11-15 Business briefs

November 14, 2008 10:42 pm

— New chief operations officer for TFCU settles in Edmond
Tinker Federal Credit Union (TFCU) recently selected David G. Willis to be the new executive vice president and chief operations officer. Willis came on board the TFCU senior management staff this week and will fill the new position to oversee the operations and lending functions of the credit union. He reports directly to President and CEO Michael D. Kloiber.
Before joining TFCU, Willis had been at Kitsap Credit Union in Bremerton, Wash., since Feb. 1984. During his tenure at that credit union, Willis held several positions with increasing responsibility, most recently that of senior vice president and chief operations officer.
Willis earned his B.A. in business management at the University of Washington and served in both the U.S. Navy Reserves and U.S. Marine Corp Reserves. Last year, he was awarded the Business Ethics Exemplar Award by Chapman University and, in 2006, the Paul Harris Award for Community Service by Rotary International. He moved to Oklahoma from Port Orchard, Wash., with his wife, Tina, and their two children, Kyle and Nichole. The family will settle in Edmond.
“We are glad to have Dave on board,” said TFCU President/CEO Michael D. Kloiber. “Even more important than the credit union industry experience he brings to the job, he also brings a proven desire and ability to improve the lives of those we serve and the communities they live in. And, that is what our credit union is all about.”
happenings
business events
The Edmond Area Chamber of Commerce will have its quarterly luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Oak Tree Country Club, 700 W. Country Club Drive. Dr. David Goin, the superintendent of Edmond Public Schools, will be the speaker. Please RSVP online at http://edmondchamber.accudaq.com/mods/MemberTypeSignup.aspx?pid=55.
EXIT Bob Linn Real Estate hires associate
EXIT Bob Linn Real Estate recently hired Karen Moseley as an associate.
Karen received a bachelors of art in Religious Education and Psychology from Southern Nazarene University in 1979. In 1985, she completed her M. Ed. in Counseling Psychology at the University of Central Oklahoma.
Karen has been employed by the Oklahoma Dept. of Human Services over 28 years. Prior to working with DHS, Karen worked in the Credit and Loan Dept at Central National Bank.
EXIT Bob Linn also hired Heather Ehlers. She believes joining Lisa Stockton on the “My Place Team” is a true blessing to her career. The team provides their clients twice the attention and double the aggressiveness to beat the Real Estate Market in buying and selling their homes.
The Travel Connection joins Cruise Planners
Lynn Kirby announced today that her agency, The Travel Connection has joined Cruise Planners, an award-winning national cruise agency. Affiliation means that The Travel Connection can now offer customers exclusive pricing on a wide range of cruise packages, a choice of thousands of group departures, private cruise sales, as well as cabin upgrades and special amenities such as shore excursions, discounted fares, travel gifts and more. As a Cruise Planners agency, The Travel Connection also provides services for all inclusive and land vacation packages, business and corporate travel, group travel, honeymoons, destination weddings, and more.
Exclusive to Cruise Planners is International Conferences, a provider of excellent accredited programs of continuing medical, legal, nursing and dental educations seminars at sea.
For more information, visit www.alwaystravelconnected.com or call 348-2272.
Edmond Medical Center hires new employees
Edmond Medical Center recently hired three new employees.
Jackie Bailey and Laci Thorp will work in the housekeeping department in Environmental Services. Elizabeth Garza will be a certified nurse’s aid in the Autumn Life Center.
Timothy M. Geib, M.D. joins Edmond Medical Center in orthopedic medicine
Edmond Medical Center recently announced the affiliation of Timothy M. Geib, M.D. with the hospital. Dr. Geib practices orthopedics at Oklahoma Sports and Orthopedics Institute.
City employee completes Chamber Management Institute
Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce Executives Association (OCCE) recently recognized Amanda Bowen, director of events and programs at the Edmond Area Chamber of Commerce, for successfully completing the Chamber Management Institute. Classes provided insight into critical management issues, including program development, finance, economic development, marketing, state resources, membership recruitment and retention and chamber administration.
Participants in the OCCE Chamber Management Institute are chamber executives, staff and board leaders from chambers of commerce throughout the state of Oklahoma. In addition to formal classroom instruction, attendees are able to network with each others to increase their learning potential. Graduates of the program are encouraged to implement new ideas, programs and strategies in their chamber and use this enhanced knowledge to change and improve chamber programs, activities and events.
Mercy nurses declutter and make time
By using some tools designed by Toyota, Mercy nurses have found a way to retool their work space, making way for more room and greater efficiency which translates into more time by the bedside with patients.
“As nurses, we tend to hoard and hide, stashing away items for a rainy day. We get so bogged down with clutter that we negatively impact our work flow. By de-cluttering and creating an environment that works for us, we ultimately provide better care for our patients,” said Pam Spanbauer, Mercy’s director of nursing.
As a pilot project that has had great success, there’s now a waiting list to begin de-cluttering projects throughout the hospital.
UCO graduate has specialty nursing expertise
Andrea Carano, a University of Central Oklahoma graduate and a nurse at Mercy Health Center for more than 10 years, is one of a small group of nurses in the state certified in wound, ostomy and continence care, as well as medical surgical nursing.
“Andrea is board certified in this care and for patients. It means she has expert nursing knowledge which affects clinical outcomes and ultimately the quality of care patients receive,” said Nancy Dobbs, MEd, RN, CWOCN. “Skin is a window. You can tell a lot about a patient’s condition by doing a thorough skin assessment. It’s vital to our patients.”
As a wound care nurse, Carano’s primary responsibilities are caring for those with urinary and fecal difficulties, as well as monitoring skin breakdown and pressure ulcers (bedsores) within the hospital. Besides being a clinical expert and treatment specialist, Carano has educated other nurses at Mercy in skin care in order to greatly reduce the risk of pressure ulcers throughout the hospital.
REI is top Oklahoma CDC for SBA 504 Loans
Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma (REI) is the No. 1 Certified Development Company in the state for U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans and dollar volume approved.
During SBA’s fiscal year from Oct. 1, 2007, to Sept. 30, 2008, REI received SBA approval for 33 loans in 19 Oklahoma counties for a total of $17,817,000 affecting 654 jobs statewide. REI produced 39 percent of all SBA 504 loans processed in Oklahoma during this fiscal year and 34 percent of the total dollar volume in the state.
New concept introduces freedom and flexibility to customers
Cox Communications announced that remote control extenders are now available for purchase at all Cox Stores in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The remote control extender will allow customers to control their audio-visual equipment when it is out of sight.
The remote control extender will change an infrared remote control into a radio frequency remote control. This will allow signals to go through ceilings and walls. Remote control extenders are available at Cox Stores for $39.99.
“According to Universal Electronics, Inc., two-thirds of flat panel television owners are choosing to store their audio-visual equipment in locations that are hidden from view, such as a closet or A/V Center,” said Christine Martin, Director of Communications. “The remote control extender is perfect for our Cox Digital Cable customers. This device will grant our customers the freedom and convenience to hide their audio-visual equipment, but to still control their equipment from anywhere in the house.”