People in the News

Accounting

Cyndy Elworth, CPA, CIA, joined Kirkpatrick Phillips & Miller CPAs PC as a senior consultant, responsible for serving clients in all industries with litigation support, fraud investigation and prevention, internal audit and business valuation services. She holds a bachelor's degree in accounting and a master's degree in accounting at Southwest Missouri State University.

Judy Clevenger was promoted to senior consultant at BKD LLP. She is a member of BKD Health Care Group, providing Medicare and other third-party billing consulting services for home care agencies. She holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from SMSU.

Advertising

Vickie Russell joined AdBuilders, a marketing and advertising firm, as a national media buyer. She previously worked for 17 years at OnMedia, serving as the traffic manager for the past three years.

Greg Edwards joined Noble & Associates as senior vice president of consumer brand marketing and communications. He has more than 14 years of food and beverage marketing expertise in manufacturing and agency environments. Prior to joining Noble, he served as executive vice president and senior partner for the Ryan Partnership, a full-service advertising agency in Atlanta. He also previously managed business development and youth marketing at Coca-Cola's headquarters in Atlanta. In his new position, Edwards' duties include business development and leading team members to orchestrate programs that complement the agency's business-to-business focus.

Banking

Union Planters Bank announced two staff promotions.

Kem Adams is the new mortgage loan officer at the Springfield branch. She has more than nine years of experience with the bank.

Bonnie Isaacs is the new residential loan originator at the bank's branch in Branson. She has been with the bank for more than 15 years.

Bank of America appointed James R. Brock senior private bank executive for the Springfield and southwest Missouri market. He will continue to serve as senior vice president/fiduciary specialist for the banking center on East Battlefield in Springfield. Brock joined the bank in 1979. He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Kansas State University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas.

Patti Bloxom joined The Bank as a consumer loan representative. She is responsible for servicing existing consumer loans and facilitating new customer relationships. Bloxom holds a bachelor's degree in finance from SMSU. She has nine years of experience in the financial industry, six of those in banking with home mortgages and commercial lending.

Education

Tina Stillwell, longtime director of news services at SMSU, has accepted a position with SMSU's broadcast services department. Stillwell is now manager of corporate support, outreach and volunteers for public ratio station KSMU and Ozarks Public Television.

Stillwell, who oversaw SMSU's news services operations since the office was created in 1985, holds a bachelor's degree in writing and a master's degree in English from SMSU. She also is a per-course faculty member in the university's communication department.