Newsmakers: June 12-18, 2023

Accounting
FORVIS LLP added Krystal Creach, Nathan Fitzgerald and Jeffrey Roberts as partners. Creach, a member of the private client division, has 15 years of experience working with tax-exempt organizations, high net worth individuals, and trusts and estates. A private client adviser, Fitzgerald leads the Springfield office’s outsourced accounting services team and the southern Missouri practice’s dealership market industry, and he has 15 years of experience in tax planning and accounting services. Creach and Fitzgerald hold bachelor’s degrees in accounting from Drury University. Roberts, assistant director of risk management, has worked 23 years in public accounting, including experience in forensics and valuations, and holds a bachelor’s in accounting from Missouri State University.

KPM CPAs & Advisors staff accountant William M. Koch earned his certified public accounting license from the American Institute of CPAs. He provides audit services and holds a bachelor’s in accounting and information assurance from Southwest Baptist University.

Banking & Finance
The Bank of Missouri hired Taylor Clark as a commercial loan officer in the Branson market. He holds a bachelor’s in sociology from University of Oklahoma and a master’s in leadership and ethics from John Brown University in Arkansas.

Arvest Bank promoted Chandler Johnston to community marketing manager for the Springfield region. She previously worked as a marketing specialist and has 20 years’ experience in banking, beginning as a teller and joining Arvest as a branch sales manager in 2018. Johnston holds a bachelor’s in business from Drury.

Education
The Foundation for Springfield Public Schools hired Lori Finke as program director. A former educator, she oversees foundation programs, including grants, scholarships and crowdfunding, to benefit SPS students and teachers.

Nonprofit
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appointed Dr. Devon Jarvis as president of the Springfield Stake of congregations to succeed 10-year leader Dale Rodman in the lay position. Jarvis, who owns Jarvis Family Eye Center, has served the church working with youth to leading a congregation. A native of Willard, he’s also served as president of the town’s chamber of commerce and its board of education.

Safe and Sober Inc. presented the inaugural Joe Rickman Memorial Award to Westport Middle School recognizing 100% of their students pledging to not misuse substances. The honor is named after the late Rickman, a founding member of the Safe and Sober board of directors, who worked as a civil engineer for CJW Transportation Consultants LLC, as well as the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri installed Sherry Buchanan and Emily Fessler as co-presidents. Buchanan is a clinical psychologist, who founded the Children’s Center of Southwest Missouri in Joplin and previously served six years on the Missouri Southern State University Board of Governors. Fessler works as the continuum of care coordinator for Community Partnership of the Ozarks Inc. and oversees its federal funding for homeless services. She holds a master’s in public health from MSU.

Real Estate
Isabelle Jimenez Walker, broker/owner of Eagle Management & Realty 1 LLC, received the Realtors Political Action Committee Hall of Fame award at the National Association of Realtors legislative meetings in Washington, D.C. Her name will be added, along with other recipients, to the rooftop of the NAR building at the capital.