Bret Willett and Trey Wiley have joined GPW & Associates, a Lawrence engineering consulting firm. Willett is a registered certified data designer and project manager. He recently passed his professional engineer’s license in the state of Arizona. He will be working on the Bank of America Prototype Rollouts in the Southeast region. He has 10 years of experience in commercial and corporate facilities design.

Wiley is a project manager. He has 10 years of design and project management experience. He will be working on university, design-build and corporate accounts.

GPW & Associates also announced that Leigh Myers passed the Kansas Professional Engineer’s License Exam. He has been promoted to project manager. The company also announced Willett recently passed his Professional Engineering License in the state of Arizona.

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The Internal Revenue Service has issued a consumer alert warning taxpayers about a scam targeting potential recipients of the Advance Child Tax Credit.

The IRS has seen isolated instances of the scheme. A taxpayer receives a telephone call from a person who promises to speed up the payment of the Advance Child Tax Credit checks. The catch is the taxpayer must agree to a $39.99 charge to a credit card.

The IRS reminds taxpayers that no person or organization can speed up the payment of tax benefits.

If you encounter the scam or suspect tax fraud or abuse, call the IRS tax fraud hotline at (800) 829-0433.

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Von Edman, Lawrence, has been named president elect of the Kansas Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors for 2003-2004. Edman, an agent with Prudential Financial in Lawrence, has been an active member of the association for 21 years.

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Evelyn Senecal, a senior financial advisor with American Express Financial Advisors, has earned membership in the “Circle of Success” program and has earned an invitation to the AEFA Inner Circle conference. Senecal works in the downtown Lawrence office.

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Lisa Johnson, Lawrence, completed the educational activity “Become an EPEC Trainer” June 20-22 at St. John’s Regional Health Center in Springfield, Mo. Education for Physicians on End of Life Care is an initiative of the American Medical Assn.’s Institute for Ethics and is supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Johnson, who is professionally licensed in Missouri and Kansas, plans to initiate EPEC training in the Lawrence service area this fall.

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Michael Maude, president of Partners In Philanthropy, was elected chairman of the Association of Philanthropic Counsel at its annual meeting in Toronto. Partners in Philanthropy is a fund-raising and nonprofit management consulting firm with offices in Lawrence.

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Kenneth Peirce II, Lawrence, has joined First State Bank & Trust as senior vice president and loan officer. He was community bank president for UMB Bank in Lawrence. He will focus on commercial lending and will be based at the banks Sixth Street and Monterey Way office.

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Douglas County Visiting Nurses Assn. board of directors had its annual meeting on May 28 and elected new representatives and officers for 2003-2004. Officers are Pat Donahue, president; Dr. Charles Yockey, vice president; Mindy Mitchell, secretary; Dwayne Fiihr, treasurer.

New board members are Cindy Hornberger and Shari Kretzschmer. Board members re-elected for three-year terms were: Belinda Rehmer, Barbara Carswell, Mary Gordon, Jerry Magnuson, Michael Bradley, the Rev. Verdell Taylor, Richard Wendt, LuAnn Wilcox and Patricia Webb.

Cindy Murray was recognized for six years of service on the board.

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Hospice Care in Douglas County had its annual meeting of the Hospice Advisory Committee on May 19. It elected new representatives and officers for 2003-2004. Officers are Shari Kretzschmer, chairwoman; Vivian Nelson, vice chairwoman; Julie Tuley, secretary, and Diana Deutsch, treasurer. New committee members are the Rev. Janis Cobb and Lee Eaton. Committee members re-elected to three-year terms were: Robert Bryant, Molly Wood, Dr. Ron Stephens, Janice Early-Weiss, Jay Andersen and Teresa Gordon.

The Rev. Verdell Taylor and Lola Payton were recognized for completing six years of service on the committee.

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Lawrence High School students Alexis Anderson, Haley Graham, Chris Chambers and Zachary Hoffhines participated in the SKillsUSA Championships last week in Kansas City, Mo. They earned the right to participate by winning the Kansas contest.

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Chris Huston, of Huston Homes in Lawrence, has completed training at the Poly Steel Corp. office in Albuquerque, N.M., to become a certified Poly Steel builder. Huston will be custom building concrete homes in the Lawrence area using Poly Steel Insulating Concrete Forms for the exterior walls of the house.

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Charlton-Manley CEO Gary Sollars attended The Cincinnati Insurance Company Agents Roundtable in Cincinnati. The meeting brought together 25 of Cincinnati’s largest volume agents for discussions on how to meet the needs of larger agents and their clients.

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Morris Animal Foundation recently named veterinarian Debbie Davenport, Lecompton, to its board of trustees. Davenport is director of professional education for Hill’s Pet Nutrition and executive director of the Mark Morris Institute.

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Mona Kloster, general manager of Mid-America Concessions, was voted to an eight-year term on the board of directors of the National Association of Collegiate Concessionaires at its annual conference last week in Tucson, Ariz. Mid-America Concessions provides all concessions for Kansas University athletic events.

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Bert Finzer, Terry Garrett and Melissa Lewis have joined SS&C Business & Tax Services Inc. in the Lawrence office. Finzer is responsible for tax preparation and planning for businesses and individuals. Garrett serves clients in both the tax and accounting service areas. Lewis serves in the accounting service department.

Jill Gassen, Linda McBeth and Alan Wenk have joined the company’s Topeka office. Gassen and McBeth serve as staff accountants in the tax department. Wenk serves as a staff accountant for audit department.

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The K-10 Assn. elected officers during its annual meeting June 20 in Olathe. The new officer are: David Dunfield, mayor of Lawrence, president; Don Horine, GBA Associates, vice president, and Ron Conner, mayor of Eudora, secretary/treasurer. Those re-elected to the board were Mike Maddox, Intrust Bank; John Pendleton, Pendleton Farms, and State Rep. Rob Boyer.

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A Lawrence resident will play a key role on the new leadership team for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Mo.

Paul Carttar began at the foundation as COO on June 16.

Carttar graduated from Kansas University before going on to Cornell University School of Law. He also studied at Stanford University graduate school of business.

Other newly hired executives at the foundation are: Daniel Kingston, chief investment officer; Rob Chernow, senior vice president of entrepreneurship; Robert Litan, vice president of research and policy; and Munro Richardson, director of special projects.

Honors and awards

Xerox Corp. has recognized Midwest Data Systems for outstanding achievements during the past year. It was named a Xerox Premier Authorized Sales Agent based on success in customer service, sales performance and investments. Midwest Data Systems has an office in Lawrence and St. Joseph, Mo.

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Callahan Creek, a Lawrence marketing firm, in collaboration with the Kansas University Athletics Marketing department has received a first-place award for Best Promotional Poster from the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators.

They received the award for the 2002-03 Kansas University men’s basketball poster, titled “Old School.” The announcement was made at the 12th Annual NACMA Workshop June 13-15 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

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The Lawrence Sertoma Club named Kim Wittman as the 2002-2003 Sertoman of the Year. The honor is given in recognition of outstanding service to the community and to the club. Wittman is the senior meals manager for Douglas County Senior Services and has been a member of the Lawrence Sertoma Club since 2000. She has served as secretary of the club and helped with the club’s annual barbecue fund-raiser.

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The K-10 Assn., a public-private, nonprofit corporation promoting quality development along the K-10 Corridor from Overland Park to Lawrence, presented its annual Service Award to Joan Bowman, former Lenexa mayor, for her service to the association.

The association’s Development Award was presented to EcoWorks, a Kansas City area building that uses an environmentally sensitive building design.

The award recognizes a company that has contributed to the quality of development on the K-10 corridor.

The awards were handed out at the association’s annual meeting June 20 in Olathe.

Coming events

The Kansas University Small Business Development Center will present a seminar “The Small Biz Tune-Up” from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, 734 Vt.

This seminar is recommended for any small business owner or potential owner.

Among the specific areas covered are marketing strategies, efficient handling of the financial aspects of the company and management concerns.

The cost is $40 and includes an extensive handout that can be used as a management tool in the future. To register, call 843-8844.