Newsmakers

Business brokers

Randy Ehrlich of Entrepreneur's Source has joined the staff of Sunbelt Business Advisors as a franchise specialist. His duties include handling franchise sales and franchiser relations for southwest Missouri and northwest Arkansas.

Chamber

Pamela Jenkins, finance/operations coordinator for the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, earned the certified administrative professional designation. She has been on the chamber staff for three years, and she has a 15-year background in finance.

Construction

DeWitt and Associates announced several staff changes.

Elise Crain joined the company as a project manager. Crain holds a political science degree from Drury University and is a member of the National Association of Women in Construction. In her new position, Crain's project assignments include a new parking deck for the St. John's campus.

Ted Smith was elected by the company's board of directors to serve as chairman of the board of DeWitt and Associates. He served as CEO and president from 1991 to the time of his promotion, and he has been with DeWitt and Associates since 1967. Smith is a registered professional engineer with more than 35 years of experience in the construction industry.

Jerry Hackleman was elected by the board to serve as president of DeWitt and Associates. He had served as senior vice president and chief estimator since 1993. He has been in the construction industry for more than 30 years and has estimated the $200 million St. John's master plan, the Meyer Library/Information Commons at Southwest Missouri State University, the Freeman Hospital expansion and Second Baptist Church.

John Bullard was elected by the board to serve as senior vice president of DeWitt and Associates. In the last 26 years, he has held several positions, most recently that of general superintendent. His responsibilities include safety, quality control and manpower.

Randy Ganz was elected to the position of vice president of operations of DeWitt and Associates, where he had served as senior project manager since 2000. Ganz has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla. He has worked in the construction industry for 23 years and is leading the construction management team for the St. John's campus.

Blake Christian was elected vice president of business development for DeWitt and Associates. Since joining the firm in 1998, Christian has worked as a project manager on several projects, including the Springfield Public Schools' air conditioning program, and Springfield Underground warehouses 16 and 25. He has a bachelor's degree in construction management from California State University-Chico, and he has 14 years of experience in the construction industry.