Newsmakers

Banking

Guaranty Bank announced three staff additions and a promotion. Rhonda Gardner joined the bank as an assistant vice president in the mortgage loan department. She has more than 19 years of experience in mortgage lending, most recently as a loan originator with Chase Mortgage. In her new position, she is responsible for originating mortgage loans and working on new product development.

Joan Ohlgren accepted the position of branch manager for Guaranty Bank's branch at 1341 W. Battlefield. Ohlgren's previous experience includes 28 years with an accounting firm, and more recently, working with Commercial Federal and Bank Midwest.

Rachel Godden joined Guaranty Bank as branch manager of the bank's West Kearney Dillon's in-store facility. She has been in banking since 2001, most recently at Bank Midwest.

Belinda Stogsdill was promoted to assistant vice president with Guaranty Bank. She has been in banking for 20 years, including seven years as a loan originator with Guaranty Bank.

Beverages

Ozarks Coca Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co. received the 2003 Top State Per Cap Award for Missouri. This is the 17th consecutive year that the soft drink bottler has received the award, which honors the bottler that has the highest number of 6.5 oz. servings of Dr Pepper products consumed per capita in one year.

While other Missouri Dr Pepper bottlers may have sold more soft drinks, no other bottler sold more per person than Ozarks Coca Cola/Dr Pepper.

Chamber

Jennifer Johnson joined the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce as economic development coordinator. She is a 2000 graduate of Drury University. Johnson previously spent three years in Oxford, England, working as marketing communications coordinator for Isis Innovation Ltd.

In her new position, Johnson works in the chamber's economic development programs, including Springfield Business & Development Corporation. She also is the primary staff support for the Small Business Advisory Council, and is involved in special events and activities of the department.

Health care

Dr. Steven C. Sponenberg recently joined Parkcrest Dental Group. He received his bachelor's degree in biology at Drury University and graduated from Creighton University School of Dentistry in Omaha, Neb. He is a member of the American Dental Association.

Dr. Ling Li joined St. John's Clinic-Neurology. She received her medical education at Shanghai Medical University in Shanghai, China, and a doctorate in neuroscience at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Li completed an internship and a residency in neurology at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida.

St. John's Cancer Center was designated an approved cancer program by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. Only one in four hospitals that treat cancer receive this designation, which sets standards for cancer programs and implements program reviews. For patients, the designation signifies quality care close to home; comprehensive care with state-of-the-art services and equipment; a multispecialty, team approach for coordination of treatment options; availability of information about cancer clinical trials, education and support; and lifelong patient follow-up through a cancer registry.

Organizations

Lisa D. Jones, an independent financial consultant with Planvest Capital Management, represented Greater Ozarks Business and Professional Women and Missouri Business and Professional Women, winning second-runner-up honors during the Young Careerist competition program.

The competition was held July 14-17 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at the BPW/USA national conference. The Young Careerist competition includes a speak-off, personal interview and resume review. The competition is open to professional women between the ages of 21 and 35. Jones also won a special citation for her speech about the BPW platform issues of economic independence for women and economic equity.

Jones is president-elect of Greater Ozarks BPW.

Transportation

O & S Trucking announced a staff promotion and several accomplishments. Steve Tackett was promoted to inside sales representative, specializing in heavy less-than-truckload freight and warehouse utilization.

Tackett has 15 years of experience in transportation. He joined O & S in 2003 as a fleet manager. In his new position, he is responsible for helping to set rates, combining LTL shipments, order entry, forklift operations, trailer loading and trailer shuttling.

O & S Independent Contractor Jerry Johnson received the Missouri Motor Carriers Association's Driver of the Month Award for May. He has been an owner/operator for 18 of his 40 years in trucking. He has leased at O & S for 17 years and has been accident free for 23 years.

Lease-purchase driver John Rose was named O & S Driver of the Month for May. He has been with the company since August 2002. To be nominated for the award, drivers must have no service failures, no accidents or incidents, no log violations or maintenance issues. Rose is qualified to compete for Driver of the Year honors.