US Facilities Names Kelbel Chief Executive
* Craig J. Kelbel has been named president and chief operating officer of Costa Mesa-based US Facilities Corp.’s medical stop-loss insurance operation, US Benefits Insurance Services. He was also elected a senior vice president of US Facilities. Kelbel has served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the business unit since July 1994. He joined the company in 1990 as vice president of underwriting.
* Jo Etta Bandy has joined Corporate Relations Group, an Irvine financial public relations firm, as vice president. Bandy was previously vice president of investor relations for Fidelity National Financial Inc. Before that, she was with Covington Development Group, a real estate development company, for 10 years, where she held numerous management positions, including vice president of corporate communications, director of investor relations and corporate secretary.
* Tiffany Jones has joined Lagattuta and Duke Insurance Services Inc. in Huntington Beach as client manager. She was formerly with Baker Thompson in Newport Beach.
* Leslie Hart has been appointed vice president of the Costa Mesa branch of Johnson & Higgins, an insurance broker. She joined the company in 1991 and was previously an assistant vice president and client consultant in the Los Angeles office.
* Lisa Zwick has joined the Benjamin Group Inc., an Irvine technology public relations and marketing firm, as senior associate. She was formerly an account supervisor at Maples & Associates, and before that worked on high-tech accounts at Shafer Advertising and Public Relations.
* Toshiaki Ogasawara, chairman and publisher of Japan Times Ltd., was elected to the USC Board of Trustees. Ogasawara lives in Tokyo and Newport Beach.
* Bob Mosso has been named design engineering manager, integrated passive products, for BI Technologies Corp. in Fullerton. Mosso, who has been with the company for more than 10 years, was most recently applications engineering manager in the marketing department.
* Julie M. Hutchinson has been appointed vice president of sales and marketing for Greystone Homes South Coast in Newport Beach. She was previously sales and merchandising manager of Fieldstone Communities Inc., handling projects in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
* Zeev Kalansky has been named director of business development for display products at Interstate Electronics Corp. in Anaheim. He joins the company from Solaris Systems, where he was director of marketing for the military systems division. In addition, Fred Gould has been named marketing director for government communications, based in the Washington, D.C., area. He was director of business development for Comsat Laboratories for 10 years before joining Interstate.
* Bill Thomas has joined Stewart Title in Irvine as the commercial/industrial account manager responsible for Orange County. He was previously a partner with Lee & Associates Commercial Brokerage in Newport Beach.
* William O’Connell has been installed as chairman of the board of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau. He is general manager of Best Western Stovall’s Inn.
* Nick S. Marikian has been appointed vice president and banking officer of the sales and service division of Chino Valley Bank. He will work at the Fullerton office. He was formerly senior vice president and regional manager for California United Bank. Before that, Marikian was senior vice president and regional manager for Community Bank in Industry.
