As the first employee hired at security software firm Symark International it was perhaps inevitable that Bob Farber becomes its new chief executive. Hired more than 20 years ago by the company’s founders, Farber built up the sales team and had been the chief operating officer until his promotion in May. “The software business is all about selling anyway and if you are the top sales guy typically you are in line to take on more responsibility,” Farber said. Symark is based in Agoura Hills and has offices in South America, England, the Middle East and Asia. It is a privately held company. Having been with the company for so long Farber knows how all the operations work. He also was involved as the company evolved from a distributor of mainframe software to the developer of software supporting Digital Equipment Corp. products to a provider of security software for the Linux/UNIX operating system. Symark products like ProductKeeper and PowerADvantage give protection for large companies subject to government regulation on their finances and audits. The software prevents infiltration by insiders rather than an outside threat. “It is the people inside that know your company and know your security and know how to get around it that are more dangerous than the hackers who are fundamentally just guessing,” Farber said. Along with the board of directors, Farber devises the growth strategy for Symark. The increase in compliance with government regulations plays into that strategy. While the Windows operating system from Microsoft is good for the desktop the Linux/UNIX system is the preference for applications used in a company’s core business. Multi-billion companies like Sun, Hewlett Packard, IBM and Redhat create platforms run on Linux/UNIX that demand good security. “If you are going to be running this (operating system) you are going to need the security to lock that down,” Farber said. Prior to joining Symark, Farber spent a short time at Candle Corp. in West Los Angeles, and for 11 years held technical support, product management, and sales positions at Informatics General Corporation. Mark R. Madler Banking America’s United Bank has added Chris Bell to its SBA Division. Bell comes to AUB from Temecula Valley Bank in Temecula where as their Business Development Officer; he was No. 1 in the nation for 5 consecutive years with over $250 million in loans funded. Bell was also No. 1 in the nation for Wells Fargo SBA loans for 4 consecutive years. Bell is a graduate of California State University in Fullerton where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts, with a major in Business Administration, and a Special Emphasis in Business Finance and Real Estate. Business Susan Champion, has been elected to the board of directors for the Antelope Valley Board of Trade (AVBOT). AVBOT, one of the Antelope Valley’s preeminent trade groups, works in the areas of business development, legislative issues, infrastructure improvement and workforce development. Champion, who joined the Antelope Valley office of Lee & Associates in April, 2007, has been a member of AVBOT for about one year. For the past two years, Ms. Champion has served as President of the Board of Directors of the Greater Antelope Valley Boys & Girls Club, and she has been a member of the Lancaster West Rotary Club for four years, currently serving as Committee Chair for Club Service committee and past-Chair for the Vocational committee. She is also a member of the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance Education Education professor Judith Crowe is retiring after 15 years of teaching at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. Crowe, of Thousand Oaks, will become an emeritus faculty member. Crowe is an expert in reading and language arts instruction and the use of technology to enhance teaching. As the founder and director of the 8-year-old California Reading and Literature Project (CRLP) at CLU, she has provided reading, language arts and English language development training for more than 3,000 teachers in Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern counties. Crowe earned her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from the University of Connecticut, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from CLU, and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of LaVerne. Entertainment James Smith has been named vice president of Advertising Sales, Western Region for Disney Online, a division of the Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG). Smith, responsible for leading all western region media sales efforts for Disney Online and its flagship Web sites including Disney.com and Disney Family.com, reports to Brad Davis, senior vice president and West Coast multimedia lead of the Media Advertising Sales and Marketing Group. Smith joins WDIG from Nielsen Online, a division of The Nielsen Company, which is made up of the combination of Nielsen NetRatings, Nielsen Media and Nielsen BuzzMetrics, where he served as national online sales director for North America. In this position Smith managed a number of sales teams and developed new ad solutions and offerings for the group. Healthcare West Hills Hospital has made some changes to its board of directors. Laurence R. Goldman is now chair of the board. Goldman has been involved with West Hills Hospital for over 8 years and is a local attorney. Joseph Anderson Jr. is now vice-chair of the board. Alan Kuban, MD, who is head of emergency medicine at the hospital, is now a new member of the board. Ed Viramontes is also a new board member. Viramontes is executive director, of El Centro De Amistad, Inc. Immediate past President Bruce Ackerman will remain on the board as a member. Import/Export Michael Nomoto has been named Managing Director of Sunkist’s global sourcing organization, Sunkist Global LLC. He replaces Mark Tompkins who was tapped earlier this year to lead Sunkist’s domestic fresh fruit sales network. In his new position, Nomoto is responsible for securing production and folding it seamlessly into the Sunkist international sales and delivery network. “Sunkist is currently sourcing complementary citrus from South Africa, Australia and Mexico and delivering it to customers in North America and Asia,” said Hanlin. “Mike will expand those relationships as well as develop new ones in other citrus producing areas.” Insurance Unico American Corp. has named Terry L. Kinigstein, Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, and Jon P. Kocourek, as an independent director and insurance industry consultant. Kinigstein, 62, has served as the Company’s General Counsel since 2002 and as Vice President and Secretary since 2008. He has 30 years of experience as an attorney in private practice performing transactional work and litigation prior to joining the Company. Kocourek, 53, has more than 28 years of experience in the reinsurance business. He spent the last seven years with Willis Re, Inc., a reinsurance broker. He currently works part-time as a consultant in the insurance / reinsurance industry. Marketing Helen Huang has been named production designer for AvatarLabs. AvataLabs is a creative rich media marketing company. In her new position Huang will be developing interactive online advertising, including banner and viral marketing. Huang has a bachelors degree in English from Sichuan Foreign Languages Institute and a bachelors degree in law from Southwest University of Political Science in Chongqing. After coming to the States, she obtained a masters degree in advertising from University of Texas at Austin. She had previously worked with AvatarLabs as a freelance designer before her recent promotion. Law David R. Worley, of Camarillo, has been named as a judge in Ventura County Superior Court. Worley has served as a commissioner for the Ventura County Superior Court since 2007. Prior to that, he was a partner in the law firm Wojkowski & Worley, LLP from 2002 to 2007. From 1990 to 2002, Worley was partner in Arnold, Back, Mayfield, Mathews, Wojkowski & Zirbel and, from 1984 to 1990, was an associate and then partner in the law firm Nordman, Cormany, Hair & Compton. From 1981 to 1984, he served as a deputy district attorney for the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. Worley earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Bakersfield. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Thomas Hutchins. Judge Frank Y. Jackson has been appointed associate justice to Division Seven, of the Second District Court of Appeals. Jackson, 59, of Palmdale, has served as a judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 1993. From 1990 to 1993, he served as a judge for the Antelope Valley Municipal Court and, from 1973 to 1990, worked as an attorney for the law firm Cosgrove, Michelizzi, Schwabacher, Ward & Jackson. Jackson earned a Juris Doctorate degree from McGeorge School of Law, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nevada, Reno and an Associate of Arts degree from Antelope Valley College. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Earl Johnson Jr. Douglas N. Larson has joined the SoCal IP Law Group, LLP as Of Counsel. Larson will be working with clients in preparing IP strategies, developing their patent portfolios, rendering patentability, infringement, right-to-use and validity opinions, conducting due diligence investigations, assisting in IP litigation actions and many other functions. Larson holds a civil engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a J.D. from University of Missouri Law School, and a Masters of law degree from The George Washington University Law School. Real Estate Claudia Sommer has joined Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura, Inc., as an Associate specializing in investment brokerage. Sommer has served as an asset and portfolio manager of retail shopping centers, multifamily and office properties since 2000. Most recently, she managed a portfolio of retail shopping centers and office buildings totaling over 1 million square feet of space for Legend Real Estate Management Company. Sommer began her real estate career as an investor and managing partner of residential properties and subdivisions in Santa Barbara County. She bought, renovated and sold homes in Santa Barbara and Montecito; served as General Partner for a six-lot beach subdivision in Summerland, Ca., and was a General Partner and Managing Member off a 146-house subdivision in Goleta, Ca. Tom Festa has been hired by DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services a member of ONCOR International, to its Woodland Hills, Calif. office as its newest senior vice president. Tom Festa, senior vice president, will specialize in the sales and leasing of office buildings and R & D; projects. Tom has worked in commercial real estate for more than 25 years and has extensive experience creating and implementing sales and leasing strategies for landlords, tenants, buyers and sellers. Prior to joining DAUM Commercial, Festa worked at Grubb & Ellis for 12 years and was a consistent top producer for the Los Angeles Metro region and nationally. Before joining Grubb & Ellis, Festa started his own company, Festa & Associates, Inc., which was successful in the specialization of lease and sale of commercial real estate in central and southern California. Technology Simon Prutton has joined Semtech Corp. as the vice president and general manager of the Power Management Product Group. Prutton is taking over for Mike Wilson, who is transitioning from that position to a new role as chief technical officer to Mohan Maheswaran, president and CEO of Semtech. Semtech’s Power Management Group supplies a wide range of power management IC’s used in communications equipment
