Want the latest Topeka area business happenings? Here's It's Your Business for Feb. 10, 2019

Items for It’s Your Business can be submitted by email to iyb@cjonline.com or by mail to The Topeka Capital-Journal, 100 S.E. 9th, Suite 500, Topeka, KS 66612. Items and photographs will run in print as space permits.

Hirings/Retirements

The Shawnee Hights USD 450 Board of Education approved two curriculum director hires at the Jan. 23, 2019, board meeting. Stacey Giebler will be the elementary curriculum director, and Stacey Bell was hired as the secondary curriculum director. Current curriculum director Rebecca Greer has held the position for 13 years. Giebler is currently the principal of Berryton Elementary School. Bell is an instructional coach at Shawnee Heights Middle School.

Kansas Department of Labor has selected the KDOL unemployment insurance director Brett Flachsbarth to serve as the deputy secretary for the agency. Flachsbarth is a Lawrence native. A graduate of the University of Kansas, he earned a law degree from Washburn University. He joined KDOL in 2005 as a member of the agency legal team, became the chief of the office of unemployment insurance appeals in 2011 and was promoted to director of the unemployment insurance division in January 2013.

Laurie Neff has been promoted to assistant director of customer service operations at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. Neff brings nearly 25 years of customer service experience to her new role, including more than 20 years at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. As assistant director, Neff leads the company's certified call center, ensuring that the more than one million inquiries it receives each year are handled in a timely, accurate and economical manner. To support those efforts, Neff is responsible for creating and maintaining a positive learning environment for the more than 200 people who provide customer service to Blue Cross members and providers. Neff joined Blue Cross in 1998 as a customer service correspondent and served in supervisory positions from 2001-2009. She was promoted to operations manager for customer service in 2009 and served as operations manager for individual sales and services from 2015 to 2018. She is a licensed sales agent in Kansas for both health and life products. She has served on the boards of Let's Help and the Topeka Public Schools Foundation.

SOS Inc. is pleased to announce that TinaRae Scott has been promoted to serve as the assistant director of crisis services. Since 2016, Scott has successfully served Morris and Chase counties as a trained crisis service advocate with an outreach office located in Council Grove. She will remain based in the Morris County office, in addition to traveling throughout the entire SOS service area.

Heritage Bank announces the addition of Kaitlyn Lesperance to the team of personal bankers. Lesperance's primary responsibilities include developing deposit account relationships through opening new accounts and providing customer service to our existing clients. She will also assist in teller transactions and provide referrals to the lending team.

Envista Credit Union announced that Jeri Greeve has joined Envista as the branch manager. Prior to working for Envista, Greeve worked for CoreFirst Bank and Trust from 1994 to 2013. She has a strong banking background serving as a teller and working her way up through management, where she became the vice president/retail market manager over several locations. She was then recruited to Kaw Valley Bank as a marketing officer until October 2018. She currently serves as the membership chair on the board for the Topeka Lions Club.

Recognition

The American Institute of Real Estate Professionals has recognized the exceptional performance of Russell Hutchison for two years with the designation 10 Best Real Estate Agents for Client Satisfaction. One of the most significant aspects of the selection process involves agents' relationships and reputation among his or her clients. As clients should be a agent's top priority, AIOREP places the utmost emphasis on selecting agents who have achieved significant success in the field without sacrificing the service and support they provide.

Awards

The Kansas Court Appointed Special Advocates Association has been awarded a $10,000 Capacity Building Grant from the National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association. Funds will be used to supporting recruiting, screening and training more CASA volunteers across Kansas to serve children who experienced abuse or neglect.

Miscellaneous

Family law attorney Christine Pina Rosengreen has merged her Kansas City-area practice with that of Joseph, Hollander & Craft LLC, a 17-attorney firm serving clients throughout Missouri and Kansas. Rosengreen’s family law practice concentrates on divorce, paternity, custody and support modification, guardianship, Guardian ad Litem and adoptions.

John E. Knight, Shawnee County Parks + Recreation director, has received the Kansas Recreation and Park Association Distinguished Fellow Award. The award is KRPA’s highest honor next to being named to the KRPA Hall of Fame. Also receiving recognition were Ashley Gilfillan, recreation leader, who received the KRPA Distinguished New Professional Award, and Jim Martin, a member of SCP+R’s Advisory Board, who received KRPA’s Distinguished Volunteer Award. Gilfillan began her career with SCP+R as a volunteer at age 14 helping with special events at Shawnee North Community Center. Gilfillan helped lead an SCP+R team that drafted the department’s final application for accreditation by the Council for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies. Martin, a retired engineer, works on key projects for SCP+R. Martin has dedicated thousands of hours to projects including the design of new cart paths on golf courses, continued site work and replacement of a water pump at the Adventure Cove and more.