Southeast Missouri recognitions

Two Cape Girardeau businesswomen, Cheryl Mothes and Jean Schlichter, recently attended the Zonta District 7 annual seminar, which was held in St. Paul, Minn. They represented the Zonta Club of Cape

Girardeau Area, one of the 25 clubs in the district, which includes Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, South and North Dakota. The Cape Zonta Club received numerous district awards including the Governor's Award, District 7 Membership Award, Legislative Awareness and Advocacy Award,

United Nations Award, Overall Service Award, Public Relations Award and Status of Women Award.

Scott and Regina Hastings, of Hastings' Creative Images in Farmington, and their staff attended the Missouri Professional Photographers Association seminar at the Lake of the Ozarks on Sept. 22-23. Scott Hastings entered four folios into competition. He was given a first-place award and a Judges Choice Award for his entry in the Children category and a second-place award, also in the Children category. He also received a first-place award in the Group category and he took third place in the Senior category.

Ronald Scott, Viola Anderson and Susan AuBuchon of County Insurance Associates in Park Hills recently participated in training provided by Barton Mutual Group. The seminar addressed education and safety topics, industry issues and concerns and provided continuing education hours as required by the state of Missouri. Members of the Barton Mutual Group are Barton, Cape and Gateway Mutual Insurance Companies of Liberal, Mo. At the meeting County Insurance Associates was recognized for outstanding loss control and sales for the year 2001 by receiving the Underwriting Excellence Award.

Dan Sanders, manager trainee of Country Mart Store in Farmington, and Bob Hufford of Town and Country Grocers/Fredericktown Headquarters were recently recognized for a donation to help people needing public transportation in the area. Town and Country was recognized for its effective use of special tax credits program to help people in the local area. The contribution was made possible through the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP) of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. NAP provides additional tax credits up to 70 percent, as appropriated by the Missouri State Legislature, for donors to eligible projects such as transportation, downtown renewal and community improvements. Over 25 NAP donors area-wide have helped to replace more than 60 vehicles in recent years. About 1,350 residents of the St. Francois County regularly use the SMTS transportation service.

Connie Brown, CPA, CVA, an audit manager with Schott & Van de Ven CPAs in Cape Girardeau, recently attended the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts Career Development Institute. The week-long program focused on advanced business valuation training and was held in Phoenix, Ariz. Classes included courses called "Valuing Family Limited Partnerships," "Succession and Transition Services," "Current Update in Valuations," "Capitalization/Discount Rates," "Case Studies in Business Valuations," "Valuation Discounts and Premiums" and "Valuing CPA Firms." Brown earned the designation of certified valuation analyst after extensive training and testing. She is a member of the Missouri Society of CPAs and the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts and is licensed to practice in Missouri and Illinois.

Loretta Mohorc of Chaffee has joined the Longaberger Co. as an independent sales associate. Mohorc joins the 70,000 independent sales associates who market and sell Longaberger products at home shows. Those products include baskets, fabric liners, plastic protectors, hardwood dividers and lids, an exclusive line of pottery, home accessories and wrought-iron products. The Longaberger Co. is based in Newark, Ohio.

Steve Seabaugh of Seabaugh's Custom Hardwood Floors in Cape Girardeau received his advanced master degree during the National Wood Flooring Association's 2002 convention in Orlando. Seven such degrees were presented during the awards luncheon in April. NWFA degrees recognize individuals who have been members of the NWFA for a minimum of three consecutive years and who reach specific levels of achievement in wood flooring education, personal accomplishment and service to the industry. The degree is given to people who have received the craftsman and master craftsman degrees and who have earned 25 achievement credits.

Dr. Jack Sterrett has been awarded the 2002 Executive of the Year Award by the Girardot Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals, a not-for-profit professional association with 40,000 members and affiliates and 700 chapters worldwide. Sterrett is the chairman of the Department of Marketing and director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and Small Business Management at Southeast Missouri State University. Marie Steinhoff, Sterrett's administrative assistant, presented the award at the annual Executive Recognition Banquet held at the Drury Lodge on Oct. 15.

Holly Thomas, CPA, CSEP, with Schott & Van de Ven Certified Public Accountants in Cape Girardeau recently completed a workshop on Estate Documents. The workshop presented complex topics involved with estate planning. Trusts, wills, deduction provisions and estate tax consequences were covered. Thomas earned the designation of certified specialist in estate planning in 2000. Thomas is a member of the Missouri Society of CPAs. She graduated summa cum laude from Southeast Missouri State University.

Carolyn Kempf, president of Elite Travel Inc. and Cruises in Cape Girardeau, was awarded MLT Vacations' "Top Dog Award," in Honolulu. In order to receive the "Top Dog Award," agents must excel in MLT destination knowledge, customer service and sales. MLT specializes in vacation packages to Hawaii, Jamaica, Cancun, Las @Subhead - briefs:Vegas and the Dominican Republic.

Richard Kies, M.D., recently received the American Board of Eye Surgery certification in LASIK. Doctors certified by ABES are required to meet specific application requirements, including certification by the American Board of Ophthalmology or the American Osteopathic Board of Ophthalmology, which comprehensively test their verbal and written knowledge. Continuing education is also required as well as recertification every seven years. Kies was also certified by ABES in cataract/implant surgery in 1990 and recertified in 1997.

Noel Botsch, president and owner of the Cape Girardeau Option Care office, was recently recognized at the annual National Option Care Conference in Las Vegas. Botsch was the 2001 Top Performance Tier II recipient. He was also recognized with a 15-year Franchise Achievement Award. He is a registered pharmacist in Missouri.

Bill Schott, CPA, managing partner with Schott & Van de Ven Certified Public Accountants in Cape Girardeau, attended the fall conference of the Chief Executive Network. Schott attended management study sessions which included the presentation "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don't." The two-day conference was held in Atlanta. With more than 500 members, CEN is comprised of senior level executives who share ideas and advice on improving their companies and themselves. Membership is by invitation. Schott has been a CPA for more than forty years. He is a member of the Missouri Society of CPAs, American Institute of CPAs and Rotary Club.

Five members of Kies Eye Center in Cape Girardeau have been certified by the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology as Ophthalmic Assistants. They are Deanna Brown, Tina Presser, Ginger Van Weeldan, Jerry Rigdon and Kristi Nanney. They passed an examination given by JCAHPO in order to attain a degree. JCAHPO certification is considered the standard of excellence in ophthalmology.

Gary Figgins, publisher of the Kennett-based Show-Me Missouri magazine, was presented the President's Award at the recent Governor's Conference on Tourism held at the Marriott Pavilion in St. Louis. Missouri Travel Council President Renee Graham, marketing director for the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau, recognized Figgins for leading the organization's fight to preserve tourism funding after Gov. Bob Holden targeted it for a 30 percent cut earlier this year. Figgins is the Missouri Travel Council's legislative chair.