People in the News

Banking

Ozark Bank an-nounced two staff additions.

Brian McBride joined the bank as vice president of lending. He has several years of experience in banking. Mc-Bride specializes in in-house and secondary-market real estate loans, and a variety of consumer lending products.

Tim Osredker accepted the position of human resources director for Ozark Bank. He is certified in human resource management, and he has a degree in finance with a banking emphasis. Os-redker has 15 years of experience in the banking industry.

Joseph P. Gaunt was promoted to president of Citizens National Bank effective Jan. 2. Gaunt has been with Citizens National Bank since October 1999, serving as executive vice president at the time of his promotion. Gaunt succeeds Frank W. Hil-ton, who remains chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Gaunt has 26 years of banking experience.

Construction

Patrick J. Mihalevich joined Bell Building Systems as operations manager. His primary du-ties include estimating, purchasing, sales and customer service. Mihal-evich has more than 20 years of experience in the building business, previously as the owner and vice president of Schwada & Mihalevich Inc. and SMS Builders Inc.

Finance

Rebecca D. Harmon, CPA, with Kirkpatrick, Phillips & Miller CPAs PC was promoted from staff accountant to senior accountant. Harmon earned a bachelor's of science degree in accounting from William Woods University. Harmon's work is concentrated on assisting clients in the areas of taxation and auditing services.

Foundation

David S. Dillon was appointed planned giving officer of the Mercy Re-gional Health Foundation at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin. Dil-lon is responsible for providing information to donors about gifts through wills, trusts, life insurance and other deferred-gift methods.

Law

The law firm of Lathrop & Gage LC announced two additions.

Jason R. Brown and Traci J. Turner joined Lathrop & Gage as members of the firm. Prior to joining the firm, Brown and Turner were with Carmichael, Gardner, Turner & Brown PC, Brown as a partner and Turner as co-managing partner. Brown's practice is concentrated in commercial litigation and Turner's practice is concentrated in corporate and bankruptcy law.

Law Enforcement

Capt. Melvin O. Schmitt retired after 37 years with the Missouri State High-way Patrol. At the time of his retirement, Schmitt was the commanding officer of the Highway Patrol's Troop D, which is based in Springfield.

Technology

Sean Taylor joined Pivigi, an Internet-based human resources solutions company, as chief technology officer. Taylor is a graduate of Southwest Missouri State University with a degree in business administration and a major in computer information systems.