Newsmakers: July 29-Aug. 4, 2024

Accounting
Forvis Mazars LLP promoted Springfield employees Catherine Gilpin and Jansen Otterness to partner, as well as Branson employee Trista McDaniel to managing director. They’re among the first class of newly promoted leaders within the Forvis Mazars global network, which launched in June. One of the firm’s community health center practice leaders, Gilpin has an MBA from Missouri State University. With a bachelor’s in business administration from Drury University and a master’s in accountancy from Truman State University, Otterness is a member of the firm’s health care practice. McDaniel is a member of the company’s private client and southern Missouri commercial services teams, and she has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Missouri.

Education
Students from Central, Glendale, Kickapoo and Parkview high schools participated in the DECA International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California. Alexia Bataller San Estanislao of Parkview won an international first-place honor in the category of integrated marketing campaign – event. Elijah Kromrey of Central won international eighth-place recognition for automotive services marketing, and Noah Barks of Parkview received international ninth-place honors for retail merchandising series. Abigail Samek of Glendale was a finalist for her career development project. Bataller San Estanislao and Kromrey also were recognized as international medal winners for top 10 exam score and top 10 role play score, respectively.

Missouri State University’s athletics department hired Sydney Wilson as director of student-athlete development and inclusive engagement. An alum of MSU, Wilson earned a bachelor’s in general business and master’s in business administration from the university. She previously was a member of the Lady Bears basketball team, and she spent the past year serving as sports operation intern for the Missouri Valley Conference.

Engineering
Brian Thomas was hired by Toth and Associates Inc. as a civil professional engineer. Thomas has a bachelor’s in civil and coastal engineering from the University of Florida.

Health Care
Mercy Hospital Springfield was recognized by U.S. News & World Report among the Best Regional Hospitals for Equitable Access. U.S. News honored 53 hospitals for their success in caring for patients in historically underserved communities.

Law
The 38th Judicial Circuit in Christian County was selected for the Missouri Supreme Court’s Permanency Award. The Permanency Award recognizes circuit courts for meeting the time standards in child abuse and neglect cases 100% of the time. The 38th Circuit Juvenile Office and Juvenile Court have held timely hearings in every case involving child abuse and neglect.

Publicly Traded Companies
Two publicly traded businesses based in southwest Missouri are among the top 500 midsize companies in the United States, according to a list released by Time. Monett-based financial software company Jack Henry & Associates Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY) and Carthage-based manufacturer Leggett & Platt Inc. (NYSE: LEG) ranked Nos. 239 and 349, respectively, in the Time report. Time partnered with Statista to examine companies with revenues between $100 million and $10 billion based on positive revenue growth, employee satisfaction and sustainability transparency.