Scott Credit Union President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Padak was selected to serve a three-year term on the Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The council advises St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard on the credit, banking and economic conditions facing the Eighth District, which includes Arkansas and parts of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Padak lives in Highland and has been with Scott Credit Union since 1994. He was elected president and chief executive officer in February 2005.

Scott Schanuel joined Holland Construction Services in Swansea as senior director of business development and client relations. He recently served as the interim executive director of the Leadership Council Southwestern Illinois and was a senior planner and project manager at Woolpert Inc.

Katie Jacobi joined HeplerBroom LLC in the St. Louis office as an associate attorney. HeplerBroom LLC traces its history to 1894 and has 88 attorneys in its offices in Edwardsville, St. Louis, Springfield and Chicago.

The Edwardsville Chamber of Commerce appointed Desiree Bennyhoff as executive director. Bennyhoff served as the chamber's interim executive director since August.

Lenzburg resident Melissa Hart was selected as one of the nation's top McDonald's restaurant managers. Hart, the manager of the New Baden McDonald's received the Ray Kroc Award, a performance-based award named after McDonald's corporate founder Ray Kroc that recognizes the top 1 percent of McDonald's restaurant managers in the country. Hart won this honor twice before, in 2000 and 2003. Fewer than 140 McDonald's managers were selected this year.

Dan Rosner, Assistant Community Director of Cougar Village at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, was named the regional National Residence Hall Honorary Advisor of the Month for December. NRHH is the recognition branch of the National Association of College and University Residence Halls.

Strano & Associates was recently ranked as one of the top 50 largest women-owned businesses in the St. Louis area by the St. Louis Business Journal. Belleville resident Dede Strano is the co-founder and president of the firm, which has seven offices throughout St. Clair, Madison, Clinton and Monroe counties.