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Retirement & Hiring
Three longtime Kansas State employees and Kansas Public Employee Pension Scheme Employees will be retiring this month. Renae Forque, assistant performance officer, retired Sept. 4 after working for the state of Kansas for nearly 30 years. In 1991 she joined KPERS as a public service executive. Forque held multiple roles before being promoted to assistant performance officer in 2007. Julie Bevitt, Benefits Analyst, also retired September 4th. She started at KPERS in August 2018, but began her civil service career in 1989, where she has served with the Treasury Department, the Department of Agriculture, and the Kansas Highway Patrol for the past 30 years. Curt Rasmusson, Chief Accountant, intends to retire on September 25th. He joined KPERS in August 2015 but has worked with many government agencies for the past 35 years, including the Department of Revenue and the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation.
Blaise Mesa joined The Topeka Capital Journal as the newspaper’s local government reporter. Originally from suburban Chicago, Mesa studied journalism at Columbia College Chicago, where he was co-editor-in-chief and executive producer of his campus newspaper. Before moving to Topeka, Mesa interned with the ABC7 Chicago investigation team. Through this experience, Mesa fell in love with journalism and its ability to drive change. Find Mesa on Twitter @Blaise_Mesa. His email is [email protected].
Events
Jeffrey R. Noordhoek, of Lincoln, Neb., was served on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, a wholesale bank that serves as a source of credit for member financial institutions in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Noordhoek will serve on the Board of Directors’ audit and operations committees. Noordhoek is currently the CEO of Nelnet, a credit services company. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska and Boston University. Noordhoek was previously President of Nelnet; Senior vice president of National Education Loan Network, Inc., a subsidiary of Nelnet; and as vice president of Nelnet’s predecessor, Union Financial Services, Inc. Prior to joining Nelnet, he worked for State Street Capital Corporation for seven years in a variety of roles. He is an active member of the Young President’s Organization. Noordhoek is also on the boards of the Cornhusker Council of Boy Scouts of America and the Lincoln Community Foundation.
Michael J. Ruffin has been appointed AT&T‘s director of foreign affairs for the state of Kansas. In this role, Ruffin will work closely with community leaders, policy makers, employees, business leaders and customers to achieve AT & T’s goal of inspiring human progress through the power of communication and entertainment. Ruffin joins Kansas from Louisiana, where he served as the regional director for AT&T in southeast Louisiana, including the New Orleans area. Ruffin has a mix of private and public sector experience, having previously worked for Caesars Entertainment and held a number of positions in the New Orleans Mayor’s office. His background includes experience in operations, human resource development and strategic planning.
Awards, honors and recognitions
Cotton O’Neil Pediatrics was recently awarded a Bronze certification by the Kansas Infant Death and SIDS Network for the clinic’s commitment to best practice and education about infant sleep. The Safe Sleep Star program that awarded certification was initiated by the Kansas Infant Death and SIDS Network – a Kansas-based organization dedicated to reducing the risk of infant death through support services, community education, professional training and Support prescribed related research. Cotton O’Neil Pediatrics has also been recognized for following the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended guidelines for safe sleep and providing educational programs for caregivers, staff, and the community.
Topeka business coach Anthony Blanco was recently called Global Business Coach for Employee of the Year from ActionCOACH Business Coaching during their annual gala. Blanco has been a business coach and owner at Topeka for more than 20 years and has been part of the ActionCOACH Topeka franchise for almost four years. He and Earl Kemper, owner and master coach of ActionCOACH Topeka, train clients under the umbrella of the Premier Advisory Group, based at 100 S. Kansas Ave.
Nine Kansas Department of Transportation Employees from the Topeka area celebrate service anniversaries in October. Michael Hays, senior equipment operator and Gary Farlow, Specialist in engineering, celebrates 40 years with KDOT. Charlotte Fitzgerald, Specialist for engineering technicians, celebrates 30 years of existence at KDOT. Terry Blackwell, Environmental officer; Kurt Daniels and David Howard, both priority assessors superiors; and Leann Oblander, Management analyst, will celebrate 20 years at KDOT each time. and Michael Degand III, senior technician, and Susan Hageman, Specialist in personnel development, are celebrating 10 years at KDOT.
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