Newsmakers

ADSmith Communications has achieved membership in the American Association of Advertising Agencies, a national trade association that includes less than 10 percent of the ad agencies in the United States. ADSmith Communications is owned by Angela Smith and Gail McKinney.

Finance

Robert P. Ruff, CPA, joined the staff of Kirkpatrick, Phillips & Miller CPAs PC as a supervising consultant. Ruff has more than 12 years of experience and is working on supporting software applications. He has a bachelor of science degree in accounting and computer information systems from Southwest Missouri State University.

Joel S. Pearson was named an associate financial advisor with the Springfield office of Penney, Murray & Associates, a financial advisory practice of American Express Financial Advisors Inc. Pearson consults with clients on a one-to-one basis to help them identify their most important financial goals and to determine an appropriate course of action in order to achieve them. Pearson is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he earned a bachelor of science degree in personal financial planning. He previously worked for Penney as an intern.

Health Care

Ferrell-Duncan Clinic announced the addition of three physicians. Candise D. Kroutil, MD, joined the clinic’s family practice department. Kroutil attended medical school at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and completed her residency with Cox Family Practice Residency program. She is board-certified in family practice. Kroutil previously practiced at Cox Health Center in Aurora. Gregory L. Lyford, MD, joined Ferrell Duncan Clinic’s gastroenterology department. He earned his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University and completed his residency and fellowship at Mayo Clinic. He is board-certified in internal medicine and board-eligible in gastroenterology, with a special interest in general gastroenterology and inflammatory bowel disease. Jay L. Pearcy, MD, joined the dermatology department of Ferrell-Duncan Clinic. Pearcy attended medical school and completed his internship at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He served as chief resident of dermatology during his residency at the University of Kansas. Pearcy is board-certified in dermatology, with a special interest in adult and pediatric dermatology, including skin cancer.

Family Medical Walk-In Clinic announced the addition of two staff members. Rachel Stoops-Sorrell joined the clinic as supervisor of the coding department. She earned her coding certification from Ozarks Technical Community College in 2003 and has experience in medical coding, billing, patient accounting and claims research.

Sara Anderson joined Family Medical Walk-In Clinic as billing coordinator. She has more than 10 years of experience in the medical field, most recently as senior implementation specialist for WebMD.

Insurance

Bandi Jackson joined Nixon & Lindstrom Insurance. She is responsible for customer service in the group health insurance department of the firm.

Law

The Springfield office of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin announced three participants for the firm’s 2004 summer associate program. Participants are Michael A. Cosby from St. Louis University School of Law, Misty L. Durham from the University of North Carolina Law School and Kenneth A. Springer from the University of Arkansas School of Law.

Greene County Circuit Judge Don Burrell was awarded two national scholarships that will enable him to attend a continuing judicial education program about the effective trial of capital murder cases. The course, “Handling Capital Cases,” is scheduled for Aug. 30-Sept. 2 in San Francisco. It is presented by National Judicial College, which awarded Burrell a partial scholarship. The State Justice Institute awarded his second scholarship. Burrell has handled one capital murder trial on a change of venue from Barry County. He has one Greene County capital murder trial scheduled in early 2005.