Faces and places

Lawrence resident Jeff Plumlee has joined ProSoCo, Lawrence, as general manager of the company’s new ConcreteScience concrete care franchise. Plumlee is responsible for new business development, operations, and sales and account management.

The franchise, which operates in Douglas and Shawnee counties, uses patented “vacuum extraction” equipment with ProSoCo’s proprietary cleaning and protective treatments to maintain concrete appearance and extend its service life.

Plumlee also will provide ProSoCo with data from field operations to help the company develop new and improved products for concrete care and maintenance.

Before joining ProSoCo, Plumlee served as director of operations for Lenexa-based Cable-Tech.

ProSoCo, with its headquarters at the East Hills Business Park, is an international manufacturer of products for cleaning, protecting and maintaining concrete, brick and stone.

Mar Lan Construction, Lawrence, has been awarded the construction contract for the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center parking structure and building addition located at 1631 Crescent Road.

Plans call for a two-phase project. The first phase involves a two-level, 174-car, post-tension concrete parking structure located south of the campus center. The second phase calls for a two-story steel-framed addition, with a basement, consisting of about 17,400 square feet located north of the center with study rooms, offices, classrooms, a music room, and a multi-purpose area.

Sabatini & Associates Architects, Lawrence, is the project architect. The project is expected to be complete by early 2004.

Mar Lan Construction LLC is a commercial general contractor based in Lawrence.

The Security Benefit Group of Companies celebrated the grand opening of its new corporate headquarters building at One Security Benefit Place in Topeka. Gov. Bill Graves spoke during the ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 14. The new building has features such as a cafeteria, health clinic and day-care facility. Security Benefit is a financial services company.

Sprint recently announced that Harry Campbell, formerly vice president of sales and marketing for the company’s Mass Markets Organization, has been named president of the business unit. Campbell succeeds Tim Kelly, who was recently named president of Sprint Business.

Campbell joined Sprint in 1992 and served in a variety of marketing leadership roles. He left the company five years later to join Marketing Associates International as executive vice president and co-owner. He then joined uclick.com, the largest developer, packager and distributor of branded comics and word games on the Web, serving as president. Campbell re-joined Sprint in April 2001 as vice president of MMO Sales and Marketing.

Sprint also announced that Campbell’s former marketing and sales functions will be divided between Dan Alcazar, who has been named assistant vice president of marketing, and Cindy Rock who has been named assistant vice president of sales.

Jeremy Zimney recently attended the seventh annual Frappier Acceleration Sports Training conference. The featured speaker was Tristan Gale, a gold medalist at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Zimney is the sports acceleration program director at TherapyWorks, 1112 W. Sixth St., Suite 120, where he specializes in orthopedic and sports rehabilitation.

Richard Curasi has been selected to serve as federal security director at Kansas International Airport. He most recently worked for Raytheon Co. as program manager in the Integrated Systems and Simulations Division. He helped in the development of complex intelligence, command and control, and automated systems and simulations that support a variety of missions, including homeland defense and security.

Curasi also served in the U.S. Army as a senior service college instructor at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, specializing in national security strategy.

Alterra Sterling House, Lawrence, has been selected as a Learning Center for a national assisted living training program being started by its parent company, Alterra.

The training program, which uses core training, partnering relationships and learning centers throughout the country, provides new employees with hands-on opportunities to experience and understand each job in an assisted-living residence.

A criteria of excellence was used to select the residences which will immerse newly hired employees in all aspects of residence care.

Alterra Sterling House will have an open house at 3 p.m. Friday at 3220 Peterson Road to celebrate its designation.

Baker University has received a $1,000 gift from Kansas City Power & Light Company to support the Baker Wetlands. The gift will be used to help upgrade the wetlands, which are located south of Lawrence. Baker has cared for the wetlands, which are used for research and education, for more than 30 years.

Deanna Dibble, a real estate agent for ReMax Professionals in Lawrence, recently attended “MegaMarketing,” a two-day seminar on marketing and advertising. The seminar was presented by the Orange County, Calif.-based Hobbs/Herder Advertising in Kansas City, Mo. The seminar covered topics such as personal marketing, high-impact advertising, public relations and self promotion.

Jan Kuyper Erland, of Mem-ExSpan Inc. and partnered with Innovative Learning Systems Inc., attended a No Child Left Behind Educational conference sponsored by the U.S. Office of Education in Washington, D.C. The conference was directed at promoting intervention for improving academic achievement test scores for children with low Social Economic Status who attend Title I schools. The conference emphasized serving all schoolchildren, and the importance of parent involvement in their child’s education.

Honors and awards

Eagan, Minn.-based Dart Transit Company has recognized professional truck driver Randy Davenport for driving seven years without an accident. Davenport, an independent truck owner from Lawrence, received the Dart’s Hall of Fame award. Davenport participates in Dart’s award-winning professional driver development program, which includes a yearly driver improvement course, safety advisors, driver performance analysis and professional recognition.

Lawrence Memorial Hospital recently awarded five Vision Awards, the highest honor in its recognition program. The award recognizes individuals or teams who have helped LMH or the community. Recipients are nominated by other hospital employees and selected by a committee. Employees may choose to receive either a $500 award or a $1,000 savings bond.

Aynsley Anderson, community education coordinator, and Allyson Leland, director of Volunteer Services, were recognized for their role in developing a “Play Hospital” program to educate children about health, safety and hospital information.

Dae Curtiss, transcription workflow coordinator in the Health Information Management Services Department, was honored for her volunteer efforts. During the past five years, Curtiss has participated in many hospital events and teams, including Stepping Out Against Breast Cancer, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, Junior Achievement, Home Improvement, LMH Triathlon, Recognition Team and Activities Team.

Deadre McClendon and Erica Quinlan, who work in the Admissions Department, co-chaired LMH’s participation in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. They were recognized for getting more than 100 people to participate in helping build and organize the hospital’s float, which received a third-place award. The $100 prize was donated to the LMH Employee CARE Fund to assist employees in need.

Shawna Sanny, laboratory front office supervisor, was recognized for her leadership and accomplishments on a variety of projects. She planned, organized and coordinated the blood-draw portion of the LMH Health Fair. Sanny also improved the process related to financial write-offs of lab tests for Medicare patients, which resulted in an annual savings of about $25,000 for the lab.

The physicians of Radiologic Professional Services were recognized for beginning new programs in the Radiology Department, including developing an imaging center at LMH South. They also were commended for their support of community events, such as Stepping Out Against Breast Cancer Dance and the Legs for Life campaign to screen area residents for peripheral vascular disease.

Radiologic Professional Services physicians include Jack Stuber, James Mandigo, Gregory Orth, Scott Patrick and William Walker.

The Federation of Government Information Processing Council honored Kansas for its online trucking services during a conference June 3 in New Orleans.

The Information Network of Kansas and the Kansas Department of Revenue were recognized for the Kansas Online Trucking Portal and Motor Carrier Permit Carrier Permit System located at www.truckingkks.org.

Thomas J. Pollard was recognized by Farmers Insurance for outstanding sales and customer service achievements. He became a member of the company’s Toppers Club. Pollard represents Farmers Insurance through the Thomas J. Pollard Insurance Agency, Lawrence.