New Hires & Promotions
Omni Architects recently named Jody Boelhauf, AIA, LEED AP, as its newest principal.
Blue and Co. announced the following promotions in its Lexington office: Beth Anne Akers, manager; Blake Baker, senior accountant; Daniel Buckles, manager; Brooklyn Haynes, senior accountant; Adie Hogue, senior accountant; Matthew Mitchell, manager; Heather Sunseri, senior manager; James Wooten, principal; Dominique Waits, senior manager; Sheena Hodgen, quality control senior manager.
The Asbury University Shaw School of Sciences welcomed Connie Lamb (RN, CNE, CHSE) as its new nursing program administrator and associate professor. The university has welcomed Elizabeth Guthrie as its new director for the school’s equine program.
Bluegrass Care Navigators has named Daryl Love as its new diversity, equity, and inclusion officer.
Engineering firm Paladin announced the appointment of Erica Weeks, LEED Fellow, AIA, as its director of green building certifications.
Valvoline Inc. announced the promotions of: Stephen Switzer, senior director, senior counsel; Dave Erdmann, director, incubation enablement; Seth Vice, director, innovation and strategy.
Central Bank has announced the following promotions: Andrea Creech to assistant vice president, human resources benefits manager; Janette Hodges to assistant vice president, talent acquisition manager; Kimberlyann Smith to officer, trust operations supervisor; Ed Cundiff to senior vice president, retail development officer; Clayton Rogers to vice president, retail banking officer III; Chris Eder to assistant vice president, card services systems manager; Ken Kirk to assistant vice president, card services operations manager; Kyle Hamilton to assistant vice president, network infrastructure manager; Adrian Embree to assistant vice president, infrastructure manager; and David Hake to executive vice president, chief technology officer.
Frontier Nursing University has named Susan Stone, DNSc, CNM, FACNM, FAAN, as the university’s president emerita and distinguished chair of midwifery and nursing.
Lexington Clinic welcomed doctors Elizabeth Case to its gynecology and obstetrics office on North Eagle Creek Drive; Benjamin McKenzie to its internal medicine office on South Broadway; and John S. Reece to its family medicine office at 110 Village Parkway, Nicholasville.
The Hope Center board of directors has appointed Jeff Crook as its new chief executive officer.
Gatton Park on the Town Branch recently named Jared Lee as director of events and partnerships, and Erica Lynne Cook as director of programs and engagement.
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System has named Brooke L. Justice as interim president of Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College.
Landrum & Shouse has announced the addition of associate attorney Savannah G. Tolle to its Lexington office.
Kentucky Educational Television, Inc. has elected Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Robert M. Beck, Jr. as chairman of the board.
Commerce Lexington Inc. has named P. Anthony Allen as its new vice president of public policy.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Bluegrass has welcomed Destiny Oakley as director of development & communications.
Blue Grass Community Foundation recently announced three promotions and a new addition to its dedicated team. Tori Calvert has been promoted to the position of grants and accounting manager; Alison Jackson has been elevated to the role of associate director of board and community relations; Courtney Turner has been promoted to communications manager, and Kristen Hoffman has joined the team as the associate director of the fund for greater Lexington.
CHI Saint Joseph Medical Group – Pulmonary and Critical Care in Lexington has welcomed Hazim Bukamur, MD, to its team of health care providers.
Caroline Nelson Zinkle, a certified interior decorator, has joined the staff at PDR Interiors.
Energy Insurance Agency has announced the promotion of Chris Parker to managing director, strategy and growth.
Transylvania vice president for athletics Holly Sheilley, the first woman to serve as the university’s athletics director and only the third female collegiate AD in Kentucky history, has announced that she has accepted a new position at NCAA Division II University of Missouri–St. Louis.
LexArts has welcomed the following new members to its board of directors: James Brown, LFUCG Council representative; Bishop Carter, Elaine Allen; Sally Hamilton, Office of the Mayor; Ben Haydon, Goodwill Industries; Brad Keeton, Frost Brown Todd; Ron Mack, Legacy Equine Academy and Legacy Tours; and Roy Lee Wigginton, Maker’s Mark Distillery.
Lexington Christian Academy has named Brett Setzer as its new board chair.
Attorney Kami Griffith has relocated to Morgan Pottinger McGarvey’s Lexington office after joining the firm in Louisville in 2020.
Bank of the Bluegrass & Trust Co. has welcomed Kristina Carpenter-Miller to its financial center on Romany Road as a universal banker.
RD1 Spirits has announced that former University of Kentucky distilling researcher and instructor Jarrad Gollihue, PhD, will serve as the brand’s newly created role of research and development master distiller.
Southeastern Freight Lines recently announced the promotion of Cameron Crump to service center manager.
Kudos
Lexington Sister Cities Commission has won the prestigious 2024 Sister Cities International Best Overall award, presented at the recent Sister Cities International Leadership Meetings and Annual Business Meeting. The Best Overall Award recognizes the outstanding work done by the Lexington Sister Cities Commission in advancing people-to-people citizen diplomacy.
Republic Bank has been recognized by Louisville Business First in its 2024 Partners in Philanthropy awards. Republic is the only financial institution to be honored in the top 10 in the large company category of the Corporate Philanthropist Lists.
Commerce Lexington recently announced the following 2024 Salute to Small Business category award winners: Entrepreneur Award - Mahan Multimedia; Nonprofit Community Impact Award - Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass; Minority Business Award - The JCC Group; and the Business Success Award - ExecuTrain.
For the 23rd consecutive year, Holly Hill & Co. has been honored for its outstanding wine program in Wine Spectator’s 2024 Restaurant Awards, which celebrate the world’s best restaurants for wine.
Mike Mangeot, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Tourism, has been named the 2024 State Tourism Director of the Year by his national peers. The award recognizes excellence in marketing, promotion, and individual leadership within the honoree’s state.
Listen Locally, LLC, a consulting, broadcast, and media group based in Lexington, was named the winner of a GOLD Stevie® Award in the Media and Entertainment Company of the Year category in The 21st Annual International Business Awards.®
Lexington Clinic orthopedic surgeon Ben Kibler has been named the recipient of the Kentucky Medical Association’s Community Service Award 2024 for his lifetime of dedication to Kentucky’s athletes.
Sarah Thrall, director of artistic operations of the Lexington Philharmonic, is among an international cohort of 36 orchestra and arts professionals selected to participate in Essentials of Orchestra Management, the League of American Orchestras’ premier leadership development program on the campus of Juilliard in New York City.
Awesome Inc., the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, and Sustainable Business Ventures Corporation recently announced the 2024 Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame (KEHOF) inductees, presented by Chase. This year’s inductees include: Cedric Francois, MD, PhD, co-founder, CEO/President, Apellis Pharmaceuticals; Breck Jones, founder and CEO, US WorldMeds; Scott Smith and Sean Smith, co-founders - Castellan Group, Zelis, and HealthLink Dimensions; and Michael Scanlon, principal, The Zenith Company, LLC.
Stites & Harbison, PLLC is pleased to announce that 97 of its lawyers are included in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.® Those mentioned from its Lexington office were as follows: In the “Lawyer of the Year” category: Bruce M. Reynolds and Ashley W. Ward. In the Best Lawyers in America® category: Robert M. Beck, Jr.; W. Bradford Boone; Janet A. Craig; Daniel E. Danford; Brady W. Dunnigan; W. Blaine Early III; Kenneth J. Gish, Jr.; William T. Gorton III; Marshall R. Hixson; Ashley Owens Hopkins; Andrew R. Jacobs; J. Clarke Keller; David E. Longenecker; Charlotte Turner McCoy; Gregory P. Parsons; Bruce M. Reynolds; Walter S. Robertson; Cassidy R. Rosenthal; Stephen M. Ruschell; Warren D. Schickli; Adam M. Smith; Emily Larish Startsman; Chrisandrea L. Turner; Ashley W. Ward; and Richard M. Wehrle. In the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America category: Joshua F. Barnette; Megan K. George; Katie M. Glass; Robin E. McGuin; Drake W. Staples; Taylor J. Stuckey; and Alison M. Zeitlin.
Omni Architects’ Teddi Hibberd, AIA, has been selected to participate in the AIA Kentucky 2024/25 Christopher Kelley Leadership Development Program.
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) has announced the launch of Meadow Price, a modern net price calculator designed to provide students with an accurate and personalized estimate of their college expenses after financial aid. The net price calculator is available across all 16 KCTCS colleges. In other news, KCTCS President Ryan Quarles and Morehead State University President Jay Morgan renewed a 50% tuition discount agreement last week in support of professional development for their full-time employees. Beginning with the fall semester, any full-time KCTCS employee attending MSU and any full-time MSU employee attending a KCTCS college will receive a 50% tuition discount in any undergraduate or graduate program.
In June 2024, Blue Grass Airport experienced its busiest month ever in the airport’s history. A total of 157,715 passengers flew to and from Blue Grass Airport this past June, an increase of 18.5 percent from June 2023 and a 13 percent increase from the previous June record in 2019.
McBrayer PLLC celebrates another year of growth and excellence in serving clients, with 50 attorneys recognized in the 2025 editions of Best Lawyers® in America and Best Lawyers®: Ones to Watch. Best Lawyers 2025 recognition was awarded to Stephen G. Amato; Kenton L. Ball; Jaron P. Blandford; Keeana Sajadi Boarman; James H. Frazier, III; David J. Guarnieri; Mary Estes Haggin; Lisa English Hinkle; Virginia L. Lawson; Douglas T. Logsdon; Robert E. Maclin, III; Anne-Tyler Morgan; Daniel Luke Morgan; W. Brent Rice; Christopher J. Shaughnessy; Zachary Webster; Luke A. Wingfield; Jon A. Woodall; Preston C. Worley; Brendan R. Yates; and Katherine K. Yunker in the firm’s Lexington office. Best Lawyers also honored David J. Guarnieri in the “Lawyer of the Year” category for Criminal Defense – General Practice.
Local construction company Dean Builds, known for high-profile projects such as Lexington’s new Gatton Park on the Town Branch, has announced its expansion with the opening of a new office in Louisville. Shawn Rankin will serve as director of Dean Builds’ Louisville office.
Lifepoint Central Kentucky hospitals (Bluegrass Community Hospital, Bourbon Community Hospital, Clark Regional Medical Center, and Georgetown Community Hospital) have partnered with Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine (LMU-DCOM) to host students for clinical rotations. This initiative, a part of LMU’s comprehensive curriculum, is designed to produce skilled physicians proficient in osteopathic principles.
Blue & Co., LLC, and Pioneer Technology, an IT solutions expert based in Chattanooga, TN, have announced the formation of a strategic joint venture under the name of Blue Pioneer Consulting.
Frontier Nursing University has been accepted into the Age-Friendly University Global Network, with a commitment to foster lifelong learning opportunities and promote active participation among older adults.
For the third year in a row, Energy Insurance Agency has been recognized by the Insurance Journal as one of the Top 100 Property/Casualty Agencies in the U.S.
Seven businesses, including five from Lexington, have been awarded the first Bluegrass AgTech Development Corp incentive grants designed to encourage agtech and food-based businesses to locate in Kentucky. Those from Lexington included: Parasight Systems, Inc.; RedLeaf Biologics; Lepidext, Inc.; Sunflower Fuels; and Spirited Biomaterials.
Christian Nelson, operations manager at Blue Grass Airport, has been named the recipient of the 2024 Emerging Professional Award from the Great Lakes Chapter of the American Association of Airport Executives.