BUSINESS PERSONNEL

Jan Karraker of Cape Girardeau has joined Bloomin' Balloons & Flowers, 101 N. Kingshighway, as flower designer.

Karraker has more than 12 years of experience in the floral business.

She is a graduate of the American Floral Services School in Oklahoma and has attended numerous seminars and workshops on floral training.

She previously worked with Arrangements By Joyce.

Rhodena Whitaker has been named office manager at Robertson's Creative Photography, 605 Broadway.

Whitaker, a graduate of Jackson High School, attended Southeast Missouri State University. She was previously employed at Famous Barr and Wib's Drive-In.

Robertson's is a full-service photography studio, founded in 1981, by Steve Robertson.

Barbara Giddens and Larry Underwood, sales associates with ERA Cape Realty, 1009-A N. Mount Auburn Road, are recipients of a national award for customer satisfaction by ERA Franchise Systems Inc.

The wards were presented recently during the ERA International Convention at Orlando, Fla., based on customer-satisfaction survey results for 1996.

Brian K. Dickmann of Kirkwood has been named vice president in corporate banking at Mercantile Business Credit Inc.

Dickmann, a Cape Girardeau native, is a graduate of Cape Central High School and Southeast Missouri State University.

He is the son of Homer and Wanda Dickmann of Cape Girardeau.

Mercantile Business Credit is a St. Louis affiliate of Mercantile Bancorporation Inc., a $19 billion multi-bank holding company headquartered in St. Louis.

Thomas H. Dunning Jr., director of the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, at Pacific Northwest Laboratories of Richland, Wash., has become the fifth laboratory scientist to receive the prestigious E.O. Lawrence Award.

The Ernest O. Lawrence Award is presented to scientists and engineers for contributions to the development, use or control of nuclear energy, with awards presented in the fields of chemistry, environmental science and technology life sciences, material research, national security, nuclear technology and physics.

Dunning, son of Dr. Thomas and Beatrice Dunning of Cape Girardeau, is a graduate of University of Missouri-Rolla and California Institute of Technology. He has published more than 200 scientific and technical papers in chemistry.

Each year, about 2,500 research organizations and individuals submit nominations for the seven awards.

Awards were presented last weekend at Washington D.C.

Marjorie Swan of Pocahontas has been honored for more than 47 years of service to University Extension.

Swan received a presidential citation from interim University of Missouri president Mel George during activities at Legislative Day, an annual event sponsored by the UM Alumni Alliance to inform state legislators of the university's impact on citizens of Missouri.

Swan has been a 4-H leader in Pocahontas for 47 years and a member of Cape Girardeau 4-H Council for 40 years. She became involved in Extension in 1950.

Swan has also filled leadership roles in the Family Community Education program, including Southeast Missouri District director and Missouri state delegate to the 1996 National FCE Conference. She has also served several terms on the Cape Girardeau Extension Council, which provides leadership for local extension educational programs.

Donna Hanschen, Cape Girardeau Ameritech manager, has accepted an award honoring Southeast Missouri's Ameritech Cellular Phone and Paging of Cape Girardeau.

The award, for Ameritech's emergency management communications partnership with federal emergency managers, was presented by Missouri SEMA Director Jerry B. Uhlmann, during the State Emergency Management Agency/Missouri Emergency Preparedness Association's annual conference at Jefferson City.

In the partnership, Ameritech Cellular Telephone and paging provided two cellular telephones and two pagers to 12 Southeast Missouri County Emergency Management directors that are most at risk from an earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The directors are urged to use the cellular phones and pagers during any emergency, not just an earthquake response.

Billy Davis and Darren Stephens of Crop Care Inc. of Benton have graduated from the Professional Applicator Institute at Springfield, Ill.

The two-day, PAI seminar is designed to increase efficiency, improve ability and enhance the professionalism of applicators who custom apply crop protection materials and plant nutrients.

The seminar is sponsored by Agricultural Retailers Association, Ag-Chem Equipment Co., DowElanco, Dupont Agricultural Products, Jardine Group Services, and Zeneca Ag Products in cooperation with Iowa State University and University of Arkansas.