Newsmakers: Sept. 7-13, 2015

Banking
Metropolitan National Bank promoted Nick Burlison to vice president-commercial loan officer at the Glenstone Banking Center. Burlison has 12 years of banking experience, including two years with Metropolitan National Bank as an assistant vice president in commercial loans.

Central Bank of the Ozarks hired Brian Drane as assistant vice president and financial officer. He works out of Central Investment Advisors’ Marshfield office.

Civic
Citizens from the Springfield area received 11 out of the 14 Missourian Awards in the statewide program benefitting the American Heart Association. They are Ann Marie Baker, UMB Bank president for the greater Missouri region; Dr. David Barbe, regional division president of Mercy Clinic Springfield; Rita Baron, principal of Baron Design & Associates LLC; Dr. James Coulter, medical director of Select Specialty Hospital-Springfield Inc.; Bob Hammerschmidt, regional president for Commerce Bank; Wayne Morelock, co-founder of Morelock-Ross Builders Inc.; Jack Prim, CEO of Jack Henry & Associates Inc.; John Raidel, owner of Ridewell Corp.; Shelly Titus, managing adviser with BKD Wealth Advisors LLC; Joe Turner, president and CEO of Great Southern Bank; and John Youngblood, owner of Youngblood Auto Group.

Education
Southwest Baptist University hired Chris Welch as associate director of admissions at the school’s Salem campus. Welch holds a bachelor’s in education and a master’s in physical education and sports business from Central Missouri State University, along with an education specialist degree in secondary administration from Missouri State University.

Government
The Missouri Department of Transportation promoted Marc Lewis to traffic center manager at the Transportation Management Center of the Ozarks. A 14-year MoDOT employee, Lewis previously worked as information systems manager for the Southwest District.

Health Care
The research of Dr. Kezia Lilly, dean of Mercy College of Nursing and Health Sciences of Southwest Baptist University, was published in the Journal of Professional Nursing’s May/June 2015 issue. Lilly and Drs. Joyce Fitzpatrick and Elizabeth Madigan produced “Barriers to Integrating Information Technology Content in Doctor of Nursing Practice Curricula.”

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department hired Katie Towns-Jeter as an assistant director, a post shared with Clay Goddard.
She previously served the department as public information officer and helped create the division of chronic disease prevention. Towns-Jeter worked the last couple of years as CoxHealth’s director of corporate and community health.

Insurance
Charles Jackson, a Modern Woodmen representative who has earned the fraternal insurance counselor designation, completed the National Association of Fraternal Insurance Counselors’ estate planning course.