Business and People Notes November 2019

Natalia Coen of Gateway First Bank in Jenks has been named the incoming certified regulator compliance manager (CRCM) advisory board chair, effective January 1, 2020 for the American Bankers Association. 
Coen is the compliance officer for Gateway First Bank and has served on the CRCM advisory board since 2014. While on the advisory board Coen has provided leadership to the CRCM Working Group in the past year as they worked to create a new exam outline.
Sparks Reed Architecture and Interiors welcomes a new architect to its staff – Bryan Broaddrick.
This 32-year-old graduate of Oklahoma State University’s school of architecture received his state architect license, having completed his required 5,600 internship hours and passed the state’s six architectural registration exams.
“It’s been a very rewarding experience,” said Broaddrick. “This is something I’ve worked towards since 2005, when I started at OSU. But it’s not a culmination of things. It’s really just the beginning. Architecture is a lifelong learning process. My goal is to never stop learning and improving.”
Broaddrick worked many of his intern hours at Sparks Reed, having joined the firm in December 2017.
“Bryan is an outstanding architect,” said Reed, principal and co-founder of Sparks Reed. “It is great to be able to call him a fellow architect now that he has his license. It is a great accomplishment and further demonstrates his talents and character to follow through on his goals and his passion to continue learning and improving his skills. He is a great member of the team!”
Reed also commented he appreciates Broaddrick’s passion for athletics and sports architecture which are areas where Sparks Reed has excelled. The Tulsa firm has designed stadiums or arenas for 10 different Oklahoma high schools and universities, with more on the way.
Alice Townsend has been named the regional chief executive officer for the Region of Oklahoma of the American Red Cross.
Townsend most recently served as regional president of sales at Encompass Health, Home Health division where she had oversight of sales operations in the Western U.S. and collaboratively worked with operations to ensure financial success of over 40 locations. 
 Prior to Encompass Health, Townsend held the role of senior blood program consultant for the Oklahoma Blood Institute where she led blood collection efforts in five Oklahoma counties. During her time with OBI, she won the Charles’ Drew Award for increasing minority donations within the Cherokee Nation and was appointed to the National Committee for Blood Consultant Professionals. 
 “I am honored to have been selected to serve alongside such dedicated volunteers, generous donors and a mission-focused staff,” Townsend said. “I previously served as a board member for the Red Cross in Muskogee, so I know about the great work the organization accomplishes. I look forward to continuing to learn more about the Red Cross programs in the coming weeks as I meet with our local chapters across Oklahoma.”
Hall Estill was named named to Forbes Inaugural America’s Top Trusted Corporate Law Firms in 2019 in Real Estate Law.
Hall Estill is one of only 29 law firms recognized in the Real Estate category and received the highest number of recommendations for this area.
 “It is an honor to be recognized by Forbes as a top trusted law firm and it is a testament to our expertise in the real estate field,” said Mike Cooke, managing partner for Hall Estill. “Our real estate team is committed to providing exceptional counsel for our clients and I’m proud of the work they are doing.”
 To create this list, Forbes, in collaboration with market research company Statista, surveyed more than 90,000 lawyers and legal professionals. Of the 400,000 law firms in the United States (according to the American Bar Association), only 243 law firms were named America’s Top Trusted Corporate Law Firms.
Todd Borland, executive director of Information Technology for Union Public Schools, has been named the 2019 Technology Director of the Year by the Oklahoma Technology Association.
“Without a doubt, Todd Borland’s influence goes well beyond that of Union’s school district and even our state,” Union Superintendent Dr. Hartzler stated. “I can think of no one more deserving of this recognition than Mr. Borland.”
Borland was recognized in a surprise announcement during the OTA’s state October conference in Oklahoma City. “Since Borland began working for Union in 1999, he has taken Union to a new level,” stated Hartzler in his nomination of support. “Not only has Borland helped Union to fully realize operational efficiencies, but he’s always thinking about how to incorporate our mission of ‘100 percent Graduation, College and Career-Ready’ into programs that deeply engage our students.”
Recently, Borland launched the Oklahoma eSport League – the first high school-sponsored league of its kind in Oklahoma – in partnership with nine other school districts across the state. Borland also led Union Public Schools to become the first district in the U.S. to issue digital diplomas and transcripts using block chain technology, which enables graduating seniors to be digital owners of their diplomas and transcripts via a desktop or mobile app. Prospective colleges, universities or employers can immediately verify the authenticity of the block chain diploma by receiving it via text message or email from the student.
“Mr. Borland was instrumental in the launch of the Union Virtual Learning Academy (UVLA) about 10 years ago,” Hartzler continued. “We could not have gotten there without Todd’s guiding hand. Even more exciting is the fact that President Barack Obama publicly recognized UVLA for being one of the top programs in the nation.”
“Mr. Borland truly is the epitome of the servant leader,” Hartzler said. “He serves his department well and he is highly respected by his peers. He has grown well beyond the role of IT director to become a technology giant.