NEWSMAKERS
Banking & Finance
Wescom Credit Union has named Melissa Doxsee as vice president of branch operations in the Los Angeles and Ventura County regions. Doxsee was recently manager of member services and the member service center for the firm.
Neuberger Berman, an asset management firm in the investment management division of Lehman Brothers, has hired Reva Shakkottai as regional vice president in the private asset management group of its Los Angeles office. Shakkottai was formerly vice president at Bank of America.
Consulting
FTI Consulting Inc., a provider of technology services, has hired Joseph Doloboff as senior managing director of the transaction advisory services group in Los Angeles. Doloboff previously was a partner at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton.
Engineering
Parsons, a Pasadena-based construction and engineering company, has promoted Walid Hatoum and Richard Trembath to senior vice president of Parsons Water & Infrastructure and Gregory Wieland and Richard Berry to vice presidents of the unit. Hatoum is Eastern U.S. regional manager for PWI; Trembath serves as Southwestern U.S. regional manager for PWI; Wieland is Central U.S. regional manager for PWI; and Berry was director of human resources for the firm’s PWI division.
Insurance
The Los Angeles County Commission on Insurance has re-elected Scott J. Svonkin as chairman. Svonkin has been on the commission since 1997.
White & Co. Insurance Inc. in Santa Monica has named Andrew J. Valdivia president and Dennis White chief executive. Valdivia served as executive vice president and White was president of the company.
Law
Joseph Burton has joined Artiano Guzman & Toomey LLP as an associate attorney. Burton formerly served as general counsel to the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority.
Luce Forward Hamilton & Scripps LLP’s Los Angeles office has hired Jill Vincent as an associate in the firm’s real estate practice. Previously, Vincent was an associate at Robert Smylie & Associates in Los Angeles. Michelle Sugihara has joined the firm’s real estate practice, transferring from business litigation.
Manufacturing
Monrovia-based Roncelli Plastics, a customer manufacturer of plastic components, has promoted Riley Cole to president. Cole was previously vice president and general manager of the company.
Marketing
Michael DeRemer has joined Phoenix Marketing Services, a Claremont-based print marketing communications company, as vice president of sales. DeRemer formerly was director of sales at DataFile Business Graphics.
Media
Los Angeles-based Fandango, an online and phone movie ticketing service, has promoted Ted Hong to vice president of marketing and product development. Hong was recently director of marketing for the company.
Los Angeles luxury fashion magazine Genlux has named Melissa Rodwell as photo editor and John Hartigan as director of digital imaging. Rodwell is a fashion and fine art photographer; Hartigan is an independent digital artist.
Susan Knoll has been promoted to vice president and director of research of Entravision Communications Corp., a Spanish-language media company. Knoll recently served as director of research for the radio division.
KTLA/WB has hired Lissette Gonzalez as a weathercaster for the weeknight edition of “Prime News”. Gonzalez previously was co-host and special correspondent for the English and Spanish editions of “Livin’ Large.”
Non-Profit
Getty Research Institute has hired Thomas Moritz as associate director for administration and chief of knowledge management. Moritz previously was the Harold Boeschenstein director of library services at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Five Acres child and family services agency has appointed David Alaynick, Reggie Barnes, Gwen Gordon, Roger Molvar, Pamela Neiman, Diane Severino, Cathy Simms, Marilyn Wells to its board, and Christine Davis as chairwoman. Alaynick is a children’s court attorney in the Los Angeles Juvenile Dependency Court; Barnes is chief financial officer of the Directors Guild of America; Gordon is owner of Source One Staffing; Molvar is retired from his post as executive vice president at IndyMac Bank; Neiman is owner and managing principal of the Neiman Group’s architects, engineers, and planners; Severino is vice president of State Street Bank; Simms is vice president of U.S. Trust Co.; Wells is a psychologist; and Davis is vice president at Union Bank of California.
Real Estate
Younan Properties Inc., a Los Angeles-based real estate investment group, has appointed Joy DeBacker to director of asset management. Previously, DeBacker was first vice president of property management for the CIM Group Inc. in Hollywood.
Galit Ofengart has joined Beverly Hills-based Escrow of the West as senior escrow officer. She was previously escrow officer at Heritage Escrow.
Glendale-based American Realty Advisors, has appointed Greg Baarson and Gerald Goldman to senior managers of the firm’s portfolio and asset management teams. Baarson previously served as equity manager with GE Asset Management. Goldman rejoined the company after serving as senior asset manager at the Archon Group.
Retail
True Religion Apparel Inc., a subsidiary of Guru Denim Inc., has named Michael Buckley president. Buckley was formerly president and chief executive at Ben Sherman Group Ltd.’s North America division.
Services
Burbank-based Manask & Associates, a food service consultancy, has hired Andrew Andoniadis to head the retail store consulting practice. Andoniadis continues his position as chief executive of Andoniadis Retail Services.
Technology
Chatsworth-based Magnetek Inc. has appointed David Weatherford as Central regional sales manager of its power electronics group and Frank Gurley as Eastern regional sales manager for the group. Weatherford was vice president of sales and marketing for CompTech Sales in Dallas. Gurley was southeast regional sales manager at Martek Power Inc.
KUDOS
Stanley Black, real estate investor and philanthropist, will receive the 2006 Business Leadership and Philanthropy Award at the JVS Strictly Business Luncheon on May 11. JVS is a non-profit organization dedicated to career and employment services.
Hospitality and Design magazine has chosen designer Kay Lang of Los Angeles-based design firm Kay Lang + Associates, as a recipient of the Platinum Circle Award. The award honors excellence in the field of hospitality design.
Five Acres, a child and family services agency, has given a special recognition award to law firm Latham & Watkins for its pro bono efforts. The agency also gave special services awards to Bible Club of Glendale and Los Angeles Churches of Christ for providing voluntary Bible clubs for children. Kay Linden was honored as volunteer of the year, Diane Severino as person of the year, and Gary Blasiar was given the Dorothy Cook Lifetime Achievement award.
Timothy J. Noonan, president and chief executive of Lockton Insurance Brokers Inc., has received the 2006 Public Service Award from Phoenix House at its “Triumph for Teens” awards gala. The award acknowledges Noonan’s professional and philanthropic achievements as well as his service to the community. Also honored were executive producers of the Fox drama “House”; David Shore, Katie Jacobs, and Paul Attanasio were recognized with a Phoenix Rising Award for their realistic portrayal of the difficulties drug addicts face.
The Environmental Protection Agency has honored the Port of Los Angeles with the Clean Air Excellence Award for its Alternative Maritime Power program. Under the program, also known as “cold ironing,” ships run their engines on electricity instead of diesel fuel. That reduces emissions of toxic pollutants.
Marina del Rey design company Giorgio Borruso was honored with five awards at the National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers Retail Design Awards 2006, including the top honor of store of the year. That honor was granted for his Fila store in New York. The award recognizes excellence among retailers, designers and store fixture manufacturers.
The American Board of Trial Advocates has named three associates in the Los Angeles area: Roger Gordon, a personal injury litigator with Gordon Edelstein Krepack Grant Felton & Goldstein; Jeffrey B. Smith, of Law Offices of Jeffrey B. Smith in San Gabriel; and Michael A. Zuk, of Herzfeld & Rubin LLC. The American Board of Trial Advocates is a national organization of plaintiff attorneys and defense counsel recognized for their experience.
