Newsmakers: March 29-April 4, 2021

Banking & Finance
Central Bank of the Ozarks promoted Amy Sharp to vice president-retail market manager and Breanne Schnabel to assistant vice president-corporate secretary. Sharp brings 23 years of banking experience to her role leading the retail division and branch network and operations. Schnabel has worked at Central Bank for 12 years, starting as a teller, and now assists the bank’s president and the CEO/board chairman, in addition to managing the loan assistants.

Guaranty Bank hired Kassie Pitts as retail banking officer of its Sunshine Street branch to succeed Jesse Lomax, who moved to retail banking officer of the Battlefield Road branch. The bank also promoted Leora Yates to assistant retail banking manager of the Republic Road branch. Lomax, who joined Guaranty Bank in 2019 after 13 years at Kansas-based Equity Bank, has an associate degree in business and marketing from State Fair Community College. Pitts returns to Guaranty Bank after a year stint as branch manager at Legacy Bank and Trust. She began her banking career with Guaranty Bank in 2016 and has a bachelor’s in business administration and management from Missouri State University. With an associate degree in business from Ozarks Technical Community College and several certificates and diplomas from the Center for Financial Training, Yates has worked at Guaranty Bank since 2017, when she joined as a teller.

Education
Nixa High School English teacher Noah Murrish was named an Outstanding Beginning Teacher by the Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. The award recognizes teachers in their first two years of service from recommendations in teacher education programs and candidates’ school districts.

College of the Ozarks ranked No. 45 in online magazine Intelligent’s Top 50 Small Business Management Degree Programs and was recognized as the Best for General Business. With a score of 76.79 out of 100 points, College of the Ozarks was compared with a sampling of 210 universities and colleges.

Government
Springfield-Greene County Library District received an $8,000 grant through the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office. The Summer Library Program funds will provide learning opportunities designed to motivate children and their families to read during the summer months. The Missouri State Library has approved 120 grant applications for fiscal 2021, totaling $1.45 million through the federal Library Services and Technology Act.

Media
Robin Jackson, creative director of Jackson and Appleton video company, was elected to the board of governors for the Mid-America Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The board comprises 32 media professionals from six states and produces the regional Emmy awards.

Municipal
The city of Springfield named Danny Perches to the new position of development project facilitator in the city manager’s office. He’s responsible to review the status of development projects, work directly with developers, designers and contractors in the development review process, and identify and recommend development process changes. Perches most recently served as project manager for economic development at the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, where he worked for six years.

Nonprofit
Victory Mission & Ministry was accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. The accreditation is based on the ECFA Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship, including financial accountability, transparency, sound board governance and ethical fundraising.