Business briefs

Cory Brinkerhoff has started his own real estate business, BrinkerHoff Real Estate, 1221 Lawrence Ave. He is a real estate broker and has been active in the Lawrence market for the past 22 years. Brinkerhoff has experience in residential, land, investment and commercial real estate.

Greg Yowell, Lawrence, has joined the staff of Peoples Bank, 23rd and Harper streets, as a mortgage loan specialist. Yowell has more than a decade of financial services experience including nine years in the mortgage business. He previously worked for World Savings.

Ottawa Truck has become only the ninth manufacturer in Kansas to achieve ISO 14001:1996 certification. The achievement recognizes that Ottawa employs an array of internationally recognized measures to monitor and measure the environmental performance of its activities, products and services. The standards are set and monitored by the International Organization of Standards in Geneva, Switzerland.

Ottawa is a manufacturer and marketer of terminal tractors used for moving trailers within intermodal, freight distribution and warehousing operations.

Griffin Technologies, Lawrence, a provider of information security solutions for software protection and user authentication, recently announced that two new solution providers have joined its channel partner program. The companies, Computer Source and Syberos, now can offer their customers the SecuriKey Authentication System, which is Griffin’s USB-based user authentication solution for personal computers. SecuriKey is a easy-to-deploy solution that combines a small, key-like USB device with password protection.

Peter Knutson, Leawood, has joined McDaniel & McDaniel Financial Services, 2706 Iowa. He began working in the financial planning business in 1993 in Leawood.

Honors and awards

Mark Kuecker has received Complete Music’s Franchise of the Year Award for 2000-2001. The award is given to the top franchise in sales volume, customer satisfaction and involvement at the national level within the mobile disc jockey industry.

Kuecker has been associated with Complete Music since 1986 and has owned franchise territories since 1992. He owns franchise operations in Lawrence, Topeka, Manhattan, Salina and Hays. He employs 48 mobile disc jockeys that perform for more than 1,000 events annually.

The Kansas Speedway recently has garnered several awards, including “Track of the Year” by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal. It was published in the Feb. 17 issue, which included NASCAR Motorsports Awards.

It received an Honors Award recognizing engineering excellence from the Consulting Engineers Council of Missouri and an Award of Merit from the Associated General Contractors of America. The Honors Award recognizes engineering achievements of Kansas Speedway. Since 1974, the council has judged projects on design excellence, how those projects meet client needs and how the projects benefit the public. HNTB helped design Kansas Speedway.

Turner Construction Co., the firm that built Kansas Speedway, recently was named a Merit Winner for its work on the track. The project received a “Build America Award” from the Associated General Contractors of America, which recognizes innovative building techniques, design and how a project benefits the community.

Kansas Speedway’s NASCAR Winston Cup Series Protection One 400 was named one of the “10 Most Important Events of 2002” by TV Guide. TV Guide chose Kansas Speedway’s race as No. 8 of the 2002 season’s most important events because it helped NASCAR’s growth into the nation’s Heartland.

Coldwell Banker Commercial McGrew Real Estate, Lawrence, was named 2001’s top commercial office in closed gross commission income in the state of Kansas for Coldwell Banker Commercial. It is the company’s third time to receive the award, which was presented to Gary Nuzum, managing broker of Coldwell Banker Commercial McGrew at the company’s annual Global Commercial conference in San Antonio.

During the conference, Doug Brown was named the No. 1 commercial sales associate in closed gross commission income in Kansas for Coldwell Banker Commercial. Brown is the senior commercial partner at McGrew, where he has worked for 15 years. Brown is involved in leasing, sales and development of all types of commercial real estate.

Coming events

Lawrence Alliance is sponsoring a “Fair Housing” seminar from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Friday at the Kansas Union. The free seminar will help participants learn how to avoid credit pitfalls, preserve future options and network with other Kansas University student leaders. The seminar begins at 1 p.m. in Alderson Auditorium with a special guest speaker.