Even with the souring economy, Jennifer Gordon is busy looking for people in a spending mood.

Gordon has been named marketing and tourism director for The Grove, a retail, restaurant and entertainment complex being developed by Caruso Affiliated Holdings and scheduled to open in March at Third Street and Fairfax Avenue, adjacent to the Farmers Market.

She oversees a staff of 10 responsible for promoting the 575,000-square-foot complex to local residents as well as tourists.

“I’ll work with all of the hotels, travel wholesalers and tour operators to bring tourism into The Grove as part of their itinerary,” she said. “We’re all concerned with what’s happened with the Sept. 11 tragedy. But life goes on and I want to promote a lifestyle center where families can come and have a sense of belonging, not simply feel like they’re at a place to shop.”

To date, 92 percent of The Grove’s space is pre-leased. Tenants include a 14-screen Pacific Theatres, several brand-name clothing stores, including Nordstrom, and Maggiano’s, an Italian restaurant.

A native of Madrid, Spain, her family moved to Hancock Park in 1972, when she was 12. Gordon earned a psychology degree from UCLA in 1983 and originally intended to enter medical school to become a pediatric surgeon. But the self-proclaimed shopping enthusiast said she was fascinated with promotions at local malls.

“I found it interesting to know that there was a person behind the scenes that planned every single event and promotion,” said Gordon, who moved to Newport Beach a decade ago.

She came to Caruso after a decade in the marketing department at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa where she spent three years as director of domestic and international markets.

David Greenberg

Accounting & Consulting

Victor J. Gonzales has been named principal in the tax practice of Carlin & Van Trigt LLP. He will be working in Long Beach and will focus on expanding the firm’s tax consulting and financial services capabilities for both new and existing clients. Most recently, Gonzales was a senior tax manager with Deloitte & Touche LLP in Los Angeles.

John V. Pridijian, Stephen A. Stewart and Mark W. Wilbur have been hired as partners in the Los Angeles office of Andersen, a professional services firm. Pridijian, a member of the firm’s international tax practice, advises companies on international commerce. Most recently, he practiced tax law with Sidley Austin Brown & Wood representing large companies in corporate mergers and acquisitions. Steward leads the valuation services group for the Pacific Southwest Region and is responsible for financial advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, purchase price allocations and tax planning. Stewart directed KPMG Consulting’s valuation practice for the Pacific Region before joining Andersen. Also, Kevin A. Cordano, Kalvinder Dhillon, Noel E. Hall, Scott M. Sachs, Derek T. Standifer, Edwin J. Van Ginkel and Steven G. Varner have all been promoted to partner at the firm.

Advertising & P.R.

Nigel Williams has been appointed creative director at davidandgoliath, an independent advertising agency in Los Angeles. Initially, he will be overseeing all creative aspects for Kia Motors America Inc., the company’s largest account. Most recently, Williams was at Suissa Miller L.A.

Architecture

Richard Hampel has been promoted to executive vice president at Nadel Architects Inc. in Los Angeles. He joined the firm two years ago and will continue in his role as general manager, overseeing all aspects of the firm’s architectural services for the Los Angeles corporate office and Nadel’s offices in San Diego, Costa Mesa, Sacramento, Las Vegas and Chicago.

Michael J. Smith has been appointed vice president at Cannon Dworsky, an architectural, engineering and planning firm in Los Angeles. Prior to joining the firm, Smith was a senior associate at Meyer & Allen Associates.

Arts

Bob Tuttle has been elected chairman of the board of trustees at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Tuttle is managing partner of Tuttle-Click Automotive group and has been on the board since 1996.

Banking & Finance

Jason Gudvi has been appointed business development officer at Manufacturers Bank in Los Angeles. He will provide sales support to the bank’s commercial banking division, focusing on the San Fernando Valley region. Gudvi most recently spent two years as assistant vice president and financial sales manager at City National Bank’s Woodland Hills office.

Susan Howard has been promoted to senior vice president, wholesale and correspondent lending at First Federal Bank of California in Santa Monica. She is responsible for managing wholesale and correspondent lending production for the bank. Howard has headed the direct loan origination and mortgage banking departments since joining the bank in 1999.

Entertainment

John Campbell has been named chief development officer for the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Most recently, Campbell served as associate vice president of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Gerald Mitchell has been appointed vice president of sales & marketing at Moviola, a seller of post-production tools and services in Hollywood. Previously, Mitchell was executive vice president at the Right Start, a consumer products company, where he led their sales, creative and marketing efforts.

David Shall has been named executive vice president, business and legal affairs and new business development at Twentieth Television in Los Angeles. He is responsible for all business and legal affairs at the company, including its production subsidiaries Monet Lane Productions and Schrodinger’s Cat Productions in addition to the licensing of off-network and first-run television product to stations and cable groups. Shall has served as senior vice president, business and legal affairs since October 1997.

Jeffrey S. Weiss has been promoted to senior vice president, business affairs at Columbia TriStar Television Distribution in Culver City. He is responsible for day-do-day business affairs matters for first-run and made-for-cable reality and scripted programming. Most recently, Weiss served as vice president, business affairs.

Health Care

Istvan Seri has been named professor of pediatrics and head of the USC Division of Neonatal Medicine. Most recently, he was an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania school of medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

L. Theodore Van Eerden has been appointed executive vice president and chef financial officer at InterDent Inc. in El Segundo, a dental management services firm. For the past four years, Van Eerden has served as the company’s chief development officer.

High Tech

Matthew DeVoll has been named chief marketing officer at Elite Information Systems in Los Angeles, a wholly owned subsidiary of Elite Information Group and a provider of integrated practice and financial management systems to professional service firms. He will be responsible for spearheading the company’s marketing initiatives with a focus on brand strategy, product management, business development and corporate marketing communications. Prior to joining Elite, DeVoll was CMO of PDQuick, an express delivery service.

Hospitality

Norman Kolpas has been named senior vice president of content at Wolfgang Puck Worldwide in Beverly Hills. He is responsible for development and coordination of food and cooking content in print, radio, television and other media in addition to overseeing public relations and serving as a member of WPW’s brand strategy council.

Law

Mark Kadzielski and Abbie P. Maliniak have joined the Los Angeles office of Fulbright & Jaworksi LLP. Kadzielski is heading up the office’s health industry practice. Most recently, he was with the Los Angeles office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld. Maliniak, who serves as senior counsel, is also in the firm’s health care practice.

Manufacturing

Bob Carlton has been named senior vice president, sales at WEA Corp., the manufacturing and distribution operation of Warner Music Group. Based in Burbank, he oversees all sales for the company, including new releases and its catalogue. Carlton has been with the firm since last year when he was hired as senior vice president, catalogue sales and marketing.

Eddy Tak Yu Yuen has been named chief executive of Tarrant Apparel Group, a provider of private label casual apparel in Los Angeles. Most recently, Yuen was previously president of Tarrant Mexico where he had full responsibility for the company’s manufacturing operations.

Professional Services

Rick Junius has been named head of the newly organized western region at Lee Hecht Harrison, a career services firm in Los Angeles. Junius is focused on increasing market share in all locations of the new region, which includes offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose and Walnut Creek. Junius previously headed the firm’s Southwest region.

Real Estate

Tom J. Lagos and Ken McLeod have been promoted to associate vice president at Grubb & Ellis, a business advisory and real estate firm in Los Angeles. Both individuals specialize in the sale of retail investment properties. Lagos and McLeod both worked for investment retail broker Sperry Van Ness before joining Grubb & Ellis.

Religious

Michael P. Nelson has been appointed editor of The Tidings, the weekly newspaper of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. Nelson, who has been acting editor of the paper for the past nine months, has been with the publication since 1991.