People in the News

Banking

Empire Bank has announced five employee placements and one promotion.

Brandon C. Hill has joined Empire Insurance Agency as an account executive. He is responsible for presenting and servicing health, life, auto, home and commercial insurance products. He has a bachelor of science degree in agriculture economics from SMSU.

Rex Lindsey has joined Empire Insurance Agency as an account executive and will be responsible for presenting and servicing health, life, auto, home and commercial insurance products. He is a graduate of Southwest Baptist College and SMSU.

Craig Gibson has joined Empire Insurance Agency as an account executive and will also be responsible for presenting and servicing health, life, auto, home and commercial insurance products. He has attended Northeast Missouri State University.

Nina M. Cogdill has joined Empire Insurance Agency as a sales and marketing associate. She is responsible for servicing and providing quotes on health, life, auto, home and commercial policies for current customers. She earned CIS, AIS and CPIW industry designations.

Tony Yarbrough has joined the bank as a loan officer. He is responsible for providing lending services. He has a bachelor of science degree in agriculture economics from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Sandy Jensen has been promoted to cash management officer for the bank. She is responsible for cash management services and computer banking for retail and commercial customers. She has a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Drury University.

Baseball

The Springfield-Ozark Mountain Ducks have signed three pitchers for the 2002 season.

Andy Dettman will begin his second season with the Ducks. He played 25 games last year with a 6.55 earned run average, 43 strikeouts and 41 walks.

Matt Dill will also begin his second season with the Ducks. Last year he played in 12 games with an ERA of 5.68, 20 strikeouts and 15 walks.

Mike Sanchez will join the Ducks from the Greenville Bluesmen. For his last season with that club, he played 25 games with a 5.15 ERA, had 86 strikeouts and 67 walks. He was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1995 amateur draft.