JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Jay Nixon today announced the appointment of Michael L. Franks, D-Neosho, to the Missouri Southern State University Board of Governors. The Board of Governors acts on behalf of the people of Missouri to oversee the successful implementation of well-planned and sound academic programs of higher learning for the benefit of the students of the college.
Franks is the chief executive officer of the Neosho Area Business and Industrial Foundation and managing partner of Flower Box Real Estate Development, LLC. He is a member of the Neosho Rotary Club and previously served on the Neosho R-V Board of Education, the Missouri State University Board of Governors, the Neosho Arts Council and as a consultant for the Crowder Sheltered Workshop.
He previously worked as merchandising manager for the Thomasville Division of Furniture Brands International and vice-president of marketing for O’Sullivan Industries. Franks attended Missouri State University and has a strategic planning certificate from the American Management Association International. The Governor has appointed him for a term ending August 30, 2021.
Gov. Nixon also announced the appointment of Richard F. Lombardo, D-Kansas City, to the Missouri Gaming Commission. The Gaming Commission enforces the statutes and regulations relating to charitable bingo and riverboat gambling.
Lombardo co-founded Shaffer Lombardo Shurin in 1994 and has been the lead attorney on all of the firm’s major commercial litigation. Prior to Shaffer Lombardo Shurin, Lombardo was a partner at McDowell Rice & Smith and the Linde Thomson Firm. Lombardo began his career as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Lombardo graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Kansas and with distinction from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School. He currently serves on the board of the Midwest Innocence Project. The Governor has appointed him to a term ending April 29, 2018.
The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Missouri Senate.
