PEOPLE
Compiled by Tom Nelson
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture trade association Western Growers of Irvine made several management changes. David Zanze, senior vice president and president of Pinnacle Claims Management Inc., will head the expanded Western Growers Assurance Trust operations. Vice president of insurance and loss control Monica Peralta Field will assume underwriting activities. Sales vice president Steven Walker was promoted to senior vice president. Executive vice president Matt McInerney will assume public relations responsibilities. Randy Hause, vice president of membership, will take on internal operations and facilities management duties.
ENVIRONMENTAL
Nova Consulting Group Inc., a provider of environmental and architectural consulting services, named Bill Felix regional manager for its Orange County operations. He will be responsible daily office operations and generating new business. Also, Ken Pitchford joins Nova as a senior geologist. He will manage subsurface investigations related to geotechnical engineering projects.
HEALTHCARE
Cogent Healthcare Inc. of Irvine appointed Dr. Navneet Kathuria national medical director for its inpatient management programs. Kathuria will identify best clinical practices and standardize care delivery across multiple markets. He will be responsible for physician training and mentoring, physician reporting and decision support.
LAW
Costa Mesa-based law firm Rutan & Tucker LLP elevated John Ramirez and Jeffrey Melching to partners. Ramirez is a graduate of the University of Calif-ornia’s Hastings Col-lege of Law. He has been at Rutan for three years. Melching is a 1995 graduate of King Hall School at the University of California, Davis. He handles litigation involving cable and telecommunication law.
Irell & Manella LLP of Los Angeles and Newport Beach elected three new partners, David C. Codell, Roman Melnik and Elizabeth Kimberly Penfil. Codell is a member of the litigation, appellate and intellectual property workgroups. He focuses on entertainment litigation. Melnik, a member of the intellectual property litigation and appellate workgroups, focuses on patent and trade secret litigation. Penfil works with the appellate, art law, intellectual property and litigation workgroups. She will focus on business litigation in state and federal courts.
MARKETING
Irvine-based Lages & Associates appointed Dana Brzozkiewicz account coordinator. Brzozkiewicz, a recent graduate of the University of Missouri, will work with senior staff members to provide public relations and communication services.
MICE Display Works of Irvine appointed Glenda Luker director of international operations, responsible for expanding business in global markets. She previously worked at Folio Print Inc. in Los Angeles as a senior account executive.
NONPROFIT
Collette Morse, senior project manager in RBF Consulting’s planning department, became president of the California chapter of the American Planning Association. The association serves to educate policymakers on land-use planning issues and advocate policy changes to incorporate planning principles. She will chair the association’s strategic plan committee.
REAL ESTATE
Daniel Flynn was named director of land acquisition for the South Coast division of Newport Beach-based John Laing Homes. He will be responsible for site selection, due diligence investigation, financial analysis and entitlement approvals. His initial focus will be pursuing infill acquisitions in OC.
Los Angeles-based KB Home hired Rodney Jackson as human resources director for its Southern California business units, including OC. He will manage human resources, build organizational capacity and “bench” strength. He previously managed human resources at Peregrine Systems Inc. in San Diego.
Laura Tarbutton joined the OC office of brokerage and property management firm Charles Dunn Co. as a portfolio manager. Prior to joining Dunn, she was a property manager for Coldwell Banker Commercial, where she managed a portfolio of apartments, retail and commercial properties.
