VALLEY NEWSMAKERS

Deals: Roger Beck and Galena Skya Commercial real estate company Grubb & Ellis hired Roger Beck and Galena Skya to oversee the office division in the Northern Los Angeles/Ventura County region. Beck and Galena work as a team specializing in high level real estate consulting to office users and investors. Most recently the team worked for Colliers International where they represented tenants including, Humana, Honeywell, AVNET and Lockheed in addition to a variety of regional firms. Although the commercial real estate market has remained somewhat stagnant, the team sees great opportunities in the horizon. “As the market became more and more challenging there are less people doing what we do, so that gives us an opportunity to profit when the market recovers,” Skya said. Beck, named senior vice president, office group, and Skya hired as an associate, will work out of Grubb & Ellis’s Sherman Oaks office. Q: What opportunities do you see at Grubb & Ellis? Beck: Grubb & Ellis really is one of the strongest brands in commercial real estate and it offers our clients a profound opportunity for a variety of services – from property management to financial analysis – and really access to massive resources. It’s a great opportunity to service our clients with a world renowned company. The office division at Grubb & Ellis is really strong in the Southern California region and it offers strong support which is beneficial to our clients. Skya: We were presented with an opportunity that was too good to pass up and the timing was right for us to make the move. We were brought in to fill a void – Grubb & Ellis did not have an office group for their Northern Los Angeles/Ventura County region. The main opportunity for us is the platform of support that Grubb & Ellis offers. —Andrea Alegria Awards Chatsworth based UltraGlas, Inc. Founder & CEO Jane A. Skeeter was among three women business owners recognized by Wells Fargo and the National Association of Women Business Owners in Washington June 10. Skeeter, along with Kristi Saucerman – President and CEO of Idaho-based Auction Frogs, LLC, and Kay Woods – Founder & CEO of Precious Treasures Childcare in Arizona, were awarded the 9th annual NAWBO/Wells Fargo Trailblazer Award. The winners were selected from a nationwide pool of applicants and evaluated on their business performance, innovation, growth, and service to the community. Banking As part of its strategic expansion into the Orange County market California United Bank has hired Dan Palmquist as Senior Vice President, Regional Manager for the Orange County area. Palmquist joins California United Bank from Partners Bank in Mission Viejo, where he served as the Chief Banking Officer. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for both Wachovia Bank and Commerce National Bank. California United Bank has also hired Shirley Wentzel as senior vice president, commercial banking, and Lisa Gorelick as vice president, relationship manager. Wentzel and Gorelick will also work in Orange County. They both join California United Bank from American Security Bank in Newport Beach where Wentzel was senior regional vice president focusing on Commercial and Private Banking. Gorelick worked alongside Wentzel since 2005 in the role of vice president, relationship manager. She has also held a variety of relationship and operational roles at US Bank, Southern California Bank, National Bank of Southern California, Marine National Bank, and the Bank of Newport, all located in Orange County. First Bank Branch Manager Walter Bakly has been promoted to assistant vice president at the bank’s Woodland Hills office. Bakly has more than 24 years of banking experience including seven years with First Bank, one of the largest privately owned banks in the country with $9 billion in assets and 161 locations in California, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, and Texas. Education California State University, Northridge has appointed veteran staff member William Watkins as vice president for student affairs. He assumed the post at the beginning of June, replacing Terry Piper, who died in May after a battle with melanoma. Watkins was first employed with the university on a work-study basis and was later appointed to his first staff position as a personnel assistant in human resources. He eventually moved up to the position of associate director of personnel and employee relations. Watkins also worked as assistant vice president and associate vice president for student life. The United States Distance Learning Association presented California Lutheran University faculty with two awards for excellence. Somnath Basu, director of CLU’s California Institute of Finance was honored for Outstanding Leadership by an Individual. Harry Starn Jr., associate director of the CIF, received a bronze award for Excellence in Distance Learning Teaching. Entertainment The Walt Disney Studios has hired Kevin Campbell as executive vice president of marketing. Campbell will oversee the marketing of DreamWorks Studios’ titles which will be released under the Touchstone Pictures banner as part of the agreement signed last year. He will report directly to MT Carney, President of Marketing for The Walt Disney Studios and will collaborate with DreamWorks’ senior marketing executives. Campbell’s experience includes working as vice president of marketing for 20th Century Fox, and working as senior vice president of marketing for Universal, where he managed the marketing for movies including “Meet the Fockers,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Ray” and “Bruce Almighty.” Healthcare Lancaster Community Hospital has hired Rich Brooks as Transfusion Free Medicine & Surgery Coordinator. Rich previously owned an electrical engineering company, Brooks Electric, which his brother now solely operates. Insurance Connie Shaffer has joined Danone Simpson Insurance Services LLC in Woodland Hills as director of employee benefits and client services. Shaffer has over 20 years experience in the insurance industry specifically in marketing, service and managing support staff. Her industry specialties include but are not limited to Non-Profit Organizations, Schools, Advertising, Healthcare, Truckers, Manufacturing, Entertainment, and Credit Unions. She has experience with large and small group employer plans. L/B/W Insurance & Financial Services, Inc. has promoted Howard Miller to vice president. Miller heads the firm’s Tech SecureTM division, which provides special programs for companies involved in technology and media. He started his career in 1996 as a Life & Health producer. In 1997 he added his Property & Casualty license and spent 6 years as a producer for an independent agency. Howard started with L/B/W in 2004. Real Estate Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services has named William Benoist vice president of information services. Benoist joined Marcus & Millichap’s information services department as a senior technician in 1997. In 2000, he became manager of the firm’s help desk. Benoist has been serving as the director of desktop services since 2006 where he is responsible for computer and computer-related services for more than 1,200 commercial real estate investment professionals and the entire corporate staff, including managers and executives. Rodeo Realty, Inc. hired Eric Billingsley as public relations manager. He is responsible for the residential real estate firm’s media relations, internal communications, and management of content on the company’s web site and social networking sites. Billingsley joins Rodeo Realty after working as a real estate, banking/finance and technology reporter for the San Fernando Valley Business Journal. Prior, he worked as a features writer for the Albuquerque Journal, public relations account executive for the advertising firm of Rick Johnson & Company, and as a business reporter for the New Mexico Business Weekly. Jeff Kaminski has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer of KB Home effective June 7. Prior to joining the Los Angeles based-home construction company, Kaminski, 48, was senior vice president, chief financial officer and a member of the Strategy Board of Federal-Mogul Corporation, a global supplier of automotive powertrain and safety technologies to original equipment manufacturers and the worldwide aftermarket, headquartered in Southfield, Michigan. During his more than 20-year career at Federal-Mogul, a Fortune 500 company, Kaminski served in a variety of financial and operational leadership positions, including senior vice president of global purchasing, vice president of global supply chain management, vice president of finance for global powertrain systems, managing director of the company’s aftermarket subsidiary in Australia, and international controller for the aftermarket group. Technology Semtech Corp., a supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors based in Camarillo, has hired Jonathan Hahn as chief information officer and vice president of information technology. Hahn joins Semtech from Telmar Network Technology where he served as CIO since 2001. Prior to that, Hahn worked with such companies as Nexgenix, Inc., EDS, E. Solutions Consulting, Cerplex Inc. and TRW Inc. Hahn will report directly to Mohan Maheswaran, Semtech president and CEO. MRV Communications Inc. chief executive officer and director Noam Lotan plans to step down on June 30. The Board of Directors of the telecommunications company has appointed industry veteran Dilip Singh to replace Lotan on an interim basis, effective July 1 for a one-year term. Singh has 38 years of operational executive management experience with global major Fortune 500 telecom carriers, as well as entrepreneurial experience with start-ups and early stage telecom software companies and network equipment providers. Most recently, Singh was CEO of Telia-Sonera Spice Nepal, the second largest wireless operator in Nepal. THQ Inc, a worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software, announced the promotion of Martin Good to executive vice president, kids, family, casual games, and global online services. He will report directly to THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell. Good has significant experience in the video game industry, including a ten-year tenure at THQ, most recently as Senior Vice President of THQ Asia Pacific and Global Online Publishing, during which he led the creation of THQ’s direct publishing operations in Korea, China, Japan and Australia. He also brings extensive market expertise in online game development and publishing. The company also announced the integration of the Online Business Unit within the company’s Core Games and Kids, Family and Casual Games Business Units. In his new role, Good will also oversee Online Services, which will provide the delivery of online games across both business units.