parkview Orthopaedic Clinic of Citizens Memorial Healthcare in Bolivar. Melton, who graduated fifth in his class from Oklahoma State University, completed an internship and residency in orthopedic surgery from Ohio University Grandview Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. His focus is reconstructive foot and ankle surgery; he completed a fellowship in foot and ankle reconstruction at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati.

NeuroSource Inc., a Chicago-based health care consulting firm, recognized CoxHealth as a Neuroscience Center of Excellence for 2006. The NeuroSource report card shows CoxHealth placed in the 69th percentile overall and markedly higher in 11 of 13 categories. The 2006 survey included 150 hospital-based neuroscience programs in 41 states.

Heather Fesperman is the new executive director of Children’s Miracle Network in Springfield. Fesperman has been with CMN for five years, starting as an intern and most recently serving as the director of children’s services. She has a bachelor’s degree in child and family development with an emphasis in working with hospitalized children, and she is currently completing her master’s degree in public health.

Family Pharmacy Inc. announced its company award recipients. The winners are: Tara Herring, Employee Newcomer of the Year; Emily Donnelson, Pharmacist Newcomer of the Year; Jim McLaughlin, Relief Pharmacist of the Year; Jodi Flannigan, Retail Employee of the Year; George Pappas, Healthcare Employee of the Year; Steve Lindwedel, Pharmacist of the Year; Ozark Retail, Store of the Year; Regina Sporleder, Pharmacy Technician of the Year; and Vickie Melton, Employee of the Year.

Tyler Hedden joined CoxHealth as vice president of clinical services. Hedden was previously director of occupational health care for SSM Health Care in St. Louis. Hedden is responsible for emergency services, the Wound Care Center and hyperbaric medicine, the CoxHealth Stroke Program, Sleep Center and Cox Plaza Hotel.

Insurance

Charlotte Horsman joined the corporate health department of PJC Insurance as a corporate health specialist. She was formerly the field representative for First Choice Administrators of Springfield.

Law Enforcement

Angela Williams joined Battlefield Police Department as a police officer. Williams, graduated with an associate’s degree for both criminology and psychology from the Drury University Law Enforcement Academy in May 2006. She is currently working on her bachelor’s degree in criminology and psychology.

Services

Missouri Professional Auctioneers Association inducted Billy Long of Billy Long Auctioneers into the Missouri Auctioneer’s Hall of Fame. Hall of Fame honorees are auctioneers recognized for their outstanding service to the auction industry and the MPAA.