BUSINESS PERSONNEL

Albert L. "Sonny" Underwood Jr., president of Mid-South Steel Products, has been elected to a two-year term on the Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) Board of Directors.

Underwood was installed during the group's 45th annual convention held recently in Denver.

PEI is comprised of more than 1,500 companies engaged in the manufacture and distribution of equipment used in petroleum marketing operations.

Underwood's company manufactures above-ground and underground steel storage tanks and is a petroleum equipment distributor for seven Midwestern states.

Underwood, who attended Southeast Missouri State University served on the PEI Board in 1992-93. He has also served on the PEI education committee, manufacturer-distributor relations committee, and is serving as president of the Steel Tank Institute.

Dr. William P. Thorpe, an orthopedic surgeon with Orthopedic Associates of Southeast Missouri, 48 Doctors' Park, was a faculty speaker and presented two papers at the Internal Symposium of Traumatology in Orthopedics, a meeting held at the Spanish Foundation for Medicine in Madrid, Spain, recently.

Topics of the papers were "Laser-Assisted Capsular Shift Procedure for Shoulder Instability in Athletes," and "Use of the Holmium Laser in Athletic Injuries."

Thorpe and other surgeons from the United States presented round-table discussions on prevention and treatment of sports-related injuries. Surgeons from Europe, North America and South America attended the meeting.

Jana Jateff, senior sales director with Mary Kay Cosmetics, recently honored her unit top producers.

Stephanie Stockard was queen of sales with $2,400 wholesale production during the quarter and was named recruiting queen with three business associate during the quarter.

Vickie Dodd and Tammie Licare were honored for $1,800 wholesale production during the quarter.

Richard Miller, district conservationist for the U.S. Agriculture Department's Natural Resources Conservation Service at Anna, has received the Nature Conservancy of Illinois award.

Miller, who has worked with the NRCS (formerly Soil Conservation Service) 15 years in Union County, received the Cyrus Mark Conservation Award during a recent meeting of the Cache River Consortium, a group of 11 resource agencies working to protect and restore the Cache River Wetlands in Southern Illinois.

Miller has been instrumental in the development of the Cache River Watershed Resource Plan, a landowner-generated initiative that addresses a number of resource problems in the Cache River Basin.

The award is a memorial to Cyrus Mark, an early leader of the Conservancy's national board of governors. The Nature Conservancy is a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving natural habitats for rare plants and animals by protecting lands and waters they need to survive.

Bob Hoppmann of Cape Girardeau, supervisor of franchises of The Pasta House Co. at Cape Girardeau and Carbondale, Ill., has been elected to the Missouri Restaurant Association's Board of Directors.

Hoppmann is currently serving as 1995-96 president of the Southeast Missouri Chapter of the MRA.

Mark S. Kasten, president of Rental Land Inc., 1922 Independence, recently attended the American Rental Association's State and Local Presidents' Conference at Moline, Ill.

Kasten is president of the American Rental Association of Missouri, a state association of equipment rental dealers.

Workshops and a session for state association presidents concerning lobbying efforts, were held during the three-day conference.

Sharon Light of Classic Real Estate, Better Homes & Gardens, was winner of a 25-inch color television set from Homebuyers Inspection Inc.

Marcia Wagner of the Southeast Missourian's Home Magazine drew the winning ticket.

Real estate related professionals qualified for a special drawing by referring clients to Homebuyers for home inspections and/or radon testing.

Mathew Showmaker of Baker Implement Co. here recently completed a one-week training program on servicing Case IH Magnum tractors.

The program, "Magnum Hydraulics/Electrical Systems," is one of 23 provided by the Case Corp. of Racine, Wis., and was held at the Case Service Training Center in Memphis, Tenn.

The course included detailed explanations of components, settings, and trouble-shooting recommendations for the hydraulic, electronic hitch control and electrical systems on the tractors.

Members of the Cape girardeau Association of Life Underwriters received national awards recently at the group's December meeting.

The National Quality Award was presented to insurance agents who sold at least 25 life policies and had 90 percent of the life and annuity business stay in force for at least 13 months. The agents are Adon Mann, Ted Hahn, Bob Krone, David Hahs, Joe McKeon, Bill Brockmire, Steve Fritzler, David Rudert, Ronald Hahs, Howard LaChance, and Robert Rueseler.

The National Sales Achievement Award was presented to insurance agents who sold a minimum of 100 policies. They were Laura Faye Thomas, David Hahs, Joe McKeon, David Rudert, and Howard LaChance.