Newsmakers

Andrea Dixon joined Guaranty Bank as a commercial loan assistant. Dixon has 18 years of industry experience as an administrative assistant. Her primary duties include assisting lenders and customers in the commercial loan department.

The Signature Bank promoted Amy Kiefer to senior vice president of operations. Kiefer has more than 18 years of banking experience and is responsible for all aspects of bank operations. She has been with The Signature Bank since 1997, helping with the bank’s development and growth.

J. Timothy Osredker joined Citizens National Bank as vice president-director of human resources. Osredker is responsible for all aspects of the human resources department, including policy management, candidate recruiting and hiring, compliance with state and federal laws and regulations, processing payroll and benefit administration. He has more than 20 years of experience in the financial industry.

Education

Two Evangel University students received Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Cultural Scholarships to study abroad for a semester. Shannon Davis will be studying Arabic at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, while Valerie Seaman will study German in either Austria or Germany. The scholarships will reimburse the students’ expenses – up to $19,000 each – for transportation, tuition, fees, room and board and some educational supplies.

Two employees of Missouri State University received a $35,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Arlen Diamond, MSU director of broadcast services, and Lolita Albers, educational services manager for Ozarks Public Television, received the grant for the Ready to Lead in Literacy project, which finds ways to encourage and promote literacy among children.

Jessica Hoffman, a recent graduate of Springfield Central High School, received the first Midtown college scholarship at the Midtown Neighborhood Association general membership meeting. The $1,000 scholarship is funded by the MNA Endowment Fund.

Tamera Jahnke was chosen as the dean of MSU’s College of Natural and Applied Sciences, effective Aug. 1. Jahnke has been serving as acting associate provost since August 2005. She has been a member of the MSU faculty since 1986 and was named head of the chemistry department in 1997.

Paul Carney was chosen as the new vice president for enrollment management at Drury University, effective July 1. Carney is the director of undergraduate admissions at Oklahoma State University. Before that, he spent six years at the University of Notre Dame. As vice president for enrollment management, Carney will oversee the offices of admission and financial aid.

Mike Bryan, director of Drury’s Ava campus, received the Sue Rollins Educator of the Year Award. Bryan was nominated by students in the continuing studies program and selected by members of the Continuing Studies Student Senate. He has been with the university since 1976. The Sue Rollins award honors a College of Graduate and Continuing Studies faculty or staff member each year for outstanding service to students and the community.

Engineering

LaRose & Schober Engineering hired Eric Cochran as an electrical engineer and Tracy Baldwin as a mechanical designer. Cochran has 13 years of experience in electrical system design for commercial and industrial projects. Baldwin has 30 years of experience in mechanical system design for commercial and industrial projects.

Hospitality

The Lodge of Four Seasons in Lake Ozark hired Mark Johnson as the resort’s director of sales. Johnson has more than 22 years of experience in the hotel industry, including senior-level positions with Westin, Marriott and Wyndham hotel chains. Most recently, he served as director of sales for The Grand Geneva Resort in Wisconsin.

Successful Meetings magazine named The Lodge of Four Seasons a 2006 Pinnacle Award winner for industry excellence. The award marks the 19th consecutive year that the property has been chosen for the award, which asks professional meeting planners who book meetings in the Midwest to vote for the properties exemplifying the industry’s highest quality.

The Best Western Music Capital Inn received its second consecutive Best Western Director’s Award for spring 2006. The award is designed to recognize company properties that epitomize the chain’s commitment to quality; it is bestowed on Best Western hotels that have met established criteria, including a required inspection score. The Music Capital Inn also received the award in fall 2005.

Insurance

Randall Gammill of Connell Insurance was a guest speaker at the annual Mid-America Safety, Health and Environmental Conference at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach. The conference welcomed insurance agents from throughout the Midwest to discuss safety, health, human resources and risk management issues. Gammill provided in-depth analysis of workers’ compensation premiums and the multistate role of the National Council on Compensation.

Two employees of Croley Insurance and Financial received professional acknowledgements. Per Brinck was selected by Ohio Casualty to be on its Technology Advisory Board. Andrea Croley was recognized by CoxHealth for her work with the Producer Reward Program, through which she earned membership in the Million Dollar Club.

Debbie Foell was promoted to vice president of information and general services at American National Property and Casualty Co., effective July 1. Foell has been with ANPAC since 1978, working with the company’s computers and systems technology. She most recently served as assistant vice president of application development.

Law

Michele Craycroft joined the Springfield office of Lathrop & Gage LC as an of counsel attorney in the firm’s real estate practice. Craycroft has more than eight years of experience as a public finance attorney, concentrating on governmental entities and political subdivisions in the financing of public and public/private projects.

Laura A. Nicholson joined Husch & Eppenberger LLC as an associate attorney in the firm’s general business litigation and health law practice groups. Nicholson earned her law degree from Boston University School of Law, with honors in health law concentration, in 2003. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from Southeast Missouri State University in 1998.

A total of 29 summer associates were chosen to participate in Kansas City-based Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin’s 2006 Summer Associate Program. Two of those will participate in the firm’s Springfield office: Wade M. Early of the University of Arkansas School of Law and Sarah C. Icet of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law.

Technology

Darren Henderson, CEO of Ion Wave Technologies, is scheduled to be a guest lecturer at several government and education procurement conferences, including SciQuest Next Level Conference in San Antonio, Texas; the Oklahoma Public Procurement Conference in Oklahoma City; and the 2006 Arkansas National Institute of Governmental Purchasing Conference and Exposition in Little Rock, Ark.[[In-content Ad]]