Newsmakers: Dec. 12-18, 2016

Arts
Springfield Regional Arts Council added Brett Johnston as marketing and development coordinator. He worked five years as co-owner of Tag Magazine and most recently as communications manager for the Downtown Springfield Association. 

Springfield Sports Commission named Katie Johnson as assistant director. Previously, she served five years as sales assistant at the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau. Johnson’s responsibilities include enhancing the visibility of the Sports Commission by selling and retaining memberships and assisting with event development. Jill Pearce was hired to succeed Johnson and now serves as the CVB’s sales coordinator. She oversees the group tour and small meetings market and provides support to the group sales and services department.

Banking & Finance
Commerce Bank promoted Justin Hickey to business banking relationship manager from small-business banking specialist and Brandon Bowenschulte to small-business banking specialist from credit specialist. A graduate of Missouri State University, Hickey has six years of banking experience. Bowenschulte is a graduate of University of Missouri-Kansas City and has three years of banking experience. 

Ozark Bank hired Darren Garrison as senior vice president and commercial lender at its Nixa branch. A graduate of MSU with a bachelor’s in finance, Garrison is charged with developing business in Greene and Christian counties. 

Guaranty Bank hired Sheila Whitehead as a residential lender and sales manager in its Joplin market. She has six years of mortgage lending experience and 16 years of banking experience.

Tim Gregory, a business intermediary/broker with Kingsley Group, completed the Certified Mergers & Acquisitions Professional Program sponsored by the M&A Source and Kennesaw State University’s Coles College of Business. The course provides analytical and business tools needed to successfully manage M&A transactions, particularly in the privately held, middle-market sector.

Commerce Bank hired Eric Gerke as senior vice president and business banking relationship manager. 

With a bachelor’s in business administration from MSU, Gerke has 12 years of banking experience.

Education
Drury added four members to its board of trustees: Rob Dickerson, Gail Fredrick, Lindsay French and Suzanne Scott. Dickerson, a commercial insurance agent with Barker-Phillips-Jackson Inc., is a 1990 Drury alumnus with a bachelor’s in business administration and a minor in economics. Springfield attorney Fredrick graduated from Drury in 1969 with a bachelor’s in business administration and economics, as well as an MBA in 1972. French, owner of Dynamic Body LLC, is a 2002 alumna with a bachelor’s in business administration and an MBA in 2004. Scott, of Evergreen, Colorado, is an alumna with 15 years of experience in engineering design education in the Middle East and the United States. She holds a faculty position at the Colorado School of Mines.

The Guide to Online Schools ranked Drury University No. 10 in its top 25 online colleges for 2017, based on low-cost programs and high academic standards. Drury’s annual tuition is $8,970 and its academic strength is 70 percent, according to the study. 

Services
AmeriPride Services promoted Customer Operations Manager Jay Rasmussen to general manager of the Springfield branch. He succeeds Brett Wooden, who relocated to Idaho. 

Rasmussen, a longtime employee of AmeriPride, has fiscal and operational oversight of the branch and affiliated service centers.