Stephen Myrick, Lawrence, was elected president of the Kansas chapter of the American College of Surgeons at the chapter’s annual meeting. The college is an educational and scientific organization that was established to raise the standards of surgical practices and to improve the care of surgical patients.

David Workman recently completed the Allied Insurance Group personal lines school in Lincoln, Neb. The school specializes in home and auto insurance. Workman is employed by Douglas County Insurance in Lawrence.

Barbara Braa, trust officer at CornerBank, recently completed the 2003 Advanced Trust School, which was Sept. 23-25 in Topeka. The course is designed for experienced trust professionals and focuses on current industry information. The school is sponsored by the Kansas Bankers Assn., Nebraska Bankers Assn., the Kansas Trust Assn. and Iowa Trust Assn.

Bill Sims has joined the sales staff at Jack Miller Subaru-Isuzu in Olathe. Sims has spent the past 15 years working in auto sales in Lawrence. He most recently worked at Dale Martens and Crown Chevrolet.

U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts announced the Kansas Department of Commerce will receive a $1 million competitive grant for its Agriculture Innovation Center.

The funds will be used to develop value-added agricultural businesses in the state. The center will leverage federal resources with those provided by the state of Kansas, private sector, farm and commodity organizations, and two universities.

The goal of the Kansas Agriculture Innovation Center is to provide a one-stop destination for organizing and implementing innovative solutions for enhancing the competitiveness of Kansas agricultural and rural communities. The center also will facilitate the development of alliances among different businesses within Kansas and across the country. These alliances will allow organizations to leverage their resources and accelerate their ability to enhance rural profitability.

The grant was given by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s office of rural development.

Michael Carlisle, Lawrence, has joined Douglas County Bank as vice president of trust services. Carlisle has more than 20 years of trust administration and investment experience. Carlisle will provide investment management and brokerage services as well as trust and estate administration.

He most recently was an investment management specialist with Citigroup/Smith Barney in Wichita. Carlisle has served on the Trust Division Board of the Kansas Bankers Assn.

Dennis Spratt, president of Sharden Financial Group in Lawrence, recently completed a specialized educational program in professional divorce planning and is now a certified divorce financial analyst. Spratt is trained to provide financial information and assistance to people in divorce to include evaluating tax implications of dividing property and the settlement options for dividing pensions, marital property and awarding of child and spousal support.

Tena Santaularia, Lawrence, recently was a guest speaker at the North American Floral Wholesaler Holiday Open House in Sioux Falls, S.D. She conducted a hands-on holiday training seminar for more than 80 regional florists wanting to learn about balloon decorations. Santaularia has been a special event decorator for more than 15 years and is a industry educator for Wichita-based Pioneer Worldwide.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department has hired Jeffrey Tully as a planner and Lynne Zollner as historic resources administrator and planner.

Tully most recently worked for the City and County of San Francisco as a planner. His professional experience includes stints at the Galveston Historical Foundation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He also spent four years with the Wichita-Sedgwick County Metropolitan Area Planning Department.

Zollner has been active with preservation through service on the board of directors of the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas and Greene County Courthouse Preservation Society. She comes from Marmaduke, Ark., where she was an independent preservation consultant. She previously served as planning and zoning administrator for the Capital Zoning District Commission in Little Rock, Ark., and has assisted local governments with preservation planning while working for more than four years for the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Both Zollner and Tully will work in the fields of current and long-range planning. They will provide information and assistance to developers, the business community and the public.

Honors and awards

Jeremy Matchett, professor of pharmacy practice at Kansas University, was honored at the 123rd annual meeting Sept. 20 of the Kansas Pharmacist Assn. in Overland Park. He received the Board of Trustees’ Award for Outstanding and Continued Service to the Pharmacists of Kansas. He also was elected treasurer of the Kansas Pharmacy Foundation.

Matchett has been on the KU faculty since 1972. He was associate dean of the School of Pharmacy for 16 years. He stepped down from the position Aug. 1 to resume full-time teaching and research.

The Douglas County Chapter of the American Red Cross has been selected as the Red Cross Central Plains Region Blood Services Chapter of the Year. The chapter, in addition to providing a wide range of community classes and services in the Douglas County community, received the award for investing valuable effort and time into organizing, promoting and hosting five drives per year. The Douglas County community provided 1,373 pints of blood this past year to area hospitals.

Coming events

Housing and Credit Counseling will present a three-part home maintenance series in October.

Wednesday, the agency will present “Weed and Seed,” an in-depth look at lawn care and cost-effective landscaping tips. “Pipes and Circuits,” will be given Oct. 15. It will cover simple plumbing and electrical repair techniques. “Paint and Paper” will be presented Oct. 29 and will cover issues on painting and inexpensive decorating tips.

Each three hour class will be from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Buchanan Center, 1195 SW Buchanan in Topeka. Cost per series is $25 per household. To register, call (785) 234-0217 or (800) 383-0217. More information is available on the agency’s Web site at www.hcci-ks.org.

Four Lawrence McDonald’s stores will participate in a charity program on Tuesday that raises money for area school districts. Lawrence McDonald’s stores at 901 W. 23rd St., 4911 W. Sixth St., 1309 W. Sixth St. and 3241 Iowa St. will participate in the company’s McTeacher’s Night. The program donates proceeds from sales made between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. to area school districts.

The KU Small Business Development Center will present a seminar “Exploring Entrepreneurship” from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce offices, 734 Vt.

The seminar is designed for new business owners. The course will cover: resources for starting a company, business planning, financing, marketing, recordkeeping, insurance and taxes. To register, call 843-8844 or send e-mail to office@kusbdc.net.

The Kansas Women’s Business Center will present a workshop “Out of Your Head and Into Business: Assessing Your Entrepreneurial Potential” from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 16 at the center, 8527 Bluejacket St. in Lenexa. The workshop is designed to introduce participants to the center and help them learn about the ideal characteristics of the entrepreneur. Participants will explore personal potential as a future business owner through series of interactive assessments and exercises. The cost is $15. For more information, click on www.KansasWBC.com.