Newsmakers: Feb. 3-9, 2025

Accounting
Tom Watson, CEO of Forvis Mazars LLP, was named among the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting by Accounting Today. Honorees were selected based on significant contributions to the industry. Watson in 2024 helped lead the combination of FORVIS LLP with Paris-based international audit, tax and advisory firm Mazars Group, two years after the merger of BKD LLP with Charlotte, North Carolina-based DHG.

Architecture
Kinetic Design and Development LLC hired Bay Mourer as director of client relations. With a bachelor’s in agricultural economics and accounting from Oklahoma State University, Mourer previously served as business development officer at Nabholz Construction Corp.

Emma Geurin joined BRP Architects as an architectural student intern. Geurin is pursuing a master’s in architecture at Drury University.

Banking & Finance
Rob Fulp was named market president of Great Southern Bank’s Springfield region, in addition to his role as regional managing director. With a local banking career spanning four decades, Fulp was hired out of retirement in 2023 by Great Southern Bank after most recently serving as president and CEO of Springfield First Community Bank, now merged with Guaranty Bank.

OMB Bank promoted Travis Beazley to senior vice president and director of Small Business Administration lending and Sarah Daniel to senior vice president and government guaranty specialist. Beazley, who joined OMB in 2023, has a 15-year banking career. Daniel has been an OMB staffer since 2020.

Deziree Ives joined OMB Bank as treasury services officer. With two years of banking experience, Ives most recently served as assistant financial center manager at Simmons Bank.

Guaranty Bank promoted Devin Custer to commercial banking officer from associate relationship manager II. With more than four years of experience at Guaranty Bank, Custer has a bachelor’s in business administration and management from Drury University.

Rachel West was promoted at Legacy Bank & Trust Co. to senior vice president and managing director of retail banking. A graduate of Missouri State University, West has been a banker in Springfield since 2010 and a Legacy Bank employee since 2021.

Construction
Tim Gaunt was promoted to director of operations at Nesbitt Construction Inc. Gaunt joined the company around four years ago.

Insurance
Higginbotham Insurance Agency Inc. was named the overall winner in the Insurance Journal’s 2024 list of the Best Insurance Agencies to Work For. Stakeholders in the property and casualty insurance industry were surveyed to determine the rankings.

Nonprofit
Kirk Elmquist, executive director of the Branson/Lakes Area Tourism Community Enhancement District, was chosen as a board member and director of partnership development in the Ozarks Mountain region for Folds of Honor Missouri/Southern Illinois. In the volunteer role, Elmquist spearheads the Folds of Honor mission in the 417 area. The nonprofit Folds of Honor provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of military members who have fallen or been disabled while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.