Newsmakers: Sept. 1-7, 2025

Banking & Finance
Guaranty Bank promoted Heather Ramsey to executive vice president of private banking and Andy Redman to senior vice president and commercial banking officer. With more than 35 years of banking industry experience, Ramsey has worked at Guaranty Bank for nearly a decade. Redman joined the company last year and has more than two decades of banking experience.

Ben Whitlock was promoted by Great Southern Bank to vice president and senior relationship manager. An employee with Great Southern Bank since 2019, Whitlock has a bachelor’s in general finance from the University of Arkansas.

Entrepreneurship
Springfield native Brett Faucett, a 2024 Kickapoo High School graduate, earned honors in the New York Business Plan Competition as a student at Pratt Munson College of Art and Design in Utica, New York. He received the Best of the Mohawk Valley Award at the regional level and the Concept Stage Award in the Products & Hardware track at the statewide finals for his wood toy design, Kipkees.

Insurance
Nixon & Lindstrom Insurance hired Drew Freeman as a commercial insurance specialist and Kayla Pfitzner as an employee benefits specialist. Freeman graduated from Missouri State University this year with degrees in communications and business, and Pfitzner has a bachelor’s in marketing management and MBA from MSU.

Law
Don Potvin joined Ozarks Elder Law as director of operations, a position through which he oversees 10 office locations. Potvin previously served as an executive leadership coach for DRYVE Leadership Group after nearly 20 years of executive experience at Incredible Pizza Co.

Thomas Carver, of counsel for Wampler & Passanise Law Office PC, was among 22 legal professionals honored by Missouri Lawyers Media at the 2025 Icon Awards. The recognition is for attorneys and judges who are at least 60 years old and have demonstrated dedication and achievement in their legal careers. Carver’s legal career spans more than five decades. 

Nonprofit
Good Dads Inc. hired Rhonda Chapman as director of business development. Formerly senior account manager for client success at The Great Game of Business, Chapman has a bachelor’s in finance from Missouri State University, an MBA in strategy from Drury University and a master’s in organizational leadership from Pima Medical Institute.

Imagine Technical Institute appointed Katrina Coffman to represent its interests on the board of directors for Boone Center Inc., ITI’s parent organization. Coffman, who is executive director of LinkAbility Inc. in Hollister, has a bachelor’s in education, master’s degrees in counseling and nonprofit management and a doctorate in public administration.

Real Estate
Tammie Tucker, managing broker at A.R. Wilson Inc., was named Broker of the Year by the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors. Tucker has been a real estate agent since 1989.