New Hires & Promotions
Cameron Jones has been named sales manager, Chase Niceley has been named human resources coordinator, and Joe Elliott has been named executive housekeeper at the Lexington Marriott City Center and Residence Inn Lexington City Center.
Acting director of Lexington Public Library, Heather Dieffenbach, has been named executive director.
Chelsey Keesy has been named executive director of the nonprofit Kidney Health Alliance of Kentucky.
Anne-Tyler Morgan, member and attorney at McBrayer, has been appointed by Ky. Governor Matt Bevin to the Advisory Council for Medical Assistance. The council participates in Medicaid policy development and program administration and advises the Kentucky Department for Medicaid Services regarding Medicaid health and medical care.
Carmen Agouridis has been named associate dean for instruction for the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.
Brooks Harrison is now an agent with Neely and Wade Insurance in Winchester, Kentucky.
Brian Neal will join WLEX-TV as news director.
Whit Whitaker has been named the new executive director of the historic Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center.Unified Trust Company, N.A, has named Chris Anderson as the business development consultant.
Amy Luttrell, CEO and president of Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, has been named board chair for Goodwill Industries International.
Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance (KEMI) has promoted the following employees: Scott M. B. Brown has joined KEMI as legal manager; Tim Feld, Esq. has been promoted to general counsel; Elizabeth Paul, MBA, has been promoted to vice president of strategy, innovation, and marketing; Patrick Simpson has been promoted to director of internal audit; Allyson Smith has been promoted to associate general counsel; and Jeremy Terry has been promoted to vice president of policyholder services.
Town Branch Park has made the following staff changes: Ben Shaffar will serve as director of the park’s capital campaign; executive director Allison Lankford and deputy director Hannah O’Leary, who have been serving as staff since the fund was formed, are transitioning away from the Blue Grass Community Foundation.
Ryan Moore has joined Omni Architects in the role of administrative assistant.
Central Bank announced that Angela Campbell has been named assistant vice president, security.
Zachary DeMoor has joined full-service communication consulting firm Wiser Strategies as creative services specialist.
CRM Companies announced Megan Walsen as senior director of commercial development and marketing, overseeing all marketing and philanthropic efforts in addition to oversight of commercial real estate development projects and property management for multiple locations.
Kudos
VisitLEX received a first-place award for its “Neigh-SMR” video at the Destinations Council’s Destiny Awards program in August. The “Neigh-SMR” video was released in April and has received more than 425,000 online views to date. VisitLEX is the first tourism brand to introduce ASMR, a technique designed to elicit a physical response to recorded sound, as part of a destination marketing strategy and is also the first brand to use a horse in an ASMR video.
Commerce Lexington Inc. has announced the 2019 Salute to Small Business Category Award Winners, who will be recognized during the Salute to Small Business Awards Luncheon presented by Forcht Bank Aug. 22 at the Keeneland Entertainment Center. Category award winners are as follows: Business Success Award: Hallway Feeds; Green Initiative Award: Synergy Home LLC; Innovation Award: Wrigley Media Group; Legacy Award: The Locker Room Sporting Goods; Minority Business Award: Synergy Coach; Nonprofit Award: Chrysalis House, Inc.
The Leadership Central Kentucky program recently announced its newest class of regional leaders who will participate in an 11-month leadership development program sponsored by Commerce Lexington. The 2019-20 Leadership Central Kentucky class members include: Kelly Bates, Commerce Lexington Inc.; Alex Bell, TravelHost of the Bluegrass; Will Berkley, Bluegrass Valuation Group; Mark Butler, Stantec; Evan Calvin, LandCal Logistics; Lindsey Clem, UK HealthCare; Tara Cox, TrinSoft, LLC; Cody Davis, Stewart Home & School; Mark Dill, Merrill Lynch; Emily Downey, Alltech; Lori Halligan, Living Arts & Science Center; Elise Hinchman, Sayre Christian Village; Melia Hord, Melia Realty Group at Keller Williams Bluegrass; Brittany Lawson, Thrivent Financial; Coleman Payne, Pizza Wholesale of Lexington, Inc.; Mitchell Pearson, Visit Jessamine; Jared Pendleton, Hallway Feeds; Carla Perry, Eastside Community Church; Sean Ross, Kentucky State University; Meagan Sisk, Lexmark International, Inc.; Donnie Spencer, Kentucky Utilities Co.; Shannon Story, BeamSuntory; Stephanie Thacker, Pizza Wholesale of Lexington, Inc.; Tom Wilmes, Business Lexington; Greg Wilson, Kentucky Utilities Co.
The Leadership Lexington Steering Committee has announced the new class of Leadership Lexington, which includes 50 people with varied backgrounds from throughout the Lexington community. The 11-month leadership development program, sponsored by Commerce Lexington, gives participants the opportunity to better understand the city and to prepare for the challenges it faces by meeting with and learning from today’s leaders. The 2019-20 Leadership Lexington class members include: Dara Allen, Keeneland Association; David Biroschik, Lexington Police Department; Allison Carter, Dean Dorton Allen Ford, PLLC; Kyle Chafin, Robert Half; Elizabeth Combs, Wrigley Media Group; Richard Compton, Kentucky Utilities Company; Tatum Dale, US House of Representatives, Congressman Andy Barr; Brandi Doss, YMCA of Central Kentucky; Afton Fairchild, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass; Katherine Finnell, Bluegrass ElderLaw, PLLC; Charles Fox, City National Bank; Anita Franklin, Office of Fayette Sheriff; Cameron Hamilton, Ballast, Inc.; Tiffany Hayden, University of Kentucky Athletics; Benjamin Haydon, Goodwill Industries of Kentucky; Jason Henninger, Kentucky Pro DJ; Katrina Howard, Lexington-Fayette County Health Department; Kristeena Johnson, Dinsmore & Shohl LLP; Dina Klimkina, The Council of State Governments; Sarah Lester, UK HealthCare; Stephanie Lyttle, Triple Crown Advisors/Ameriprise; Clare Magee, Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship/Transylvania; Mark Manczyk, Omni Architects; Nathan McConathy, Corrisoft; Karen McIntyre, Unified Trust Company; Emily Miller, Republic Bank and Trust Co.; Sherita Miller, Lexington Fayette Urban County Government; Joshua Nadzam, On The Move Art Studio; Lauren Nichols, Bingham Greenebaum Doll LLP; Trevor Nichols, McBrayer PLLC; ReShanda Oldham, Viamedia; Amanda Olmsted, Right Place Media; Les Olson, JRA Architects; Teddy Ray, North Lime Coffee & Donuts; Yoshie Reid, director, Lexmark International Inc.; Samuel Reinhardt, Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC; Laura Richard, Taylor Made Farm; Amy Sandlin, Blue & Co., LLC; Michael Schachleiter, PNC Bank; Michelle Sjogren, Bluegrass Community & Technical College; Maury Sparrow, LexArts; Emily Startsman, Stites & Harbison PLLC; Scooter Stein, Office of the Fayette County Sheriff; Kristin Taylor, Commerce Lexington; Kristin Voskuhl, The Living Arts & Science Center; Jason Wells, Lexington Fire Department; Ellen Williams, Kentucky American Water; Mia Wirkus, Lexington Marriott City Center Hotels; Alex Wolf, Central Bank & Trust; Langdon Worley, Sturgill, Turner, Barker & Moloney, PLLC.
Inc. (magazine), a national publication focused on entrepreneurship, has named Lexington based Synergy Home Inc. No. 782 out of the Nation’s 5,000 fastest growing companies.
Fayette County Public Schools has sent two high school students to the 2019 Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs, which wrapped up July 13 at Northern Kentucky University: rising senior Will Hands of Lafayette and junior Khalid Rashad of Paul Laurence Dunbar. They joined nearly 70 other teenagers in a three-week program featuring visits to 15 startups and businesses across the state, 40 guest entrepreneurs and speakers and 240-plus hours learning and synthesizing.
Singer and songwriter Derek Feldman of Lexington has received the Kentucky Arts Council’s Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship for 2020. The fellowship is a $7,500 unrestricted award given to a Kentucky artist who has achieved a high level of excellence and creativity in their work.
Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton announces that for the third year in a row, trial lawyer Matt Minner of Lexington, Ky. has earned a coveted spot on the 2019 Lawdragon 500 list of the leading lawyers in America.