Executive at Irvine Co. Unit Resigns
* Richard E. Moran Jr., chief financial officer and executive vice president of Irvine Apartment Communities since its formation in 1993, has resigned to pursue other interests, the publicly traded company said. Moran will remain on call as a consultant through the end of the year, the company said. He is the second top executive to leave the Irvine Co.’s apartment-building unit in the past 18 months. Patrick Smith resigned as IAC’s chief executive last year. Moran has worked for the Irvine Co. for nearly 20 years and was the giant land holding and development company’s treasurer from 1983 until joining IAC.
* Don Lowe is the new chairman and chief executive of Franchise Services Inc., a new holding company in Mission Viejo whose operating companies are Sir Speedy Inc., MultiCopy, Digital Quickcolor, Comprehensive Business Services and Summit Marketing Communications. Succeeding him as president of Sir Speedy is Dan Beck, who was formerly group vice president of franchise services. Mike Booth, who had been assistant vice president of franchise services, moves up to vice president. Richard Lowe has been appointed vice president of strategic development and president of Digital Quickcolor. He was previously assistant vice president. Chuck Lennon, who had been assistant vice president of marketing and advertising, was named vice president of marketing. And Catherine Monson, previously group vice president of marketing and communications, was appointed vice president of business development for the holding company.
* Laurence Geller has been elected to a two-year term on the board of directors of Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc., a San Clemente real estate investment trust. He is principal of Geller & Co., a Chicago-based international real estate and financial advisory firm. Prior to that, he was chief operating officer and executive vice president of Hyatt Development Corp. and before that, a managing partner of Safari Management Inc., an owner-operator of 18 Holiday Inn Hotels. Raymond Bingham, a director since last August, has been selected chairman of the audit committee. Bingham is chief financial officer and executive vice president of Cadence Design Systems, a publicly traded computer-aided design company. Before that, he spent eight years as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Red Lion Hotels & Inns. In addition, Evan Studer, formerly regional vice president at Vista Host, has joined the company as vice president of marketing and sales.
* Timothy A. Kane has been named project manager for MBK Homes Ltd. in Irvine. Before joining the company, he managed an independent real estate consulting and appraisal company. Kane was also director of land acquisition for Barratt American and co-founded the Mentor Group, a consulting group.
* Gary L. Kermott has been appointed executive vice resident of First American Title Insurance Co. in Santa Ana. He succeeds Lawrence M. White, who is retiring after 37 years with the company. Kermott was also named state manager for California, a new position, and will retain his post as regional vice president for Arizona. First American Title Insurance Co. is the principal subsidiary of the First American Financial Corp.
* Thomas J. Barrett has joined the BridgeGate Group in Irvine as an executive recruiter in its information technology practice. He was most recently manager of information technology at Talbert Medical Group. Cynthia Smith Nelson was named an executive recruiter in the human resources practice. She was formerly manager of human resources at Sony Trans Com in Irvine.
* Steve Kwong has joined Mellon Private Asset Management as vice president and sales officer. He is responsible for selling investment management and trust services to individuals and liquidation management services for corporations in the Newport Beach area. Kwong was previously a business development officer for Wells Fargo Bank.
* Rhonda Hendrikson is the new culinary director at the Back Bay Cafe in the Newport Dunes Resort. She formerly worked at Loew’s at the Coronado Bay Resort and the Hyatt Regency in San Diego, and Cindy Black’s Restaurant in La Jolla.
* Kathleen Dover has joined J & M Realty Co. in Fountain Valley as regional manager. She previously spent six years at Shea Business Properties as Southern California regional director.
* Karen Thomas has been appointed a principal and new director of interiors for LPA Inc., an Irvine architectural firm. She was formerly a senior associate at Gensler & Associates.
* Ronald J. Moore has been appointed vice president of operations for AMDL Inc., a Tustin biomedical company. He will lead the company’s product development and expansion program. Before joining the company, Moore was director of Clinical Associates Inc., a supplier of clinical samples for immunodiagnostics, and director of product support at Diagnostics Products Corp.
* Walter L. Schindler has been selected as partner-in-charge of the Orange County office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, an international law firm. He succeeds Robert E. Dean and Jeffrey T. Thomas, who had been co-partners.
* Ernest J. Casarez has joined the Bank of Orange County as regional vice president, based in the Mission Viejo office. Casarez previously assisted San Diego-based North County Bank in developing SBA loans and had headed his own financial consulting practice. He was also the founding president and former chief executive of Cornerstone Bank in Mission Viejo.
* Holly Barnett has been named director of corporate communications for State of the Art Inc., an Irvine accounting software developer. Barnett was formerly vice president and general manager of the Benjamin Group Inc., Southern California, a technology public relations and marketing firm in Irvine. Her prior positions include public relations manager for Odetics, founding director of R.L. Couch Public Relations, account supervisor for Jansen Public Relations and advertising/public relations manager for Century Data Systems/Xerox.
* Sydney J. Albright has been appointed vice president of Mesa Communications, an Irvine public relations firm. Albright has held executive public relations posts with Western Airlines and Flying Tiger Line.
* Philip J. Terhorst has been named senior associate in the Santa Ana firm of Thomas P. Cox: Architects Inc. He had been a senior project manager. Before joining the firm, he was a senior associate partner with McLarand, Vasquez & Partners.
* George M. Korchinsky has been named managing director of European operations and senior vice president for Aurora Electronics Inc., an Irvine spare parts support and electronics recycling company. He was previously vice president of Symantec Ltd.’s European, Middle Eastern and African operations.
* John E. Campion has been appointed chairman of the board of Irvine Medical Center. He has been on the board since 1989 and been vice chairman for the past four years. Also, Damon Masaki and Bruce Cleeremans have joined the board. Both are on staff at the hospital.
* Kellee McKeever has been named manager of OEM and Licensing for Virgin Interactive Entertainment in Irvine. Before joining the company, McKeever worked in production with New World Entertainment.
