Faces and places

Ryan Hogue has been named manager of group sales for Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.

As manager of group sales, Hogue is responsible for creating and executing ticket sales strategies for large groups, corporations, organizations and businesses.

Hogue previously was a sales executive for ticket operations and merchandising for the Kansas City Comets, Kansas City’s Major League Indoor Soccer League team.

Michael McGrew has joined the U.S. Bank Community Bank Advisory Board in Lawrence. McGrew is a certified real estate brokerage manager and residential specialist with Coldwell Banker McGrew. McGrew graduated from Kansas University’s Business School and has been licensed in real estate for 20 years. He serves on the boards of directors for Leadership Lawrence, Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, Kansas Association of Realtors, Kansas International, Real Estate Business Resources and Coldwell Banker McGrew Real Estate.

Cindy Maude, president and chief executive officer of Lawrence-based Callahan Creek, recently announced staffing changes.

Doug Ballou assumes a new role as the vice president of integrated marketing services. He has been with the agency for one year as the vice president of account management and planning. Ballou will have primary responsibility for the growth of the agency and enhancing Callahan Creek’s marketing services.

Angela Berry was promoted to director of account service, supervising the Callahan Creek account service team. Berry has been with the agency for two years as a management supervisor.

Les Hazelton has been promoted to executive creative director, overseeing the creative department. He previously was creative director.

Gary Piland, formerly director of computer services, has been promoted to chief technical officer, vice president interactive. Piland has been with Callahan Creek for 12 years and is responsible for designing and carrying out interactive projects and campaigns for the agency’s clients.

James Hilbert, a certified public accountant, was admitted as a shareholder to the firm of Mize, Houser & Co. The Kansas University graduate joined the company in 1989 and serves clients in many industries, focusing on automobile dealerships, manufacturing, construction and employee benefit plans. The Topeka resident works in the company’s Topeka office.

Mize, Houser & Co., a regional certified public accounting firm, also has offices in Lawrence and Overland Park.

The Roger Hill Volunteer Center announced the 2002 members of the Corporate Volunteer Council of Douglas County. Organizations help the community by encouraging their employees to participate in community events and volunteer opportunities.

The following organizations were asked to commit to one major volunteer event during the year: Callahan Creek, Capitol Federal Savings, Carpenters Local 2279, Central National Bank, City of Lawrence, Douglas County Bank, E and E Display Group, Hallmark Cards Inc., Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Peoples Bank, Schlumberger, Student Alumni Assn./Kansas University Alumni Association, UMB Bank, US Bank and Wal-Mart.

To find out more about becoming a member, persons can call the center at 865-5030 to request an application.

Honors and awards

Four individuals and an area business will receive awards during today’s Baldwin City Chamber of Commerce and Baker University annual awards dinner. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. in Baker University’s Allen Dining Room in Harter Union.

Those receiving awards are Ken Wagner, Business Person of the Year; Dave Hill, Chamber Member of the Year; Sharon Vesecky and John Vesecky, Community Service Award; and Brenda Day, Partnership Service Award.

Wagner and his partners started Heritage Tractor, a John Deere dealership, in 1997 in Baldwin. The business has 28 full-time employees, including Wagner’s wife, Diane Wagner.

Hill purchased Mid-America Bank five years ago and has helped it grow from having assets of $10 million to having assets $37 million. Hill’s other business affiliations are Hilco Mortgage and Baldwin Insurance.

The Veseckys own Quilter’s Paradise. The Kansas State University graduates moved to Baldwin in 1976. Sharon has served on the Maple Leaf Festival Committee, Douglas County Economic Development Council, Douglas County 4-H Extension Council and others. John serves on the Baldwin City Planning Commission, Douglas County Extension Council, Baldwin City School Board and others.

Day is curator and director of Baker ‘s Old Castle Museum and serves as university archivist. She began working at the university in 1990. Day earned degrees from Baker and Kansas University.

Lanell Finneran, a registered drama therapist and board-certified trainer of drama therapy, has been named “Educator of the Year” for students with disabilities by Accessible Arts Inc. The president of the Kansas State Board of Education will present the award to Finnerman on March 13 at the Kansas School for the Blind.

Finneran is a teacher in the therapeutic classroom at Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, Lawrence.

Coming events

The Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing is accepting nominations for awards to recognize outstanding local businesses in Kansas during Business Appreciation Month in June.

Nominations will be accepted in four categories: manufacturing, distribution, service and retail. There will be recognition for all nominees and regional winners in each category. An outstanding Kansas business will receive the Governor’s Award of Excellence, the highest honor a business can receive from the state.

The deadline for nominations is 5 p.m. April 2. Nominations may be submitted online by visiting www.kansascommerce.com/bam. Nomination forms also are available by contacting Kristy Druse at (785) 368-7295 or by e-mail at kdruse@kansascommerce.com.

The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce has scheduled a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Farm Bureau Insurance at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at 4830 W. 15th St.

The Governor’s Conference on Tourism will be from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 14 at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka. The conference is intended to strengthen the partnership between the travel and tourism industry, including convention and visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, attractions and regional and niche-oriented tourism alliances.

Registration cost is $40. For more information about the conference or to register, contact Megan Denney-Ackerman at (785) 296-8478 or e-mail mackerman@kansascommerce.com.

The Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center will present a seminar, “How to Perform Value Stream Mapping To Identify and Eliminate Waste,” from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 27 at the Enterprise Center of Johnson County, 9875 Widmer Road in Lenexa.

The seminar will teach manufacturers how to master value stream mapping to uncover hidden waste and eliminate its sources.

The cost is $195 for a single registration or $176 for groups of three or more. To register, call (888) 649-4333.

Brotsman & Dreger Inc. will present a “24 Hours of Accounting” series of hands-on seminars for tax software March 11, 12, 14 and 15 at the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.

Led by Intuit-certified consultant and public accountant J. Brian Dreger, the series includes three six-hour and three two-hour courses that provide focused training on QuickBooks, and on Microsoft Excel for business accounting and analysis.

The QuickBooks seminars cover overview, proper setup, customization, and quick-start, March 11; intermediate QuickBooks, March 12; and three special-topics seminars March 14: QuickBooks Pro extensions, inventory management, and payroll. Each participant has exclusive use of one computer.

The Excel class, set for March 15, features a cashflow analysis exercise with summary graph; Integrated Balance Sheet and Income Statement with financial ratio analysis and illiquidity predictor; Amortization Schedule; Present-Value and Cost-Benefit Analysis worksheets; and multiple-worksheet “threading.”

Dreger is a distinguished member of Beta Gamma Sigma National Business Honor Society, Who’s Who in Business, Who’s Who in the Computer Industry, Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals, and Who’s Who in America. He earned a degree in accounting and finance from Kansas University in 1978.

Brotsman & Dreger also provides on-site accounting assistance, and designs and hosts custom Web sites and e-commerce systems.

For further information, or to register, call 865-5885 or send e-mail to brian@brotsman.com.

A Federal Retirement and Benefits Seminar will be from 2 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. March 12 at the Main Post Office, 315 W. Pershing Road, in Kansas City, Mo.

Randall Hallier, president of Retirement Plus Inc., will conduct the seminar. Hallier specializes in delivering such seminars the United States.

The seminar will cover health insurance, disability benefits, government annuity payments, social security, thrift savings plan and investment strategies, long-term health care insurance, estate planning and other topics.

Interested individuals can make reservations by calling (816) 374-9322, (816) 374-9373 or (816) 374-9542.

The Mediation Training Course provided by the city of Lawrence Human Relations Department has reached maximum enrollment. The course scheduled for this week is accepting names on a waiting list.

The educational seminar, conducted Monday through Friday, will help professionals looking to improve negotiation and conflict resolution skills.

Katherine Kirk and Lloyd Swartz, state-approved mediation trainers, will lead the course.

To be placed on the waiting list, contact Allen Martin at (785) 832-3312. To learn more about the Human Relations Department, visit www.lawrencehumanrelations .org or call (785) 832-3310.

A Small Business Resource Conference will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the Best Western Conference Center, 3409 Rainbow Extension, Kansas City, Kan. The conference is organized by U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Lenexa; Johnson County Community College’s Small Business Development Center and the Kansas Women’s Business Center.

The conference is intended to expand marketing opportunities and overview financing options for small businesses.

To reserve a spot, call Moore’s office at (913) 383-2013. For more information, interested individuals may call the JCCC Small Business Development Center at (913) 469-3878.

Topeka-based Kennedy and Coe will present an educational event to businesses called “What’s Your Business Worth?” Participants will learn what factors affect a company’s value as well as reasons why a value needs to be placed on a business.

The speakers will be Melissa Goetz and Stephanie Klingzell-Carlin, both business valuation consultants, with Kennedy and Coe.

The seminar will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. March 13 at the Capitol Plaza Hotel, 17th and Western streets in Topeka. A lunch buffet will be provided. The cost is $59. To make reservations, call (316) 685-0222 or (800) 303-33241. The deadline for reservations is Friday.

Phillip Rademacher, president of Rademacher Financial, 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 Tuesday or Thursdays beginning on 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 on Kansas University’s campus.

The tuition fee is $49.99 in advance or $69.99 at the door. It 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.