Gould Evans Associates has hired Ekaterina Barybina and Ana Paz as architectural designers in its Lawrence office.

Barybina, a native of Russia, previously worked on a new church and school addition for Sacred Heart Catholic Parish in Shawnee, and an expansion project for Gillette Children’s Hospital in St. Paul, Minn. She earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Moscow Institute of Architecture, an artist diploma from Moscow Art College No. 1, and a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Minnesota.

Paz previously designed bank agencies and the renovation of office spaces. Paz earned a bachelor’s degree from Universidad Centro Americana in El Salvador, a Master of Arts degree from Texas A&M University, and a master’s degree in architecture from Kansas University.

¢ Matt Daigh, of Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home in Lawrence, has received the Certified Preplanning Consultant designation. Daigh completed course work, passed an examination and participated in continuing education to earn the designation given through a national program for the National Funeral Director’s Assn.

Daigh is the first preplanning consultant in Douglas County to be certified by the association, which represents 12,486 funeral homes in the United States and abroad. The association established the CPC designation in 1996, in response to consumer demands for more information about funeral preplanning and prefinancing for funerals.

¢ Stanton and Kim Hinkly, owners of Merry Maids in Lawrence and Topeka, are celebrating their fifth anniversary as franchise owners. The franchises have achieved several Team Mate of the Year Awards since May 2000, when the franchises started.

Memphis, Tenn.-based Merry Maids provides residential cleaning services through more than 900 branches and franchises in the United States. There are 1,400 worldwide.

¢ The Kansas City Area Development Council board of directors recently announced the appointment of Greg Graves, president and chief executive officer of Kansas City, Mo.-based Burns & McDonnell, as its board co-chairman for a two-year term. Graves succeeds Tom Bowser, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, whose term concludes this year.

Graves will share the co-chairmanship with Kevin Barth, president and chief operating officer of Commerce Bank, who will act as senior co-chairperson.

Barth and Graves will help to guide the council’s business recruiting initiatives, which are designed to draw increased wealth, jobs and corporate investment to the metro area. The co-chairmen will focus on attracting life sciences, distribution, warehousing and manufacturing operations to the 18-county, two-state region.

The region includes Lawrence and Douglas County.

Barth and Graves also will lead the council’s branding campaigns, OneKC and ThinkKC.

Graves will be formally introduced as co-chairman at the council’s annual meeting Nov. 9.

Honors and awards

Joan Golden, a senior vice president for U.S. Bank in Lawrence, has been honored with a U.S. Bank Five Star Volunteer Award for exceptional volunteer service.

Golden, who works in community banking, has been involved with Lawrence public school’s “Adventures in Imagination” for 12 years. She was an original member of its board of directors and has been chairwoman since 1999. “Adventures in Imagination” began in 1993 as a partnership between U.S. Bank, the Lied Center and Lawrence public schools. The goals and objectives of the partnership are to create educational opportunities through the arts that enhance reading, writing, critical thinking and creative expression for students and teachers in Lawrence public schools.

The bank has donated $1,000 to the organization on behalf of Golden.

¢ Lawrence resident Linda Kiernan, independent sales representative for Avon, received the company’s President’s Club Award in September. Kiernan has been with Avon for 10 years and sells in Lawrence and the surrounding area. The President’s Club requires sales in excess of $10,100 and gives award winners added benefits with the company.

¢ Hortense “Tensie” Oldfather is CornerBank’s Community Cornerstone Award recipient for September.

In recognition of her service, CornerBank will donate $100 on behalf of Oldfather to Bert Nash Mental Health Center. A reception honoring Oldfather is set for 4:30 p.m. Sept. 28 in the lobby at CornerBank, 4621 W. Sixth St., and the public is invited.

CornerBank established the award to recognize community volunteers.

For more than 20 years, Oldfather and her family helped with the Volunteers in Court Program, providing a temporary home for teenagers in the juvenile justice system. She and her late husband founded the Children’s Hour, an early day-care center that later would be known as Head Start.

Oldfather also has served on Bert Nash’s board of directors, and currently is a board member for Villages Inc., a nonprofit agency that provides homes for children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned.

Oldfather and her family have supported music and theater in Lawrence, through contributions, scholarships and other efforts.

She is the original founder of the Douglas County Community Foundation, which finances charitable programs for youth, education and health services. Oldfather has been a blood drive volunteer for the American Red Cross for more than 25 years, and has served as president of the League of Women Voters of Douglas County.

For more information about CornerBank’s awards program, or to nominate someone for an award, contact Deborah Kurtz at 838-9400 or send e-mail to deborahk@cornerbanks.com.

Coming events

The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce has scheduled a ribbon-cutting ceremony for 11:30 a.m. Friday at Crown Chevrolet Toyota Scion, 3400 Iowa. This is a change from an earlier chamber announcement, which had said the event would be from 6 p.m to 8 p.m. Thursday.

¢ The Twilight Chapter of American Business Women’s Assn. is sponsoring a fashion show at 7 p.m. Monday at Saffee’s, 911 Mass. Tickets are $5 and there will be refreshments. For more information or to buy tickets, contact Connie Torneden by telephone at (913) 723-3576 or e-mail at connie@firststateks.com.

¢ Commerce Bank is offering a fee Web seminar, “Avoiding the Ten Problems That Can Derail Your Business,” from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday. The program is part of a series of six seminars designed to deliver business advice to help small business owners deal with day-to-day challenges.

During the seminar, participants will discuss 10 problems that can threaten a business, then learn how to read and interpret the trouble signs and make necessary corrections.

Speakers will be Mike Van Horn, president of The Business Group, and Marc Kramer, president of Kramer Communications. Van Horn has advised heads of entrepreneurial companies since 1982. Kramer Communications helps companies with strategic marketing, sales and communications, business plan development, project management and service strategy.

To sign up, visit www.commercebank.com/business/seminars.

¢ The Topeka Chapter of the Kansas Society of Professional Engineers will meet at 7 a.m. Wednesday at Topeka Country Club, 2700 S.W. Buchanan St. in Topeka. The event will be the chapter’s annual Public Works Update breakfast meeting. Scheduled presenters include Chuck Soules, Lawrence public works director; Keith Beatty, Emporia city engineer; and Neil Dobler, acting Topeka city manager.

For more information, contact Stacey Lamer at (785) 272-2252.

¢ Mel and Joyce Williams will be hosts of a grazing tour from 9:30 a.m. to noon Sept. 28 at their farm in southeast Jefferson County.

The tour will provide practical tips for rotational grazing to extend the grazing season; developing a frost-free waterer supplied by a pond; taking part in programs to assist grazing management; inter-seeding legumes into a pasture; protecting water quality downstream; feeding hay during winter on pasture, and direct marketing grass-finished beef.

For more details about the tour, including a map, visit the Kansas Rural Center’s Web site at www.kansasruralcenter.org or contact Jerry Jost by telephone at (785) 766-0428 or e-mail at jjost@myvine.com.

Farm tour sponsors are K-State Research and Extension – Jefferson County, NRCS Jefferson County Field Office, Kansas Rural Center, Jefferson County Conservation District, and the Kansas Grazers Assn.

¢ The Kansas Chamber Competitive Summit is set for Oct. 13 at the Doubletree Hotel in Overland Park. Kansans and other experts will discuss the Kansas economy, the economic outlook and how the state compares and competes with other states for jobs.

Scheduled speakers and their topics include: Duane Goossen, secretary of administration, budget outlook; Art Hall, director of the Center for Applied Economics at Kansas University, “How Productivity of Workers Affects the Kansas Economy”; state Rep. Kenny Wilk, R-Lansing, Kansas Inc.’s indicators of the Kansas economy.

Keynote speaker for the luncheon is Chad Wilkerson, policy economist at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, who is scheduled to discuss “Job Growth Outlook in Kansas.”

For more information, click on www.kansaschamber.org or call the chamber at (785) 357-6321.