Newsmakers: April 25-May 1, 2022

Accounting
BKD LLP promoted Kayla Bell and Julie Thompson to senior managers; Jen Albers, Terri Mayfield and Melissa Sharp to senior managing consultants; and Travis Liles to senior managing adviser. Bell is a member of the tax team, and Thompson is on the long-term care team and a private client services adviser; both hold bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Missouri State University. Albers works in health care performance advisory services and holds a bachelor’s in health care administration from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a master’s in health administration from MSU. In accounting outsourcing services, Mayfield holds a bachelor’s in accounting and business administration from Drury University. With an associate degree in accounting from Ozarks Technical Community College, Sharp provides accounting and payroll outsourcing. Private client adviser Liles holds a bachelor’s in entrepreneurship and an MBA from MSU.

BKD was named a top organization for internal learning and development by Training magazine for the ninth consecutive year. Based on employer-sponsored training and development programs, the firm ranked No. 22 on the 2022 list, up two spots from the previous year.

Abacus CPAs LLC staff accountants Brock Gipson and Hannah Husgen completed their certified public accountant exams and earned their CPA licenses.

Advertising
Revel Advertising earned seven Addy Awards, including a Best of Show, in the 2022 American Advertising Awards program. The top award was for the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Ask a Local Campaign, and the agency also earned three golds and three silvers for a logo design, refreshing websites, a mailer and a wall mural.

Banking & Finance
QCR Holdings Inc., parent company of the merged Springfield First Community and Guaranty banks, was named among the Top 50 Best-Performing Community Banks of 2021 by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Factoring six metrics to derive a performance score for banks with assets of $3 billion-$10 billion, it was QCR’s second consecutive year on the list.

John Griesemer was appointed to the QCR Holdings Board of Directors. Griesemer is president and CEO of Erlen Group, a privately held family of industrial companies, including Springfield Underground and Joplin Stone.

Education
College of the Ozarks’ nursing program ranked as the Best BSN Program in the state of Missouri by NursingProcess.org. Based on registered nurse licensing exam pass rates and data from the Department of Education, State Board of Nursing, and U.S. News and World Report, C of O was noted for its 2019, ’20 and ’21 bachelor’s graduates achieving a 100% first-time pass rate.

Nonprofit
Michael Smith was appointed to the board of the American Cancer Society’s southwest Missouri branch. He’s the chief operating officer and managing partner of Next Level Solutions, which has supported ACS for three years.

Sales
Thermo King of Springfield LLC was named Central Region Dealer of the Year for 2021 at the corporation’s annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. The Springfield operation, which includes dealerships in Joplin, as well as Tulsa and Muldrow, Oklahoma, also won the award in 2018.