Newsmakers: Oct. 19-25, 2015

Accounting
Abacus CPAs LLC hired Liz Zempel, Carole Fortner and Janet Henderson as client service representatives and Bailey Jester and Kabrielle Gideon as interns.

Community
Jim Hodge, managing partner of executive outsourcing consultant EOS LLC, received the Silent Hero Award from Highland Springs Country Club. Hodge worked with the Missouri Department of Corrections to implement the Celebrate Recovery program, which allowed him to volunteer within the prison system. He also has mentored people in the community with addiction issues.

Education
Carol Embree, chief financial and operations officer for Springfield Public Schools, became a certified administrator of school finance and operations through the Association of School Business Officials International.

Longtime SPS bus driver Mark Black qualified for the 45th Annual School Bus Driver International Safety Competition based on his performance in the Missouri Association for Pupil Transportation State Safety Competition. He completed a written test, a driving skills test and identified a series of defects on a school bus.

Trio Student Support Services at Missouri State University was selected to receive $1.25 million in U.S. Department of Education grant funding over a five-year period. The funds will help first-generation, low-income and disabled students succeed in college.

Sovereign Challenge, an international program designed to preserve the sovereignty of independent nations, presented a counter-extremism seminar in Washington, D.C., modeled after the MSU ad team’s One95 campaign, which teaches middle schoolers collaboration across cultures to help fight violent extremism.

Government
The Springfield-Greene County Library District received a $7,369 technology grant from the Missouri secretary of state’s literacy and educational enrichment grant program. Through the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, the funds will be used to purchase a digital reader/printer. The Polk County Library also received $6,432 from the state to establish or expand early literacy programming.

Sarah Kerner, an assistant city attorney with the city of Springfield, was named interim economic development director for the Planning and Development Department. Kerner, who began working with the city in 2007, received her law degree and a bachelor’s in anthropology from the University of Missouri.

Mary Mannix Decker, director of finance for the city of Springfield, was selected to join the Study Commission on State Tax Policy. She will work with members of the Joint Committee on Tax Policy through 2017 to examine Missouri’s tax system, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and make recommendations.

Health Care
CoxHealth Foundation President Lisa Alexander was recertified as a fundraising executive by CFRE International. Initially certified in 2006, Alexander manages fundraising for the CoxHealth system and the local chapter of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

Hospitality
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. honored DoubleTree by Hilton Springfield with the company’s Care Cup Award. Nominated by peers, the Springfield hotel was a top performer among DoubleTree hotels based on factors including guest and team-member relations.

Insurance
Nixon & Lindstrom Insurance hired Jessica Fellows as a commercial insurance customer service representative, and Elizabeth Mitchell was named a commercial insurance account executive. Fellows has seven years of sales and service experience in the insurance industry. Mitchell has worked 12 years in business development and six years in insurance.

Law
Patrick Springer joined the law firm of Hyde, Love & Overby LLP as an associate.  With a law degree from the University of Kansas, he will assist in representing clients in health care.