Newsmakers: Jan. 20-26, 2025

Agriculture
The Missouri Beef Days Rodeo in Bolivar was named Co-Sanctioned Rodeo of the Year by the Missouri Rodeo Cowboy Association. The award, which was decided through votes from MRCA members, recognizes a rodeo’s commitment to excellence, production quality and dedication to the sport.

Banking & Finance
Central Bank hired Dean Johnson as a commercial and consumer lender in Stone County. Johnson has 26 years of financial industry experience.

OMB Bank announced the promotions of John Baxter and Adam Hursman. Baxter, who was appointed as community bank president in Ash Grove, joined the company in May 2024 and has more than two decades of retail and commercial banking experience. Hursman, an OMB Bank employee since 2017, was elevated to senior vice president and director of information technology.

Engineering
Tyler Barnes was named manager of joint use at Toth and Associates Inc. The four-year employee of the engineering firm has held titles such as project manager and project coordinator.

Toth and Associates Inc. ranked No. 27 on Electrical Construction & Maintenance’s 2024 Top 40 Electrical Design Firms. The report points to $24.7 million in revenue specifically related to electrical design work in 2023.

Health Care
Ashley Clair joined Burrell Behavioral Health parent company Brightli Inc. as communications business partner. With a bachelor’s in marketing sales management from Missouri State University, Clair previously worked as community development manager for Visit Springfield, Missouri.

CoxHealth added Marissa Luney to its athletic training team. In the role, she provides athletic training services to the Mount Vernon Mountaineers. With two undergraduate degrees from Washburn University, Luney pursued a master’s in athletic training at Missouri State University.

Kyle Brown joined CoxHealth as vice president of marketing and communications. With more than two decades of experience, Brown most recently worked as senior director of global corporate communications and digital strategy at San Diego-based Cue Health and previously served as director of global corporate marketing, communications and commercial excellence for Merck.

Insurance
Bruce Porter, president of The Resource Center Inc., received the Noble Achievement Award from American Equity for service and dedication to clients and contributions to the insurance industry and community. Porter, who has four decades of experience in insurance and financial services, leads a 15-employee team at The Resource Center.

Law
Carnahan Evans PC hired Brett A. Hodges as an associate attorney in its transactional practice group. A member of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association and the Missouri Bar, Hodges has a bachelor’s in commerce and business administration and master’s in finance from University of Alabama and his Juris Doctor from University of Missouri School of Law.

Technology
Lance Coffman, a regional business consultant for the Missouri Small Business Development Center at Missouri State University, was selected to participate in America’s SBDC AI U through Google. The national small-business program is designed to provide foundational training in artificial intelligence.