Newsmakers

Wannenmacher Advertising is now the advertising agency of record for American Business Systems. Bill Williams is the executive in charge of the account.

Banking

Guaranty Bank promoted Ken Johnston to vice president and chief information officer from chief technical officer. Johnston joined Guaranty Bank in 2001 and has more than 20 years of information technology experience.

Teri Harris, vice president and controller for Guaranty, received the Certified Internal Auditor designation from the Institute of Internal Auditors. The designation is awarded to internal audit professionals who pass a four-part exam and meet certain character, education and experience standards. Harris has been with the bank since 1997.

Guaranty Bank also promoted John Darrow to assistant vice president of information systems and senior technical officer. Darrow has more than seven years of information technology experience.

Assemblies of God Credit Union announced two staff promotions. Paul Ebisch moved from chief financial officer to executive vice president/chief financial officer. He oversees all aspects of accounting and financial report preparation. Connie Campbell moved to vice president/ senior loan officer from senior loan officer. Campbell, who has been with AGCU since 2003, supervises the loan and member services areas.

Karen Rust and Brian Chick of Bank of America Mortgage’s Springfield office received the company’s Platinum Club distinction. In 2006, Rust and Chick closed a combined 409 home loans totaling more than $43 million, ranking them in the top 5 percent of Bank of America’s national sales team.

Community

Robin Rees, marketing officer for Peoples Bank of the Ozarks, joined the board of directors for the Nixa Area Chamber of Commerce. Rees has been with Peoples Bank since 2004 and has nearly 10 years of banking industry experience.

The southwest Missouri office of Lutheran Family and Children’s Services of Missouri received a $6,000 grant from the Musgrave Foundation. The money will help fund the Women In Need Growing Stronger, or WINGS, program and support pregnancy counseling and services for women and children.

Construction

Habitat for Humanity of Springfield recognized several community supporters with the Golden Hammer Award at its annual meeting and recognition luncheon Jan. 24. Award recipients were: Matthew Aug, Diane Gelner, Dale Gillespie, Neil Guion, Judy Huntsman, Willis Melgren, Angela Scaletty, Tim Smith and Jason Stewart.

The local Habitat chapter also inducted new board members: Chris Dollar, McKesson Corp.; Misty Durham, Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP; Rachel Dwiggins, BKD LLP; Bob Hosmer, city of Springfield; Stuart Murr, Smart Designs LLC; Steve Warlick, Bates & Associates Inc.; and Michelle Williams, Environmental Works.

Habitat for Humanity of Springfield also elected new board officers: Topper Glass of Millington, Glass & Love, president; Skip Barnes of Bolin Truss and Supply Co., vice president; Diane Gelner, secretary; Barbara Houser of Kirkpatrick, Phillips & Miller, treasurer; and Mark Owen of Hermann Lumber Co., executive at large.

Education

Young America’s Foundation named College of the Ozarks as one of the 10 most conservative colleges in the country. YAF ranks colleges according to college offerings and the overall student experience.

Health Care

Dr. Gerry Catapang was the special guest lecturer for the Cutting Edge in Rehabilitation Medicine seminar at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Manila, Philippines. Catapang, owner of Physical Therapy Care, Manual Physical Therapy and Industrial Rehab Center as well as U.S. Golf Performance Specialists, gave lectures on orthopedic manual physical therapy and golf-specific performance training.

Transportation

Dave Barnes joined Ryder moving company in Springfield as business development manager. He previously was a sales manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car.