Newsmakers: Aug. 26-Sept. 1, 2024

Architecture
Registered architect Kirsten Whitehead was promoted to production manager at Paragon Architecture LLC. Whitehead, who has a master’s in architecture from Drury University, oversees resource allocation for the firm in her new role.

Banking & Finance
Missouri Trust & Investment Co. hired David Cook as director of business development and Luke Parrish as trust administrative officer. Cook has a 45-year banking industry career, most recently with The Bank of Missouri. Parrish most recently served as an associate at Cerity Partners.

Guaranty Bank promoted Rob Dixon and Brian Zumwalt within its executive ranks. Dixon was appointed as vice president and consumer lending manager, and Zumwalt was named senior vice president and regional market manager for Joplin, Carthage and Neosho. Additionally, company CEO Monte McNew added president to his title. Former Guaranty Bank President Shaun Burke died this spring.

Nonprofit
Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield promoted Sarah Marsh to director of its O’Reilly Unit and Nicole McLaughlin to director of the Musgrave Unit. Marsh has a bachelor’s in parks, recreation and leisure facilities management from Missouri State University, and McLaughlin graduated from MSU with a degree in theater and minor in creative writing.

The Finley River Community Foundation, an affiliate of Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc., appointed its 2024-25 board officers. They are President Elise Craine, President-elect Cynthia Glenn, Secretary Jackie Barger and Treasurer John R. Hedgpeth. New board members are Heather Alder, Josh Kitchin, Tiffany Lafferty and Kevin Longley.

Ozarks Food Harvest added two board members: Penny Lacy and Shelley Marshall. Lacy works as sales manager and executive vice president for Arvest Bank, and Marshall is Merrill Lynch’s resident director and wealth management adviser.

United Way of the Ozarks received a $35,000 donation from the Arvest Foundation. The funding is earmarked for an office space remodel and for United Way’s Give 5 program.

Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc. partnered with the Jeannette L. Musgrave Foundation and U.S. Bank Private Wealth Management to present nearly $1.2 million in multiyear, high-impact grants and funding for nonprofit capital projects. The recipients of Opportunities to Thrive, designed to support long-term sustainability in the wake of the pandemic, are Boys and Girls Clubs of Springfield, $70,000; GLO Center, $55,000; Ozarks Food Harvest, $131,122; Ozarks Literacy Council, $36,432; and Springfield Community Gardens, $19,924. Second-year grants for the Student Citizenship initiative went to History Museum on the Square, $70,000; Leadership Springfield, $62,000; and Springfield Daily Citizen, $25,000. Final-year grants for the Foster Families program went to Council of Churches of the Ozarks, $50,000; FosterAdopt Connect, $50,000; KVC Missouri (formerly Great Circle), $50,000; and St. John’s Chapel United Church of Christ, $39,800. Grants also were presented as part of an invitation-only program to support capital projects to Child Advocacy Center, $188,000; Council of Churches of the Ozarks, $100,000; Dickerson Park Zoo, $97,000; Ozarks Food Harvest, $67,145; and Presbyterian Children’s Homes & Services, $54,500.