MTI’s Raimondi to Head Operations in U.S., Europe

* Tom Raimondi has been named to the newly created position of chief operating officer for MTI Technology Corp., an Anaheim data storage management technology company. He will be responsible for worldwide operations for the U.S. and Europe, including engineering, manufacturing, sales, marketing and service. Raimondi, a founder of MTI, had been vice president and general manager.

* Gail P. Guge has been appointed vice president of marketing for the Prudential Real Estate Affiliates Inc. in Irvine. She was previously senior vice president of Powers and Associates, a Cincinnati-based advertising and public relations agency.

* Sherene Ross has been named vice president of personal trust administration for First American Trust Co. in Newport Beach. She joined the company in 1995 as a trust officer and was made assistant vice president last year.

* Roger B. Palley has joined the board of directors of L.H. Friend, Weinress, Frankson & Presson Inc., an Irvine investment banking firm. He is president, senior investment officer and head of the investment committee of Palley-Needleman Asset Management in Newport Beach.

* Lloyd H. McKibbin is the new vice president of finance for Catellus Residential Group in Irvine. He was previously vice president of Housing Capital Co. in Costa Mesa, and before that, a vice president with Wells Fargo Bank. In addition, Kristina M. Reilly has joined the company as assistant project controller. She had been assistant controller with Presley Homes in Newport Beach.

* Jim Chesebro has been named director of engineering for Productivity Enhancement Products Inc. in Laguna Hills. He will oversee all aspects of new product development. Chesebro was formerly program manager.

* Bobbe A. Sigler has been appointed senior vice president and chief financial officer of Marine National Bank in Irvine. She previously served in a like capacity at Merchants Bank of California, and has held chief financial officer roles with Monarch Bank and Cerritos Valley Bank.

* Robert T. Barnum has been elected to the board of directors of Westcorp, an Irvine financial services company. He succeeds Andrey R. Kosoyvch, who resigned earlier this year. Barnum was president of American Savings Bank in Irvine, until its sale to Washington Mutual Savings Bank in 1997. He is currently a private investor.

* Robert Sattler has joined the Orange office of Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services and was elected to the board. He was previously with the Anaheim office of CB Richard Ellis.

* C.K. Hong has been named to the newly created position of executive vice president of OEM sales for Viking Components Inc. in Rancho Santa Margarita. Hong most recently served as general manager of the International Sales & Operations division for LG Semicon Co. Ltd. in Seoul.

* Marc G. Reich has been made a partner in the law firm of Capretz & Radcliffe LLP in Newport Beach. He was formerly with the law firm of Irell & Manella.

* Laura Gomez has been appointed corporate bookkeeper of Villageway Property Management in Irvine. Gomez, who has been with Villageway for eight years, began as an accounts payable clerk and was later named accounts payable supervisor. In addition, Phil Young, director of marketing at Villageway, was elected to the California Assn. of Community Managers board of directors. Pam Cooper, senior director of property management, was elected to the Community Assn. Institute board of directors.

* Tim Walker has joined Auto-By-Tel Corp. in Irvine as director of market representation. He was previously division finance manager at Nissan Motor Corp. Walker was also with Ford Motor Co., where his positions included zone sales manager and office operations manager.

* Allen E. Jones has been named executive vice president of Harrison Digicom Inc. in Costa Mesa. He succeeds Sonny Luu, who resigned recently. Denton Guthrie was named vice president and chief financial officer. Jones has more than 30 years’ experience in strategic planning, corporate finance, economic policy, asset allocation, corporate restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions. Guthrie has 28 years’ experience in business administration, accounting, investing, management advisory and corporate tax. Also, Howard Frantom, former president of LA Cellular, was appointed manager of engineering and operations for the company’s Vietnam telecommunications project.

* Andy Mills has joined TDK Semiconductor Corp. in Tustin as director of the network business unit. He succeeds Kirk Brinkworth, who was named vice president of strategic marketing. Mills was formerly director of local area network product marketing and applications for Rockwell Semiconductor Systems in Newport Beach. Before that, he was with Advanced Micro Devices.

* Deborah E. Woodhams has been appointed branch manager for HR Solutions’ new Orange County office in Irvine. She had been with Norrell Services for 16 years, in field operations, management, quality assurance and training positions.

* Melissa Gehl has joined Shopping.com Inc. in Corona del Mar as director of merchandising. She was previously with Macmillan Publishing. Her new position will entail expanding Shopping.com’s book selections.

* Gary J. Corcoran has been appointed vice president, marketing programs for Platinum Software Corp. in Irvine. Before joining the company, Corcoran was chief operating officer at V-Systems Inc., and prior to that, spent 11 years at American Data Industries.

* Mike Buonauro has joined Morgan Marketing & Public Relations in Irvine as account coordinator. He will handle public relations account coordination for a variety of accounts, including Autobistro Inc. and Wienerschnitzel.