Conway Corp. HR Specialist Earns Professional Certification (Movers & Shakers)

DeAnna Smith, human resources specialist at Conway Corp., has successfully completed the training and examination necessary to earn the Professional in Human Resources certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute.

Bill Gossage has been named vice president of governmental affairs for the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas. He replaces Kirkley Thomas, who retired on Aug. 1 after more than 24 years of service with the cooperatives. A former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, Gossage was most recently deputy chief of staff of external affairs for Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Conway Corp. has announced the following promotions: Accountant Cassie Francisco has been promoted to assistant controller, Senior Customer Accounts Specialist Ginger Harrel has been promoted to customer accounts specialist supervisor, and Telecom Installer Technician 1 Lane McNew has been promoted to telecom installer technician 2.

Sabrina Aguilar has joined Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects of Little Rock as an architectural designer, and Jenna Whitmire has joined the firm as an interior designer. Both are graduates of the Fay Jones School of Architecture & Design at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Forge Institute of Little Rock has named Wes Nickels chief of staff. Nickels previously served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force in various security, law enforcement and counterintelligence roles. Forge also named Eric Wall, the chief information security officer of the University of Arkansas System, to its advisory board.

Dean Williams has been hired as software developer at Mainstream Technologies of Little Rock. Williams previously worked as a web applications developer for SFG of Big Sandy, Texas.

See more of this week’s Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.