STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

More Business news

• Lee Real Estate Transactions: August 31, 2008
• Collier Real Estate Transactions: Aug. 29, 2008
• Collier Real Estate Transactions: Aug. 28, 2008

Share and Enjoy [?]

APPOINTMENTS

Gulfshore/CurtCo Media has added Kelly Bennett as an account executive for its publications. Bennett will represent NCH’s Naples Health magazine and Lee Memorial Health System Foundation’s The Gift magazine, as well as Gulfshore Life. Bennett joined the company after creating and launching the publication Healthier Today Magazine, which focused on healthy living, fitness, nutrition and personal growth. She was also the regional director of the American Heart Association in Sarasota.

Gulfshore/CurtCo Media has added Mary Ellen Gardiepy as an account executive for its publications. Gardiepy will represent Destination Downtown, the pocket-sized guidebook to the Fifth Avenue South district, Naples on the Gulf, the official visitors guide to Naples, and Gulfshore Life. Gardiepy joined the company after relocating to Naples from Boston two years ago. In Boston, she was the vice president of business development for Putnam Investments. Prior to that she worked for TIME magazine and Fortune magazine in New York City.

Joseph Gomez has joined McGarvey Development as senior vice president of leasing and property management. Gomez will head the company’s leasing and property management departments and serve as a member of the senior leadership team. Previously, Gomez served as principal/senior director for CBRE Investors Strategic Partners in Los Angeles. He has served in roles responsible for leasing, asset management, acquisitions and development for commercial real estate firms across the country.

RWA has added Paula N. C. McMichael, AICP to its team of planning professionals. McMichael joins the company with more than six years of planning experience, with particular emphasis on developments of regional impact, site analysis, rezoning and land use plan amendments, land development codes and evaluation and appraisal reports. As a senior planner, McMichael is responsible for providing planning consultation services to the company’s private and public sector clients. Her project experience includes her role in the Ram Development Project, where she developed corridor redevelopment plans for areas of two cities adjacent to U.S. 1.

Arlene Ponack of Arlene’s at Your Service has joined the Florida Weddings and Special Events Magazine Group. Ponack will represent the bilingual publication in Southwest Florida, and will oversee marketing and sales.

Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau has hired Crystal Revak as a brand integrator. Revak will be the brand steward for The Beaches of Fort Myers & Sanibel. She will integrate the brand through the various marketing divisions of the VCB and implement the brand strategies working along with the bureau’s advertising agency, BVK. Also, she will team with tourism industry partners to maximize efforts coordinating promotions in target markets. Most recently, Revak directed communications for SmartDisk Corp.

Southwest Capital Bank, N.A. has appointed Trisha Yates as human resources manager. Yates is responsible for overseeing all hiring practices, payroll, benefits, performance evaluations and maintaining employee files for the bank. She attended Northern Illinois University and Edison College and has worked in human resources for 17 of the 20 years she has been employed by the banking industry.

AWARDS

Accent Electronic Systems Integrators has been recognized as the 85th largest electronic systems integrator in North America based on an annual industry survey administered by CE Pro Magazine, a trade publication for the custom electronics industry. The survey, in its 10th year, collects information and ranks the top 100 companies in the United States based solely on revenue. The list includes traditional audio and video companies as well as those that offer lighting control, home automation, structured wiring, home networking, custom theaters, security to high voltage electrical and HVAC.

James Michael Everett of North Fort Myers was named Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida’s Graduate of the Year. Everett is a Senior Community Service Employment Program graduate. He began as a part-time employee at shopgoodwill.com, and is now the Hispanic Social Services Program Director for Catholic Charities.

The Fahlgren Machine Design Group has been awarded a gold metal for its design of CHS Healthcare’s new program, Early Health Pride, at the 25th Annual Healthcare Advertising Awards sponsored by Healthcare Marketing Report newspaper. There were 4,400 entries from throughout the U.S. Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida has named Granny NANNIES Employer of the Year. The company provides home health care to people who are ill, injured, elderly or incapacitated and employs 100 caregivers in Lee and Collier counties.

The Lee Building Industry Association recognized Priority Marketing with a Pinnacle Award in the category of Realtor Best Magazine Ad during the 18th Annual Pinnacle Awards gala. The winning project is an image advertisement promoting Trae Zipperer, a Realtor who specializes in residential Gulf-access waterfront real estate. The awards pay tribute to members who have obtained an outstanding level of success and professionalism in new home sales and marketing in 2007.

Cindy Velez of Fort Myers was named Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida’s Chet Perry Achiever of the Year. After taking three years off to care for her ailing parents in Puerto Rico, Velez returned to the United States with no job prospects. She received job training through Goodwill’s Senior Community Service Employment Program and today is an administrative assistant for the program, helping older workers gain work training and experience.

Priority Marketing public relations and marketing account manager Kara Winton, APR, CPRC, has been named Public Relations Professional of the Year by the Florida Public Relations Association. Each year, the association honors an individual from the Southwest Florida Chapter. Winton has more than 13 years of experience as a marketing and public relations professional. She has worked at Priority Marketing since 2004.

NEW BUSINESSES

Room for Change, a Naples-based interior design firm, has opened for business. Owner and designer Elizabeth Walker-Fenton, an interior redesign industry specialist, specializes in staging homes to help sellers attract potential home buyers. The company offers interior design services including interior redesign, real estate/home staging, clutter management and color consulting. Phone: 263-ROOM. E-mail: bwf@roomforchangeinc.com

BIOCLEAN Enterprises Inc., has opened its headquarters in Naples and is offering the European Pro-Aqua Room-and-Air Cleaning System. The company offers Pro-Aqua vacuum cleaners that have filter systems that trap dust and dirt in water. Phone: 565-7865. E-mail: sales@tnb-usa.com.

ON THE BOARD

Florida Commerce Bancorp, Inc., a the Fort Myers-based holding company for Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida, elected the following directors to a one-year-term at its annual shareholders meting: Joseph D. Reid, chairman and chief executive officer, Capitol Bancorp Limited; Mark L. Morris, president and chief executive officer, Commerce Bank of Southwest Florida; L. Douglas Johns, principal, Mid-Michigan Investment Company; J. Keith Arnold, owner and consultant, J. Keith Arnold & Associates; Douglas E. Crist, principal, Developers of Southwest Florida Inc.; Michael L. Kasten, principal and owner, Kasten Investments; and E. Bruce Strayhorn, attorney, E. Bruce Strayhorn, P.L.

Russell Budd, Professional Building Systems president, has been elected as a member of The Executive Committee of the Naples area. Peers from non-competing companies meet monthly to learn how to accelerate their companies’ growth.

Greater Naples Leadership, Inc. has announced its 2008-09 Board of Directors. New officers are: Jeanne F. Bolds, president; Benjamin Tiley, president-elect; Robert F. McCarthy, vice president — alumni; Douglas Johnson, Ph.D., vice president — Class XIII; Marsha J. Murphy, vice president — community service; Jinny Johnson, secretary; Anne D. Hale, treasurer; and Frank H. Gorke, Jr., immediate past president. Directors are Richard J. Borchers, Richard W. Borel, William H. Buchanan, Jr., Michael Fleming, Martha M. Forbes, Joan Lukowiak, Ed.D., Thomas D. McCann, Marsha A. McDonough, R. Wayne Mullican, Arthur Shafer, Barbara H. Teaford, Jennifer B. Walker and Susan Warren.