Faces and places

Larry Kane, Lawrence, has been named executive vice president of commercial lending at U.S. Bank, 900 Mass. Kane has been with the bank for 12 years and previously worked in the commercial lending department in Topeka. He earned his master’s degree in business from Kansas University.

Karen Bledsoe, Lawrence, has joined Jones Seel Huyett, Topeka, as an account manager. She is responsible for handling project management, coordination, public relations and research for several accounts including Stormont-Vail HealthCare, Harrah’s Prairie Band Casino, and Bartlett & West Engineers. She previously worked for the News Center in Lawrence.

Small business owners who suffered economic losses in the aftermath of last year’s terrorist attacks have until Sept. 30 to apply for a U.S. Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loan.

The loans are available to eligible small businesses that suffered substantial economic injury as a direct result of the attacks or a federal action taken in response to the attacks. The loans provide eligible small businesses with the working capital needed to pay ordinary and necessary operating expenses they can’t cover because of the disaster. The expenses may include fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills.

Small businesses may apply for a working capital loan of up to $1.5 million. The interest rate on these loans is 4 percent with a maximum term of up to 30 years. The SBA determines the amount of economic injury, the term of each loan and the payment amount based on the financial circumstances of each borrower.

For an online application and instruction on how to complete it, go to www.sba.gov/disaster/eidl.html. For more information, call (800) 366-6303.

Beauty Brands has launched it annual program to fight domestic violence. The Lawrence store, 3514 Clinton Parkway, is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of every Redken Guts volume-boosting spray foam through Oct. 6 to Women’s Transitional Care Services, a refuge for battered women and their children in Lawrence. The Lawrence shelter is one of 10 shelters the company adopted this year. The company’s Web site, www.beautybrands.com, contains a special page for the public to obtain domestic violence information as well as crisis telephone numbers.

Craig Phillips, Tonganoxie, was appointed by the Kansas State Department of Education to serve on a panel of Kansas and Missouri Teachers of the Visually Impaired to evaluate an examination for prospective teachers. The panel was convened to review the proposed test for relevance to that position and to recommend a required passing standard on the test. The assessment is being developed by the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, N.J., for teacher licensure.

Phillips recently represented the Kansas chapter of the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired at AE’s biennial international conference in Toronto, Canada. He and other committee members presented a seminar to provide an overview of the current status and usage of Accessible Pedestrian Signals. Phillips represents Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.

Phillips is the former Teacher of the Visually Impaired and Orientation and Mobility Specialist for the Lawrence Public Schools. He is serving as the Orientation and Mobility Specialist for the Shawnee Mission Public School system.

Honors and awards

Strategic Direct Investor magazine recently gave The Kansas Department of Commerce & Housing a No. 1 rating for having the best international investment promotion agency in North America.

The magazine recently evaluated how well state agencies and other promotional agencies around the world would respond to a request for site location details on behalf of a fictitious corporate investor.

The Kansas Department of Commerce & Housing is the state’s lead economic development organization, responsible for ensuring economic opportunity for Kansans.

Details of the Strategic Direct Investor study can be found online at www.StrategicDirectInvestor.com.

Coming events

The Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center will present a seminar “How To Better Manage Inventories and Cycle Counts” from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Enterprise Center of Johnson County, 9875 Widmer Road, Building 3.

Participants will learn how to eliminate shortages, write-offs and other costly blunders. The seminar will be led by Miriam Von Struble who has nearly 20 years of inventory experience.

The cost is $195 for a single registration and $176 each for groups of three or more. Lunch will be provided. To register call (888) 649-4333.

Consumer Credit Counseling Services will present “Discover More Dollars” from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Topeka Public Library, 1515 SW 10th St. in Topeka. The workshop will cover financial goal setting, developing a realistic budget, cutting costs, evaluating spending habits and starting a savings plan. The workshop is free, but reservations are requested. To make reservations call (800) 383-0217, extension 368.

The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce announces the following ribbon cutting ceremonies:

Headquarters Counseling Center, 11:30 a.m., Thursday, 211 E. Eighth St., Suite C.

Sheridan’s Frozen Custard, 11:30 a.m., Friday, 2030 W. 23rd St.

Learn the latest workers compensation information at the Workers Compensation Seminar Wednesday and Thursday at the Hilton Wichita Airport Executive Conference Center in Wichita. The event provides an environment where attorneys, nurses, certified case managers, emergency medical services, human resource professionals and employers can exchange workers compensation information in formal and informal sessions.

The seminar is endorsed by the Kansas Hospital Assn. and the Kansas Self-Insurers Assn. For more information and to make reservations call (785) 296-5000 or click on www.hr.state.ks.us.

The Zimmer Radio Group of Lawrence, KLWN/KLZR, will be hosting a Top of Mind Awareness seminar from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Lawrence Holidome, 200 McDonald Drive. Larry Messick, a national marketing expert, will present the results of a recently conducted TOMA survey, in which 60 different business categories were researched. He will reveal where Lawrence businesses rank in the minds of area consumers. Messick also will give advice on how businesses can increase their TOMA rank.

Producers in eastern Kansas will get the opportunity to compare brush cutters, brush control herbicide treatments and other pasture management equipment in operation one mile north of Melvern.

The program sponsored by Coffey and Osage County Extension Councils will begin at 3 p.m. Area and state extension specialists and commercial companies will give presentations at the event.

Directions are: Go five miles north of Interstate 35 at the Melvern exit, then 1/2 mile west or 1 mile north of Melvern on the blacktop and 1/2 mile west. Watch for signs, tents and equipment.

The Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry will meet with business leaders from across the state at its annual Business Congress event on Tuesday at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita.

Participants will help prioritize the state’s top business issues in an interactive forum with other business leaders and help shape KCCI’s legislative priorities.

Breakout sessions at Business Congress will include the following committee topics: energy, communications and technology; economic development; education and work force development; energy and natural resources; human resources; public affairs; transportation; and taxation and public finance.

KCCI’s major legislative objectives for 2002 can be viewed online at www.kansaschamber.org.

For more information about Business Congress, call Terry Leatherman at (785) 357-6321.