Esperanza Massana Crane will serve as the director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Small Business & Entrepreneurship Development Division. She has been with the AEDC since 2013 and has been director of the Minority & Women-Owned Business Enterprise Division since 2021.
J.R. Howard will serve as acting director of the Arkansas State Crime Lab. He was the ASCL director from April 2004-May 2007 and served more than 34 years with the Arkansas State Police.
Jack Pillow has been hired as director of economic development at the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce. His responsibilities include existing business retention and expansion, as well as supporting recruitment and talent development initiatives.
Christopher Morgan has been promoted to vice chairman of the board of directors at Farmers & Merchants Bank of Stuttgart. He serves on the Stuttgart Memorial Hospital Foundation board and practices medicine at the Stuttgart Medical Clinic and Baptist Health Medical Center in Stuttgart.
Joyce N. Rinaldi has been hired to the partner group of HCJ CPAs & Advisors PLLC of Little Rock. She will serve as the firm’s first remote partner and will lead its Client Accounting Service Department. She previously served as partner at BMSS Advisors & CPAs LLC’s client accounting and advisory services group.
Karen Shaw has been promoted to chief risk officer at Citizens Bank of Batesville. She served as chief financial officer for 10 years at the bank.
Mark Green has been hired as senior vice president for the property and casualty practice of Stephens Insurance LLC. He will be focusing on cyber-risk. He has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. Additionally, Rich Krutsch has been hired as senior vice president within the employee benefits division. He brings more than 25 years of experience to the position.
Arkansas Capital Corp. has announced its newest hires. Adriana Fuentes Archila has been hired as vice president of community development. She was previously with the Arkansas Small Business & Technology Development Center. Braden Duke has been hired as vice president/portfolio manager. He previously worked at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Deepali Lal has been hired as vice president of compliance. She has a background in immigration and employment law. Tismina Toh has been hired as finance manager. She has more than 20 years of experience in banking, loan administration and accounting with companies in Arkansas.
Jay Muccione has been hired as a software developer at Mainstream Technologies of Little Rock. His responsibilities will include the design, development and deployment of full-stack software solutions.
Colette D. Honorable has been named executive vice president of public policy and chief external affairs officer at Exelon of Chicago. She was previously the chief of staff at the Arkansas attorney general’s office.
Rachel Avra of Conway Corp. has earned the Society for Human Resource Management-Certified Professional credential. She is the human resources specialist and has been with the company since 2021. Mitch Hurley has been promoted to foreman, water systems at Conway Corp. He will oversee and coordinate activities of utility workers engaged in cleaning, repairing and installing of water system pipes, manholes, hydrants and valves.
Eliza Castillo has been hired as senior director of customer experience at Summit Utilities Inc. of Little Rock. She was previously with CenterPoint Energy of Little Rock. Additionally, Cindy Westcott has rejoined as vice president of customer development. She will focus on Summit’s customer growth, energy efficiency and customer experience. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the energy and natural gas utility industry.
See more of this week’s Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers.
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