Newsmakers

Bart Brown, executive director of Ozarks Food Harvest, was a featured speaker at the statewide conference “Fighting Hunger in Missouri,” held Aug. 18 in Columbia. Brown spoke about the role of food banks in addressing hunger and nutrition issues, as well as the changing face of those in need of assistance in Missouri. The Food Harvest collects and distributes up to 5 million pounds of food annually.

Erin Easterly joined the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce as its coordinator of member services. Easterly, a native of Fair Grove, has a bachelor’s degree in business and a Master of Business Administration from Southwest Baptist University.

Lions Club International Foundation named Virgil Calhoun, of Springfield, a Melvin Jones Fellow. He was given the recognition, the foundation’s highest honor, for his commitment to humanitarian service. Calhoun is a member of the Springfield Host Lions Club. The award is named after Melvin Jones, the founder of Lions Clubs International.

Five teens from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield participated in the Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Triple Play Sports Leadership Camp at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas. There were more than 150 youth between ages 13 and 18 from Boys & Girls Clubs across the country. The camp teaches leadership skills and allows participation in a variety of nontraditional sports.

Education

Bruce Renner, a 10-year member of the Springfield R-XII School Board, was named president of the Missouri School Boards’ Association. Renner has previously served as vice president of MSBA.

Standard & Poor’s School Evaluation Services recognized the Springfield R-XII School District among 24 Missouri districts statewide as academic “outperformers.” In order to be recognized as an academic “outperformer” by Standard & Poor’s, the school districts had to report significantly higher percentages of students that score proficient or above on state reading and math test than other school districts over two school years.

Governor Matt Blunt appointed Ryan Sivill, of Chillicothe, to the Missouri State University Board of Governors. Sivill is an accounting and finance major and president of the MSU University Ambassadors.

Bernie Dana, Evangel University assistant professor of business, presented an executive development program on quality management at Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business. The program is part of a three-week executive development program for individuals who desire to become licensed long-term care administrators in Ohio. Dana also has presented at seminars in New Jersey and Maryland. Dana joined the faculty at Evangel in fall 2001 after serving 27 years as an executive and consultant in the long-term care and retirement housing industries.

The Missouri Board of Education announced the semifinalists for its annual Outstanding Board of Education Award. Ash Grove R-IV, Nixa R-II, Republic R-III and Willard R-II are among the list. Semifinalists are chosen based on criteria such as being ranked above the 50th percentile statewide in both student achievement levels and student achievement based on results from the MAP data for the past five years.

The Missouri Board of Education announced seven school boards that received the 2005 Education Leadership Team honor. Among the seven honored are the boards of Branson R-IV, Nixa R-II and Reeds Spring R-IV schools.

Finance

Jeff Robinson, vice president and wealth management consultant for The Commerce Trust Co. was named a certified financial planner by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. The certification identifies Robinson as someone who has met the experience and ethical requirements of the CFP board and has successfully completed financial planning coursework.

Government

Gov. Matt Blunt appointed Robert B. Noble, chairman and CEO of Noble World Communications, to the Missouri State Council on the Arts. Noble also is known for creating The Food Channel, a national food trend magazine, and received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Kansas/Western Missouri region in 2001. His term ends Oct. 13, 2009.

Hospitality

Branson-based Myer Hotels announced three employee promotions and two additions. Joseph Sharp was promoted to general manager of the Best Western Center Pointe Inn. With Myer Hotels since 1999, Sharp previously was the general manager at the Comfort Inn at Thousand Hills. Bob Williams slides into Sharp’s general manager position at the Comfort Inn at Thousand Hills. Williams joined Myer Hotels in February 2005 as assistant manager of the Best Western Center Pointe Inn. Larry Ridley was promoted to assistant manager of the Best Western Center Pointe Inn. Ridley joined Myer Hotels in August 2004 as assistant manager of the Comfort Inn West. Jaci Peters was named assistant manager of the Comfort Inn & Suites. Peters owned a resort on Bull Shoals Lake for 10 years. Chris Schaum joined the Myer Hotels staff as assistant manager of Comfort Inn West. He previously was front office manager of the Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs, Ark.

Health care

Citizens Memorial Healthcare in Bolivar announced three staff additions. Tamera Heitz-Peek was named director of marketing for CMH. She previously spent 14 years in the office of public relations and marketing at Southwest Baptist University, most recently as the office director. Heitz-Peek is an Evangel University graduate with a Bachelor of Science in journalism. Beverly Derrickson was named director of finance for CMH. Derrickson previously served as chief financial officer and CEO at Texas County Memorial Hospital. Most recently, she and her husband owned the Licking News in Licking. George Colbert was named CMH administrator. Colbert previously worked for 17 years at Kabul Nursing Homes Inc. in Cabool. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Administrators and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College in Newberg, Ind.

Integrity Home Care announced three personnel changes. Gwen Beebe was promoted to executive director of business development. She has 19 years of experience in health care and in resource development and legislative advocacy. Kris Jones was named Integrity’s human resource manager. Jones was with Freeman Health System in Joplin for six years, the last three of which were spent specializing in recruitment, marketing and outside sales. She earned a psychology degree from Missouri Southern State University. Michelle Heidt was named payroll services manager. After obtaining an accounting degree from Missouri State University, she worked as an accountant, payroll manager and controller for several organizations, most recently Convoy of Hope.

Rajesh Ramesh joined Dynatek Dalta as the company’s research and development engineer.

Ramesh has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Bangalore University in India and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Kansas. He also completed an internship with Dynatek Dalta, a medical devices engineering and design firm.

Skaggs Community Health Center in Branson recently recognized several employees for their dedication to the company.

Faye Baker in the hospital’s accounting department celebrated her 45th year with the company in 2004. Lou Smith has been in the hospital’s safety division for 30 years, and Ruth Robertson has worked in the pre-operative department for 25 years.

A research article co-written by Lindsay Foresee, a senior chemistry major at Evangel University, was published in American Chemical Society’s Journal of Organic Chemistry.

Forsee spent her 2004 summer doing research at Kansas University and co-wrote the article “Trifluoracetic Acid-Medicated Hydroarylation: Synthesis of Dihudrocoumarins and Dihydroquinolones.” The article was published in the March 2005 issue.

Mike Geeslin, president and founder of Springfield-based I’vanRx4u, received the Missouri Pharmacy Association President’s Award at the group’s annual meeting in June. I’vanRx4u provides staff relief for pharmacies in Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri while pharmacists are on vacation or have days off. Geeslin is a member of the Missouri Pharmacy Association and is an American Society of Consulting Pharmacists Fellow and a Certified Geriatric Pharmacist.

McKesson Provider Technologies’ home care, hospice and telehealth division received the Capability Maturity Model Level 3 rating, a distinction in software development. The CCM is managed by Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute; there are five levels. McKesson Provider Technologies is part of McKesson Corp., a Fortune 15 health care services and information technology company in business for 170 years.

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