Newsmakers: Aug. 10-16, 2015

Accounting
Abacus CPAs LLC hired Clint Johnson and Linden Ballard as auditors, Jo Cunningham as a staff accountant, Danny Sebastian and Kevin Gerwel as tax preparers and Amy Rinne as a senior auditor. Travis Hendon joined the firm as a staff accountant and auditor.

, a staff accountant with BRS CPAs and Trusted Advisors, passed her certified public accountant exam. With a master’s in accounting from Precarpathian National University in Ukraine, Plaster has worked as an accountant for five years.

Advertising
Joe Camden joined ADsmith Marketing and Advertising as a video producer. Previously working for Fox/KRBK-TV in the operations and engineering department, he holds a bachelor’s in digital film production from Missouri State University.

Banking and Finance
Hawthorn Bank hired Christian Lewis as vice president and commercial loan officer and Clint Caffey as senior vice president and commercial loan officer. Lewis and Caffey have 10 years and five years of area banking experience, respectively.

Sheila Falls joined Gateway Mortgage Group as a loan originator. She has 30 years of banking experience.

Education
Sarah Jones joined Southwest Baptist University as an associate professor of physical therapy. Jones, an adjunct faculty member since 2011, also was recently named a board-certified pediatric specialist by the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties.

SBU Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Amber Fleer completed Level 1 of the Selective Functional Movement Assessment course. SFMA clinically assesses movement patterns in those with known musculoskeletal pain.

The Chronicle of Higher Education named College of the Ozarks one of the best colleges to work for based on surveys of over 280 colleges and universities in its annual report on the academic workplace. C of O received an Honor Roll ranking for being recognized in nine of 12 categories, including compensation and benefits, confidence in senior leadership, job satisfaction and professional/career development programs.

Government
National nonprofit Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition named Springfield Fire Department a Built for Life Fire Department for educating residents on the importance of installing fire sprinkler systems.

Springfield Municipal Court Judge Becky Borthwick was appointed to the 13-member Missouri Supreme Court’s Municipal Judge Education Committee for a term ending Dec. 31, 2017. The committee oversees continuing education for municipal judges and new judge orientations twice a year. Borthwick, a municipal judge in Springfield for two years, received a law degree from the University of Oklahoma and a bachelor’s from the University of Missouri.

Nonprofit
The Springfield Regional Arts Council honored four Ozzie Awards winners for their support of local arts. Marlin Co. received the Organization Award for its work with the Springfield arts and design community, as well as support of the Downtown Springfield Association, Springfield Creatives, MSU’s Brick City and IDEA Commons. The Artworks Summer Art Program received the Education Award for allowing elementary students to study alongside a professional artist. Thomas Russo earned the Individual Award for his work teaching art and art history at Drury University. Bob White was posthumously honored with the Legacy Award for his work in developing Artsfest and as an SPS art teacher.

Habitat for Humanity of Springfield named four officers to its 2015-16 board of directors: President Michele Risdal-Barnes of The Risdal Enterprises LP and J-K Investments Inc.; Vice President Daniel Wooten of Neale & Newman LLP; Treasurer Gene O’Dell of O’Dell Financial Group of Wells Fargo Advisors; and Secretary Kayshia Rosenbury of Guaranty Bank.

Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce Business Development Coordinator Jamie Fields accepted the program coordinator position for Leadership Springfield. Fields provides support to Leadership Springfield’s board of directors and committees, and coordinates events, applications, selections and alumni dues.