Hay Group, a global organizational and human resources consulting firm, has appointed Lawrence resident Gene Bauer as managing director of U.S. Consulting Operations. He previously was the company’s head of U.S. Western operations. Bauer is a Kansas University graduate.

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Chris Landry has been promoted to loan officer at CornerBank in Lawrence.

Landry joined CornerBank in 2003 as a personal banker, after having worked as a licensed insurance agent. He continues to maintain his insurance license and assists customers with insurance needs.

Landry earned a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Kansas University.

CornerBank is a $218 million community bank with locations and employees in Lawrence, Winfield, Arkansas City, Wellington, Douglass, Oxford and Wichita.

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Payless ShoeSource Inc. announced that Michael Weiss has been elected to its board of directors, with a term to expire in 2007. Weiss also was appointed to the board’s Compensation, Nominating and Governance Committee.

Weiss, 63, is the retired president and chief executive officer of Express, a subsidiary of Limited Brands Inc. He served in the position from 1997 to 2004.

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Lawrence dentist James F. Otten spent a week in January leading a class at the Pankey Institute for Advanced Dental Education in Key Biscayne, Fla., where he is a lead visiting faculty member.

Otten facilitated a weeklong interactive class designed for dentists desiring to practice patient-centered health care and to improve restoration of worn and damaged teeth.

Otten is one of 18 practitioners selected worldwide to serve as a member of the lead visiting faculty at the institute.

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William Crowe, an engineer II in Landplan Engineering’s engineering division, recently received his Kansas professional engineering license. Crowe is responsible for engineering design on drainage, street, sanitary sewer and waterline projects. He currently is working on Stone Ridge North subdivision and the expansion of Wal-Mart in Lawrence, Swarner Park in Shawnee and three Burkdoll subdivisions in Ottawa and Wellsville. Crowe received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Kansas University in 1997.

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Wood-Snodgrass, a national executive recruiting firm based in Overland Park, is expanding its services to include best-practices consulting, specialized research and internal candidate assessments. As a part of the expansion, Howard Gibson, a partner, will head up the recruiting services and management consulting in the Lawrence area. For more information, click on www.woodsnodgrass.com.

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Michael Morley, of SIPsmart Building Systems in Lawrence, has returned from helping produce a demonstration home in the parking lot of the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla. The SoSmallShowhouse, designed by architect Sarah Susanka, was engineered to endure winds of up to 200 mph. For more information about the house, click on www.notsobigshowhouse.com.

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Mollie Carter is the new president and chief executive officer of Sunflower Bank, which has bank in Lawrence.

Carter takes over for Jim Berglund, who retired Dec. 31 after 17 years of leading the Salina-based bank. She has served as the bank’s chairman for eight years, and is a majority owner of the bank along with her five siblings.

Carter’s financial experience includes having worked as senior investment officer of John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Boston, and as vice president of Star A Inc. in Kansas City, Mo. She serves on the boards of directors for Archer Daniels Midland, Foley Equipment Co. and Westar Energy.

Sunflower Bank, founded in 1892, has been expanding since 1998 and today has more than $1 billion in assets and banks in Kansas and Colorado.

Honors and awards

Robert Kelly, executive director of the Kansas Independent College Assn. from 1976-2004, received the 2005 Henry Paley Memorial Award from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

The Paley Award recognizes an individual whose career has served the students and faculty of independent higher education.

Kelly received his bachelor’s degree from Occidental College, and his master’s degree and doctorate from Kansas University. He has worked for the Kansas Legislature, served as an assistant professor at Washburn University and worked for the Kansas State Education Commission and Kansas Board of Regents.

Coming events

The Twilight Chapter of the American Business Women’s Assn. will have its monthly dinner meeting Feb. 21 at the American Legion. Networking begins at 6 p.m. and the dinner meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. For more information or to make reservations, call Julie Kingsbury at 832-8693 or e-mail her at jewelrybyjulie@netzero.com.

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The Kansas Minority Business Development Council will have its annual dinner Feb. 17 at the Hyatt Regency in Wichita. Networking begins at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. Individual tickets are $65 and a table for eight is available for $480. For reservations, contact the Kansas Minority Business Development Council at (316) 268-1153.

The theme of this yea’s dinner is “The Spirit of Success, Celebrating Entrepreneurs.” Keynote speaker will be David Steward, founder of World Wide Technology Inc., recognized as the largest black-owned business in 2000 and 2001 by Black Enterprise magazine. Based in St. Louis, Steward’s company also has been recognized by Government Computer News and Washington Technology as a top minority technology contractor.

Steward, who is the author of “Doing Business by the Good Book,” will talk about how he founded his business in 1990 with just four employees. Today, it has more than 600 employees and more then $1 billion in sales.

For more information about the event, contact the Kansas Minority Business Development Council at (316) 268-1153.