Hirings

Central Trust & Investment Co. named Reed Murphy the new chief investment officer of the firm. Murphy joins Central Trust after working for Bank of America, Alliance Bernstein and Commerce Bank.

Joe DiNatale joined the Tracy Arey Real Estate team as a licensed Missouri Realtor. A graduate of Michigan State who earned his master’s degree in business administration in 2006, DiNatale is an 11-year active duty Air Force veteran who continues to serve in the Missouri National Guard.

Commerce Bank announced that Gianina Beusan has been named retail banking officer and branch manager for the company’s Fifth and Broadway banking center. Beusan has more than 11 years of banking experience and a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

University of Missouri Provost Brian Foster announced Monday the appointment of Joan Gabel as the new dean of the Robert J. Trulaske Sr. College of Business. Previously, Gabel served as a Desantis professor and chair of the Department of Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate and Business Law at the Florida State University College of Business.

Josh Stephenson joined The Callaway Bank as vice president and commercial lender. Stephenson will be at the Chapel Hill and Forum Boulevard location.

Bank of America Home Loans hired David Lynn as a mortgage loan officer for the Columbia, Moberly, Mexico, Boonville and Jefferson City areas. Lynn has five years of home finance industry experience.

Appointments

Stephens College announced that Pamela Shackelford, chair of the business and marketing department at Stephens College, has been elected to a one-year term on the board of directors for the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education. Shackelford was elected to the board of directors during the IACBE’s 2010 Annual Conference, held in Newport, R.I., on March 24 to 26.

Agents National Title Insurance Company announced the addition of Robert J. Buchheit and Peter G. Klein to its board of directors. Buchheit is the owner of All Star Automotive Inc. Klein is an associate professor at the University of Missouri Division of Applied Sciences and associate director of the Contracting and Organizations Research Institute. Brent Scheer, CFO of Agents National Title Insurance Company, accepted the appointment as chairman of the American Land Title Association’s Title Insurance Accounting Committee.

Promotions

Lindsey Dunn was promoted to retail banking officer and branch manager for the Commerce Bank branch located inside the West Broadway Hy-Vee. Dunn is a graduate of the University of Missouri with a degree in business administration.

Acquisitions

Columbia Integrated Technologies announced April 30 that Monte Grubbs, who serves as the company’s chief operating officer, purchased CIT from Jeff Muscato. Grubbs will now serve as president and sole owner of the company.

Awards

Columbia College announced Jeffry Hoyt and Jamaree Whitaker were each awarded the Landmark Bank Scholarship, worth $1,500, for the 2010-2011 academic year. The Landmark Bank Scholarship is awarded to new or returning day or evening business majors who have shown superior academic achievement. Ramona Bade, Mary Beth Gillum and Regina Williams were awarded the Carol Frobish Scholarship, worth $6,000 each, for the 2010-2011 academic year. The Carol Frobish Scholarship is awarded to returning female business majors with a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Ben Francisco won the Alumni Award from the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing for his work training hundreds of health care providers to teach Missouri’s kids how to manage their asthma. His work led to the creation of Asthma Ready Communities™, a statewide program to improve asthma care.

Elizabeth Geden won the Honorary Alumna Award from the University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing. A former associate dean for research and director of graduate studies, Geden, retired since 2000, continues to work several days a week as a family nurse practitioner for Columbia’s Family Health Center.

Community Service

Central Missouri Food Bank, The Shelter, Access Arts, Salvation Army and Big Brothers Big Sisters were some of the 56 local nonprofit organizations that received more than $3,000 from Columbia-based telecommunications provider Socket as part of its Honest to Goodness program. The company’s local home phone customers contributed to the fund and donated 5 percent of their monthly bill to the charities of their choice.

Sale

Columbia restaurateur Brian Ash is straining knowledge he gained from Bambino’s into a new venture. Ash, 44, said he sold the Italian restaurant to Jeff Weaver, current owner of Quizno’s in the Broadway Shops, and will turn his focus to selling a food separator he invented called The Drain Strainer.

According to its website, the strainer is a drawer that can be attached to catch food. It can then be removed so solids can be thrown out or compacted, which allows liquids to flow more easily through pipes.

Ash said he came up with the idea 10 years ago while working at Bambino’s when he said he became tired of noodles clogging grease traps on the pasta sink. Noticing the restaurant’s dishwasher was equipped with a screen that allowed water to flow through while catching solids, Ash asked an associate to create a similar item for his sink.

Once he began the process of selling Bambino’s to Weaver in late April, Ash started looking for a new venture he thought he could run by himself, and an Internet-based business seemed appropriate.

Ash, who will continue running Bambino’s with Weaver until June 1, said he is just beginning to turn his full attention toward the marketing and selling of the strainer.

The Drain Strainer, manufactured by a company Ash said he found on the Internet, comes in three models depending on sink size and ranges in price from about $300 to about $450.