Newsmakers: Dec. 22-28, 2025

Accounting
KPM CPAs & Advisors hired Kylie Gillen as a staff accountant in the audit department. She previously worked as an audit associate at Ernst & Young LLP in St. Louis. Gillen earned her bachelor’s and master’s in accounting from Missouri State University.

Banking & Finance
Branson Bank hired Mark Hyde as vice president and community lender. With over 14 years of banking experience, Hyde will join the community bank’s Branson West team starting in January. Hyde worked for Walmart for over 25 years and completed a certification at the Walton Institute of Retail Management. He later worked at Progressive Ozark Bank and Table Rock Community Bank, during which time he completed the Consumer Lending School and School of Bank Management through the Missouri Bankers Association. Most recently, he worked with EXP Realty LLC as an agent.

Education
Kara Wolfe, director of the School of Hospitality and Agricultural Leadership at Missouri State University, received the International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators Martin Opperman Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding contributions to the ISTTE and the broader field of tourism education. ISTTE is a nonprofit committed to improving the quality of education and research in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. Wolfe began her teaching career at North Dakota State University in 2002 and has since held various positions, including chair of the family and consumer sciences department at Bradley University in Illinois. She joined MSU in 2022.

Health Care
Cox Medical Center Branson and Mercy Hospital Springfield both earned top A grades on the nonprofit Leapfrog Group’s fall hospital safety grades list. Leapfrog analyzes up to 30 performance metrics, including rates of preventable errors, injuries and infections, for the list. Safety grades are updated twice a year.

Nonprofit
The Springfield-Greene County Library District hired Stephanie Hornickel as its event spaces coordinator. She will oversee bookings for the Library Center’s new Hatch Auditorium, a 500-seat venue for events and programs, as well as the use of the library’s other event spaces. Hornickel joins the Library District after more than 25 years in the retail and wedding floral industries.
The Schneider Foundation, which provides grants to local schools and educational programs, added three new board members. They are Elliot Boehm, who has a background in psychology and academic advising; Luke Holliday, a grandson of the late Henry Schneider, who was the founder of The Schneider Foundation; and Lyndsey Strahan, who has experience in curriculum development and student success and works as the English department chair at Ozarks Technical Community College.

Public Safety
Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams was reappointed to the board of directors of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the world’s largest professional association for law enforcement leaders with 35,000 members. Williams was also recognized by the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association with the Liberty Bell Award. Presented to a non-lawyer who has made outstanding contributions to the administration of justice, the award honors Williams for his high level of community engagement and his efforts to promote collaboration, efficiency and respect for the legal system. In addition, Williams has been reappointed to the Supreme Court Task Force for Criminal Justice, representing Missouri police chiefs for a term running through June 30, 2028.