NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS Banking Bita Ardalan has been promoted to market president overseeing commercial banking for West Los Angeles, South Bay, San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys and Ventura and Santa Barbara counties for the Union Bank of California, N.A. She was senior vice president of the San Fernando Valley Commercial Banking Office since 1998. Biotechnology Alan Edrick joined Camarillo-based BioSource International, Inc. as executive vice president and chief financial officer from senior VP and CFO at North American Scientific, Inc. Edrick replaced Charles Best, who has resigned to pursue other opportunities, according to a statement. Edrick has more than 15 years of experience in financial management, including a decade with Price Waterhouse LLP in various positions. Consulting Daniel Kravitz was named president of Encino-based Louis Kravitz & Associates, Inc., one of the largest retirement plan consulting firms in California. He replaces Louis Kravitz, the company’s founder, who will assume the position of chairman. Daniel Kravitz joined the company in 1995 and will be responsible for overseeing operational functions, marketing, sales and strategic planning. Entertainment Arleta-based special effect firm MASTERSFX named Eric Mussell production coordinator. Mussell will manage the company’s day-to-day business operations and author bids for new business, oversee sales and rentals, among other duties. Prior to joining MASTERSFX, Mussell was a production coordinator with AMI FX, based in Sylmar and a CBS office coordinator at CBS Television City. Ronald Stone was appointed to the board of directors at Agoura Hills-based Digital Theater Systems, Inc., a digital sound provider for home and theater entertainment. Stone, a 28 year-veteran of the consumer electronics industry, is currently an advisor to Pioneer Electronics, Inc. He began his career with that company in 1975 and held various positions there. Stone’s appointment brings DTS’ board of directors to eight members, six of them independent, as required by NASDAQ, where the company’s stock is traded. Health Care Matthew Gerlach was appointed senior vice president of business transformation for Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California Region. He was previously senior VP for Kaiser’s Valley Service Area, which includes medical centers in Panorama City and Woodland Hills. In his new position, Gerlach, who joined Kaiser in 2001, will manage change and implementation strategy for KP HealthConnect, a new electronic medical record system at Kaiser. Jane Finley, director of hospital operations for Kaiser’s Panorama City Medical Center, will fill in as interim service area manager. Two Former Tenet Healthcare Corp. executives have joined Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys. Tracey D. Talley assumed the post of chief financial officer at the hospital, having previously served as regional vice president of finance at Tenet. He succeeds Terry L. Leggett, who retired in December. Phyllis Bushart, who was chief operating office at Tenet-owned Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, assumed the position of Valley Presbyterian’s chief operating officer. Law Attorney Arthur Greenberg was awarded the Loyola Law School Board of Governors Award. Greenberg is managing partner of Greenberg & Bass LLP and president of The Executives, the Valley business support group for the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging. Real Estate Robert A. Flink was named senior vice president and principal at Lee & Associates LA North/Ventura Inc. Flink, who was formerly with CB Richard Ellis, will specialize in industrial properties. He will be based in the company’s Calabasas offices. Technology Shaun Walsh has been appointed chief operating officer at Simi Valley-based NovaStor Corp., a developer of data backup and recovery software. Kelly Williams was chosen as director of corporate communications. Walsh was previously vice president and general manager at I/O Systems division of JNI Corp. Williams was previously the principal of RedAhead Communications. Both positions are new at the company. Michael Skelton was appointed CEO of Westlake Village-based CaminoSoft Corp., a manufacturer of computer data storage products. He was most recently an executive management consultant and prior to that, CEO of Menta Software and TracePoint Technologies. CaminoSoft also appointed Steve Crosson as chief operating office and chief financial officer. Gary W. Sproule was named COO of Woodland Hills-based Youbet.com, the largest Internet provider of horse racing content in the nation, including wagering. He has been with the company since 2002 as CFO, overseeing the company’s restructuring program over the last two years. Youbet also named Charles R. Bearchell to succeed Sproule as the CFO. He had been with Youbet since mid-2003 as controller and vice president of finance. He previously worked for 10 years in Lockheed Martin’s finance organization.