Wiessner named First Federal S&L CFO; other North Bay people news

The North Bay Business Journal

is looking for news of promotions, new hires and awards for possible publication in the People section. Send your press releases to the North Bay Business Journal, Attn: Business Register, 427 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95401; fax 707-521-5292; or e-mail people@busjrnl.com.

Banking

First Federal Savings and Loan of San Rafael named Rod Wiessner senior vice president and chief financial officer. Wiessner has over 25 years of experience in the financial service industry. Before joining First Federal, he was CFO of JAC Financial, Inc. In addition, he served as chief financial officer to community banks in Northern California and was instrumental in the successful formation of two financial institutions.

Agriculture

Land Trust of Napa County said David Beckstoffer is joining its board of trustees. President and CEO of Beckstoffer Vineyards, he is owner and manager of some of Napa County's most historic vineyards. Beckstoffer brings to the Land Trust board not only his business background, but also his previous experience on other local boards such as the Napa County Farm Bureau and the Napa Valley Grapegrowers, where he is a past president.

Construction

Santa Rosa structural engineering firm MKM & Associates has added four new members to its team. Eric Hauser rejoins MKM as a senior staff engineer having previously been with the company over 16 years. Hauser is a licensed civil engineer graduating from California Polytechnic State University. Joseph Nagtalon joins the company as associate engineer having graduated from San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego. Florde Maria Colque joins MKM's drafting department as a junior structural technician, and Mia Blake joins as administrative assistant.

Employment

Nelson Compliance and iWorkGlobal, industry leaders in the global employment and employment compliance markets, announced the appointment of Joe Prusko as chief financial officer. Prusko will play a key role in helping to manage strategic investments and facilitate the companies' continued future growth.

Government

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors appointed Donna Dunk as the county's new auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector. Dunk will complete the unexpired term of David Sundstrom, who retired prior to the completion of his term. Dunk's appointment will extend through Jan. 7, 2019. She joined Sonoma County's Public Works Department as an accountant in 1985, advancing to assistant auditor-controller, where she served for 12 years. During that time, she served as interim ACTTC from June 2011–January 2012.

Health Care

Marin Community Clinics (MCC) announced that it recruited eleven new clinicians during January, February and March, including (all at the San Rafael clinic except where noted): Physicians: Ronald Gaines, M.D., physical medicine and rehabilitation medicine (volunteer); Paul Gilbert, M.D., child psychiatrist; Isaac Silberman, M.D., neurologist (volunteer); Richard Tunkel, M.D., physical medicine and rehabilitation medicine; Dentists: Jennifer Cai, D.D.S.; Elizabeth Robinson, D.M.D.; Nurse practitioners: Alicia Baird, N.P., psychiatric nurse practitioner (also Novato clinic); Franklin Tool, F.N.P., family nurse practitioners; Other clinicians: Cayenne Bierman, LCSW, licensed clinical social worker (Larkspur clinic); Tanya Diaz, Psy.D., psychologist (Novato clinic); Trina Mann, P.T., physical therapist.

Hospitality and Entertainment

Bardessono Hotel & Spa, a LEED platinum-certified wine country retreat in the heart of Napa Valley, hired Tamara DeMars as director of sales & marketing. With specific focus on the independent, luxury hotel segment and more than a decade of hospitality sales experience, DeMars will build upon the hotel's already exceptional level of anticipatory service, guest relations and revenue growth.

Chef Jennifer Johnson of Sebastopol-based Hip Chick Farms (an organic, frozen poultry product company), former chef at Chez Panisse under organic food pioneer Alice Waters, and executive chef for the Getty family was recently tasked with cooking dinner for President Barack Obama at the Getty family's home during his visit to San Francisco.

The Santa Rosa Symphony said that in 2016-2017 the Symphony's popular Family Concert Series has been named in memory of Peggy Anne Covington, opera singer and philanthropist. In 2015, she left her entire estate to the Santa Rosa Symphony as an expression of her life-long love of music and to help ensure that classical music remains available to future generations. This generous gift of over $1 million establishes the Peggy Anne Covington Fund in the Santa Rosa Symphony Endowment

Law

Spaulding McCullough & Tansil LLP (SMT) brought in Valorie Bader as an attorney in the firm's employment law practice. She joins SMT with 30 years of experience in employment litigation, human resources, and risk management. Her practice includes counseling services, advocating before both California and federal administrative agencies and litigating in court. Bader graduated magna cum laude from Rider University and received her Juris Doctor from Empire College. She currently chairs the labor and employment section of the Sonoma County Bar Association and serves on the board of Sonoma County Women In Law.

Professional Organizations

The San Rafael Chamber of Commerce education committee recently selected Dr. David Wain Coon as one of the recipients of the chamber's Excellence in Education Awards for 2015-2016. Dr. Coon is president and superintendent of College of Marin. His contributions include curriculum improvement, instructional excellence, personal involvement and leadership, overall program improvement, and exemplary support to the classroom.

Technology

North Bay Copier, a provider of enterprise document management systems, announced the appointment of Wayne Dunbar as the company's vice president of marketing and sales. The longstanding local woman-owned business is expanding for rapid growth of its Samsung office technology dealership offering state-of-the-art office equipment. Dunbar will apply his extensive marketing and sales experience to help grow a sales team and drive the company's marketing strategy

Wealth Management

Morgan Stanley has announced that Ivar Bolander, a senior vice president, wealth management and wealth advisor in the firm's Santa Rosa wealth management office, has been named to The Financial Times' 2016 list of America's Top 400 Financial Advisors, a select group of individuals who have a minimum of $250 million in assets under management (AUM) and ten or more years of industry experience.

Wine

Scott Lloyd has joined St. Helena-based Salvestrin Winery as general manager. Lloyd was previously with Frank Family Vineyards where he was vice president of national sales for 12 years. He has a masters in wine business administration from Sonoma State University. The placement was made by St. Helena-based The Cypress Group, specializing in executive placements in the wine industry.

Mark Lyon, winemaker for Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery since 1985, will be retiring from his day-to-day obligations at the end of April to move into a consulting role for the winery. After nearly 37 years with Sebastiani Vineyards, Lyon is making the change to focus on his Eco Terreno Vineyards' conversion to biodynamic farming methods, having more time for his father, Rusty Lyon, who has advanced Alzheimer's, yet continue his long, successful relationship with the winery.

Bacchus Wineworks, a sales and marketing company founded by Sam Bronfman of Bacchus Capital Management, has appointed a team of brand ambassadors focused on their key markets including Anita Musi who will represent California and Nevada.