Columbia Office
Mark Knackendoffel, J.D.
President and CEO, Manhattan office
Mark founded The Trust Company in 1992. He began his career in trust and investment management in 1983 after earning his juris doctor and MBA from the University of Kansas. He is also a graduate of Emporia State University with a bachelor’s in Public Administration and Economics. He formerly...
Polly Reynolds, CPA, CTFA
Vice President and Trust Officer, Columbia office
Polly established The Trust Company’s Columbia office in 2012, serving as manager and priding herself on extremely close relationships with her clients. “The needs of our clients are my highest priority. We try to exceed expectations every day and contribute to our clients’ lives in ways that...
Jenny Hayes
Account Administrator, Columbia office
The Trust Company of Columbia welcomed Jenny to the team in late 2017. As Account Administrator, her primary responsibility is client care. That means she’s responsible for client account maintenance and setup, in addition to being the first point of contact for the office. “The client...
Investment Management
Eli Sallman, MBA, CFP®, CIMA®
Vice President & Investment Officer - Portfolio Manager, Lawrence office
As Portfolio Manager and a member of the Investment Committee, Eli has direct responsibility for asset allocation and fixed income strategies. His role in client service is to guide clients through the investment process and ensure that their long-term goals and risk tolerance remain in alignment...
Toby Marks
Vice President & Portfolio Manager, Manhattan office
Toby joined The Trust Company’s Investment Management team in 2018, after long and successful associations with American Century Investments and online advisory firm Financial Engines.
Financial Planning
Katie Seay, CFP®, CTFA
Vice President & Trust Officer - Director of Financial Planning, Manhattan office
Katie Seay (pronounced “See”) joined The Trust Company in 2012 as Director of Financial Planning and has earned the additional title of Vice President & Trust Officer. In her college days as a University of Georgia Bulldog, she “stumbled upon” the financial planning profession while searching...
Kristen Buchman, CFP®
Associate Trust Officer & Financial Planner, Manhattan office
A member of our growing financial planning team, Kristen graduated from Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Personal Financial Planning and a minor in Business Administration. In 2018 she was authorized by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board) to use the...
Mackenzie Blakeslee
Paraplanner, Manhattan office
A Personal Financial Planning (PFP) course during the summer after Mackenzie’s sophomore year at K-State turned out to be a serendipitous encounter with her future career. In fact, she loved it so much that she’s pursuing her master’s degree while focusing her days on client service as a...
Samantha Varacalli
Account Administrator, Manhattan office
As Account Administrator on Katie Seay’s team, Samantha has responsibility for both administering client accounts and supporting The Trust Company’s financial planning division. She graduated from Southern Illinois University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance. She already has a solid...
Retirement Plans
Todd Chyba
Vice President, Trust & Compliance Officer - Retirement Plan Specialist, Manhattan office
A friend in Manhattan told Scott City product Todd Chyba (“HIB-uh”) that The Trust Company was looking for someone just like him, which led him to join the company in 2011 as the compliance officer and retirement plan specialist. Of course, as a former K-Stater, and as the husband of a Manhattan...
Operations
Anne Lewis-Smith
Vice President, Operations Manager and Chief Financial Officer, Manhattan office
Wichita native Anne Lewis-Smith has been with the Manhattan office of The Trust Company since 1998, and is in charge of all internal operations, providing the advisors, investment managers and support staff with the capacity to fully serve client needs. She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting...
Michelle Duggan
Operations and Network Administrator, Manhattan office
Michelle joined the Manhattan office of The Trust Company in 1992 and is the longest-serving employee, having worked with CEO Mark Knackendoffel since 1989 in a previous job. As part of the Operations Team, some of her responsibilities include transfers, daily account balancing and IT functions....
Tammy Wainwright
Operations Administrator, Manhattan office
A behind-the-scenes person on Anne Lewis-Smith’s team, Tammy relishes the role of providing support for front-line staff who work directly with clients. “Trust work is very personal and we have a lot of responsibility to our clients. My job is to make everything run as smoothly as possible for...
Alison Champlin
Operations Administrator, Manhattan office
A former Classy Cat, cosmetologist and third-grade entrepreneur, Alison joined the Manhattan office of The Trust Company in 2013 as a receptionist and moved to Anne Lewis-Smith’s operations team in 2014. Her duties include back-end client support such as billing, setting up client accounts, and...
Marketing
Laura Hovind
Director of Marketing, Manhattan office
A 2014 addition to The Trust Company, Laura considers herself a creative strategist. She is responsible for developing and executing marketing plans for all of our offices. “Working with such a wonderful, knowledgeable group of people makes it easy for me to spread the word about what makes The...
