Newsmakers

Youngblood Volkswagen has received its second consecutive Volkswagen Wolfsberg Crest Club award. The award is VW’s most prestigious honor, based upon sales volume, employee certification, customer satisfaction and other factors. Only the top 50 dealerships out of 600 in the United States and Canada receive this honor.

Community

Urban Neighborhoods Alliance received a $7,500 charitable contribution from UMB Bank. UNA and UMB have partnered to offer a Below Market Home Improvement Loan program for owner-occupied residences in five center city neighborhoods: Grant Beach, Midtown, Sherman Avenue PAC, West Central and Woodland Heights.

The Council of Churches of the Ozarks named Richard Virnig director of Connections Handyman Services, a project providing necessary home repairs for low-income elderly and disabled homeowners. Virnig is responsible for managing requests for assistance, supervising volunteers and maintaining and developing working arrangements with other area agencies.

Education

Don Schlueter, director of Southwest Missouri State University’s Jim D. Morris Center for Continuing Education, was elected 2005 president of the Springfield-Branson Chapter of the American Society of Training and Development. Schlueter coordinates all society programs, networking communities and membership drives.

The Students in Free Enterprise teams at Southwest Baptist University and Drury University have advanced to the national championship round. SBU was named regional champion for its league at the 2005 SIFE Regional Competition and Career Opportunity Fair held April 7 in St. Louis. Drury SIFE won the regional competition in Memphis. Teams were judged on the effectiveness, creativity, innovation, success and results of their projects outlined in a presentation. The teams will compete against more than 150 other regional champions at the 2005 SIFE USA National Exposition, May 22-–24 in Kansas City.

The Association of School Business Officials International presented Springfield Public Schools with the Meritorious Budget Award for its 2004–2005 fiscal budget. ASBO is a professional association that provides programs and services to promote the highest standards of school business management practices, professional growth and effective use of educational resources.

SMSU language professor Carol Anne Costabile-Heming received the 2004–2005 Dr. Richard M. Hunt Fellowship for the Study of German Politics, Society and Culture from the American Council on Germany. The fellowship provides financial support for a research trip to Germany where she will spend seven weeks in Berlin researching film archives and meeting with city planners, historians, architects and writers.

The American Chemical Society granted accreditation to Drury University’s

chemistry department. The ACS, which is not a required accreditation, approved the department upon its first application.

Carol Browning, associate professor of mathematics at Drury University, was invited to supervise a workshop for Project New Experiences in Teaching at the summer Mathfest. Project NExT is designed to make young faculty members more effective teachers. Browning previously worked for the California Institute of Technology at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Elena Osokina, assistant professor of history at SMSU, will receive a $40,000 National Endowment for the Humanities Grant. The award allows Osokina to work on her book “Torgsin: Stalin’s Gold, Industrialization and Soviet Everyday Life, 1931–1936.”

Sara Clark, Web coordinator for SMSU information services, received the Missouri Governor’s Council on Disability Annual Conclusion Award for Excellence in Universal Design and Technology. The award recognizes progress in Web accessibility.

Hospitality

Myer Hotels named Bob Williams assistant manager of Branson’s Best Western Center Pointe Inn. Williams has 20 years of hospitality experience with hotels in Florida. Sue Gordy, also of Myer Hotels, completed a week of training and a written exam to become a certified hospitality administrator. Gordy manages the Comfort Inn West in Branson.

Medical

The Missouri Veterinary Medical Association recently announced its officers for 2005. Among them are area residents Michael B. Pfander, vice president, of Springfield, and David A. Prigel, secretary/treasurer, of Republic.

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