Newsmakers

Gary Gibbons, a Springfield agent for Allstate Insurance Co., received the Agency Hands in the Community award for exemplary involvement and commitment to volunteerism in the community. The award includes a $500 donation to Dickerson Park Zoo’s Friends of the Zoo program, for which Gibbons volunteers.

Construction

Traci Langston joined Global Granite and Marble as an administrative assistant. Langston is responsible for customer service, purchasing, inventory and accounting. She previously served as a district clerk at the Stone County Soil and Water Conservation District.

Education

Missouri State University Vice President for Student Affairs Don Aripoli was named acting vice president for university advancement. Aripoli, who fills the position held by retiring Greg Onstot, will continue in an acting role for up to 18 months while a search is conducted for a full-time replacement.

Robert Turnbull and Cathryn “Cat” Vincel received the Distinguished Service Award from Evangel University. Turnbull, who has taught French at Evangel for 33 years and has been the humanities department chair for 16 years, earned his Ph.D. from New York University. He has studied and taught in New York, Paris and Brussels, Belgium. Vincel began working at Evangel as an invoice clerk in 1973 and was promoted that year to supervisor of accounts receivable. She received the award for demonstrating diligence and accuracy when registering students and recording transactions. She currently handles bank accounts reconciliation and audit reports.

Floral

Connie Weatherly, a floral designer for Wickman’s Garden Village, received the Teleflora Past President’s Award for her work in floral design. The scholarship award pays all expenses and entitles Weatherly to attend floral design classes at the Teleflora Education Center in Oklahoma City in 2007. She has more than six years of experience in the floral design business and holds a diploma in advanced floral design from Ozarks Technical Community College.

Grocery

Price Cutter Supermarkets promoted Brandon Perkins to software development and integration specialist and added retail pricing management to Kena Blankenship’s responsibilities. Perkins joined Price Cutter more than four years ago and most recently held the position of grocery analyst. He also spent five years in store management with Albertson’s. Blankenship, director of information technology, has been with the company since 1997 and earned a computer information technology degree from Ozarks Technical Community College.

Hospitality

Joe Modglin joined the sales team at Branson Hospitality. He is in charge of coordinating cooperative marketing programs in addition to further developing tour and travel sales. Modglin was previously the sales manager at Holiday Inn Southwest Viking in St. Louis. Also at Branson Hospitality, Tom Paden, senior national sales manager has assumed responsibility for meetings and conventions.