Newsmakers: Aug. 8-14, 2022

Accounting
KPM CPAs & Advisors hired Spencer Graves as a staff accountant in its accounting outsourcing department. He has two years of experience and holds a bachelor’s in accounting from College of the Ozarks.

Banking & Finance
Peter Lai, an Edward Jones financial adviser, received the firm’s Spirit of Caring Award recognizing the values, culture and spirit of giving back. The peer-determined award is given to one adviser in each of the firm’s 316 regions.

Arvest Bank promoted Penny Lacy to executive vice president and sales manager. She started her career with Arvest in 1994, most recently serving as director of associate relations, and she’s completed the Colorado Graduate School of Banking.

Central Bank in Springfield added Eric Meruelo as a vice president on the mortgage team and Brandon Blackmann as assistant vice president and mortgage lending officer. Meruelo has 30 years of industry experience, and Blackmann has worked for Central Bank for almost a decade.

Health Care
Citizens Memorial Hospital added dermatologist Dr. Murphy Mastin at the CMH Dermatology Clinic and Dr. Ryan Kedzie as hospitalist-nocturnist. Mastin holds a doctorate in medicine from University of Missouri and was an inaugural member of MU School of Medicine Springfield Clinical Campus, where he spent his final two years of medical school receiving clinical training at the two Springfield hospitals. He also completed an internship and dermatology residency at the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education. Kedzie holds a doctorate in osteopathic medicine from Touro University Nevada and completed a residency in internal medicine at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in North Carolina.

Colonial Springs Healthcare Center, a Citizens Memorial Health Care Foundation long-term care facility, received the 2022 Bronze Commitment to Quality Award from the American Healthcare Association and National Center for Assisted Living. The award is part of the AHCA/NCAL’s National Quality Award Program, a comprehensive and organizational assessment and recognition. CMH will be honored in October during the AHCA/NCAL national convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

Law
Carnahan Evans PC hired Shawn Battagler as of counsel attorney. The 18th attorney on staff, his practice areas are corporate and rural electric cooperative law in Missouri state courts and before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Media
Springfield Business Journal promoted Valerie Pister to sales director and hired Danielle King as a business strategist. Pister has a 12-year career with SBJ, including a stint as senior business strategist since 2017, and past experience in radio and television advertising sales. King has worked in higher education enrollment and recruiting, and she holds a bachelor’s in business management and associate degree in accounting from Baptist Bible College.