Chamber Board
The Chamber prides themselves on having a group of leaders that are diverse, engaging, and are constantly seeking success within their organizations and the Chamber. The board helps create an engaging and innovative environment by supporting the Chamber and its staff and members and always leading by example.
Meet the Board
Dollar General
Steve Gibson
Steve Gibson has been the director at the Fulton Dollar General Distribution Center for the past 10 years. He moved to Missouri from the Central Valley in California where he worked for Longs Drugs (CVS). When not working, Gibson spends time with his kids going on trips, bike rides or supporting them at one of their many activities.
Wise Brothers, Inc
David Backer
David Arnold Backer is a lifelong Callaway County resident who graduated from Fulton High School in 1988. In 1993, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia in Agriculture, which he puts to use today in his cattle and crop farm operations in Callaway County. David is the owner and manager of Wise Bros Inc. in Kingdom City, which is a farm-equipment dealership and farm that specializes in corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay. A longtime area business owner, David previously co-owned a residential/utility contracting tree service and rental property business in Columbia. He later owned Backer Tree Care and Backer Properties in Fulton before deciding to concentrate fully on the agriculture industry. David is a member of St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Fulton and a Fourth-Degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus. He has been married to Sarah Rummel Backer for 27 years. Together they have six children, two of which grew up to work in the family business.
Westminster College
Donald Lofe
Donald P. Lofe, Jr., officially assumed the role of President and Chief Transformation Officer at Westminster College in Fulton, MO, on July 1, 2021. After a unanimous vote, the College’s Board of Trustees officially announced Mr. Lofe as the historic college’s 23rd president in April, citing the major progress the 171-year-old liberal arts college made in the last year under his leadership as Interim President, even during an exceptionally challenging year and in the midst of the pandemic.
A 1979 Westminster College graduate and a two-time NAIA Indoor Track and Field All-American, Mr. Lofe previously served on Westminster’s Board of Trustees for approximately eight years in a variety of capacities, including Board Chair, throughout his Board tenure. Mr. Lofe serves on the Board as an ex-officio member, consistent with the historic practice for the role of the College’s president. He is also on an extended leave of absence from his board chair role. Prior to his appointment at the College as Interim President and Chief Transformation Officer in 2020, Mr. Lofe was most recently a Partner and the Chief Risk Officer for Global Business Services – Mortgage and Lending Solutions for the IBM Corporation based in San Ramon, CA.
Mr. Lofe served in several senior executive roles for insurance, community lending, and other financial and mortgage-related service entities, both domestically and internationally, before his tenure with the IBM Corporation. He was a Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, specializing in financial services, insurance, and private and public higher-education clientele. He also served as the engagement partner for The Progressive Corporation. Mr. Lofe is a CPA, CGMA (Active Status) and is also COSO Certified by the AICPA. He was named by Treasury and Risk, a leading corporate finance and treasury periodical, as one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance.
In 2011, Mr. Lofe was awarded the Lifetime Alumni Achievement Award from Westminster, where he received bachelor’s degrees in Accounting and Political Science as an undergraduate. Mr. Lofe also holds an MBA, with concentrations in Finance and Business Policy, from The University of Chicago.
Mr. Lofe’s wife, Lorraine, is a native of St. Louis, MO, who graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau with a BS in Business Administration. She also is a CPA (Active Status). The couple met in St. Louis and married in 1992. They have a set of grown twins. Their daughter, Lauren, graduated with honors from the University of San Diego in 2019 and is Director of Marketing for a digital marketing startup in San Diego. Their son, Don III, graduated with merit in 2020 from the U.S. Naval Academy and is attending flight school at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, based in Corpus Christi, TX, to become a Naval Aviator.
Rebekah Vaught
Beks
Rebekah Vaught
Rebekah Vaught was born in San Diego CA, moved to Fulton MO in 1979. After graduating from Fulton High School she attended Westminster College in 1991 graduated with a BS in Dental Hygiene in 1996 from UMKC and enjoyed her time in private practice until 2004. Rebekah married Garry Vaught in 1998 and opened Beks Restaurant in 2005 in Historic Downtown Fulton. Their son Neal was born a year later in 2006. Rebekah is thankful for the overwhelming support of family, friends and the community who has shaped her life in to what is today.
Twillman Feed Service
Lori Twillman
Lori Twillman was born in Fulton, MO and raised an Air Force “Brat”. Her family returned to Fulton in 1976 where she completed her High School Education at Fulton High in 1978. She would work as a secretary, payroll clerk, and Clerk-Typist II upon graduation, until she was hired at the Callaway Nuclear Plant in 1981 where she spent the next 35 years employed by Ameren. She retired from her position in Human Resources in 2016 to start her second career working with her husband.
She married Kenny Twillman in 2001 and they reside in Calwood; together they have five children. She is a member of the First Christian Church, where she currently serves on the Board as Treasurer. She also serves on the Callaway County Salvation Army Board, the Callaway County Farm Bureau Board; she also serves as a member of the Callaway Board of Jail Visitors and is a member of PEO Chapter KE. She is proud of her small town and enjoys being involved in our community.
She enjoys spending time at the Lake of the Ozarks during the summer and traveling as work permits. She enjoys scrapbooking and Christmas is her favorite time of the year.
Danuser Machine Company
Janea Danuser
Janea Danuser is co-owner of Danuser Machine Company, an agricultural and industrial equipment manufacturer established in Fulton in 1910. A Fulton High School graduate, Janea received her B.A. in sociology from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She is also a Semester at Sea alumna who enjoys both travel and the peace and comfort of returning home. In 1999, Janea returned to Fulton to join the family business. She is proud to be the third woman ever elected to serve on the board of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association (FEMA) since its founding in 1950. She was FEMA’s 2020 president and continues to serve on the board. Janea enjoys good food with friends, beating her mother in cards, and loving some extraordinary cats.
Clinton Smith
Callaway Electric Cooperative
Clinton Smith
Clint is the Assistant Manager of Callaway Electric Cooperative and the Vice President of Callabyte Technology, both located in Fulton, MO.
He is active in the local community, having served on the board of Fulton Public Schools, Callaway County Chamber of Commerce, and Fulton Public School Foundation. Clint was also a part of the initial Fulton Street Fair Board that started the event, now in its 16th year. Clint is a graduate of Fulton High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from William Woods University.
Clint was raised in Callaway County, Missouri. He lives east of Fulton on his family farm with his wife Shauna, son Lincoln, 15 and daughter Avah, 10. His passion is the outdoors. He loves hunting and fishing along with helping his dad on the farm. He has coached many youth baseball, basketball and football teams and has competed in numerous marathon and Ironman events throughout his life.
Bennie Young
Bennie is a busy man running two businesses from the same location in Hatton, Missouri where he has lived since 1954. He attended Hatton McCredie Elementary School and graduated from North Callaway High School in 1970. Bennie is the son of Frances and the late Ben Young of Auxvasse.
In January 1971, Bennie opened Young’s Welding and Machine Shop and through the years the business has expanded and flourished. In addition to supporting local farmers with agricultural needs, Young’s Welding has become a fabrication shop for industries that outsource large projects. In almost 50 years of business Bennie has had the opportunity to work with many wonderful and talented people in Callaway County and the surrounding areas.
Bennie established Hatton Vermeer Sales in 1978 to provide a full line of hay equipment, parts and service for farmers and cattlemen. The customer base now covers central and eastern Missouri and western Illinois. Under Bennie’s guidance, Hatton Vermeer Sales has a sales and service team dedicated to its customer base.
Through the years Bennie has consistently been an active member of his community. Bennie was the 115th President of Kingdom Callaway County Supper. Bennie has taught 4-H welding for the past twelve years and he supports the Callaway Youth Expo and the local FFA chapters. Since 2015 he has been a member of the Callaway Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. He is also secretary/treasurer on the Kingdom Telephone Company Board of Directors. For the past 18 years he has served on the Presbyterian Manor advisory council. Bennie is president of the Presbyterian Cemetery Association as he has been for 29 years. Bennie is a member of the Pleasant Grove Methodist Church where he is currently the chairman of the board. He also served on the PGMC trustee committee for nine years, three as chairman. Bennie helped organize the North Callaway Volunteer Fire Department in 1979 and served as captain for the Hatton Station for 22 years. Bennie also worked on the Callaway County Fair Board for 12 years, three years as president.
In addition to being a successful business man, family is important to Bennie. He and his wife Meda have been married for over 24 years. Between them they have four children and nine grandchildren. Bennie and Meda enjoy attending the grandchildren’s school activities, sports events and riding bikes with them on the Katy trail. Bennie and Meda are also avid Mizzou fans attending football and basketball games. In his free time Bennie enjoys maintaining his large vegetable garden and his many flower beds.
The Callaway Bank (Main)
Kimberly Barnes
Kim Barnes has led The Callaway Bank as its President and CEO since October 2012, however, her career in banking began as a lobby receptionist with the Bank in 1987. At the time, Kim was a recent graduate of William Woods University, with degrees in accounting and computer science. The timing was perfect because soon after she started, the Bank decided to install its first in-house computer system. The president looked to Kim and said, “We think this would be a great fit for you,” and put her in charge of the project.
Over the years, Kim has held many positions throughout the Bank. Much of her service was behind the scenes where she spearheaded many of the Bank’s products and services initiatives and Information Technologies Department.
Kim’s vision for the Bank is to see it continue as an independent community bank dedicated to helping its clients succeed in their financial goals. “We want to be their consultant, their advisor, their partner in life. Our tagline, ‘We’re With You for the Moments That Matter,’ is entirely correct about how we feel. When our clients are successful and moving their businesses forward, it also makes us stronger,” says Kim.
As president and CEO, she has continued to innovate through multiple initiatives that include branch redesign, Employee Give Back Day, Callaway Business Coaching, and Downtown Revitalization Program. Kim was instrumental in helping launch the Show-Me Innovation Center and in bringing the Missouri Women’s Business Center to Fulton. Both groups provide support for new and existing businesses and encourage entrepreneurship.
Kim understands the importance of giving back and does so through many areas of service within our communities and the state. She serves, or has served, on the following boards: SERVE, Inc., Callaway County Chamber of Commerce, Fulton Area Development Foundation, Boy Scouts of America Great Rivers Council Executive Board, William Woods University Board of Trustees, and the Missouri Independent Bankers Association.
William Woods University
Jeremy Moreland
A dynamic academic leader in professions-based, student-centered higher education, Dr. Jeremy L. Moreland was officially appointed as the 13 th president in William Woods University (WWU) history on September 21, 2021. Stepping into the top leadership role at WWU in its 151th year of operation, Dr. Moreland’s mandate for leading William Woods into the future includes a commitment to academic opportunity, enrollment growth, and fiscal health of the University.
Having served in a variety of roles in his nearly quarter-century higher education career including provost/chief academic officer, dean, faculty member and research associate, Dr. Moreland joined WWU after serving in the top academic leadership role at St. Thomas University, a private, regionally-accredited student-focused university in Miami, Florida.
Serving as Provost and Chief Academic Officer for St. Thomas University, Dr. Moreland led the university’s academic affairs division during two and a half years of tremendous academic and enrollment growth. Responsible for oversight of academic programs, instruction, classroom and online delivery, curriculum, assessment and quality assurance among other areas, St. Thomas enjoyed remarkable enrollment growth during his tenure, including consecutive record-breaking incoming traditional age freshman classes in 2019, 2020, and 2021. He was also instrumental in helping achieve operating surpluses in the university’s budget after years of deficits, innovative new academic programs and the implementation of a multi-point, hybrid advising model. He also led successful responses to fully resolve existing accreditor concerns regarding earlier years’ financial and assessment matters, thus ending his tenure at St. Thomas with zero accreditor concerns for the institution.
Prior to joining STU, Dr. Moreland served as Provost and Chief Academic Officer at the University of the Rockies, a private, Higher Learning Commission-accredited university serving masters and doctoral students nationally from Denver, Colorado. While overseeing all academic programs, instruction, online and classroom delivery, curriculum and assessment, he was instrumental in helping achieve year-over-year improvements in areas such as student retention, student satisfaction, increased class size and improved availability, and employee engagement and satisfaction.
From 2004-2016, Dr. Moreland held a variety of increasingly responsible academic positions at the University of Phoenix (Arizona), including Academic Dean and Executive Director, Associate Dean and Research Faculty member of the School of Advanced Studies. In these posts, Dr. Moreland served as the Founding Editor and Editor in Chief of the Journal of Leadership Studies. Additional past experience includes serving as Director of Institutional Assessment and Planning for the Office of the President at Phoenix (Arizona) College; Education Research Associate and Accountability Data Administrator with the Arizona Department of Education, and research positions with Collin County Community College (Plano, Texas) and Texas Christian University (TCU). During his career, Dr. Moreland has also held numerous faculty appointments in a variety of subjects, including professor at St. Thomas University and the University of the Rockies; administrative faculty member at the University of Phoenix; graduate student instructor at TCU and adjunct faculty member at Glendale (Ariz.) Community College, Phoenix College, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Arizona State University.
Dr. Moreland earned both his Doctor of Philosophy (1998) and Masters of Science (1996) in General Experimental Psychology from TCU, with a research focus on applied cognition and innovative learning media. He is also a 1993 graduate of Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology with a minor in Hearing Impaired Studies/Sign Language. He is a member of the International Leadership Association, American Educational Research Association, and the Association of Psychological Science.
A native of Oklahoma who spent most of his youth in Texas, Dr. Moreland is married to Diane Moreland, who serves as Research Analyst with the Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center, which is part of the School of Social Work at Arizona State University. Dr. and Mrs. Moreland have two daughters, Maddy and Olivia.
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Beth Snyder
Beth Snyder is a small town gal through and through. Growing up in Auxvasse, she started her first business from her childhood bedroom, and successfully put herself through college on the profits. She graduated from Mizzou with a BFA in Fibers and Graphic Design, hoping to someday be a designer of fabric. She has worked in television design and as an art director for magazines, but now owns and operates several creative product and logistics businesses (Handker, Larney + Babs, Court Street Custom Fulfillment and Call Me Liz) rom offices at 413 Court Street in Fulton.
She’s a long-time member of the Chamber Board and champion of the small business dream, and believes there’s no glory in being a starving artist–make that money!
Callaway County Commissioner,
City of Holts Summit City Administrator,
Village of Kingdom City City Manager