Newsmakers

Whitlock, Selim & Keehn LLP has hired two staff accountants and made two promotions.

Jacque Day Fullington and Crystal Kay Littell, both interns with the firm during the 2005 tax season, were named staff accountants. Certified Public Accountant Shelly Toft was promoted to supervisor, focusing on financial institution and individual taxes, with a specialization in tax credits. Six-year employee Chris Griesemer was promoted to manager after providing information technology examinations of Whitlock, Selim & Keehn’s clients for the last three years.

Education

Jim Wirth, of Hollister, was honored with the Reaching Diverse Audiences Award, presented by University of Missouri Extension Human Environmental Sciences. The award recognizes Wirth, an MU Extension human development specialist in Springfield, for helping employees and service providers in southwest Missouri to break down cultural barriers. Wirth developed a cultural competency workshop for a variety of professions that has served more than 1,000 people in the region.

Finance

UMB Bank named Annie Busch, Springfield-Greene County Library District executive director, and Donald Golik, Paul Mueller Co. vice president and chief financial officer, to its advisory board. Busch, a University of Missouri-Columbia graduate with a master’s degree in library science, has served on numerous local boards including the

Springfield Public School Foundation Advisory Board. Golik, who holds a master’s degree in finance from the University of Iowa, is a certified public accountant and previously served as commercial audit manager for Arthur Andersen & Co. in Kansas City.

Health Care

Kim Crouse, patient access supervisor at Skaggs Community Health Center in Branson, earned the Certified Healthcare Access Manager credential. By earning this credential, Crouse has shown knowledge of patient access management, including admissions, registrations, patient finance and guest relations. Crouse has been employed at Skaggs for 13 years.

Gov. Matt Blunt appointed Kevin W. Tweedy Taney County Coroner. Tweedy, a certified paramedic, is operations manager for the Taney County Ambulance District and a member of the Missouri Ambulance Association and Ambulance District Association of Missouri. Tweedy succeeds Randall Vest, who recently died.

Law

F. Richard Van Pelt of Van Pelt & Van Pelt, PC in Springfield was named in the 2006 edition of “The Best Lawyers in America.” The list is based on a yearlong survey of the legal profession in which attorneys nationwide are asked to rank the top lawyers in their specialties in their jurisdictions. Van Pelt has been listed in the publication every year since 2001.

The Missouri Bar named five Springfield attorneys senior counselors. Charles L. Bailey, Fred A. Brooks, Marilyn Miller Charlton, Margaret Aileen Schlachter and Thomas G. Strong were given the title for having been admitted to The Missouri Bar for 50 years or reaching 75 years of age.

Fred L. Hall Jr. of Hall, Ansley, Rodgers & Condry PC in Springfield and Ronald E. Mitchell of Blanchard, Robertson, Mitchell & Carter PC in Joplin were among the 17 Missouri judges and lawyers to receive the President’s Award at the 2005 Missouri Bar Annual Meeting. Those honored serve on the The Missouri Bar’s Commission on the Impartiality of the Judiciary.

Attorney Daniel Ramsdell was selected as a Missouri-Kansas Super Lawyer by Law & Politics magazine in the category of Plantiffs Personal Injury: General. The selection process included sending ballots to 25,000 active lawyers in Missouri and Kansas who have been in practice for at least five years, as well as a panel review, a good standing review and an interview. Ramsdell has practiced personal injury law in Springfield since 1977.

Technology

BKD Technologies was named to the Microsoft Business Solutions Inner Circle, having recorded sales in the top 1 percent of Microsoft Business Solutions’ global network of value-added reselling partners. BKD Technologies is a division of BKD LLP, one of the 10-largest CPA and advisory firms in the United States.