C-J names business editor

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jan 9, 2000 by Capital-Journal

Michael Hooper has been named business editor of The Topeka Capital-Journal. He will be in charge of the business news operation.

Hooper, 36, has been assistant business editor since May. Before that he was a general assignment reporter for The Capital-Journal.

He worked nine years as a reporter for the Grand Island (Neb.) Independent. He spent a year running a staffing company in Kearney, Neb., before joining The Capital-Journal in March.

He received his bachelor's in journalism in 1987 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He and his wife, Heather, have two children, Reid, 5, and Hannah, 2.

- Nitcher joins C-J --- Dustie Nitcher has joined The Topeka Capital-Journal as a sales assistant.

Nitcher is responsible for assisting sales marketing executives in selling and proofing ads. She also assists with Northern Life and Kansas Plus as well as new business development.

Nitcher, a sophomore at Washburn University, comes to the Capital- Journal from the Kansas Children's Service League, where she was an administrative assistant.

She has a daughter, Samantha, 6.

- Chambers promoted at engineering firm --- Robert Chambers has been promoted to vice president at Cook, Flatt & Strobel Engineers, 6111 S.W. 29th.

Chambers has a civil engineering degree from the University of Missouri-Rolla and has been responsible for bridge and structural design activity since 1991. He is a licensed professional engineer in Kansas, Missouri and Florida and will monitor project activity handled by the firm's Kansas City office.

Chambers is a member of the American Society of Engineers.

- M-C hires Padilla --- M-C Industries Inc., 3601 S.W. 29th, has hired Janice Padilla as account supervisor for the company's Polo Custom Products division.

Padilla will handle day-to-day activities of customers for the Polo division such as order entry and expediting and coordinating order fulfillment. She will also serve as backup to sales managers.

She comes to M-C from Hallmark Cards Inc., where she was department job coordinator. She attended Washburn University.

Padilla has a son, Dominic, and a fiance, Mike Eliot.

- Reed promoted with USPS --- Kyle J. Reed, city carrier at the U.S. Postal Service's North Topeka station, recently was promoted to supervisor of customer service at the Hicrest station, 2921 S.E. Adams.

Reed has been with the USPS since September 1993 and has been acting supervisor for two years. He and his wife, Heather, have two sons, Corbin and Caleb, and live in Topeka.

- Great Bend firm acquired --- A.G. Edwards Inc., a national brokerage firm, recently signed an agreement to acquire CPI Qualified Plan Consultants Inc., a Great Bend-based pension plan administration firm.

Terms of the purchase weren't disclosed. The transaction was set to close Jan. 1.

CPI is now a subsidiary of A.G. Edwards, which has 10 offices in Kansas, but the firm and its more than 240 employees will continue to be headquartered in Great Bend. CPI expects to hire about 50 new employees in 2000.

- Capitol Federal makes changes --- John C. Dicus, chairman of Capitol Federal Savings Bank in Topeka, recently announced the appointments of Jim Wempe, Jim Zimmerman and Ruth A. Von Stiers.

Wempe has accepted the new position of investor relations. He joined Capitol Federal in 1990 as vice president and deposit services manager for the home office at 700 S. Kansas. He will be responsible for both investor relations and shareholder relations in his new post. He is a 1974 graduate of Washburn University and brings more than 23 years of banking experience to the new assignment.

Zimmerman was named to Wempe's former position of vice president/ deposit services. He transferred from his vice president-branch manager position at S.W. 12th and Topeka. He graduated from Washburn University in 1985 and joined Capitol Federal in 1986. He served at the Emporia office and Topeka's S.W. 21st and Fairlawn office before being appointed vice president and branch manager of the S.W. 29th and Wanamaker office in 1989. He received his master's degree in business administration from Washburn in 1991 and transferred to the 12th and Topeka office in 1995.

Zimmerman is a recipient of Capitol Federal's Chairman's Achievement awards for service and volunteers as a business and economics teacher with Junior Achievement. He is a volunteer reader with Capitol Federal's partners in Education school, Highland Park Central Elementary, and is an eight-gallon-plus donor with the Kansas Blood Bank.

Von Stiers was named to the branch manager position at the S.W. 12th and Topeka office. She is a 1987 Washburn University graduate who joined Capitol Federal in 1994. She has served as a teller, teller supervisor, customer service representative and as home office assistant branch manager. She has also been a recipient of Capitol Federal's Chairman's Achievement award for service.

- Bowser named VP at SBG --- Steven M. Bowser has been named vice president and senior portfolio manager at Security Benefit Group in Topeka.

Bowser, a certified financial analyst at the financial services company, manages more than $2.5 billion of assets in the company's general account and several different investment funds.