Faces and places

Dr. James Otten has been appointed to an associate faculty position at Pankey Institute for Advanced Dental Education in Key Biscayne, Fla. Otten is one of 35 practitioners selected worldwide to achieve the teaching level. Otten maintains a private practice in Lawrence that focuses on care in TMJ Therapy, esthetics, implant dentistry and total health. He devotes two weeks per year teaching at the Pankey Institute and lectures nationally to various dental societies and groups.

¢

Kevin Roe and Connie Long have joined the staff at Callahan Creek, Lawrence.

Roe has been hired as account management group head. He will be responsible for the company’s account management group on the Hill’s Pet Nutrition business. Roe previously was director of new media communications for the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Long is the agency’s studio manager. She is responsible for overseeing the creative department’s work flow as well as art and design projects, production art and print production services. She previously worked as a print production manager, a graphic designer and computer graphic specialist with several Kansas City ad agencies.

¢

The Kansas Bar Foundation has awarded $132,600 in grants from funds generated through the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts program. The following projects were funded for the 2003 grant cycle:

• $108,100 for direct legal and mediation services from Kansas Legal Services for victims of domestic violence, senior citizens and low-income people, and administration of the Kansas Bar Assn.’s reduced-fee and pro bono programs.
• $21,000 for statewide law-related education projects sponsored by the Kansas Bar Assn. in cooperation with the Kansas Supreme Court’s Law and Citizenship Project.
• $2,000 for implementation of the Kansas Bar Assn.’s Summer 2003 Student Legal Internship Program for minority high school students interested in pursuing law as a career.
• $1,500 for coordination of a statewide mock trial competition for high school students.

The Kansas Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts program is supported by more than 3,000 lawyers and 125 financial institutions across the state.

¢

Douglas County Bank announces the promotion of Ernesto Hodison to vice president of commercial loan services. Business lending will be Hodison’s primary responsibility, including business real estate loans. Hodison joined the bank in 1997 as assistant vice president and facility manager at the South Iowa Branch.

¢

Paul Marks has opened Marks Physical Therapy at 2311 Wakarusa Drive. The business specializes in spinal care featuring the MedX System. Marks has 20 years of experience in physical therapy.

¢

Tom Swearngin, Lawrence, and Carrie Edmonds, Berryton, recently attended the Kansas Livestock Assn. Leadership Conference in Topeka. The conference featured various aspects of beef production and marketing, the legislative process, media relations and services provided by KLA.

¢

Berry Plastics Corp. announced that it has acquired the 400 series continuous threaded injection molded closure assets from CCL Plastic Packaging located in Los Angeles. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. CCL Plastic Packaging is a division of CCL Industries Inc., Toronto, Ontario. Evansville, Ind.-based Berry Plastics has a plant in Lawrence.

¢

The marketing power and influence of today’s female consumer will be the topic of an upcoming presentation by Helen Thompson, managing director of Prerogative, a brand consultancy based in Lawrence. Thompson will be among the speakers at the “Marketing to High Net Worth Women” conference March 27-28 in Chicago. Thompson will lead a three-hour workshop panel focusing on the unique differences among women from the swing, GI, baby boomer and generation X population segments.

She gave a presentation to The Central Exchange on Feb. 26 in Kansas City, Mo.

¢

Julie Love, who is moving to Hutchinson, was recognized for her service to the Lawrence community by the Leadership Lawrence Alumni Assn. on Jan. 31 at the Lawrence Country Club.

Love, who has lived in Lawrence for 27 years, works at Intrust Bank as commercial loan administrator.

She serves on the board of directors for Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, Crimestoppers, Kansas International, the Lawrence St Patrick’s Parade and Kid Voting. Love is a graduate of the Leadership Lawrence Class of 1994 and the Lawrence Police Department Citizen’s Academy in 1995.

She also has been involved with Achievement Place for Girls, Site Council for Broken Arrow School and International Trade Coordinating Council. She was a nominee for Volunteer of the Year by the Roger Hill Volunteer Center and named Volunteer of the Week by KLWN radio station. She was named the 2002 Leadership Lawrence Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus.

Honors and awards

BLAM, a Lawrence advertising agency, won 18 awards at the 2002 Topeka Advertising Federation’s ADDY Awards. BLAM won Best of Show TV and Best of Show Radio for Capitol Federal Savings commercials. BLAM won 10 gold awards and five silver awards. Doug Stremel, president, was the creative director and writer for the award-winning commercials, designs and ads.

The Topeka ADDY Awards are the first of a three-tier competition in association with the American Advertising Federation. ADDY Gold Award winners and Best of Show honorees will advance to the district level.

¢

The Topeka Chapter of the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers presented the following awards at its National Engineers Week luncheon on Feb. 21: Engineer of the Year, Charles Stryker, CAS Construction Inc.; Outstanding Young Engineer, Scott Uhl, Bartlett and West Engineers Inc.; Outstanding EIT, Nathan Bergman, Bartlett and West Engineers Inc.; Citizenship, George Barbee, Gaches, Braden, Barbee and Associates; Professional Development, CAS Construction Inc.; Outstanding Teacher, Cheryl Chaput, Lawrence High School; Special Recognition, Don Taylor, Westar Energy; Engineering Achievement, Emporia Waste Water Treatment Plant — Phase II, City of Emporia/Black and Veatch; Government Engineer of the Year, Warren Sick, Kansas Department of Transportation.

Coming events

The Docking Institute’s 12th annual Telepower conference will be Oct. 15-16 at the Holiday Inn in Salina. The conference will focus on how rural community leaders can use information technology for business, community and economic development.

For more information about the conference, contact Jean Walker or Jodie Wear-Leiker at the Docking Institute at (785) 628-5952 or (785) 628-5949. Persons also can e-mail jlwalker@fhsu.edu.

¢

Paula Stephan will present “Retention of Women and Minorities in the IT Workforce” at 3:30 p.m. Thursday in the Malott Room of the Kansas Union. Stephan is professor of economics at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. Her research interests focus on the careers of scientists and engineers and the process by which knowledge moves across institutional boundaries in the economy. She is the co-author of “Striking the Mother Lode in Science,” published by Oxford University Press. The presentation is part of the seminar series, “Understanding the Pipeline: Differences by Race, Sex and Ethnicity in Education, Training and Careers,” sponsored by KU’s Policy Research Institute.

¢

The Kansas University Small Business Development Center will present a seminar “The Right Start,” a group counseling session for start-ups, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday at 734 Vt., Suite 104.

The seminar will be led by Curt Clinkinbeard, regional director of the KU-KSBDC. It will feature a discussion on various issues to consider when starting a business. The seminar will cover resources for starting a company, business planning, financing, marketing, record keeping, and insurance and tax topics.

There is no charge for the seminar, however, an optional resource manual is available for $25. Persons can register by calling 843-8844. Seating is limited.