KUDOS
Eight people at Mission Viejo-based Merit Property Management Inc. won Vision Awards at the California Association of Community Managers ceremony recently held at the Disneyland Hotel. Winners were: Jon Cernok, Wil Cloake, Bert DeMascio, Jim Gesner, Bill Stewart, Katie Ward, Britta Graham and Brian Taylor.
The Orange County Council of AeA honored Gordon Taylor, chief executive at Irvine-based Racal Instruments Inc., as its 2003 outstanding executive at a private company. Taylor has been with Racal for more than 40 years and led a buyout of the maker of electronic testing gear last year.
Golden West College English professor Dibakur Barua received the John W. Rice Award for Diversity and Equity. Barua received the statewide award for promoting diversity and student equality in community colleges.
Irvine’s KTGY Group Inc. earned 13 merit honors in the 2003 Gold Nugget Awards competition. Gold Nugget awards recognize achievements in architectural design and land-use planning for residential, commercial and industrial projects.
The Irvine Company’s Irvine Community Development Co. received a Gold Nugget award for its Shady Canyon community in Irvine. The development was picked for its preservation and naturalistic design.
The National Science Foundation awarded the Ocean Institute in Dana Point a three-year grant of $863,000. The foundation awards the most significant programs in the county.
Sharon Winston of Lee Hecht Harrison was awarded the 2003 Adecco Chairman’s Award. The award recognizes executives for their efforts in company growth and quality management.
Karen Peterson, president of Lunchtime Inc., earned the School Foodservice and Nutrition Specialist credential, which recognizes people who have achieved high academic and work experience in their field.
Santa Clara’s Align Technology Inc., a maker of teeth straightening and other dental products, recognized Jason T. Bock as one of the top Invisalign doctors in North America. Bock has served Orange County patients for nearly 20 years.
Orange County’s Stephanie Hardy won three gold medals in equestrian competitions at the Special Olympics World Games in Ireland. Despite being born with the brain disorder microcephaly, Hardy has been able to ride horses for 14 years.
Strata-Media, an Orange-based advertising agency, won the Gold Addy award from the American Advertising Federation for outstanding print collateral material.
Orange County Register business columnist Jan Norman received a certificate of appreciation recognizing her service to the small business community from Daryl Watton, chair of the Orange County chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives.
The city of Tustin won the national publication marketing award from the National Association of Installation Developers for its marketing of the former Marine helicopter base in the city, which has been renamed the Tustin Legacy Project and is being redeveloped as homes and other uses.
