Jan 23 – People in the News

Last Updated on Monday, 23 January 2012 18:37 Written by Lou Phelps Monday, 23 January 2012 12:24

Lieutenant Colonel Rainer "Speedy" Gomez has been promoted to the rank of Colonel and has taken command of the 165th Operations Group, a unit of the 165th Airlift Wing, Georgia Air National Guard. The Savannah-based Airlift Wing flies the C-130H aircraft in which Col. Gomez is a Navigator. Col. Gomez, as a State Technician Guardsman, has held numerous positions within the Wing, and has over two hundred combat sorties during rotations in the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.

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HunterMaclean has announced that Robert M. Cunningham recently joined the firm’s Brunswick office as a partner. Cunningham is an "AV" rated attorney and has more than 30 years of experience in the areas of creditors’ rights including bankruptcy, foreclosure and forbearance; estate planning and probate, real estate closings, small business formations, and Social Security disability. Prior to joining the firm, Cunningham was partner at the Brunswick firm of Gilbert, Harrell, Sumerford & Martin, P.C. He currently belongs to the American Bankruptcy Institute and is a member of the State Bar of Georgia’s Bankruptcy and Real Property Sections. He is past president of the Brunswick-Glynn County Bar Association and is a former board member of the Coastal Bankruptcy Law Institute.

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Georgia Southern University Professor of Nursing Elaine Marshall’s book, Transformational Leadership in Nursing, was recognized by the American Journal of Nursing as one of two 2011 Books of the Year in the area of Leadership and Management in nursing. The book stresses the importance of adopting interdisciplinary viewpoints that include physicians and other healthcare providers, business leaders, economists and patients in order to contribute to effective healthcare. The work also features a chapter on economics and finance written by Professor Brenda Talley, a former Georgia Southern faculty member.

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Kimberly Lynn Counterman has been named a District Manager by The Parker Companies, the fuel and retail services company in Georgia and South Carolina, headquartered in Savannah. In her new position, Counterman will supervise six Parker’s stores, monitoring daily operations and overseeing gas strategy, maintenance protocol, scheduling, inventory and evaluations. Counterman previously worked as a store manager at Parker’s locations in Guyton and Blichton, Ga. from 2007 to 2010. She recently rejoined the company after working at Publix in Savannah. Over the years, she also served as a store manager at The Pantry, Inc. on Hilton Head Island, S.C. and as a tile layer at Grout Depot in Savannah.

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Brian Smith has been promoted to Retail Banking Manager by The Coastal Bank, the locally owned and operated community bank headquartered in Savannah. Formerly a commercial relationship manager at The Coastal Bank, Smith has 11 years of experience as a commercial banker in Savannah, and originally joined The Coastal Bank in 2008. He is a graduate of Leadership Savannah, according to Jim LaHaise, executive vice president and chief banking officer at The Coastal Bank. “His passion for team development and growing our customer relationships will be a real asset to our retail banking customers.”

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A Savannah native, Smith graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.S in English Education.

State Representative Ann R. Purcell (R-Rincon) recently received the Outstanding Legislator of the Year Award from the Georgia Council on Aging (GCOA), as well as a Legislator of the Year award from the Assisted Living Federation of America and the Georgia Community Care Association. These recognitions come after Representative Purcell’s work last year on Senate Bill 178, which established the “assisted living community” as a new category of long-term health care provider in Georgia. SB 178 allows Georgia’s seniors to settle in one community without having to worry about difficult and uncomfortable moves to new locations.

Purcell represents the citizens of District 159, which includes portions of Chatham and Effingham counties. She was re-elected into the House of Representatives in 2009, and currently serves as Chairman of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, and Vice Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee. She also serves as a member of the Appropriations, Education, Health and Human Services, Human Relations & Aging, and Economic Development and Tourism committees.