People: Week of June 6, 2011

Send People items to the North Bay Business Journal, Attn: Business Register, 427 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95401; fax 707-521-5292; or e-mail news@busjrnl.com.

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Construction

West Bay Builders has established a new board of directors.  Richard Farnsworth, a former senior vice president of surety operations at Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, and Gary LaBonte, formerly Bay Area Rapid Transit's executive manager for development, join West Bay Builders' management team of Paul Thompson, president, Joseph Haas, vice president, and Vicki Fowler, controller.

Health Care

Mary Maki-Rich, a nurse at Palm Drive Hospital, has received a 2011 Heroes in Health Care and Wellness Award from the Palm Drive Health Care Foundation. Ms. Maki-Rich was recognized for her dedication to her patients and for her role in creating the Green Team, which is introducing environmentally sound practices within the hospital. Ms. Maki-Rich has been a Palm Drive employee for more than 30 years.

Misty Zelk, M.D., who specializes in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, has joined the Palm Drive Medical Center in Sebastopol. For the past two years, she has been a staff physician at St. Joseph Mercy, Hot Springs, Ark.  She is currently a Lt. Colonel in the Air National Guard and served as a medical officer in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. She received her M.D. from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Ark.

Non Profits

The board of directors of Becoming Independent, a non-profit agency serving people with disabilities in Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties, has elected four new members to the board. They are: Scott Ormerod, partner with Leap Solutions Group in Santa Rosa; Elle Rowland, Risk Manager of Northbay Corporation; West County resident Jerry Fabiano, a retired engineer; Rosie Schueler, an attorney who lives in Healdsburg.

Education

Sonoma State University has announced the hiring of Dr. Jenny Bent as assistant professor of music. Dr. Bent will join the SSU full-time faculty next fall as director of choral activities. Originally from New Hampshire, she received her doctorate from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.   She is currently teaching at the Marin School of the Arts.

Wine

Michael Morganti is joining The Hess Collection as New England Regional Sales Manager, responsible for Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Mr. Morganti earned a bachelor’s degree from Bentley University in Waltham, near Boston and was recently the Northern California district manager for Kobrand.

J Vineyards & Winery appointed Kerry Manahan-Ehlow as vice president of sales and marketing.  She was previously chief operating officer at Foley Family Wines managing global sales, marketing, and PR duties across 16 domestic and five New Zealand wine brands.  She has worked across a broad spectrum of brands, including Robert Mondavi Winery, Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards & Winery, Matanzas Creek Winery and Kendall-Jackson.

Insurance

Wells Fargo Insurance Services announced that Kevin Mogan and Chris Padowan have joined its North Bay employee benefits practice as vice president and senior account executive, respectively. Mr. Mogan will be responsible for business development, including new client acquisition and the design, placement and management of employee benefit programs. Mr. Padowan will be responsible for the marketing, implementation and management of employee benefit programs for some of the division’s largest North Bay clients. Both will be based in Petaluma and report to John Fradelizio, managing director for Wells Fargo Insurance Services' employee benefit practice. Mr. Mogan previously worked with the Lincoln Financial Group as a wholesale marketing representative. Mr. Padowan returns to Wells Fargo after working as senior associate for Mercer’s Health and Benefits Practice.

Law

Attorney Jonathan W. Gregory joined the litigation team at Smith Dollar, a real estate and financial services law firm in Santa Rosa. Mr. Gregory is a member of the firm’s mortgage banking, loss mitigation, and financial services groups. His practice includes all aspects of discovery, law and motion practice, and pre-trial work.

Mr. Gregory formerly served as a litigation associate at a San Francisco law firm, representing plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of subject matters, including insurance coverage, legal malpractice and business litigation.

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