Faces and places

Dan Berry joined First State Bank and Trust in February as a mortgage loan originator for its Lawrence locations. Berry has five years of mortgage lending experience and has been a Lawrence resident for 20 years.

First State Bank and Trust has two locations in Lawrence and locations in Basehor and Tonganoxie.

The Board of Directors of the Northeast Johnson County Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau has named Donna Zimmerman as its new president. Zimmerman will be responsible for activities of the merged Merriam and Mission chambers of commerce, with a focus on expanding visibility and effectiveness throughout the 10 municipalities of the northeast county area. She begins her duties Friday.

Zimmerman previously was president of the Southwest Johnson County Economic Development Council, where she directed promotional activities for stimulating economic development in the Gardner, Edgerton and New Century Air Center region.

She replaces Cindy Hillman, who left in December.

Nicole Warren has been named benefits manager at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where her duties include management of employee benefit programs, including insurance and retirement.

Warren has five years of employee benefits consulting experience. She most recently worked at Oasis Outsourcing in Overland Park, where she was account executive. She received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Kansas University, and has a health and life insurance license.

Jan Brighton has joined Stephens Real Estate Inc. as a Realtor associate. Brighton relocated from Manhattan to Lawrence to join Mike Bogard of Stephens as a junior partner. Under Brighton Management, she also manages Bogard Rentals properties. She has more than 25 years of sales and management experience, and can be reached at 843-3678 or by e-mail at brightonyourhome@ sunflower.com.

Sleepy Sheep Mattress Co., 2223 La., recently celebrated the opening of its new Simmons Mattress Gallery. The gallery features 19 new 2002 Simmons models with a choice of seven comfort ranges. The store offers the largest selection of Simmons mattresses in the Midwest, said James Hill, Sleepy Sheep’s president.

The company also announces that Hill and Kevin Trevino, sales associate, have attended training at the Simmons Sleep University and have earned sales recognition as Simmons sleep experts.

Kansas University student-athletes participated in the K-Club Student-Athlete Career Night on Feb. 12 at Allen Fieldhouse. The event was sponsored by the K-Club, the club for former letter-winners at KU.

More than 30 employers attended the event, which helped student athletes who were seeking internships, jobs, or looking to gain experience in interacting with corporate recruiters.

The Elephant’s Trunk, 4821 W. Sixth St., conducted a charity sale Jan. 26 to benefit Hannah’s House Foundation, a non-profit Lawrence organization that benefits pregnant, underprivileged teens. The sale raised $710 the foundation. Caryn Anderson, who opened her store in October, previously served as a Big Sister for a Hannah’s House resident.

Lori Winfrey is a new clinic nurse for Health Care Access Inc., Lawrence. Winfrey works in direct patient care and helps handle clinic and case management. She is attending graduate school at Kansas University Medical Center. Health Care Access is a nonprofit, primary care clinic serving uninsured and low-income residents of Douglas County.

Honors and awards

The Circle S Ranch & Country Inn, Lawrence, is listed in the soon-to-be released 2002 Select Registry of Distinguished Inns of North America. The ranch is one of 39 inns accepted for membership in Select Registry.

The ranch opened in 1998, and in 2001 was named one of the 12 most romantic inns in the country by BedandBreakfast .com, an online source for information about inns.

Circle S Ranch is owned and operated by Mary Stevenson, whose family has owned the 1,200-acre ranch since the 1860s. For more information, call 843-4124 or click on www.circlesranch.com.

Farmland Foods has been honored with Subway’s top vendor quality award. The Research and Development Award recognizes Farmland’s dedication to quality products, research and development. Farmland Foods supplies ham and Italian specialty meats to Subway.

Farmland Foods, a subsidiary of Farmland Industries of Kansas City, Mo., is the largest farmer-owned meat company in North America.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Kemnitzer Design Inc. has been awarded a 2001 Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design. Kemnitzer received the award for its creation of the Kids Console, a children’s product designed for Hopkins Manufacturing of Emporia. The console is a storage container that fits in the seat of a car and straps on to the seatbelt for added safety.

The console will be on display at the annual Good Design Show, which opens in March at the Chicago Athenaeum’s Main Museum in Chicago. A list of the winners can be found on the museum’s Web site at www.chi-athenaeum.org.

Lawrence-based Prerogative, a consultancy created to help companies effectively market to women, was recognized by the Business Marketing Assn. as Best of Division for Promotional Materials in the association’s Pro-Comm Awards program, which drew more than 700 entries.

Prerogative was recognized for its identity system and promotional collateral, which was judged to be superior in visual impact, quality of execution, clarity of message and overall effectiveness.

Prerogative created its materials internally and uses them for direct mail, media relations and other general promotion purposes.

Prerogative is a business unit of Callahan Creek, 805 N.H. Cindy Maude is president and CEO of both operations.

The Business Marketing Assn. has been a resource for professionals in the marketing industry since 1922. Its 2002 annual conference will be conducted in June at Crown Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Coming events

The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce will conduct a ground-breaking ceremony for Culver’s Frozen Custard ButterBurgers at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at 3100 W. 33rd St.

The Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center is presenting a seminar, “Principles of Lean Manufacturing 101 With Live Simulation,” from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 15 at the Holiday Inn, 12601 W. 95th St., in Lenexa.

Lean manufacturing is a technique that can help manufacturers eliminate waste and improve flexibility, reliability and profitability. The seminar includes a live simulation activity to will teach participants strategies to produce measurable and lasting improvements in productivity.

The cost is $195 for a single registration and $176 each for groups of three or more. Persons can register by calling (888) 649-4333.

Phillip Rademacher, president of Rademacher Financial Inc., Lawrence, will be offering a course, “Financial Strategies for Successful Retirement.” The course will cover financial basics, retirement income, investments, risk management and estate planning.

The course consists of fours sessions and will be presented on four consecutive Tuesdays or Thursdays beginning March 19 and March 21. Sessions will be from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Sunflower Room of the Burge Union at Kansas University.

The tuition fee is $49.99 in advance or $69.99 at the door, and covers an individual and spouse or guest and includes one 182-page workbook and optional follow-up planning consultation.

For more information or to register in advance, call 865-5308 or (800) 795-2838.

The Kansas University Small Business Development Center is offering a seminar, “Market Information Builds,” from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the center, 734 Vt.

The seminar will address how to identify and interpret sources for marketing information to build sales, increase customer base, establish better customer relations and increase profits at reasonable costs.

The fee is $25. To register or for more information, call 843-8844 or e-mail kusbdc@cjnetworks.com.