VillageFax.com Hires Financial Officer

VillageFax.com, the Tustin-based firm that offers online faxing services to businesses, has hired Fred J. Barnes as its chief financial officer to help prepare the company to go public.

The business, which switched from a software firm to an Internet service company last year, raised $2.3 million in funding in May, officials said.

Barnes, 59, has held top executive positions at companies such as Arthur Andersen, Coldwell Banker Residential and Smith International. He succeeds Joseph Romano, who had filled the job on a part-time basis, company officials said.

The company, which has nine employees, said it is in the process of preparing its regulatory application for the public stock offering.