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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

VALLEY NEWSMAKERS

WET Design, a Sun Valley-based designer and manufacturer of water features, has made four additions to its executive team. Brian Rogers has been appointed as chief financial officer. In that role Rogers oversees all financial operations including strategic planning and budget oversight and bridges the gap between the creative and budget mindset. He previously served as CFO for grocery chain Safeway Inc. and with Sony and Walt Disney Imagineering. David Gresham fills a newly created position of vice president of design. In that position he supervises the design department, including project design, product design, illustration, choreography, image and branding, and the model shop. Gresham co-founded Lucesco Lighting, an LED-based lighting company and worked for Steelcase International, Fitch Inc., Design Logic, ITT Corporation and IBM. WET named Kim Lange as vice president, project development, a position that oversees complex projects, specifically the the firm’s major developments in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. This is Lange’s second go around with WET. She has also worked as managing principal for MHA Studio, a subsidiary of Baha Mar Development Company; as project manager for The Jerde Partnership; and with Walt Disney Imagineering. Carlos Rodriguez has been named as controller, bringing more than 10 years of financial, strategic and risk management leadership experience to that position. Prior to joining WET, Rodriguez was vice president of accounting and finance at IndyMac Bank, and held finance positions at Toyota, PriceWaterHouseCoopers and the Metropolitan Transit Authority. ACCOUNTING The accounting firm of Holthouse Carlin & Van Trigt has elevated Jason Flashberg, Curt Giles and John Kishi to partner. Flashberg works in the tax department of the firm’s Westlake Village office and specializes in providing tax compliance, planning and consulting services to high-net worth individuals. He has been with the firm since June 1996. Giles is in the company’s Orange County tax department and focuses on international tax issues. He joined Holthouse in March 2006 from KPMG. Kishi works in the audit department of HCVT’s Los Angeles office, providing audit and advisory services to privately held companies, particularly emerging and middle-market businesses. He joined Holthouse in November 2005. The firm now has 27 partners. CONSUMER GOODS Newhall Laboratories, Inc. has appointed Frank J. Loffa as president and CEO, filling the shoes of founder and former president Al Rodriguez who recently stepped down. Newhall is the parent company of La Bella and Real Solutions. Loffa joins the company from Universal Group, a licensee of Procter & Gamble, where he was executive vice president and general manager. He has worked at Johnson & Johnson, Alberto-Culver, Enormarel Cosmetics, and St. Ives Laboratories and ran a consulting firm that provided sales and business development services to health and beauty products companies. EDUCATION Karen Davis has been named vice president for administration and finance at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. She replaces Bob Allison who retired last year. The Newbury Park resident previously worked for the Ventura County Health Care Agency, serving in various positions including Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Director in charge of managed health care. Davis earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and an MBA with an emphasis in finance from CLU. Veteran L.A. Times reporter and editor Stuart Silverstein has joined the BuildLACCD unit of the Los Angeles Community College District as director of public affairs. BuildLACCD manages a nearly $6 billion modernization program for all nine campuses in the district. Silverstein, 55, joined the Times’ suburban news staff in 1985, most recently acting as deputy national political editor for the paper. He earned a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in history from the State University of New York, Buffalo. ENTERTAINMENT Sean Gamble is now executive vice president and chief financial officer of Universal Studios, replacing Christy Shibata who has joined NBC Universal as executive vice president, financial planning & analysis. Gamble most recently completed a tour of duty as executive finance manager for GE Oil & Gas in Florence, Italy. He was previously vice president, financial planning and analysis for Universal Pictures. Prior to that Gamble was a member of GE’s corporate audit team and as an executive audit manager supported the 2004 merger of NBC and Universal. He has a mechanical engineering degree from Bucknell University. HOSPITALITY W. Douglas Benn has joined The Cheesecake Factory as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Most recently, Benn was executive vice president and CFO of RARE Hospitality International prior to that company’s sale to Darden Restaurants in 2007. During the 10 years he guided RARE, the company grew to have more than $1 billion in annual revenues. INSURANCE Woodland Hills insurance brokerage Scanlon, Guerra, Burke has named Justin Schneir a partner. He has been with the firm since 2003, specializing in manufacturing company coverage. Schneir earned his undergraduate degree in counseling at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, and his master’s in counseling at Johnson State College, in Johnson, Vt. MARKETING David Adams has joined Weiser Creative Group in Westlake Village as art director. With more than 12 years experience in interactive media and print design, Adams specializes in integrated marketing campaigns. He previously worked with Adwire spearheading concept development for clients such as Warner Brothers, Subaru and Sparkletts. Mustang Marketing of Thousand Oaks has brought Chris Barrett aboard as web and graphic designer. Barrett has earned numerous design awards including American Graphic Design Awards in 2008. He previously held a similar position at S & N; Design in Manhattan, Kansas and led his own company, Graphic Twist. The move is a return to Southern California for the Camarillo native. Barrett graduated from the University of California, Davis with a bachelor of science in visual communications design. MEDIA Visual Data Media Services, Inc. of Burbank has hired Tim Rollenhagen to head the company’s New Media Division, and Dan Parrish to tackle the newly created role of director of technical operations. Rollenhagen was formerly president of Affusion Media while Parrish was most recently facilities manager for Lightning Media. Rollenhagen has been director of operations for Varitel Video and Pittard Sullivan, later acting as managing director of Click 3X Visual Effects. Parrish previously worked at Laser-Pacific, managing their multi-media operations and digital compression facility. He began his career in post-production at Sunset Post. The Southern California native, graduated from California State University, Northridge. Shane Bettenhausen has joined Glendale-based Ignition Entertainment Ltd., as director of business development. Ignition is a subsidiary of UTV Enterprise based in India. Bettenhausen was formerly senior executive editor for Electronic Gaming Monthly and 1-UP.com. REAL ESTATE Move, Inc. has named Steven H. Berkowitz as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding the retiring W. Michael Long. Berkowitz has served on Move’s board of directors since June. Berkowitz has held similar positions including CEO of Ask.com and president and chief operating officer of IDG Books, which publishes the ubiquitous ” for Dummies” titles among others. He left his position as senior vice president of Microsoft’s Online Services Group, which he held for two years, to join Move. Berkowitz earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the State University of New York at Albany. He also serves on the Board of Directors of TheLadders.com. TECHNOLOGY Suzan K. DelBene has been elected to the board of directors of Van Nuys-based Electro Rent, filling the seat of S. Lee Kling who passed away in July. DelBene, 46, is a management consultant and strategic advisor to Global Partnerships, a non-profit organization serving Latin America. She was a corporate vice president at Microsoft from 2004 to 2007, overseeing worldwide marketing for their Mobile Communications business. DelBene has also been president and chief executive officer of Nimble Technology Inc., a business integration technology company, and was the founding vice president of marketing and store development at drugstore.com, helping take that company public in 1999. DelBene earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Reed College in Portland, Ore.. Eric Brown has been hired to lead the Surfware Sales team as direct sales manager at Camarillo-based Surfware, Inc. He has worked in the field for more than 20 years and has experience in electronics, aerospace/defense government, semiconductor, medical products and other manufacturing and engineering/technical sectors. Surfware develops and markets CAD/CAM systems and software. The company also promoted Greg Schils to the position of product manager, overseeing all Surfware product development. Schils joined the company 13 years ago and has a unique background of shop floor experience, and software development. DEX of Camarillo has hired Jerry Kohnke, former executive vice president of logistics and distribution for United Parcel Service, as senior vice president and general manager of DEX Services Northeast. Dennis Cain has also joined the company as director of supply chain services. Kohnke played a key role at UPS in enhancing that company’s supply chain solutions business. He previously held management roles at Honeywell, Interlogic Trace (Datapoint), and Decision One. Cain joins the company from Solectron Corporation.

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