ACCOUNTING
Ashley S. Taylor, a principal at Jackson Thornton, has been elected chairperson of the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts’ Litigation Forensics Board.
BANKING
Fred Elliott has been named CB&S Bank’s Birmingham regional president, executive vice president. He is based at the bank’s Mountain Brook branch.
David Payne has been promoted to head of originations for Regions Affordable Housing.
ServisFirst has promoted Rachel Guthrie to vice president, credit officer; Elizabeth Feick to vice president, commercial banking officer; and Jonathan Ceci to assistant relationship manager and banking officer.
Lisa Killingsworth has been promoted to market executive in Synovus’ Jasper branch.
CREDIT UNION
Joe Newberry, president and CEO of Redstone Federal Credit Union, has received the Professional of the Year Award by The League of Credit Unions & Affiliates.
EDUCATION
Gov. Kay Ivey has appointed Ami Brooks as secretary of the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education. Jan Hume, who had served in the secretary capacity for two years, has been hired as professor of practice in public administration at Auburn University.
Rosario Thomas, a veterans specialist with Southern Union State Community College, has been voted Military Friendly’s Alabama’s Veteran of the Year.
ENGINEER
Brad Hughes, principal, has been named to SS&A Design Collective’s board of directors and has assumed the role of engineering managing principal.
FOOD
Bill and Beth Walton, founders of Oyster South, have been presented the 2025 Frank Stitt Award for Industry Excellence by the Southbound Food Festival.
HEALTH CARE
American Family Care has appointed Dan Olivier as chief financial officer.
Taylor Lewis, of Baldwin Bone & Joint, has become a certified hand therapist.
Jason Budde has joined Southeast Health Cardiovascular Institute as a cardiothoracic surgeon. In addition, Morgan Hull, a general surgeon, has joined Southeast Health Surgery Clinic.
USA Health has hired Luanda Grazette as its new division chief of cardiology and has promoted Rachel Seaman to chief medical officer of University Hospital. Also, Owen Bailey, CEO and senior associate vice president for medical affairs at USA Health, has received the Gold Medal of Excellence from the Alabama Hospital Association.
LEGAL
The Alabama Defense Lawyers Association has elected Bains Fleming as its 2025-26 president. Other officers elected were Mark Debro, president elect; Melissa Hunter, secretary-treasurer; and Megan McCarthy, immediate past president.
Jonathan Hoffmann, partner in Balch’s Birmingham office, has been appointed as honorary consul of the Kingdom of Belgium for Alabama and Mississippi, fostering Belgian-American relations in the region.
Kaitlyn Mitchell has joined Montgomery-based Gilpin Givhan PC as an associate in the firm’s tax, corporate & securities and estate & business succession practice groups.
MUNICIPALITIES
The city of Tuscaloosa has promoted Sarah Bridger Gilmore to executive director of strategic communications.
The city of Montgomery has appointed Lucinda Babers its chief operating officer.
NATURAL GAS
Michael Garrett has been promoted to chief accounting officer at Birmingham-based Diversified Energy Co.
ORGANIZATIONS
Christopher Spencer has been selected as CEO and president of the Black Belt Community Foundation in Selma. He begins this role on Sept. 30.
Wendy Mahoney has been named interim executive director of the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Jackie Wuska Wear, president and CEO of United Way of West Alabama, has been elected board chair of the Alabama Association of Nonprofits.
Reagan Huguley has joined the Business Council of Alabama as external affairs communications coordinator.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
JJPR has added Jorjalyn Weaver Lofton as public relations specialist, Ginny Duncan as operations manager and Anna Wallace DeRossette as public relations fellow.
These career moves appear in the August 2025 issue of Business Alabama.
