NEWSMAKERS
Moving From Feeding the Masses to Storing Their Stuff
John Graul had been working his way up the food chain at McDonald’s Corp., so he was more than a little surprised when Public Storage Inc. approached him about an executive position.
“I couldn’t imagine why they wanted me,” said Graul, who has been named president of national self-storage operations.
“But it all made sense when they told me what they wanted. The company is in five divisions and they wanted to try to take all of them and standardize everything from the training, to HR functions, succession planning, measuring financial performance, management, capital reinvestments and maintenance of the facilities,” he said.
All are similar responsibilities to those he held at the fast food giant.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s in psychology from the University of Illinois, Graul moved to Orange County where he managed a U.S. Department of Labor research project to develop alternative education programs to keep high school students from dropping out.
Frustrated by the slow pace and ineffectiveness of government bureaucracy, Graul enlisted in McDonald’s executive training program in 1982. He rose to vice president and general manager, Pacific Sierra Region, responsible for financial planning, real estate development, marketing, operations and human resources for 650 restaurants with annual sales of more than $1 billion.
Glendale-based Public Storage operates as a real estate investment trust and 93 percent of its revenues come from rental income of its 1,413 storage facilities in 37 states.
The 52-year-old native of Belleville, Ill., now living in Santa Monica, enjoys traveling, and he and his partner of 24 years have been to more than 100 countries. While abroad, he usually visits the local McDonald’s for a Filet-O-Fish Sandwich.
Matt Myerhoff
Advertising & Public Relations
Mojo LLC, a Los Angeles-based motion picture advertising boutique, has appointed Nicholas Longano president of its interactive media division. Before joining Mojo, Longano was group vice president of marketing at Vivendi Universal Games.
Public relations firm Davies has promoted Robb Rice to the position of senior vice president. Rice, who joined the firm in 2001, is responsible for managing Davies’ public affairs division and business development for the agency’s real estate public affairs and community relations practice.
Automotive
Enterprise Rent-A-Car has promoted Southern California president and general manager Greg Stubblefield to a newly created position, Enterprise President of California and Hawaii.
Banking & Finance
First Federal Bank of California, the wholly owned subsidiary of FirstFed Financial Corp, selected Hal Rose to lead its income property lending group.
Capital Factors Inc. has appointed Harold I. Dundish executive vice president and western regional manager. Previously, Dundish was senior executive vice president, western regional manager and national marketing director for GMAC Commercial Finance.
Former Sen. John Seymour had been appointed to the board of IndyMac Bancorp Inc. Seymour, chief executive of the Southern California Housing Development Corp., remains a member of the board of IndyMac Bank. He served in the state Senate from 1982 to 1991 and assumed Pete Wilson’s U.S. Senate seat in 1991 upon Wilson’s election as governor.
Audit Integrity, a financial analytics service, has named Jack Zwingli to the newly created position of chief operating officer. Before joining Audit Integrity, Zwingli was an independent consultant for financial technology companies.
Wilshire Financial Services Group Inc. has named Joseph W. Kiley III chief executive and chief financial officer following the resignation of its current chief executive, Stephen P. Glennon. Kiley has been president and chief executive of First Bank of Beverly Hills since September 2001.
Allied Capital Corp. has hired Jeri J. Harman as managing director and head of the office in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Allied Capital, Harman was managing director and head of the American Capital Strategies Los Angeles office.
Construction
Rob Bolin, director of sustainable design at Syska Hennessy Group, has been named to the board of the Los Angeles Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, which promotes environmentally responsible buildings.
Entertainment
Danny Rosett has been named president of the United Artists division of MGM Studios Inc. Rosett has been with MGM and United Artists since 1994, most recently as executive vice president of marketing and distribution for MGM Studios.
Nielsen Entertainment announced that Adrienne Becker has been named senior vice president, development and communications. Becker had been chief executive of DailyCandy Inc.
Diane Nelson has been promoted to the newly created position of executive vice president, global brand management at Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. She had served as executive vice president, domestic marketing for Warner Bros.
Special effects company Mastersfx has named Eric Mussell production coordinator, managing day-to-day business operations for film, television and commercial productions. Mussell had been production coordinator at AMI FX.
Executive Search
Korn/Ferry International has appointed Stephanie Cohen manager of marketing and communications. Cohen previously was at Burson-Marsteller as a member of both the corporate and technology practices.
Hospitality
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has named Jennifer A. Guevara director of sales and promoted Carolynn Hemmerich to sales manager for Las Ventanas al Paraiso, its resort in Los Cabos, Mexico. Both are based in Los Angeles. Guevara previously was director of sales for Rosewood’s two luxury hotels in Dallas. Hemmerich previously was the sales and marketing coordinator for Las Ventanas al Paraiso.
Insurance
Gary Pestana was named environmental practice leader for Marsh’s Los Angeles office. Pestana recently served as office head of Secor International Inc.
Willis E. Urick III recently joined Lockton Insurance Brokers Inc. as vice president of its benefits division. Urick has managed regional operations for some of the nation’s leading brokerages, including March & McLennan Inc.
Law
Newmeyer & Dillion LLP has added Frederick A. Haist and Michael L. Pigott as associates in its recently expanded Santa Monica office. Haist received his law degree from UCLA School of Law, and served as a legal extern for then-U.S. Magistrate Judge Virginia A. Phillips in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Pigott is a graduate of the USC School of Law.
Scott Abrahamson has joined the Los Angeles office of Pircher Nichols & Meeks, a national real estate law firm. Prior to joining the firm, Abrahamson was an associate for Latham & Watkins.
Non-Profit
Paul W. Johnson Jr., vice president and senior marketing officer for Bank of the West, has joined the advisory board for Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services.
Real Estate
Combined Properties Inc. has promoted Katherine Roberson to the position of president. Roberson previously served as executive vice president.
Watt Developers has named Webb Parker vice president of sales and marketing. Parker most recently was involved in developing new home communities in San Diego County.
DBL Realtors has named George Pino co-managing director of its recently formed commercial division. Pino comes to DBL Commercial from Coldwell Banker Realty. DBL Commercial has also named Joe Killinger as the co-managing director of its recently formed commercial division. Killinger comes to DBL Commercial from Coldwell Banker Realty.
Sports
Lon Rosen has been named executive vice president and chief marketing officer of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Rosen most recently was a co-partner with Sandy Climan in Entertainment Media Ventures, an agency representing companies, entertainers and sports figures.
Technology
Michael O’Shea has joined SEI Information Technology as managing director of the western region. Before joining SEI, O’Shea worked as an independent consultant.
Arrowhead Research Corp. has named John C. Miller vice president of intellectual property. Miller will continue to be a managing editor of Nanotechnology Law & Business journal.
StrongMail Systems has appointed Joe Eskew vice president of sales and Shirish Puranik executive vice president of engineering and product. Eskew formerly was senior vice president of Worldwide Sales for Inxight, and Puranik previously was vice president of software development for @Road Inc. StrongMail has also expanded its advisory board with the additions of Peter Sealey, Sean Moriarty and Selina Tobaccowala. Sealey is visiting professor at Stanford University’s graduate school of business and co-director of the Center for Marketing and Technology at the University of California at Berkeley. Tobaccowala is vice president of online product and technology for Entertainment Publications and founder of eVite.com. Moriarty is an executive with Ticketmaster.
Vivendi Universal Games has appointed Phillip W. O’Neil president of North America. O’Neil previously served as executive vice president of sales and marketing, North America, for Vivendi Universal Games.
LuminentOIC, a subsidiary of MRV Communications, has appointed Kevin Green vice president of sales. Green most recently served as the chief operating officer of Excelight Communications, a unit of Sumitomo Electric Industries.
