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Friday, Apr 10, 2026

PEOPLE

PEOPLE

Compiled by Meenakshi Viswanathan

ACCOUNTING

> Ernst & Young in Irvine made four promotions: Mark Henigan was named partner of the assurance and advisory business services practice; Bob Wright was made director of design and construction for the national real estate services group; and Mel Hudson and Allen Plass were promoted to principals.

ADVERTISING & PUBLIC RELATIONS

Costa Mesa-based healthcare agency Pacific Communications, part of Irvine-based Allergan Inc., hired Henry Lee as vice president, management supervisor for its work on Allergan’s Botox drug.

BANKING

Steve Ozonian was named national homeownership services executive for Bank of America’s consumer real estate division. Ozonian previously was senior vice president and part of the executive management team at Re/Max International Inc. He will work out of Newport Beach.

CONSTRUCTION

Anaheim-based Emercon hired Lee Cooley as general manager of its San Diego office. Emercon has three divisions: Emercon Construction Inc., Emercon Restoration and Interiors and Emercon H2O-Water Damage Specialists.

FINANCE

Merrill Lynch & Co. appointed Gregory Mech as managing director of its Mountain West Region, which covers California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado. He will be based out of the company’s Newport Beach office. Mech has been with Merrill Lynch for 20 years and most recently served as a national sales manager for the Merrill Lynch Advisory Division in Princeton, N.J.

GOVERNMENT

Ashleigh Aitken, an associate in the Irvine office of Los Angeles law firm Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott LLP, was appointed to a four-year term on the community services board by Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle and the City Council.

LAW

McLean,Va.-based Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald LLP added David Johnson as a partner at its Irvine office. The firm also added two litigation associates to its Irvine office: Chris Morrow and Ali Salamirad.

Irvine-based Throckmorton, Beckstrom & Tomassian LLP hired Paul Ultimo as “of counsel.” Ultimo bring 15 years of experience as a developer and construction project manager in Southern California.

MANUFACTURING

Tustin-based power supplies maker Cherokee International Corp. added Clark Hickock as executive vice president, global operations. Hickock is the former executive vice president of global operations for Del Mar’s Remec Inc., which makes voice and data transmission equipment.

NONPROFIT

James Kyle, vice president for the California market of Schaller Anderson Inc., a Phoenix-based healthcare management and consulting company, joined the board of directors of The California Endowment,

a private health foundation, which has

its headquarters in Woodland Hills. Kyle is a Buena Park resident.

Karen Spargo, vice president of sales and marketing for Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp., joined the board of HomeAid, which is the charitable arm of the Building Industry Association.

The Orange County Child Abuse Prevention Center in Santa Ana appointed J. Scott Young to its board of directors. Young, senior audit partner at Wright Ford Young & Co. in Irvine, will serve a two-year term with the center.

REAL ESTATE

Vintage Senior Management Inc., a subsidiary of Newport Beach-based Vintage Senior Housing LLC, appointed Eugenia Quismundo as executive director of its Avalon at Bradford Square senior assisted living community in Placentia.

RESTAURANTS

Juice It Up! Franchise Corp., a fruit smoothie quick service restaurant franchisor in Irvine, promoted Brandon Gough to president. Gough joined Juice It Up in 2003 as vice president, marketing and operations. The company also named Jim Pickren as vice president, engineering and construction. Pickren comes from Nestle USA, where he served in various engineering capacities since 1989.

TECHNOLOGY

Computer products distributor Ingram Micro Inc. of Santa Ana hired Mark K. Slater as senior vice president of legal services for its U.S. business. Slater most recently practiced business and intellectual property litigation out of the San Francisco office of Boston-based law firm Bingham McCutchen LLP.

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