Magen Starnes has joined Scott McElveen, L.L.P., as staff accountant for Assurance and Advisory Services.

Magen Starnes Joseph Alton Bivens has qualified for certification as a specialist in the taxation law area by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Command Sgt. Maj. Chet A. Welch of West Columbia, S.C., and the battalion’s command sergeant major has been presented with a signed unit patch replica from members of the Headquarters and Headquarters Co., 751st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion.

Mike Gardner, president of Hospital Operations for American Security, has been selected as chairman of the South Carolina Chapter for The International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety.

J. Todd Thornburg, PhD; Katrina Fryar, MBA, PMP; and Derek Mar t have been added to the staff of Health Sciences South Carolina.

Tushar Chikhl iker and Suzi Gr igg have been elected members of Nexsen Pruet.

Command Sgt. Maj. Chet A. Welch The South Carolina Sierra Club has awarded 2009 club awards to Jim Robey, Silent Footprinters Award; Richland District 72 Representative James Smith Jr., Elected Official of the Year; and Allison Smetana, Student Environmental Excellence Award. These and other winners will be recognized at the Sierra Club’s 1st Annual Awards Luncheon at the Columbia Museum of Art January 15.

The Richland County Public Library Foundation has elected the following officers board members: Frank W. Cureton, chair; Robert E. Gahagan, vice chair; W. Bert Brannon, secretary/treasurer; and board members Nathaniel A. Barber, Barbara S. Griffin, W. Steven Johnson, John S. Nichols, Lenora “Nonie” Pr ice, Lee Rambo, Dr. Walter Tobin Jr., and John C. Bradley Jr.

Donald (“Donnie”) E. Pickett has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer of SCBT Financial Corporation.

Frank W. Cureton Blake Caudle, a junior attending the University of South Carolina in Columbia and Florence, S.C. resident, is one of five winners of New York Life Insurance Company’s 11th annual College Agent Intern Program summer sales contest. Caudle interned in the Central Carolina General Office in Columbia, SC.
Robert E. Gahagan
W. Bert Brannon
Donald E. Pickett
Blake Caudle