Overheard

Commerce Bank Regional Marketing Manager Susan Kirkman is leaving the bank Dec. 15. Commerce is advertising for a new marketing director, but officials aren’t expected to fill the slot for a while. Kirkman declined an interview with Springfield Business Journal but confirmed the date of her final day and hinted that this may be a temporary exit from the working world.

Kirkman is a member of SBJ’s 2000 40 Under 40 class, and in March was named to the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks’ Board of Directors.

Decorize Art

Springfield home-accent manufacturer Decorize Inc. has received an order to develop an exclusive line of canvas paintings for Wal-Mart. J. Michael Sandel, a designer with Decorize subsidiary GuildMaster, will create a collection of nine 36-inch-by-36-inch paintings, available in select Wal-Mart stores early next year. Sandel has done exclusive designs for model Cindy Crawford, interior designer Nina Campbell, Broyhill Furniture and, most recently, HGTV’s “Extreme Makeover.” Meanwhile, publicly traded Decorize (AMEX: DCZ) reported Nov. 20 its fiscal first-quarter earnings, showing a 50 percent increase in sales and an operating loss of $186,000. Shares closed Dec. 5 at 44 cents, compared to a 52-week range of 17 cents to 81 cents.

Former Drury Chair Remembered

E. Robert Breech Jr., former chair of Drury University’s Board of Trustees and son of the founder of Drury’s Breech School of Business Administration, died Nov. 24 at age 88. Breech was board chair from 1983 to 1991, and he gave the lead grant to fund a swimming pool at Drury’s Hutchens HPER Center. He received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Drury in 1987. Breech was involved in the purchase, sale and operation of more than 70 auto dealerships in the United States and founded Santa Monica, Calif.-based Dealer Operating Control Service Inc. He also was director emeritus of Salomon Brothers Investors Fund, New York.

Breech died in Pacific Palisades, Calif. A memorial service was scheduled for Dec. 9 at the Los Angeles Country Club.[[In-content Ad]]