Newsmakers: May 5-11, 2025

Architecture
Ashley O’Connor and Kara Woody were hired by nForm Architecture LLC as project associate and office coordinator, respectively. O’Connor has a master’s from the Drury University Hammons School of Architecture, and Woody has associate degrees in business and early childhood development from Ozarks Technical Community College.

Banking & Finance
Ryan J. Hurn became a relationship manager at Central Trust Co. in Springfield. A certified financial planner and chartered financial consultant, Hurn has more than four years of experience as a financial adviser and registered representative, most recently working with New York Life Insurance Co. in Springfield.

Central Bank in Springfield added Eric Gerke to its commercial lending team as senior vice president and regional lending manager. With 20 years of banking experience, Gerke has a bachelor’s in business administration from Missouri State University.

OMB Bank hired Weston Kendall as vice president and director of banking-as-a-service compliance. With more than a decade of financial fraud prevention experience, Kendall has a business intelligence analysis certification from Villanova University and served as a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant 1999-2007.

Law
Attorney James Jeffries joined Kutak Rock LLP’s Springfield office. It’s a return to the company for Jeffries after a stint as chief legal officer for Kuat Innovations LLC. Jeffries has a bachelor’s in physics from Missouri State University and Juris Doctor from Saint Louis University School of Law.

Webster County Sheriff Roye Cole was appointed by Gov. Mike Kehoe to the Missouri Sentencing Advisory Commission, an 11-member board designed to oversee fairness and effectiveness in criminal sentencing, among other initiatives. Cole has served as Webster County sheriff since 2008 and has been a police officer since 2003. His experience includes work for the state of Missouri and Drury University.

Media
Six local students were among 15 statewide selected to receive scholarships from the Missouri Broadcasters Association Foundation. Combined, the students statewide received over $23,000 in scholarships. The local recipients are Mackenzie Franks, from Springfield, a fine arts major and campus cable channel manager at Evangel University; Brad Hadank, from Bolivar, a communications and media/film major at  University of Central Missouri; Garrett Koger, from Springfield, a communications and media/film major at Evangel; Madison Mabry, from Van Buren, a multimedia journalism major at Evangel; Nickolas McKinley, from Reeds Spring, a film and broadcasting major at Evangel; and Samantha Williams, from Springfield, a communications and journalism major at Evangel.

Restaurant
Springfield-based Incredible Pizza Co. hired Ryan Tiffin as director of marketing operations. With more than a decade of experience, Tiffin has worked at organizations such as Walt Disney World, Cinemark and the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism.

Tourism
Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium was named the 2024 SeaTrek Operator of the Year for its use of the company’s underwater helmet apparatus for recreational walking tours. More than 18,700 people have utilized the SeaTrek device at WOW’s 180,000-gallon exhibit since 2018. WOW received the award among nearly 50 locations worldwide.