TouchStone Seeks Permanent CEO

In another round of top-level maneuvering, TouchStone Software Corp. said Wednesday that it elevated its chief executive to chairman and is looking for a permanent CEO.

The Huntington Beach company, which makes computer diagnostic software, said Larry Jordan moves up to chairman, while chairman Larry Dingus steps back in as interim CEO.

Jordan was hired by TouchStone in January 1996 to find new technologies and businesses for the software maker to acquire. The company had planned to shift him into the chairman’s slot early next year, but officials declined to say why they decided to make the move now, according to TouchStone spokesman Ray Norberte.

Shannon Dingus, wife of Larry Dingus, reclaims her title as chief technology officer on an interim basis. She had retired earlier this year, but the company had not filled her job.

The company’s stock dropped 8%, or 25 cents a share, Wednesday to close at $2.88.

TouchStone has about 40 employees in its Huntington Beach corporate office, and another four people working out of its facility in Vienna, Austria.