Accounting The Whitlock Co. hired Kami Mason and Joe Farias as staff accountants, Amy Shewmaker to work in small-business services and Chris Podurgiel as network administrator.
KPM CPAs PC promoted Shelley Todd and Angie Rebmann to managers and Keith Seiwert to supervisor. Also, the firm hired Pearl Karamitros and Paige DeCourcy to assist with general accounting, tax and audit engagements.
Advertising The International Foodservice Editorial Council presented Noble Vice President John Scroggins with the 2013 Betty Bastion Outstanding Service Award, the council’s highest honor, for contributions in food service communications.
Liz Alberson joined the creative services department at Wannenmacher Advertising Co. She holds a bachelor’s in graphic design and illustration from Missouri State University.
Architecture The U.S. Green Building Council named Jason Hainline of Dake Wells Architecture Inc. to the 2013 class of LEED Fellows. Selected among 51 professionals worldwide, Hainline has 16 years of green building experience, including the Green Circle Shopping Center in Springfield and the Beijing Olympic Village in China.
Banking Joe Driscoll joined UMB Bank as commercial banking vice president. With a bachelor’s in finance and an MBA from MSU, his duties include providing credit, treasury management and related services to businesses and nonprofits in the area.
Eric Gerke joined BancorpSouth as vice president and commercial lender at the Fremont branch. Gerke, who holds a bachelor’s in business administration from MSU, has 11 years of banking experience.
Central Trust & Investment Co. hired David Richards as vice president and senior portfolio manager. Richards earned a bachelor’s in finance at MSU and an MBA at Newman University in Kansas.
Eric Meruelo joined Pulaski County Bank as a residential loan officer. With a bachelor’s from the University of California State Long Beach, Meruelo has 24 years of mortgage lending experience.
Education Lindsey Taggart joined The School of Professional Psychology at Forest Institute as library assistant. She holds a master’s in library and information science from the University of Missouri and a bachelor’s in English and studio art from Grinnell College in Iowa.
Government Gov. Jay Nixon appointed Kayla Kapica, of Buffalo, to the State Interagency Coordinating Council, which advises the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in serving infants and toddlers with developmental delays and disabilities.
Dr. Jaime Lanois was appointed by Nixon to a seat on the Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Lanois is an audiologist at Mercy Clinic-Audiology and has worked in audiology for 15 years.
Sen. Bob Dixon, R-Springfield, was recognized by The Missouri Bar Association with its 2013 Legislative Award for his work on issues relating to judicial resources, public defenders and the criminal code. Among the bills Dixon has sponsored or handled include a reorganization of the state’s judicial circuits and providing for the distribution of judicial resources.
K-9 Stryker, a Belgian Malinois, and handler Tim Brenner of Southern Missouri Judicial Services, attended training and certification at the Texas Fire Academy in Dallas. The pair achieved two certifications: a state fire marshal certification and a national certification as an accelerant detection canine team from the North American Police Work Dog Association.
Health Care Ozarks Community Hospital added four providers: Cassidy Giebler, a family nurse practitioner at the OCH Primary Care Clinic; Laura Clark, a nurse practitioner at the OCH Specialty Clinic; Erin Golden, a psychologist with the behavioral health team in Nixa and Springfield; and Sara Neal, a psychologist at clinics in Mount Vernon, Springfield and Nixa.
Mercy Springfield Communities hired doctors: Matthew Lundien at Mercy Clinic Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Disorders; Jatin Chhabra and Samrina Hassan at Mercy Clinic Hospitalists; Osamede Edokpolo at Mercy Clinic Psychiatry; Mayrol Juarez Klein at Mercy Clinic Critical Care; Donald Crabtree at Mercy Clinic Anesthesia; Jakrapun Pupaibool at Mercy Clinic Infectious Disease at Whiteside; and Carrie McDowell Hartigan at Mercy Clinic Eye Specialists.
Dr. Gregory Ledger, who has practiced endocrinology and diabetes medicine with Mercy since 1994, was named the department chairman for medical specialties.
Dr. Frank Kim of Mercy Clinic Cardiology was awarded a $10,000 research grant from the American College of Cardiology-Missouri Chapter. Kim is studying patient perceptions about the explanations of medication side effects.
Registered Nurse Vanessa Montileone, program manager for the Mercy Diabetes and Asthma Educational Resource Center, was appointed finance chairwoman for the Missouri Coordinating Board for American Association of Diabetic Educators.
Linda Knodel was promoted to senior vice president/chief nursing officer for Mercy. While continuing to serve as chief nursing officer for Mercy’s central region, Knodel provides executive leadership for activities and programs that affect the system’s 10,000 nurses.
Two Oxford Healthcare workers were honored for their professional contributions. Midwest Hospice in Glenview, Ill., selected its founder, Elizabeth Lee of Oxford Healthcare in Springfield, to receive its 2013 Presidents Award for her work with the organization. Dr. Saba Habis, Oxford Hospice medical director in Joplin, was honored with The Health Literacy of Missouri Trail Blazer award for improving multigenerational communications and assisting older adults.
Phoenix Home Care Inc. hired Tami Sandefer as regional marketing representative. She works with the company’s director of marketing to grow the agency’s footprint and with community organizations.
Insurance Ollis & Co. hired Jennifer Silliman as director of finance and operations and Brooke Ward as an employee benefits account manager. Silliman is a certified public accountant with a bachelor’s in accounting from Drury, and Ward has 20 years of health care and insurance experience.
Erica Gaynor, an employee benefits adviser with Ollis & Co., earned the certified health care reform specialist designation.
Anthony Hammock, a Modern Woodmen of America representative, completed a five-day training program at the firm’s home office in Rock Island, Ill. The program focused on helping families plan for life and reach their financial goals.
Law Three attorneys from Carnahan, Evans, Cantwell & Brown PC were recognized in The Best Lawyers in America 2014, and the law firm was named to the publication’s 2014 Best Law Firms list. Honored through a peer-review survey of 36,000 lawyers nationwide were Clifford Brown, Thomas Peebles Jr. and Joseph Sheppard III.
Manufacturing Tuthill Vacuum & Blower Systems hired Connie Sloan as cost accounting manager, a newly created role to oversee cost control procedures. She has served the company for six years as accounting manager.
Media KY3 Inc., which manages ABC affiliate KSPR for Perkins Media, moved Jerry Jacob to KSPR’s lead anchor effective early next year. Jacob previously worked at KSPR as sports director before joining the NBC affiliate. Joe Daues, who had served KSPR as lead anchor, moved into a sales position with KY3.
Nonprofit Ozarks Literacy Council hired Becky Lucas as executive director. Lucas, who holds a bachelor’s in print journalism and a master’s in administrative studies from MSU, has six years of experience in the nonprofit sector, most recently as communications and operations director for the Better Business Bureau of southwest Missouri.
Hal Donaldson, co-founder and CEO of Convoy of Hope Inc., was selected as the featured speaker for the Missouri Governor’s Prayer Breakfast on Jan. 9 at the Capitol Plaza Hotel and Convention Center in Jefferson City.
Tourism Lyle Foster, owner of Big Momma’s Coffee and Espresso Bar, was appointed to the Springfield Convention & Visitors board of directors. Foster succeeds Scott Tarwater, who moved out of state.
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
