Newsmakers: Jan. 25-31, 2016

Accounting
Abacus CPAs LLC promoted four team members and hired three employees. Nick Robb and Clayton Strong were named staff accountants, and Michael Sullivan was appointed supervisor of the Branson office. Danny Sebastian was promoted to senior accountant. Dan Krzak joined the CFO/accounting services department as a staff accountant, Wa Gao was named an audit team staff accountant, and Bill Overlock joined as a tax-season accountant.

Banking and Finance
Chris Owens was named president of Southern Missouri Bank of Marshfield and its holding company, Southern Missouri Bancshares. Owens, who also serves on the bank’s board of directors, has served the company as senior vice president of lending for four years.

Sarah Jarrett was promoted to assistant retail banking manager at Guaranty Bank’s South National Avenue branch. She joined the bank in 2007 as a full-time teller and in 2013 was named a retail lead.

Communications
The Springfield chapter of the Association of Women in Communications earned the Chapter Excellence Award and the Overall 2014-15 Outstanding Chapter Award in the small chapter category at the AWC national conference.

Also, Past President Anjanette LaBellarte-Gilbert of Drury University, received the Star Award for her leadership and contributions.  

Education
Ozark High School was recertified for its Project Lead The Way engineering program by national PLTW administrators, who conducted an on-site assessment. The program helps students step into the role of an engineer and adopt a problem-solving mindset, while offering training and support for teachers.