Newsmakers

Springfield-based Reliable Collision Repair Center has been certified as a Gold Class Professional company by the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair. Reliable Collision completed Gold Class training requirements earlier this month. Repair technicians and damage estimators participated in more than 600 hours of education training, focusing on all aspects of collision repair.

Design

The Gittinger Music Center, on the campus of College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, won the grand prize in the fifth annual Showcase of College Planning and Management Magazine Education Design Showcase. The center was completed in August 2003 and incorporates the old Jordan Music Building, built in the 1930s. The 25,000-square-foot facility was designed by Springfield-based Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc.

Education

Drury University has received expanded accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission to offer two new programs for adult learners. Included in the new offerings is a set of degree programs offered through the cohort model. A cohort allows a group of students to begin and end a program of study together. The classes meet at a time and location convenient for the students and remain at that time and place throughout the program. Currently, 22 public school teachers are participating in a master of education cohort at Drury’s Cabool branch campus.

Nine professors at Southwest Baptist University were recognized in the 2004 edition of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. The teachers were nominated by former students or by the teachers’ peers. The nine teachers honored are Bing Bayer, Old Testament and Hebrew; Sherrie Bayer, instructor at the University Success Center; Jim Frost, intercultural studies and spiritual formation; Holly Hill-Stanford, English; Kevin Hopkins, chair of mathematics; Janet Juhlin, director of assessment and professor of education; James Smith, history; David Whitlock, business and computer science; and Linda Wooderson, dean of the College of Education and Social Science.

Finance

EDC Small Business Finance hired Stan Frisbee as its new business development officer for its southern Missouri region, which includes Springfield. He is responsible for more than 500 small business loans in southern Missouri. Frisbee, a long-time resident of the St. James-Rolla area, comes to the organization with 14 years of commercial banking experience. In recent years, he has focused on serving local bankers and commercial clients through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 504 Loan Program. Frisbee is an economics graduate from the University of Missouri-Rolla.

Health care

Husband-and-wife physicians Dr. Matthew Brown and Dr. Cara Brown joined the faculty of CoxHealth Family Practice Residency. Both attended medical school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine and completed family practice residencies at St. Anthony Family Practice Residency. They bring expertise in the areas of practice management, maternity care and procedural training.

Deanna Maples was named to the newly created position of controller for CoxHealth. She continues to serve as director of CoxHealth’s accounting department. Maples has worked for CoxHealth for six years. Prior to that, she was vice president and division controller of Waste Management Inc. She holds a bachelor of science degree in accounting and a master’s degree in business administration from Southwest Missouri State University. In her new position, she oversees admission services and assists with managed care contracting functions.

Colonial Springs Healthcare Center, an affiliate of Citizens Memorial Healthcare in Bolivar, was honored statewide for its superior quality of care given to each resident. Primaris, a nonprofit health care consulting firm that serves as Missouri’s federally designated Medicare Quality Improvement Organization, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, gave the honor.

Insurance

Ollis & Co. was recognized for the 10th consecutive year as part of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America Best Practices Study Group. More than 900 independent agencies in the United States were nominated to take part in the annual study, but only 195 agencies, including Ollis & Co., qualified for the honor by posting the top performance in their revenue categories. The Best Practices Study surveys independent insurance agencies and documents their business practices in an effort to improve agency performance.

Nixon & Lindstrom Insurance was named Marketing Agency of the Month in November by Rough Notes magazine. The agency was featured on the cover of the magazine – a trade journal for insurance professionals – and also was the subject of a four-page profile of company operations. Nixon & Lindstrom is now eligible for Marketing Agency of the Year distinction.

Law

Matthew J. Growcock and George W. “Jake” Reinbold IV have been named associates with Turner, Reed, Duncan, Loomer & Patton PC. Both specialize in personal injury and insurance defense litigation.

Leisure

Deanna Holaday, office manager for Twin Oaks Country Club, completed final testing and is now a certified bookkeeper. Candidates for certification are required to submit evidence of at least two years or 3,000 hours of part-time or free-lance bookkeeping experience, and they must pass a five-section examination.

Printing

Creative Printing & Design has announced two additions to its staff. Heather Womack joins the company as an account representative. Womack, a Springfield native, is a 2000 graduate of Southwest Missouri State University, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in marketing. She formerly served as director of advertising and public relations for IMAX Entertainment Complex.

Josh Kolb joins the Creative Printing & Design team as graphic designer. Kolb’s duties include consulting with clients to enhance their existing ideas and designs. Kolb is a 1993 graduate of Kansas State University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He has more than 15 years of experience in the field, 10 of those in the Branson area.

Sports

Chris Maloney was named manager of the St. Louis Cardinals’ Texas League Double-A affiliate, the Springfield Cardinals. He spent 13 years as a minor league coach and manager with the Cardinals organization, from 1988-2001. For the past three seasons, Maloney was manager of the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs in the Houston Astros’ system. He posted a 212-220 record with the Zephyrs, including a first-place finish in 2002. Maloney graduated from Mississippi State University in 1983 and was later signed as a nondrafted free agent by the New York Mets. The Cardinals purchased Maloney’s rights in 1986, the only season he played in the minor leagues.

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