See more of this week’s Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.
Banking
Hannah Eddington has been promoted to digital marketing manager at the Little Rock branch of First Community Bank of Batesville. Eddington has been with First Community Bank since May 2020.
Kathy Horelica has been hired as a vice president and business development officer to the Small Business Administration Division at the Little Rock branch of Stone Bank of Mountain View. Horelica is a 25-year veteran of the financial services industry.
Education
Mark Smeltzer has received the Lawrence E. Cornett Award from the Arkansas Research Alliance of Little Rock. Smeltzer is an academy member of the Arkansas Research Alliance and professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Brad McGinley was named Extension Employee of the Year by the Cooperative Extension Service of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture in Little Rock. Other awardees include James Mitchell, who received the Early Career Award for State Extension Faculty; Brandon L. Mathews, Early Career Award for Program Technician/Associate; Rebekah Hall, Early Career Award for Project/Program Administrator; and Khaliah Coleman, Early Career Award for State Support Staff. In addition, Kristin Higgins and Rebecca Simon received the Lynn R. Russell Endowed Award of Professional Excellence, and Katie Collum and Heather Wingo were awarded the Mildred and Liz Childs Professional Development Fund Scholarship.
Dr. Ulugbek Negmadjanov, a registered physician in vascular interpretation, has been hired as an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery’s Division of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences of Little Rock. Negmadjanov will see patients at the UAMS Health Vascular Surgery Clinic, Baptist Health Medical Center, the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital and Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
Government
Keith Gibson has been elected vice chairman of the Arkansas Highway Commission of Little Rock.
Nitin Agarwal has been named to the Artificial Intelligence & Analytics Center of Excellence, a subcommittee of the Data & Transparency Panel of the Arkansas Department of Information Systems. Agarwal is the Maulden-Entergy Chair and Donaghey Distinguished Professor of Information Science at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and an Arkansas Research Alliance fellow.
Health Care
Sherrie Montellano, a certified physician’s assistant, has been hired at Washington Regional Neurology Clinic of Fayetteville. Montellano provides diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases affecting the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves and muscles.
Dr. Karen Hall, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, has been hired at Baptist Health Behavioral Health Clinic-North Little Rock. Hall specializes in psychiatric evaluations and medication management for children ages 5-18.
Nonprofits
Miranda Allen has been hired as a business development manager at Be Pro Be Proud of Little Rock. Other new hires include Maggie Culp, as marketing manager; Diana Long, special events manager; and Brittany Dement, state director for Be Pro Be Proud Alabama.
Branndii Peterson, executive director of TRIO Programs at Lyon College, has been elected president of the Arkansas Association of Student Assistance Programs of Little Rock.
Earnest Taylor, an electrical systems engineer at Conway Corp., was selected to serve as the reliability representative on the Reliable Public Power Provider Program Review Panel of the American Public Power Association of Washington, D.C.
Heath Donner is the 2024 recipient of the Stanley E. Reed Leadership Award from the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation of Little Rock. Donner serves on the executive board of the Mississippi County Farm Bureau, the Arkansas Farm Bureau Cotton Commodity Division and the American Farm Bureau Issues Advisory Committee.
Sharon Walters was awarded the DAISY Nurse Educator Award by the Arkansas Nurses Association of Little Rock. Walters is an associate professor and program coordinator in the School of Nursing at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
Utilities
Corey Davidson has been promoted to water systems senior designer in the Engineering & Planning Department at Conway Corp.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly reported the name of the institution where Mark Smeltzer is a professor.
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