Our opinion: Congratulations in order for several friends, neighbors

It’s always good to see our friends and neighbors doing well. We’ve been seeing quite a bit of that lately, as a matter of fact.

A few examples:

Joe Gilgour, Mineral Area College president and finalist for American Association of Community Colleges CEO of the Year.Submitted

• Joe Gilgour. The Mineral Area College president’s nickname should be “Growth”. He unceasingly works toward expanding the college’s geographic, academic and vocational footprint and raising funds from public and private sources. New facilities in Ste. Genevieve and Cape Girardeau counties are in the planning stages, and MAC’s presence in Cape Girardeau has been beneficial to hundreds of students. These are a few of the reasons Gilgour is one of four finalists for the American Association of Community Colleges CEO of the Year award, which the group will bestow in April. Good luck!

Southeast Missouri native Robert Knodell, former director of Missouri Department of Social Services and now Poplar Bluff city manager.Joe McGraw ~ Daily American Republic

• From Southeast Missouri to the state Capitol and back, Robert Knodell continues to roll up his sleeves and get to work wherever there’s a need. A native of the Poplar Bluff area, Knodell rose through the ranks in the administration of Gov. Mike Parson, serving as deputy chief of staff and then for three years as director of the state Department of Social Services. Recently, Knodell returned to Poplar Bluff as city manager. Officials there have aggressively recruited new industry and used available incentives to grow. Knodell’s knowledge of and contacts in state government will benefit Poplar Bluff going forward.

Holly Thompson Rehder of Sikeston, former state senator and now principal of Missouri government affairs division of AxAdvocacy.Southeast Missourian file

• Speaking of someone familiar with state government … Holly Thompson Rehder of Sikeston spent eight years as a state senator. She didn’t fill a back bench seat while she was there, nor was she content to simply attend legislative meetings and cast votes. An author and well-traveled public speaker, Rehder has heightened awareness of several social ills facing Southeast Missourians and people across the country. She is next taking her talents and skills to AxAdvocacy as principal of the Missouri government affairs division. AxAdvocacy is associated with Axiom Strategies, a Kansas City-based consulting firm.

Janet and Pat Ruopp of Cape Girardeau are Southeast Missouri State University's 2025 Friends of the University.Southeast Missouri State University

• For more than four decades, Janet and Patrick Ruopp operated Ruopp Family Dentistry in Cape Girardeau. For longer than that, they have been supporters of Southeast Missouri State University. SEMO graduates, they have served on the Southeast Missouri University Foundation Board, and most recently, they co-chaired the university’s Transforming Lives fundraising campaign. They have been named 2025 Friends of the University. Well earned.

Congratulations to all of these folks. Their hard work and successes are examples for all of us, and they are absolutely deserving of the accolades they are receiving and positions of great responsibility they are assuming.