Promotions at HoganTaylor, Farmers & Merchants Bank, Baptist Health & More (Movers & Shakers)

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

Accounting

Hannah Gilliland, a certified public accountant, has been promoted to assurance senior manager at the Fayetteville branch of HoganTaylor LLP of Tulsa. The other new promotions at the Fayetteville office are: Olivia Burkman, to assurance manager, and Landen Cummings, to tax manager. The new promotions at the Little Rock office are: Gregory Justus, a certified public accountant, to tax senior manager; Sam Phillips, a certified public accountant, to assurance senior manager; Jessica Taylor, a certified public accountant, to financial management services consulting executive; Baylee Kostyshock, to tax manager; Sydney Foshee, to financial management services senior; Logan Halamek, a certified public accountant, to tax senior; Justin Harris, a Society for Human Resource Management certified professional, to integrated services senior talent advisor; Derrick Pelletier, to assurance senior; and Hayden Webb, a certified public accountant, to tax senior.

Agriculture

Joe Mencer has been elected to serve as president of the Agricultural Council of Arkansas of Little Rock. Additionally, Jeff Rutledge and Pace Hindsley were elected vice presidents, and Nathan Reed has been elected treasurer. Those appointed to the executive committee are: John C. King III, Matt Hyneman, West Higginbothom, David Wallace Jr., Jason Felton, Sam Whitaker and Jesse Flye. Other new board members are: Heath Adkisson, Jay Coker, Drew Flowers, Andrew Gill, Wade Hill, Matt Smith, Ryan Sullivan, Eric Vaught and David Wildy. 

Banking

Pepper Morrison has been promoted to business solutions director at Farmers & Merchants Bank of Stuttgart. 

Construction

Don Weaver has been named chairman of the board of directors in 2025 of the American Concrete Pavement Association of Rosemont, Illinois. Weaver is president of Weaver-Bailey Contractors Inc. of Conway.

Education

Allen Stanley has been hired as vice chancellor for finance and administration at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Stanley is a certified public accountant with more than 25 years of experience in finance and higher education administration.

Finance

Greg Achten has been appointed south market executive at UBS Wealth Management USA of Weehawken Township, New Jersey. Achten will be responsible for overseeing the firm’s financial advisors in Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

Health Care

Diana Reyes Macias has been hired at Baptist Health Cancer Center-Fort Smith. Macias earned her Master of Science in nursing and is family nurse practitioner-certified.

Tyler Giess has been hired as the director of laboratory at Washington Regional of Fayetteville. Giess has more than 25 years of experience in health care, including multiple leadership positions related to pathology and laboratory operations.

Legal

Jerry Zimmerman has been hired to the national insurance regulatory practice of Mitchell Williams Selig Gates & Woodyard PLLC of Little Rock. Zimmerman joins the firm from Allstate where he served as senior vice president and deputy general counsel and led the government and industry relations team. 

Real Estate

Tara Mitchell has been hired as the director of operations for the Little Rock office of Jones Aur Commercial Real Estate of Memphis.

Utilities

Crystal Kemp, chief marketing officer at Conway Corp., has been elected president of Arkansas Women in Power of Little Rock. Other new officers are: Angela Sartori, senior regulatory relations analyst at Southwest Power Pool, as vice president; Lori Jones, of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Corp., as secretary; and Debbie Brooks, lead accountant at Southwest Power Pool, as treasurer. Additional leadership positions include Wendy Clark, regional supervisor of regulatory affairs at Summit Utilities, as membership chairperson; and Kandi Hughes, senior corporate counsel at MISO, as immediate past president.

Lesia White, a call center supervisor at Conway Corp., was honored with the master performance award in the outstanding leadership category from the Mid-America Cable Telecommunications Association of Milford, Nebraska.

Michelle Hatfield has been promoted to customer care specialist II, following her successful completion of the NCTI Master Account and Sales Rep certifications, at Conway Corp.