Earle M. Jorgensen Co. Names Controller
Eric Sand has been named controller of the Earle M. Jorgensen Co., Brea, one of the five largest steel distributors in the nation and the fourth-largest private company in Orange County, according to this year’s Business Journal list.
Sand, a CPA who has been with the company for four years, has held a variety of positions in the accounting and finance departments and was director of logistics for the company. He replaces Bill Johnson who was promoted to CFO.
Prior to joining EMJ, Sand was corporate controller and chief accounting officer for Zero Corp. and a senior audit manager with Arthur Andersen & Co. in LA.
Sand said he has made some impact looking at operations and re-engineering projects not normally part of a financial officer’s job, and hopes to continue to be involved with the operations aspect of the company.
Sand lives in Walnut with his wife, Colleen, a homemaker, and children ages 11, 9 and 7. He counts tennis, golf, softball and gardening among his favorite spare-time activities.
Earle M. Jorgensen Co. has about 1,900 company-wide employees, 84 of which are in OC. For the last fiscal year ended March 31, the company posted $915.8 million in revenue.
,Sandi Cain
Advertising
DGWB, Irvine, promoted Dave Swartz to associate creative director. Swartz joined the agency last year from Mullen Advertising in Massachusetts.
Architecture
Sharie Igawa joined Carlile/Coatsworth/Shankweiler Architects Inc., Irvine, as a junior architect. Igawa, a graduate of the University of Hawaii, will assist project managers with site surveys and other tasks. Anibal Vargas joined the firm as a junior architect. Vargas is a graduate of the Southern California Institute of Architecture. Carlile/Coatsworth also hired Jeffrey Poland as a project architect. Poland has 30 years of architectural experience.
Ware & Malcomb Architects Inc. announced several new hires for the Irvine firm. Suzanne Hazell was named project manager for the interiors group. She comes to Ware & Malcomb from Shlemmer & Kamus and is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach. Matthew Brady was hired as project architect for commercial and industrial projects. Brady has over 10 years of experience, most recently with Gensler in San Francisco. Moses Gonzales was named network administrator. He was previously a computer consultant for Market/Fx in Costa Mesa. Cynthia Johnston was hired as a designer for the interiors group. She is a graduate of UCI. Randy Bosch was named project architect for the firm’s healthcare group. He was previously senior architect for Nobles & Associates.
Banking and Finance
Michael W. Kent was promoted to vice president for RREEF Funds in the company’s Irvine office. Kent was previously regional manager for property management for the company.
Dana Niguel Bank, Dana Point, hired J.W. “Bill” Huntsberger as vice president and commercial loan officer. Huntsberger has 27 years of commercial banking experience in Orange County.
Hunter Wise Financial Group appointed Charles Paul managing director of the international investment banking firm in Newport Beach. Paul was formerly managing director for Geneva Capital Markets in Irvine and of Paul-Adams & Company, a Los Angeles advisory firm he founded in 1994.
Fred Zago was named bank manager of retail banking for Irvine-based Western Financial Bank. Zago has 14 years of experience in the banking industry.
TriStar Capital, Santa Ana, hired Alison Jewett as credit manager. TriStar provides equipment leasing and financing for small- to mid-sized businesses.
Tustin-based Sunwest Bank named Dale Herring vice president, SBA business development officer. Prior to joining Sunwest, Herring was vice president for Goleta National Bank. In addition, Karen Bouslog was named vice president, business development officer. Bouslog was previously with Pacific National Bank.
Christine LeBlanc, a 20-year escrow veteran, joined HeritageEscrow Company’s Laguna Niguel office as a senior escrow officer in charge of developing and serving clients in South Orange County.
Biomedical
Dr. Scott M. Whitcup was named vice president, ophthalmology therapeutic area for Irvine-based Allergan Inc. Whitcup will oversee the ophthalmology development portfolio, directing all global project teams and clinical programs for new products worldwide.
Richard A. Meier will take over the reins as CFO of ICN Pharmaceuticals on Jan. 1 from John E. Giordani, who is reducing his role with the company due to health problems. Meier joined ICN last year and has held financial positions with Salomon Smith Barney and Manufacturers Hanover Corp.
Radiance Medical Systems, Irvine, hired Dr. Edward F. Smith III as vice president, research and development. Most recently, Smith was director, endovascular research and development at Mallinckrodt Inc.
Construction
DMK, a Tustin-based construction company, hired Sandra S. Buonarigo as controller. Buonarigo has 16 years of experience in the construction industry and came to the company from Koll Construction.
Tom Ryan and John Johnston were named vice presidents for the Costa Mesa office of the Carlson Group. Ryan oversees business development for the Western U.S., while Johnston directs the nationwide information technology needs for the company.
Education
The UCI Extension Women’s Opportunities Center named Victoria Curtin director. Curtin will oversee expansion of the center’s membership, programs and services. She has been acting director of the center for the past year and previously was assistant director of the UCI Extension Corporate Education Program and the Executive Education program at UCI’s Graduate School of Management.
Richard Porter was named vice president of student services for Golden West College, Huntington Beach. Porter succeeds Dr. Margie Lewis, now the president of Cypress College.
Melinda Masson, CEO of Merit Property Management in Mission Viejo, was elected to the board of governors for Chapman University in Orange.
Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa named Karen Newell Young, former director of public information at UCI, communications manager. She is responsible for media relations, publications and public information requests.
California State University, Fullerton, appointed three communications professionals to lecturer positions: Tom Clanin, Dennis Gaschen and Eileen Nichols. Clanin is a 25-year journalism veteran and co-author of a college text on copy editing; Gaschen formed his own agency in 1995 after stints with United Way, St. Joseph Hospital and UniHealth. Nichols has 17 years of experience with advertising agencies.
Engineering
Irvine-based ASL Consulting Engineers hired Michael Hoover as director of water resources. He has worked on numerous water resource management and engineering projects in the Southwest during his 30-year career.
Environmental
The Planning Center, Costa Mesa, added Erik Krause to its staff. Krause has over nine years of experience in environmental remediation.
Healthcare
Critical-care nurse Susan L. Fitch was elected to the board of directors for the Saddleback Memorial Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Saddleback Memorial Medical Center where she has worked for the past 21 years.
Aegis Assisted Living, Laguna Niguel, hired Becky Spencer and Kimberlee Monsour as marketing directors of the new facility. The assisted living and Alzheimer’s facility will be the Redmond, Wash. company’s first foray into Orange County.
Francis X. Rodgers joined Costa Mesa-based ARV Assisted Living as regional vice president in charge of the company’s Southern California operations. He will oversee 20 communities throughout the area. Rodgers came to ARV from Cleveland, Ohio-based Life Care Centers of America.
Tustin-based Toshiba America Medical Systems promoted Steven E. Oblen to director, ultrasound sales operations and business development. Oblen has 12 years of experience in the healthcare industry, two of them with Toshiba.
Law
Corporate law attorney Gregory Preston joined the Irvine office of Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory LLP as chair of the corporate practice. He will also oversee the firm-wide corporate group expansion plan. Preston comes to the firm from the OC office of McDermott, Will & Emery.
Michael Abney joined the Costa Mesa offices of Drosman, Anapoell & Salis LLP where he will serve as of counsel to the firm. Abney practices in the areas of business and real estate litigation.
Bruce E. Bartram, Andrew M. Sussman and James L. Meier were hired as associates with the Santa Ana firm of Hart, King & Coldren. Bartram specializes in land use, environmental law and governmental law and procedures. Sussman handles matters involving commercial real estate, transactional issues, unfair competition, intellectual property, bankruptcy and Internet-related disputes. Meier specializes in matters related to business, real estate and construction litigation.
Horwitz & Beam, Irvine, named corporate and securities attorney Lynne Bolduc partner in the firm. She joined Horwitz & Beam in 1995.
Laurel R. Zaeske became a shareholder in the law firm of Rus, Miliband & Smith, Irvine. She specializes in complex business litigation and bankruptcy. In addition, D. Edward Hays joined the firm as a bankruptcy specialist.
Manufacturing
Lake Forest-based Aviation Distributors Inc., an aircraft parts redistributor and provider of inventory management services to commercial airlines, named John B. Jacobs senior vice president of sales and Fred Goetschel vice president of marketing and sales. Both Jacobs and Goetschel have been in the aviation industry for more than 10 years and come to the company from Burbank-based Airmotive Inc.
Dr. Robert King was appointed executive director of engineering for The Mexmil Company, Santa Ana. King has 19 years of experience in engineering research and development and will be responsible for strategic planning and technical advancements for Mexmil.
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