George W. Ott III has been named...

George W. Ott III has been named manager of the A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. investment office in Oxnard. The office is at 445 Esplanade Drive, Suite 100.

* Steven L. Kinney, president of the Greater Oxnard Economic Development Corp., has been elected to a two-year term as secretary/treasurer of the California Assn. for Local Economic Development. He also was named to the group’s executive committee.

An Oxnard resident since 1987, Kinney was the city’s Redevelopment Agency director and director of economic development before leaving to form the EDC in 1994.

* Matthew Brannon of R.E. Barber Ford in Ventura completed his Master Technician certification, the highest achievement for a service technician by the Ford Motor Co. Being certified requires additional education as well as exceptional customer service satisfaction reports.

Of the 3,000 Ford Motor Co. service technicians in Southern California, only 146 have received the Master Technician certification.

* Melanie Breeding of Ojai has joined Norrell Staffing Services in Ventura as a customer service representative. She formerly owned the Ojai Hair Co. and The Beach, both in Ojai.

Norrell, which has 400 locations nationwide, provides staffing for companies of all sizes.