ACCOUNTING
Ernest & Young, Irvine announced the transfer of Gretchen Valentine to the firm’s technology and communications practice. Valentine has 18 years of experience as a tax consulting specialist and will help the company develop tailored tax plans. In addition, Barry Gershenovitz was promoted to partner in the Orange County office. Gershenovitz has worked with clients that include Fluor Corp., FutureLink and Broadcom.
ADVERTISING
Newport Beach-based Point B Inc. added Michael Baier as a new account coordinator. Prior to joining Point B, Baier was an account executive in business development for RocketTalk Inc., an online voice messaging company.
ARCHITECTS
MBH Architects added seven architects to its Newport Beach office. David Lacey, with 18 years of experience, was named director of quality assurance and operations; Sal Serpico, Mohan Pradhan and Emad Michael were named senior project managers; Ning Chang and Samuel Saludo were named senior designers; and Milford Moralde was named project manager.
Renee Dutro and Donald J. Perdue joined Tustin-based Kluger Kollin Architects Inc. Dutro will be responsible for office administration, marketing and human resources as the company’s project administrator. Perdue, who has more than 30 years of experience in commercial, entertainment and residential projects, was named director of production.
BANKING AND FINANCE
First Bank & Trust named David Wong senior vice president and manager of international banking and business development. Wong brings more than 20 years of experience to this position, which will include development of the bank’s trade finance portfolio.
ENGINEERING
Kerry M. Simpson joined Cash & Associates Engineering and Architecture, a Huntington Beach-based firm. Simpson will assume the duties of vice president and terminal planning manager.
ENTERTAINMENT
The Orange County Fair promoted two staff members and hired two others. Rob Castagnoli was promoted to information systems technician, assuming the responsibility of computer system support and administration of telecom resources. Kathy Hudson was promoted to accounting manager. New appointees were Kristen Mason, advanced ticket sales coordinator and Dave Brokaw, chief of public safety.
HEALTHCARE
Michael D. Stephens and Richard M. Taketa, M.D., were elected to serve on Hoag Memorial Hospital’s board of directors. Stephens has been president and CEO of Hoag Hospital for 25 years. Taketa has been a radiologist on Hoag’s medical staff since 1981.
PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. promoted Maria Fitzpatrick to chief information officer of the Santa Ana company. Fitzpatrick joined the company in 1996 as vice president of information systems development and was appointed interim CIO in March 2000.
Jonna Greenlee was appointed vice president of real estate and facilities for Western Dental Services Inc., Orange. Greenlee will be responsible for site selection, lease negotiation and supervision of construction of all tenant improvements for Western Dental facilities.
INSURANCE
Kevin Skjei joined the Newport Beach office of Marsh Risk and Insurance Services as head of the retirement practice for businesses in Orange and Los Angeles counties. Skjei, a registered investment advisor, specializes in advising corporations on 401k programs and investment planning.
LAW
Harriet B. Alexson, formerly a partner with Loeb & Loeb, joined the Santa Ana law firm of Hart, King & Coldren. Her clients include financial institutions and emerging technology companies. In addition, Bruce W. Dannemeyer was named a senior associate at the firm and will continue to concentrate his practice in the field of business and commercial litigation.
Julianne Sartain, a partner at Irvine law firm Snell & Wilmer, has been elected president of the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Orange County. Sartain is the first female president of the nonprofit organization, which offers educational programs to high school students.
NONPROFITS
The Regional Center of Orange County elected Stephen Sherman and Karen Chen to its board of directors. Sherman owns an Allstate insurance and investment agency in Laguna Hills; Chen is a public policy analyst with the California Association of Realtors and is based in Laguna Niguel.
Henry Samueli, co-chair of Irvine-based Broadcom Corp., has been named to the Council on Competitiveness, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit association. The organization conducts research and creates initiatives designed to increase U.S. economic competitiveness.
Orange Elderly Services elected John Silverman president, Richard Alarcon first vice president, John Chestnut second vice president, Helen Walker treasurer, and John Kaiser secretary.
ORGANIZATIONS
Adam Finney was named director of member services of the National Nutritional Foods Association. Finney will be responsible for developing and overseeing the association’s membership retention and recruitment program.
REAL ESTATE
MBK Homes Ltd., a division of MBK Real Estate Ltd., Irvine, hired Denise Petersen as project manager. Prior to joining MBK, Petersen was planning manager for Ryland Homes.
Bob Sacks, a former commercial real estate business owner, has joined Sperry Van Ness as a senior associate specializing in apartment sales.
CarrAmerica Realty Corp.appointed Malcolm O’Donnell senior vice president and managing director of the Southern California region. O’Donnell will be responsible for CarrAmerica’s Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego office portfolios.
Ron Garcia was named senior deputy director of Fannie Mae’s Los Angeles Partnership Office. Garcia is responsible for implementing the House Orange County investment plan, a five-year, $6 billion investment plan to finance affordable housing and rental assistance for 60,000 families in Orange County. Garcia recently was vice president of residential lending at Quaker City Bank.
TECHNOLOGY
Ethentica, Lake Forest, appointed Doug Antone president and CEO. Antone joined the company a year ago and is a former division president at Ingram Micro Inc. In addition, Mark O’Hare was promoted to COO, and Mike Walthall joined the company as vice president of finance and CFO. In other personnel moves, Brian Berger was promoted to senior vice president of business development, John Golden was named senior vice president of operations and Grant Johnson joined the company as senior vice president of marketing.
Adrian I. Rice was named vice president of the office products group for Targus Inc. Rice has 20 years of sales and marketing experience, with expertise in retail and multi-tier reseller sales channels.
Toshiba America Information Systems appointed Chris Harrington corporate-level vice president of strategy and business development, a newly created position. Harrington joined Toshiba in 1997 as vice president of business planning at the company’s telecommunication systems division.
Kathleen Smith was promoted to regional vice president of Allegiance Telecom’s Pacific Southwest region. Smith will be responsible for sales to small and medium-sized businesses in the Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Denver markets.
