MOVERS & SHAKERS
HIRINGS & PROMOTIONS | NEWS & ANNOUCEMENTS | AWARDS & RECOGNITION | CORPORATE GIFTS & PHILANTHROPY | BIZ BITES
FEBRUARY 14, 2008

Dave Smilgys
Dave Smilgys has joined Irvine-based R.D. Olson Development as its director of development. He will manage the firm’s portfolio of hotel projects throughout California as well as in bordering states.


Gina Huegli
Gina Huegli has been named budget analyst at Rancho Santiago Community College District. She will assist in the planning, organization and coordination in the management of the district’s budgets.


Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance has been appointed the 2008 president for the Financial Planning Association (FPA) of Orange County. The FPA has more than 100 chapters throughout the country.


Malissa Hoffmann
Malissa Hoffmann has been promoted to corporate director of staffing and recruitment at JWilliams Staffing in Irvine. She directs all staffing and recruitment functions corporate-wide.


Eric Viado
Eric Viado has been hired as principal at Anaheim-based Marina Landscape, Inc. Viado is a registered landscape architect, bringing more than 11 years of design experience.



Tamara Devitt
Attorney Tamara Devitt has been promoted to partner at Irvine-based Fisher & Phillips LLP, one of the largest national law firms in the field of labor and employment law.


Shawn Miller
Shawn Miller has been appointed national account executive at the LFC Group of Companies, a Newport Beach-based Internet real estate auction marketing firm.


Sarah Kerr
Sarah Kerr has been named general ledger supervisor at Irvine-based Keystone Pacific Property Management, Inc. She will prepare the association’s annual budgets.


Linda Wright
Linda Wright has been named marketing manager for the Cumming Group. She previously served as a marketing consultant for the Mission Viejo firm.


Lalaine Tanaka
Lalaine Tanaka has joined Irvine-based KTGY Group, Inc., an architecture and planning firm, as principal. Tanaka, who has more than 20 years of experience, will lead the firm’s hospitality division.


Hirings & Promotions
Tom McMahon has been named chief operating officer at Newport Beach-based Play N Trade Franchise, Inc. McMahon’s experience includes serving as vice president of retail sales for Activision, where he led the successful launch of Tony Hawk Pro Skater, the company’s first million-unit title. He also has held senior executive management positions with Fortune 500 companies…

Former Microsoft and Yahoo executive Marco Hegyi has joined The Chasm Group, a Silicon Valley-based strategy consulting firm to technology companies, as principal. Based in Newport Beach, Hegyi’s expertise is in developing technology-based growth and Asian market expansion strategies…

Nicole Rhoton has been named the youngest-ever chief knowledge officer at Irvine-based Celebrity Ghost, an enterprise that specializes in the ghostwriting and co-writing of books for businesses, celebrities and world-class athletes…

Hue Ta has been promoted to principal at Anaheim-based Marina Landscape, Inc…Bette Haddock and Jeannette Moerbe have been appointed national sales managers for the Newport Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau. In addition, Summer DeForest has been appointed sales coordinator…

Rancho Santiago Community College District has appointed Larry Johnston as the associate dean of the exercise science, health and athletics division at Santa Ana College.


News & Announcements
Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, a nonprofit organization working to eliminate hunger in Orange County, recently celebrated the grand opening of its new, larger headquarters. Located at the former El Toro Marine Corp Air Station in Irvine, Second Harvest’s new facility will increase its capacity to store, sort and distribute products that help serve approximately 1 in 6 Orange County residents at risk of going hungry each month…

Jerry Mandel, former president of the Orange County Performing Artscenter, will serve as the next president and CEO of the Irvine Public Schools Foundation…

Peter Bastone, CEO and president of Mission Hospital, has been elected board chairman for the Alliance of Catholic Health Care…

Haskell & White LLP, one of Orange County’s largest independently owned accounting, auditing and tax consulting firms, recently announced the opening of a second office in San Diego County. With a team of more than 80 members, Haskell & White is among the leading accounting firms in Southern California…

Melinda Morgan, president and founder of Morgan Marketing & Public Relations LLC, has been elected to the board of directors for the International Foodservice Editorial Council.


Awards & Recognition
Children’s Hospital of Orange County has been recognized with the Bronze Level CAPE (California Awards for Performance Excellence) from the California Council for Excellence. CHOC is the only children’s hospital in California to ever earn this distinction, and the only Orange County-based organization honored this year. The CAPE program is the highest recognition in the state for performance excellence. CHOC will be honored along with other CAPE recipients at the California Council for Excellence’s 14th Annual Conference & Awards Ceremony to be held March 28 at the Renaissance Hotel in Long Beach…

The Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce recently recognized Rutan & Tucker LLP, a full-service law firm based in Orange County, with a bronze award for its contributions to help underwrite chamber-based initiatives, such as job development, education and housing. The award was presented during the Chamber’s Annual Investors Meeting, held at The Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel. A. Patrick Muñoz, a partner in the firm, serves as a director of the chamber…

UC Irvine Extension recently presented its Partnership Award. The Orange County Workforce Investment Board and 3 local biotechnology/medical device companies – Advanced Medical Optics, Beckman Coulter and Edwards Lifesciences – were honored. The award is given annually to a corporation, business or other organization within Southern California that enhances continuing education programs.



Corporate Gifts & Philanthropy
The Orange County Great Park Board Corp. has received a vintage 1943 Lockheed PV-1 Ventura Airplane from The Aviator Underwriters of Dallas, Texas. The rare, specially designed night-flight spy plane will launch the Great Park’s military museum…

“Athletes and Aces” Casino Night, hosted by the Wives of Professional Athletes, a support group of the Child Abuse Prevention Center, raised more than $55,000 for the organization …

Laura’s House in Ladera Ranch, which provides residential shelter services to women and children, has been awarded $7,000 from the AT&T Foundation. The grant is to be used to support a technology-infrastructure upgrade, including development of a database to track client data and program results…

Forty U.S. Marines who recently returned home and are expected to return to battle in the coming weeks were saluted with a dinner in their honor at Anaheim White House restaurant. Owner Bruno Serato, who is celebrating his 10-year anniversary as a U.S. citizen, held the event to show his gratitude for the many liberties he now enjoys, “thanks to this great nation, and the fine young men and women who serve in the military.”



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