People on the Move

JEFFREY R. LAWSON Job: Director of school and community-based prevention services, FamilyLinks. Age: 43 Ambition: To use the gifts given me to contribute to society in a meaningful way and to help others discover and use their gifts. First job: Fryer at Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips. Biggest work challenge ever: Leading a collaborative effort that overcame conflicting priorities and multiple agendas at three of Allegheny County's largest human service agencies to establish an effective, high quality program that helps people. Favorite stock/mutual fund: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Away from work I: Spend time with my children, doing what they like to do, which keeps me young and makes me feel old at the same time. Dream vacation: A week with my extended family in a place with a wide variety of activities and experiences, such as Disney World, followed by a week to recover. Favorite book: "What's So Amazing About Grace" by Phillip Yancy. If I won the lottery: I would use the resources to pursue my ambition of service to others and support the work of FamilyLinks.

Accounting
Alpern Rosenthal promoted Christine Izaj to shareholder, tax department; and Lawrence P. Barger to shareholder, accounting and auditing department.

Jefferson Wells hired Ava Goggins, internal audit practice; Dan Berger, technology risk management practice; and Rick Dermond, technology risk management practice.

Associations/Organizations

Clergy and Churches United elected new officers to its board. President: the Rev. Walter Silva Thompson, pastor, Calvary Baptist Church; vice president: the Rev Carmen D'Amico; treasurer: the Rev. Dr. Johnnie Monroe; and secretary: Bob Feikema.

Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce's new board members for 2005-2007 include Fran Merritt, MJP Enterprises; Sean Henderson, Kelly Services; Pat Matthews, Citizens Bank Business Center; Col. Carl Vogt, 911th ALW; Mike Belsky, Columbia Gas; David Yankaskas, Y2Marketing; Antoinette Grady, All Staff Quality Staffing Services; Cliff Johnson, FedEx Ground; and Dan Murphy, Robert Morris University. Executive committee chairman, Brian Walker, Houston Walker & Associates; vice chair, Marcy McKivitz, Royal Crusaders Education & Youth Foundation; first vice chair, Bob Terwilliger, PBS & J; second vice chair, George Scarborough, Char-West Council Of Governments; treasurer, Jim Steigerwald, National City Bank; president/secretary, Sally Haas, Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce; and immediate past chair, Mike Belsky, Columbia Gas.

Banking, Finance

Parkvale Bank named Margaret L. Ocepek senior assistant vice president.

Consulting
Adam Obsenica was promoted to associate consultant at Yanni Partners.

Education
David Hart was named chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Carnegie Learning.

Health and Medicine
Martha Howell joined Family Hospice and Palliative Care as clinical supervisor at the Shadyside office.

Law
Dickie McCamey & Chilcote elected five new shareholders: Scott D. Clements, Brett W. Farrar, S. Manoj Jegasothy and Lisa M. Tumolo in Pittsburgh; and Tiffany F. Turner in Philadelphia. Clements concentrates on general liability as a member of the insurance law and litigation and transportation practice groups. Farrar concentrates on commercial litigation, legal malpractice defense and civil litigation. Jegasothy concentrates on civil litigation, medical malpractice, health care law, food and beverage industry law, commercial litigation and general liability. Tumolo concentrates on commercial litigation, contract, insurance and product liability law and railroad matters. Turner concentrates on education law, insurance defense and environmental law.

Jones Day named Thomas S. Jones partner. He practices general litigation in the Pittsburgh office.

Buchanan Ingersoll added intellectual property attorney Roberta R. Wilson, a registered pharmacist who focuses her practice on intellectual property, pharmaceutical industry matters and environmental law.

Manufacturing
Koppers Inc. appointed Randy Collins, vice president, regulatory affairs, and promoted Leslie Hyde, vice president, safety and environmental affairs; Mike Juba, director, global product safety and health; Tim Shannon, plant manager, carbon materials & chemicals plant; and Stacey McKinney, new product applications scientist, technical center.

Ellwood Group Inc. hired Susan A. Apel as general counsel.

Union Switch & Signal appointed John McGee chief operating officer.

Technology
Vivisimo Inc. hired Denis Harscoat, director of European sales, to lead the company's new Paris office; Paul Chilensky, as senior director of customer support; and Anne McCafferty as director of community and public affairs.

Business Notes
The Gateway Engineers merged with Gray-Warnick Engineering. Gateway Engineers has three offices: Green Tree, Cranberry and Washington, Pa. Gray-Warnick has one office in Butler. Gateway Engineers is consolidating the Cranberry and Butler offices into one location in the existing Gray-Warnick facility.

L.J. Melody & Co., the real estate investment banking arm of CB Richard Ellis, arranged financing of $11 million for the Nittany Garden Apartments in State College. Green Park Financial provided the financing on behalf of Nittany Garden Apartments Joint Venture. David Meese, director of L.J. Melody's Pittsburgh office, secured funding for the deal.

Contracts
Carl Walker Construction was awarded a $6.75 million design/build contract to erect a 706-space parking structure for Yeager Airport in Charleston, W.Va. Carl Walker will be partnering with architect Indovina Associates, also of Pittsburgh, to build a precast concrete structure with about 157,000 square feet of supported space on 4¹*₂ levels. The design plan also calls for the addition of new toll booths, an employee break room and maintenance storage facilities.

PDG Environmental Inc. said Westinghouse Savannah River Co. renewed its contract with PDGE's wholly owned subsidiary, Enviro-Tech Abatement Services Co. for a one-year term to perform asbestos abatement at the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site in South Carolina. SRS is undergoing decommissioning. ETAS completed $1.4 million in work in the first year of the term contract, and to date has an additional $1.3 million of work to perform in 2005. PDGE's Los Angeles Office also has been awarded two contracts for asbestos abatement and demolition totaling $2.2 million. The first contract, valued at $1.4 million, is for interior demolition and asbestos-containing fireproofing removal at the Las Vegas airport. The second contract is for $815,000 and involves the removal of asbestos floor tile, pipe insulation and acoustic ceilings in several buildings in Santa Monica, Calif.

Swank Associated Cos. Inc. selected Krakoff Communications Inc. to develop a new look for its 2005 consumer capabilities brochure and advertisements.

Dividends
Alcoa declared a quarterly common stock dividend of 15 cents per share, payable Feb. 25 to shareholders of record Feb. 4.

Bankruptcies
HBC Barge LLC, 1800 Paul Thomas Blvd., Brownsville. Chapter 11.

Kamp's Personal Care Home Inc., 4508 National Pike, Markleysburg. Chapter 11.

George A. Simcox Inc., R.D. 1 Box 1, Curwensville. Chapter 11.

M.C. Home Center Inc., Box 75, Route 119 south, Marion Center. Chapter 11.

Geyer & Geyer Graphic Design Inc., Roosevelt Buildings, Suite 212, 607 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh. Chapter 11.

Top Shelf Hockey Inc., 20120 Route 19 North, Cranberry. Chapter 11.

Nino's Tailoring & Tuxedo Inc. aka Nino's Formal Wear aka Nino's Tailor Shop aka Nino's Tailor Shop aka Nino's Formal Wear & Tailoring, Design Center 640, 5001 Baum Boulevard, Pittsburgh. Chapter 7.

Lord Technologies Inc., 2132 Route 22 Highway West, Blairsville. Chapter 7.

Steel City Mattress Co. Inc., 251 Clairton Boulevard, Pittsburgh. Chapter 7.

Jerome Wolk Jr. Furs Inc., 1115 1/2 South Braddock Ave., Pittsburgh. Chapter 7.

Grants/Loans
Tickets for Kids Foundation has been awarded a $2,500 grant from Citizens Bank. The grant supports Tickets for Kids' efforts to enrich the lives of some of the most forgotten children and families in our area by including them in cultural, recreational and educational events they would otherwise not be able to attend.

The Saturday Light Brigade live public radio program featuring acoustic music and interactive family fun (WRCT 88.3 FM), said PPG Industries Foundation awarded a grant of $5,000 to SLB.

NeuroFibromatosis Clinics Association Inc. has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the H. Glenn Sample Jr. Memorial Fund through the PNC Advisors Charitable Trust Committee to support its efforts to boost awareness about neurofibromatosis, to advocate for victims of the illness, to champion the NF Clinic at Children's Hospital/UPMC and to advance research toward treatment and cure.

Awards/Honors
David Rockman, associate, environmental law group at Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, published an article, "EPA to Enforce Stormwater Rules for Construction Sites," in Construction Executive, monthly magazine of the national Associated Builders and Contractors. The article outlines what property owners, developers and construction companies should do to avoid fines under the EPA's push to enforce stormwater runoff regulations.

Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors received honorable mention in CPA Wealth Provider's 2nd Annual Financial Planning Awards. SDWMA was selected among more than 50 firms nationwide as a firm that has taken the lead through innovation, efficiency, initiative or growth. And Raymond W. Buehler Jr., president, Schneider Downs, was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners in 2005 by CPA Magazine. Buehler was selected for his work in public accounting, his service to the community and his willingness to help others succeed in the accounting profession.

AI Relocation Solutions was honored with an award in the 38th Annual Exhibition of Western Pennsylvania Printing. The company's corporate brochure and folder won an Honorable Mention in the category of "Miscellaneous -- Embossing Projects."

Sylvia Myers Maurin, president, Source One LLC, recently published an article in the January/February 2005 issue of Taxation of Exempts, a Thomson RIA publication produced bimonthly by Warren, Gorham & Lamont. The article, "The Charitable Contribution Provisions of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004," provides a summary of the new rules that apply to contributions of intellectual, vehicular and noncash property.

Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield's Medicare Advantage HMO, SecurityBlue and FreedomBlue, its PPO, recently earned the designation of "Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Certified Compliance Program." It means Highmark's Corporate Compliance and Integrity programs have met the criteria set forth by CMS for exemption from biennial monitoring reviews for a period of up to three years.

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