Compiled by Kelly Ryan
Morgan Marketing & Public Relations LLC received the 2007 Distinguished Service Award from the Orange County chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. The agency was recognized for its pro bono work and charitable giving to more than 100 local and national groups. Melinda Morgan is president of the company, which does marketing for restaurants and other businesses.
The Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County honored Michael Adams and Cedric Ferrell at its 16th annual awards banquet. Adams is an independent sales contractor with Orange County Printing Consultants. He received the Michael R. Jones Business Impact Award. Ferrell is a franchisee for The Entrepreneur’s Source and was presented with the Businessperson of the Year Award.
Carol Kurimsky was named one of VAR-Business Magazine’s Power 50 Women of the Channel. Kurimsky is vice president of marketing at Ingram Micro Inc. in Santa Ana. She was honored for the ongoing contributions her marketing department brings to technology products resellers and service companies.
Three employees of Professional Community Management of California Inc. were honored by the California Association of Community Managers. Chief Operating Officer Debbie Evans received the Lifetime Achieve-ment Award. General Manager Tim Peckham was given the President’s Award. Community Manager Sue Evans received the Vision Award for Creative Solutions.
LearningRx, a learning center for students in Mission Viejo, earned the Community Impact Award at the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based company’s 2007 national convention. The award is determined by a center’s number of students in a year.
Vincent Camilo received the $1 Million Benchmark Award at the DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen national conference. Camilo is owner of DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen of San Clemente. The award is granted when franchisees reach $1 million in annual retail sales.
Three lawyers from the Irvine office of Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP were named Southern California Rising Stars by Super Lawyers magazine. Audrey Huang, Carollyn Lobell and Suzanne Skov specialize in environmental law, land use and zoning issues. Nossaman was the only firm with more than one Rising Star listed in the environmental section.
Civic Ventures named Santa Ana’s Eileen McNerney one of its 2007 Purpose Prize Fellows. In 1995, Sister McNerney launched Taller San Jose tailored to Santa Ana’s unskilled and unemployed young adults. The program provides intensive training in medical careers, office skills and residential construction.
Law & Business magazine ranked Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear in the top 10 nationally and No. 1 on the West Coast in patent litigation. Rankings are based on annual surveys and the number of patent suits filed in federal district courts during the calendar year 2006.
Michael R. Haynes was named one of “America’s Best CEOs” by DeMarche Associates Inc. Haynes has been chief executive of Collectors Universe Inc. in Santa Ana since 2003. He is a certified public accountant and certified financial planner. Haynes co-founded the Industry Council for Tangible Assets in Washington, D.C.
The city of San Diego honored Walter Odening by creating a Walter Odening day. Odening is director of biology at Irvine-based Chambers Group. He was recognized for his 12 years of volunteer service for the city’s Community Forestry Board.
Chambers USA recognized Warren Platt in its 2007 list of America’s leading business law-yers. Platt is a partner at Snell & Wilmer LLP in Costa Mesa. He was listed in the category of litigation: product liability.
Neudesic, which sells, installs and customizes business software from Microsoft Corp., was ranked in the top 10 of the 2007 CRN Fast Growth 100 List. Award winners are selected for their use of innovative methods to grow their business. Neudesic also ranked No. 11 on the Business Journal’s October list of fast-growing private companies.
The Association for Financial Professionals recognized Christi Mejer as part of its Honors Program for 2007. Mejer is chief financial and administrative officer of JSerra Catholic High School and St. Anne School. She joined the JSerra staff in 2006 and has more than 14 years of experience in the finance. She has held positions as corporate controller, corporate treasurer and chief financial officer.
Santa Ana-based Pridemark-Everest Insurance Services Inc. received the 2006 Chairman’s Award. Golden Eagle Insurance recognizes its highest performing agencies with the Chairman’s Award when an agency achieves size, growth and loss ratio goals. Pridemark-Everest Managing Principal Angelo Maroutsos accepted the Chairman’s Award.
California State University Fullerton’s Theta Phi Chapter of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority was recognized for excellence in leadership, chapter operations and philanthropic efforts as breast cancer awareness advocates. Theta Phi received the Crown Chapter Award, given by the Zeta Tau Alpha National Council. This is the second consecutive year the chapter received the award. Nikki Nguyen is president of the Theta Phi Chapter.
Anne Shih received the annual Charles and Ada Bowers Award for her contributions to the Bowers Museum. Shih is vice chair of the museum’s board of governors. Shih has promoted the Bowers Museum to the Chinese community for more than 10 years. Also, she has negotiated and planned for the arrival of several exhibits.
Robert B. Grant was awarded the California Society of CPAs’ Public Service Award for 2007. Grant has been a solo practitioner with an office in Corona del Mar since 2005 and used to head Deloitte & Touche LLP in Orange County. He has served as a board member and in other capacities for 13 groups, including the Orange County Community Foundation, United Way and the Pediatric Adolescent Diabetes and Research Foundation.
Psomas in Costa Mesa won a Highway/Community Enhancement Project of the Year Tranny Award from the California Transportation Foundation. Psomas received the award for its El Toro Road traffic and landscape improvement project for the city of Lake Forest. The improvements widened El Toro from six to eight lanes and improved lighting and traffic flow at the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway ramp.
Arts Orange County honored Ralph Opacic, Ramya Harishankar and Joan Irvine Smith with the 2007 Arts OC Helena Modjeska Cultural Legacy Awards. Opacic was given the Artistic Visionary award and is founder, executive director and president of the OC High School of the Arts. Harishankar received the Artist award and is founder of Arpana Dance Co. Smith was given the Community Visionary award and is a writer, art patron and preservationist.
Jean Ortmayer earned the Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist designation. Ortmayer is an allied member of the American Society of Interior Designers and is a certified interior designer. She has been the owner of Tustin-based Jean Ortmayer Interior Design for 25 years. She is a design volunteer with HomeAid and has participated in the Holiday Showcase event at the Laguna Design Center.
Vanguard University of Southern California was ranked fourth in U.S. News & World Report’s best baccalaureate colleges on the West list. Rankings were created with the help of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. Vanguard was also selected for a list of great schools, great prices and received a ranking of sixth in the West.
The Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach earned awards in the Advertising, Publicity/Media Relations, Publications and Comprehensive Marketing Strategy categories from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Marketing Chair Carrie Reynolds thanked Milt and Barbi Naylor and Impact Marketing Specialists for their donations. The campaign resulted in increased membership enrollment.
Children’s Hospital of OC was honored with the Gold Award in the 2007 Aster Awards competition. CHOC’s television commercial entry scored in the top 5%. The award recognizes the nation’s most talented healthcare professionals for excellence in advertising.
