People in the News

Community

Jessica Cates, an Evangel University graduate with a BA degree in psychology, was named program director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks Inc.

Education

David Brown, director of student services and academic outreach at Southwest Missouri State University, will serve a one-semester appointment as interim director of Greenwood Lab School on the SMSU campus. Brown's goals include gathering information from teachers staff and parents to get a clear picture of the school's needs, and to ad-dress some areas that have been neglected, such as policies that need to be updated and adjustments to increase consistency and efficiency.

Rebecca Denton was named director of the Drury Diversity Center, located in the historic Washington Avenue Bap-tist Church on the Drury University campus. Denton joined Drury as director of the Southwest Missouri Center for Ec-onomic Education. As director of the Drury Diversity Center, she coordinates lectures, concerts, workshops and other events aimed at exploring Springfield's multicultural heritage. She also is contacting community groups and working to recruit volunteers for an advisory board that will help develop the center's programs. Denton also is an instructor in the Drury School of Education and Child Development.

Lacey Smith joined Webster Uni-versity's Ozarks campus as academic adviser and community relations coordinator. Smith holds a master's degree in guidance and counseling from Southwest Missouri State University. She previously was the program director for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks. In her new duties, Smith is responsible for student recruitment, program planning and public relations.

Finance

Davis, Lynn & Moots PC, certified public ac-countants, announced a staff promotion and three staff additions.

John Everest was promoted from staff ac-countant to senior ac-countant. He is a 1998 graduate of Southwest Missouri State Universi-ty.

Paula Melton and Curtis Brier joined Da-vis, Lynn & Moots as staff accountants and Kim Wilcox joined the firm as administrative assistant.

Southern Missouri Bank of Marshfield an-nounced two staff additions.

Bart Evans joined the bank's lending staff. Ev-ans spent the last 10 years as a professional baseball pitcher. He handles all types of loans, specializing in mortgages.

Danny A. O'Neal, CLU, also joined the bank's staff. A chartered financial consultant, O'Neal earned his graduate and undergraduate degrees from SMSU. He has 18 years of experience as an agent and manager in the insurance industry.

Nick Burlison joined Village Bank as a loan officer. Burlison has more than four years of banking experience. His new duties include business development of retail and commercial account relationships.

Health Care

Bindu Chopra, MD, joined Cox Sen-ior Health Center as a geriatric specialist. Chopra earned her medical degree from Christian Medical College in Punjab, India. She also completed an internal medicine residency at Texas Tech University Health Center and a clinical fellowship in geriatrics at Kansas University Medical Center. Chopra is board-certified in internal medicine and a member of the American College of Physicians.

Wholesale

Alex Budzinsky has been appointed executive vice president of Decorize Inc. Budzinsky will direct key areas of Decorize's financial and operational growth. Budzinsky has 20 years of experience in corporate finance and investment banking through employment with such companies as Citibank, Dean Witter and Merrill Lynch. Budzinsky has held chief executive officer, executive vice president and chief financial officer positions for firms in information technology, international business and natural resources.