Recognition

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

The Cape Girardeau Area Medical Society Alliance officers for 2003-2004 have been announced. They are: Suzanne Bias, treasurer; Cathy Clippard, secretary; Linda Wiggans, president-elect; and Kelly Morton, president. The alliance is a public health advocacy network made up of physician's spouses. The group focuses on projects that promote the good health of our community.

DeWayne Schaaf, chef at Celebrations Restaurant and Bar in Cape Girardeau, has been named one of the finalists of the AgriMissouri Chef Contest. Recipes were submitted using ingredients produced in Missouri. DeWayne's recipe was chevre and porcini latke. All finalists will prepare their dish for a panel of judges and the winners will be presented at the Governor's Conference of Agriculture in Jefferson City in November for a formal presentation of the medal and cash awards.

Jeff Fuge, senior sales representative with Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Co., was chosen as the Advocate of the Year. The award was presented at the fifth annual Heartland Advanced Practice Nursing Network Primary Care Conference. The conference was held at Southeast Missouri State University and was attended by over 100 advance practice nurses from Southeast Missouri.

Debra Johns, staff accountant with Schott & Van de Ven, Certified Public Accountants in Cape Girardeau, recently attended an Advanced Update for Compilation and Review Engagements course. The continuing education course covered working with small business clients' financial statements and recognizing common reporting deficiencies.

Karen McCoy, an associate at the Poplar Bluff Wal-Mart, has been selected as a 2003 All-Star Department Manager for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. McCoy took over the position at the company's annual shareholders meeting earlier this year inBentonville, Ark., and will serve until next summer. All-Star Department Managers are store associates who have been recognized as a best-performing associate by the merchandising division. They are selected to represent other store associates for a 12-month period by sharing their expertise and input on anything from product packaging to regional consumer trends to seasonal assortment or local competition.

Karen Lance, owner of the Sikeston and the Poplar Bluff Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, received the Customer Retention Award. This award is given to Jackson Hewitt locations in Region 10 that have achieved outstanding growth in the area of customer retention during the 2002 tax season. The award was presented to Lance and Debra Downing during Jackson Hewitt's annual Regional Meeting.

Cheryl Wolford, package driver for United Parcel Service, was recently honored for completing 20 years of service with the company. Wolford, who resides in Matthews, works out of the UPS facility in Sikeston. UPS, the world's largest package distribution company, serves more than 200 countries and territories with a broad range of integrated ground and air express delivery options and customized logistics services.

Dean Wooden, a branch manager in the Sikeston office of Raymond James Financial Services Inc. and a member of the New York Stock Exchange/SIPC, recently completed the Raymond James Retirement Plan Dynamics Program. People who have completed the program are eligible to join the Raymond James Retirement Plan Consulting Group, which is comprised of financial advisers who focus their practices specifically on retirement plans.

Krissi Crum of Dexter has been recognized for her work in helping farm customers prosper. Crum, a farm marketer with Cargill AgHorizons' farm service business in Sikeston, was one of nearly two dozen farm-marketing specialists honored for superior customer service and sales at Cargill AgHorizons' national sales conference in August in Minneapolis, Minn. Crum is in her third year with

Cargill AgHorizons. In her current position, Crum focuses on identifying customer needs and seeking to meet those needs through the grain marketing, financing and input solutions provided by Cargill AgHorizons.

John Popham, director of business development for Robinson Construction Co. in Perryville, achieved the designation of certified professional services marketer in August. He is one of approximately 300 practitioners throughout the United States to be certified by the Society for Marketing Professional Services, the premier source for education, information, and resources in marketing professional services for the built and natural environments. A certified professional services marketer is recognized as an individual who has met a rigorous standard of experience and expertise in marketing professional services and who embraces the ethics and responsibilities of the profession as outlined in the society's code of ethics. Based on a 1998 practice analysis commissioned by SMPS, the certification program is intended to test the knowledge of marketers in six core competency areas: market research, marketing planning, client and business development, qualification statements and proposals, promotional activity, and information, resource, and organization management. Once candidates have earned the CPSM designation, they must maintain their certification status through continuing education.

Joel Ray, a medical doctor and board certified neurosurgeon, has received the Living Our Values Physician Award for his contributions to improving services and cost-containment measures for Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau. Ray recently assisted the value analysis committee in settling measurable criteria for its improvements to processes. This improvement will result in a $250,000 cost savings over the next year. As part of the mission-integration effort, Saint Francis recognizes staff physicians who exemplify the mission and values of the medical center.

Paul Meier of Jackson has been elected as a delegate to the 120th annual meeting of the American Angus Association to be held Nov. 17 in Louisville, Ky. Meier is a member of the association that is headquartered in St. Joseph, Mo. He and 352 other angus breeders have been elected by fellow members in their states to serve as representatives at the annual meeting. Representing 46 states, the District of Columbia and Canada, the delegates will participate in the business meeting and elect a new president, vice president and five directors to the association board. The association has more than 36,000 active members and is the largest beef breeders organization in the world.

Mary Kay Cosmetics' senior sales director Jana Jateff of Cape Girardeau recently recognized her top performers for the quarter at a sales rally at the Sikeston Country Club. Top performers were Toni Lincoln of Marble Hill, Julie Vestal of Jackson, Tina Tidwell of Scott City and Amy Cairns of Cape Girardeau.

Southeast Missouri Hospital director of inpatient rehabilitation services Brenda Nicolai, MHS, PT, OCS, has been awarded recertification as a board certified specialist in orthopedic physical therapy. The certification is through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties of the American Physical Therapy Association. Nicolai holds a bachelor's degree in physical therapy from the University of Missouri at Columbia and a master's degree in the same field from Washington University in St. Louis. She has been employed by Southeast Missouri Hospital since 1995.

Rebecca Lohmann, staff accountant with Schott and Van de Ven Certified Public Accountants in Cape Girardeau, recently attended the cash and tax basis financial statements preparation and reporting class held recently in St. Louis. The class focused on understanding how to prepare cash, modified cash, and tax basis financial statements with appropriate footnote disclosures. Also discussed were the differences between generally accepted accounting principles and the tax accrual and cash accounting methods.

Ken Inman of Century 21-Ashland Realty in Cape Girardeau has successfully passed the State of Missouri Brokers Exam and now is a licensed broker.