Newsmakers: Nov. 24-30, 2025

Law
Branden Twibell, trial attorney and co-owner of Springfield law firm Twibell Pierson Criminal Law LP, was selected for inclusion on the 2025 Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers list. The honor that recognizes attorneys for practice excellence is reserved for the top 5% of lawyers in Missouri and Kansas.

Nonprofit
Community Partnership of the Ozarks Inc. honored Harold Bengsch, Barbara Lucks and Charlie O’Reilly with the Laverne Schell Community Champion Award, an honor that recognizes individuals for community betterment and a commitment to CPO’s mission of assisting children, families, neighborhoods and communities. Bengsch is the former Springfield-Greene County Health Department director and Greene County Commission member; Lucks is the former sustainability officer for the city of Springfield; and O’Reilly is a former executive at O’Reilly Automotive Inc.

The Ozarks Regional YMCA received the Praesidium Accreditation from abuse risk management organization Praesidium. The accreditation recognizes work to achieve the highest industry standards in abuse prevention. 

Springfield-based Good Dads Inc., which focuses on the role of fathers in children’s lives, recognized Ava, Rolla and Texas County as its Great Communities of the Year. The Good Dads chapters in those communities were recognized for going above and beyond to support responsible fatherhood.

Technology
The Springfield Tech Council presented 17 awards to individuals and companies during the Excellence in Technology Awards in September. The award honorees are as follows: Rising Star Jevin Dale of Pitt Technology Group; Educator of the Year (Traditional) Jackson Lewis-Hite of Ozarks Technical Community College; Educator of the Year (Nontraditional) June Middleton of Jack Henry & Associates Inc.; Technology Executive of the Year (Small Business) Tim Goree of Baton Pass Leadership & CityCenter.Ai; Technology Executive of the Year (Large Business) Chris Huels of JMark; Solution Designer of the Year Jacob Smith of Jack Henry & Associates Inc.; Project Manager or Coordinator of the Year Kylie Cassady of 2 Oddballs LLC; Tech Professional of the Year (Small Team) Pam Klein of Ollis/Akers/Arney; Tech Professional of the Year (Large Team) Zach O’Connor of Jack Henry & Associates Inc.; Salesperson of the Year Chelsea Huson of SpringNet; Programmer, Analyst or Developer of the Year Destin Harrison of CoxHealth; Top Speaker STC Squared Jared Kucij of City Utilities of Springfield; Top Exhibitor Booth STC Squared Losh Network Services; Most Innovative Solution of the Year Hearo Technologies; Technology Services Provider of the Year Classy Llama Studios LLC; Community Impact Award Codefi; and Volunteer of the Year Chris Goodfellow of Distributed Technology Group.

Tourism
Visit Springfield, Missouri received the Marketing Campaign Award at the 2025 Missouri Governor’s Conference on Tourism. The honor is for the “Wish You Were Here” campaign, which features Route 66, and recognizes an integrated marketing campaign for its generation of measurable tourism and economic benefits.