VALLEY PEOPLE

* Philip G. Ericson has been appointed chief operating officer for Franklin Telecom of Westlake Village, the company said. Ericson has designed and analyzed communications systems for Litton Industries and Harris Corp.

Franklin Telecom designs and manufactures communications hardware and software, including voice-over Internet Protocol applications.

* Kelly Bennett has been elected for a two-year term as president of the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society of Van Nuys. Bennett is a managing partner in P3, a public relations-promotion firm.

The society provides continuing education and networking services to publicists in the entertainment industry.

* Lisa Watson has been named consumer region executive by Bank of America. She will oversee 28 banking centers in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys from headquarters in Granada Hills. Watson had been the bank’s consumer executive for coastal cities in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

* Russell Lee has been promoted to controller for Universal Studios’ corporate accounting division, the Universal City-based company said. Lee will direct overall corporate financial issues and serve as financial liaison with Seagram and divisions within the company. Lee had worked as assistant controller of budgeting and forecasting for Universal Studios.

* Claire Robinson has been promoted from vice president to senior vice president of intellectual property law for Walt Disney Co., the Burbank-based company said. Robinson manages Disney’s intellectual property group. Before joining Disney in 1989, she was with the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

* Warren J. Nelson has been promoted to president and chief executive at Huntway Refining Co. of Newhall, the company announced. Earl G. Fleisher has been promoted to chief financial officer, a position previously held by Nelson.

Huntway operates crude oil refineries in Wilmington and Benicia.

* Richard A. Whitman has been appointed president and chief executive of Medical Resources Management Inc. of Glendale, the company said. He replaces Allen Bonnifield, who remains chairman of the board. Whitman had been a member of the board. He founded RAM Telephone & Communications Inc.

The company rents and sells medical equipment, including surgical lasers.

* Ira J. Tabankin has been named vice president of worldwide marketing for Coyote Network Systems Inc., the Westlake Village-based company said. Tabankin oversees the marketing for all Coyote companies.

Coyote Network Systems designs, builds and operates communication networks for entrepreneurial service providers.

* ACT Networks of Calabasas has appointed Gaston Poire as general manager for ACT Networks Canada, the company said. Poire joined the company four years ago after the company’s acquisition of Presticom, a Montreal, Canada, company that he co-founded. He will be based in Montreal.

ACT Networks develops and manufactures products for the digital information industry.

* REM Eyewear of Sun Valley announced the promotion and hiring of several staff members: David Esperanza has been appointed international customer service manager and Steve Trist has been promoted to international customer service specialist. Ron Minch has been hired as the operations foreman.

David Romero has been promoted to the newly created position of timberland coordinator. Marty Morgan has been named public relations manager. Rob Pitts has been added as accounting manager and Marion De Alwis as staff accountant.