Business & People Notes
Arvest Bank has promoted Denise Buffo, Joe Corbino, Julie Powders and Mike Paton to positions of assistant vice president and level three branch manager.
Denise Buffo has served Arvest Bank for more than 12 years and has managed several branches. She is currently at the Owasso branch. She is a member of Civitan Owasso and is actively involved with the Owasso Chamber of Commerce serving as a Chamber Ambassador. In addition, she has completed the Owasso Leadership program. In her new position, Buffo’s responsibilities will include overseeing and fostering customer growth.
Joe Corbino joined Arvest in 2003 and brought years of management experience to his position. Throughout the past five years, he has worked at numerous bank locations and managed several In-Store branches along with his current responsibilities. Corbino possesses strong leadership skills and often serves as an associate trainer and mentor.
As manager of the Bixby branch, Julie Powders has exhibited effective leadership, excellent customer service and assisted in Arvest-Bixby’s significant growth throughout the past few years. She has more than 15 years of banking experience and joined Arvest in 2003 through the acquisition of Superior Bank. Powders is active in the community serving both in the Bixby Chamber of Commerce and the Bixby Rotary.
Mike Paton joined Arvest in 2001 and currently serves as the branch manager at 51st and Vandalia. He has years of managerial experience within several areas of the banking industry including work at Arvest In-Store locations and as lead trainer of the Arvest Call Center.
Rex Public Relations announced it has hired Tom Droege to lead writing projects and manage select accounts. Droege comes to Rex Public Relations from a Fortune 500 energy company where his communication responsibilities included community outreach and media relations. As a general assignment reporter for the Tulsa World, Droege won the Division A/Sweepstakes award from the Associated Press for in-depth reporting on migration of undocumented workers from Zacatecas, Mexico to Tulsa. He currently serves as a board member of the International Association of Business Communicators, Tulsa chapter.
Rex PR named Greg Rex as its creative director to bring innovative flair to the firm and lead graphic design duties ranging from advertising, identity materials and Web sites, to publications, printed collateral and packaging. Prior to joining Rex PR he served as project manager for seven years at The Goodwin Company Rex has won the Silver Link award from the Public Relations Society of America and an Addy from the American Advertising Federation.
Olive Garden Italian Restaurant has appointed Tulsa resident Merrill Overson as general manager of the new restaurant located at 9072 N. 121st E. Ave. in Owasso. As general manager, Overson will be responsible for leading a team that maintains the highest quality of service in the restaurant. Overson brings 14 years of restaurant industry experience to his new position with Olive Garden and in 2007, he received Olive Garden’s prestigious Diamond Club Award.
The Oklahoma State University Foundation announced the addition of seven people to its staff. Adrienne Elias is the new administrative assistant for the athletic development staff. She is responsible for a variety of administrative and clerical duties. The Edmond native previously served as title analyst and land leasing specialist for Bank of Oklahoma. Elias is an active member of Tulsa Young Professionals and the OSU Alumni Association.
As administrative assistant for gift planning at the foundation, Donna Field will provide comprehensive support to the gift planning department and assist with the newly reorganized Women for OSU Leadership and Philanthropy Council. She previously served as legal assistant for Ihrig Law Firm. Field is the past secretary and president of the Blackwell Public School Foundation Board.
Nina Floyd is the new receptionist for the OSU Foundation. She is responsible for a variety of administrative and clerical duties. She previously served as a receptionist for Dr. Emde and Dr. Nieman’s office in Stillwater and is actively involved with LifeChurch.tv.
Lisa Lucas is the new administrative assistant for the foundation’s Houston regional office. She is responsible for aiding in the fundraising efforts of the OSU Foundation, recruitment of potential OSU students and support of the Texas OSU alumni base.
Angel Ray joins the foundation as development coordinator for OSU-Tulsa where she assists the associate vice president of development and the director of development with a variety of administrative and clerical duties. Before coming to the foundation, she served as operations manager for Bank of Oklahoma for 3 1⁄2 years. Ray is a member of the OSU Alumni Association.
Terri Rawlings is the executive assistant to the senior vice president for development. She will provide administrative support to create and implement a wide range of projects at the OSU Foundation. She was previously employed by Integris Blackwell Regional Hospital and has 10 years of experience as an executive assistant.
Damien Williams comes to the foundation to serve as director of development for the College of Arts and Sciences. He provides oversight to arts and sciences fundraising programs. He is responsible for sustaining ongoing relationships with major gift prospects including identification, cultivation and solicitation. He previously served as director of development for graduate programs at the University of Oklahoma.
Tulsa Opera announced that the new director of development, who will lead the non-profit arts organization’s fundraising efforts through its 61st year and beyond is Brandi Sullivan. Prior to joining Tulsa Opera she served as the executive director of the Tulsa Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and before that was executive director of the Salina, Kan. Symphony. At the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foun-dation, Tulsa chapter, she increased and exceeded fundraising goals and led the chapter to winning two Awards of Excellence. Sullivan also increased ticket sales and donated income for the Salina Symphony.
Updated 11-24-2008
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