Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations Balcom Agency hired Sarah Wright as junior art director. Wright is a recent graduate from the University of North Texas and a former Balcom intern. Prior to Balcom, she served as a graphic design intern for White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake and The Karma Group in Green Bay, Wis., where she assisted with developing marketing collateral and Web design for the Green Bay Packers. While in school, she garnered several awards for her work, including a Silver ADDY at the national level of the 2013 Student American Advertising Awards.
Banking & Finance UMB Bank, a subsidiary of UMB Financial Corp., hired Michael Zangoei to vice president of commercial banking in Texas. He is responsible for assisting clients with commercial lending and business development. Zangoei has more than 10 years of experience in the banking and financial services industry. Prior to UMB, he served as vice president of commercial banking at Community Trust Bank where he was responsible for commercial lending in Dallas. Capital One Bank added Jim Vineyard to its Middle Market Banking team serving Fort Worth. A senior vice president, Vineyard has 13 years of banking experience. He previously worked for PlainsCapital Bank in Fort Worth and, before that, American State Bank, in Lubbock. He serves on the boards of the Amon G. Carter Jr. Downtown YMCA and the Ronald McDonald House of Fort Worth. Brice Beard joined defi SOLUTIONS, an auto lending loan originations software company, and will help launch ESSENTIAL, the company’s loan origination system (LOS) service designed for small lenders. Beard has more than 15 years of auto finance experience. Most recently he was responsible for automotive national accounts and sales with TransUnion. His experience also includes sales and business development at World Omni and CitiFinancial Auto and serving as assistant vice president of direct lending operations at both AmeriCredit Financial Services and Texas Bank. Andy Shea is the new regional sales manager of Western operations for Cendera Funding. He will be leading the Cendera originating teams in generating new business and expansion throughout South Texas, Colorado and Utah. Shea joins Cendera with more than 16 years of experience in the financial and mortgage industries. He began his career in 1998 with Washington Mutual serving as a processor, funder and originator and was soon promoted to bank manager. During his tenure there, he was named Top Producer in the D-FW/Texas region and was named to the President’s Club. He was a four-time recipient of the Circle of Excellence award while at Countrywide Home Loans in California. He has extensive experience in bond trading and financial analysis and recently served as regional manager for American West Bank in Utah.
Boards & Organizations Robin Burrill,owner of Curb Appeal Renovations, serves as president of the American Society of Interior Designers Texas Chapter for 2014-2015.
New officers for the 2014-2015 year of the East Fort Worth Business Association are: President Doug Henderson, Vice President Wanda Conlin, Secretary Don Boren, Treasurer Dan Cooper, and Directors: Bob Gallant, Frank Moss, David Salgado, Bill Schwennsen, Keith Tompson and Paul Gardner.
Health Care Children’s Health System of Texas named Lawrence L. Foust executive vice president and chief legal officer and general counsel. Foust oversees the Legal Affairs and Governance Department. Most recently, he served at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles and has also served with CHRISTUS Health and the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan. A former shareholder in the Houston office of Jenkens & Gilchrist, Foust was one of the first attorneys in Texas to be recognized as a specialist in health law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Honors & Awards Daniel Rodriguez, a senior wide receiver and special teams player at Clemson University, is the third recipient of Armed Forces Merit Award presented by the Football Writers Association of America and coordinated by the staff at the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl. Rodriguez is recognized for using his armed forces experiences to benefit his teammates and coaches at Clemson. While serving in the U.S. Army from 2006-2010, Rodriguez spent 18 months in Iraq and one year in Afghanistan, where he was wounded. His story has been detailed in a book that will be made into a movie. Kevin Sink, vice president of total quality for TTI Inc., received a Distinguished Service Award from ECIA (Electronic Components Industry Association) for his work toward anti-counterfeit parts mitigation. East Fort Worth Business Association recently presented awards to the outstanding members of the Eastside community. The recipients for 2014 are: Outstanding Man, Ken Newell; Outstanding Woman, Dicksie McManus; Outstanding Business, Gallant Marble & Granite; and Outstanding Organization, Federación de Zacatecas. The association also presented scholarships to outstanding students Corderrius Wallace and Jeremiah Garnett, both seniors at Eastern Hills High School. American Carton Co. in Mansfield and Trinity Terrace in Fort Worth each received the Division of Workers’ Compensation’s Peer Review Safety Program Award for their exemplary workplace safety programs and low rates of work-related injuries and illnesses.
Real Estate Marcus & Millichap promoted Brandon Karr to associate vice president investments in the firm’s Fort Worth office. Karr began his career with Marcus & Millichap in 2009 and was promoted to senior associate in 2012. He is an associate director for the firm’s National Self Storage Group and is responsible for facilitating more than $100 million in self-storage transactions since joining the firm. He was ranked as the firm’s top self-storage agent in Texas in 2013. McGuyer Homebuilders Inc. hired Mike Edge as its new land acquisition manager for the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Edge was a real estate director for 10 years for a national top 25 homebuilder and has more than 30 years of industry experience. He will help secure home sites for Plantation Homes and Coventry homes, part of the MHI family of builders, in developments across the Metroplex.
Recruiting Ernest L. Thomas, Ph.D., retired president for Tarrant County College South Campus, has joined research and management recruiting firm JD & Associates Inc. He will lead the education business unit, serving as senior vice president and internal consultant. Thomas served 18 years in four-year colleges and 21 years in community colleges. His first professional position was in 1972 as recruiter and adviser for the Educational Opportunities Program at Central Washington State College in Ellensburg, Wash. Over the span of his career, Thomas experienced a progression of leadership positions including coordinator of Upward Bound, director of educational support programs, dean of student development, vice president of student development and campus president. In tandem with his administrative appointments, Thomas served as an adjunct faculty for 12 years at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash. His research interests include: leadership and change management, intercultural literacy, organizational design and dynamics, student learning and development, sociology of education and qualitative research.
Send newsmakers to Betty Dillard at bdillard@bizpress.net
Nan Ellin to lead integration of schools at UT Arlington University of Texas at Arlington has appointed Nan Ellin, professor and chair of the University of Utah Department of City and Metropolitan Planning, as founding dean of a new college that will be formed through the integration of the existing School of Architecture and School of Urban and Public Affairs. She officially joins UT Arlington on Jan. 5. “Dr. Ellin’s depth and breadth of experience that bridges the disciplines of architecture, planning and urban and public affairs will help position UT Arlington as the center for excellence in all aspects of sustainable urban development,” President Vistasp Karbhari said. “Her impressive background of civic and community involvement will be a valuable asset not just to the new college but to our entire region as we address the challenges and opportunities of the Metroplex becoming a megacity.” Prior to joining the University of Utah, Ellin served in leadership roles at Arizona State University where she directed programs in planning, urban and metropolitan studies, and a doctoral program in architecture and environmental design. She taught planning and urban design in the School of Sustainability, the School of Public Affairs and the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. She is the author of numerous books and articles including Good Urbanism: Six Steps to Creating Prosperous Places, Integral Urbanism, and Postmodern Urbanism. In Utah, Ellin has been credited with overseeing a highly successful accreditation review, raising the stature of the planning department, building strong community partnerships and helping increase student diversity. Ellin earned her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College and earned her graduate degrees from Columbia University, including master’s degrees in anthropology and urban planning and a doctorate in urban planning with a concentration in urban design. She also is a Fulbright Scholar who studied in France and is fluent in French and Spanish. Ellin also has served on the faculty at New York University, the University of Southern California, the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the University of Cincinnati.