Two Southwestern Michigan College employees were presented five-year service pins at the Nov. 20 Board of Trustees meeting.

SMC Secretary William M. White presented a five-year service pin to Judy Mustak of Elkhart at the Nov. 20 Board of Trustees meeting on the Dowagiac campus. Mustak, the administrative assistant to the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, earned a certificate in paralegal studies from Indiana University South Bend. She was previously employed with IUSB as secretary to the director of admissions and student services specialist.

At the same meeting, SMC Chairman Keith McKenzie presented a five-year service pin to Treasurer Becky Moore.

She was appointed to the SMC board in 2012. She is a native of Lowell, Indiana and moved to Cass County with her family when she was in high school, where she attended Marcellus schools.

As a teenager, she landed her first job working in the front office of the former Jessup Door Co. in Dowagiac. She later went to work for Lyons Industries, where she discovered her passion for accounting after helping with an audit of the company’s books.

At the advice of former SMC Vice Chair Dale Lyons and his wife, Doris, Moore began studying at SMC, where she obtained her associate in business degree after years of night classes.

She continued her education and obtained a baccalaureate degree in business administration at Western Michigan University in 1984.

Thereafter she became a CPA and worked with two accounting firms in the Kalamazoo area, Alexander Grant, which later became Grant Thornton, and then BDO Seidman. After several years of governmental auditing, she became the finance officer for the Lewis Cass Intermediate School District.

In 1992, Moore returned to financial consulting and founded Accounting Consultants PC, with SMC being her first client.

Although she originally intended to only work part-time from her home office, her business grew rapidly through “word of mouth” and today she has hundreds of clients and up to 10 employees.

This year, as president and founder of her own company, Accounting Consultants celebrated its 25th year in business. The firm has become a popular destination for individuals and businesses throughout Michigan and Indiana.

Moore devoted 25 years of service to the Cass County Fair beginning in 1981 and oversaw the livestock sale for many years. For the fair’s 150th anniversary in 2001, she collected 5,000 pieces of artifacts and memorabilia for an historical perspective.

She chairs the Supervising Committee for Dowagiac Area Federal Credit Union.

In 2015, the SMC board appointed Moore as its representative to the Cass County Transportation Authority Board.

In January 2015, Moore was elected treasurer of SMC by the Board of Trustees.

Becky and her husband, Jim, live in rural Cassopolis.

“Her SMC roots run very deep and she serves for all of the right reasons,” Board of Trustees Chairman Thomas F. Jerdon said. “The best type of board member has two distinct qualities: they are strong leaders and they are flexible with policy decisions. Becky is a perfect example of these qualities. Thank you, Becky, and congratulations on five years of SMC service.”

Southwestern Michigan College is a public, residential and commuter, community college, founded in 1964. The college averages in the top 10 percent nationally for student academic success based upon the National Community College Benchmark Project. Southwestern Michigan College strives to be the college of first choice, to provide the programs and services to meet the needs of students, and to serve our community. The college is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the American Association of Community Colleges.