Accounting & Consulting

Michael E. Wilford has been named a partner of the accounting firm King, King, Alleman & Jensen in Burbank. He specializes in tax, audit and quality control matters.

Architecture

Bill Hartman, Steve Smith and Mike Williams have all been hired to senior positions at Melendrez Babalas Associates, a Los Angeles architecture firm. Hartman is responsible for project management and design, specifically working on projects with Amgen Inc. and Howard Hughes Corporate Center. Previously, he served as a senior designer and project landscape architect for SLA Studio Land Inc. in Houston. Smith, who was a partner at Benshoof, Withers, Sandgren & Smith in La Canada prior to joining Melendrez Babalas, will be focusing on urban design and will initially work on the Los Angeles Pasadena Blue Line project. Williams will be involved with projects at the Los Angeles Zoo and the Antelope Valley Transit Facility. Prior to joining the firm, he was principal of his own consulting firm.

Timothy Rommell has been promoted to associate principal at Cannon Design, an architectural, engineering and planning firm in Los Angeles. He has been with the Los Angeles office since 1996 and is a recognized expert in design for psychiatric care facilities, the focus of his practice. Prior to his promotion, Rommell was a vice president.

Banking & Finance

John C. Hyche has been promoted to senior vice president of syndications for Sanwa Bank’s commercial banking group. Hyche’s group works with the bank’s commercial banking centers and real estate industries department to structure, underwrite, arrange and distribute syndicated credit facilities. Prior to his current role, he served as vice president and team leader of insurance and financial services, a specialized lending group for Sanwa’s Los Angeles commercial banking center.

Jim McComb has been appointed to vice president, strategic management at Western Corporate Federal Credit Union in San Dimas. He will steer the day-to-day operations supporting the strategic planning and market research groups. Most recently, he served as senior consultant of strategic marketing at the Center for Strategic Management in Denver.

Wally Rodriguez has joined California Bank & Trust as vice president and branch manager of the Long Beach main office. He came from Bank of America, where he was a business market manager. Also new to the company is Stacey Ehrlich, who has joined as vice president and branch manager of the Century City office. She has over 18 years of professional banking experience, most recently as vice president and branch manager with Union Bank of California’s Westwood office.

Education

Norman R. Fishman has been appointed vice president of development at the University of Judaism. In his new post, Fishman will be responsible for virtually all fundraising aspects at the university, including the annual campaign, planned giving, designated giving, major gifts, capital campaign and grants. Most recently, he was senior vice president of development for the City of Hope National Medical Center, where he served as director of major gifts campaign.

Health Care

Danny Gampe has been named chief financial officer at LivHome, an in-home elder care company in Los Angeles. He will be responsible for financial management, analysis and reporting, and cash management. Most recently, Gampe served as vice president of finance and CFO at Digital Lava Inc., an Internet application service provider.

Kenneth J. Wildes Jr. has been named vice president, communications at the Childrens Hospital, Los Angeles. He will be responsible for developing, leading and managing a comprehensive and strategic integrated marketing and communications program that will enhance the hospital’s identity and image. Wildes was most recently affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania.

Insurance

Shaida T. Monshi has been named partner at Brown & Riding Insurance Services. Monshi has accepted an equity stake in the L.A.-based insurance wholesaler and will continue to serve as B & R;’s vice president and property division manager.

Law

Keri Lynn Bush has been appointed vice chair of the Lawyer’s Professionalism & Ethics Committee of the Defense Research Institute, the nation’s largest association of civil litigation defense lawyers. Currently, she is a partner in the employment group of the Los Angeles law firm of Lewis, D’Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard.

David M. Chernek has become a shareholder at the Los Angeles office of Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe. He is a member of the firm’s financial service national practice group. Chernek has been with the firm since 1996 and has litigation experience in many areas, including antitrust and securities matters.

Allan T. Marks has been named a partner in the Los Angeles office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. He is a member of the firm’s global finance group and represents companies involved in telecommunications, high technology, energy and transportation resources. Prior to his promotion, Marks was an associate with the firm.

Hall R. Marston and Douglas J. Collodel have been certified appellate specialists by the order of the California State Bar Association’s Board of Legal Specialization. Both are attorneys at Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold’s Los Angeles office. Marston practices general civil litigation, including employment and labor law, complex litigation, intellectual property, professional and product liability as well as corporation and partnership disputes. Collodel has specialized in appellate law for the past 12 years, and handles general civil litigation for both public entities and private-sector clients.

Media

Luis Alberto Gonzalez has been named executive producer of the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. weekday newscasts at Telemundo 52. He will be responsible for the day-to-day operations as well as all editorial content. Gonzalez comes to the position from Chicago, where he had served as news director for WGBO-TV, a Spanish-language television station owned and operated by the Univision network.

New Media

Keith Cohn has been named CEO of Jackpot.com, an Internet sweepstakes and promotions company in Pasadena. Cohn will be responsible for increasing the company’s business through acquisitions and a B2B program that enables third-party clients to leverage the company’s proprietary game technology. He will continue to be the company’s president, the position he held prior to his appointment. Max de Brouwer has joined Jackpot.com as vice president of finance and administration, where he will oversee the company’s human resources, prize fulfillment and customer service operations, in addition to managing the fundraising for all financial matters for the privately held firm. Most recently, de Brouwer held a similar position at Carsdirect.com.

Steve Cox has joined PartsAmerica.com as vice president of merchandising. He will be responsible for fulfilling customer expectations and exposing PartsAmerica.com users to a wide variety of additional products and services available on the site. Most recently Cox was vice president of marketing/purchasing at Pacific Supply Co., the largest independent warehouse distributor in California.

Rudi Diezmann has been named senior vice president for engineering at Xdrive, an infrastructure software and services company in Santa Monica. He will be responsible for leading the engineering team and will oversee the product management, product development and quality assurance departments. Most recently Diezmann was at Elingo, where he was vice president of engineering.

Transportation

George Frey has been appointed vice president, sales and marketing at Target Logistics, a freight forwarder and logistics provider in Compton. He is responsible for all sales and marketing for the company’s airfreight divisions. Previously, Frey was managing director of cargo at American Airlines’ Dallas/Fort Worth hub.