Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Aug. 30--Joseph W. Toussaint joined ConAgra Inc. in Omaha as executive vice president of business development for ConAgra Energy Services and executive vice president of ConAgra Trade Group.
He comes from Sempra Energy Trading in New York City, where he was a managing director in business development. He had previously worked in energy marketing and trading for Enron Capital & Trade Resources.
His work for ConAgra will include joint ventures, strategic alliances, ac-quisitions and other energy-trading and marketing opportunities.
ConAgra Frozen Foods has promoted Paul Graven to senior vice president for human resources, overseeing employment, compensation, benefits, training and labor relations. Graven, who joined the company in 1980, will add those functions for ConAgra Seafood, Gilardi and Pierce Foods.
Charles Cavanaugh has joined Ameritas Variable Life Insurance Co. of Lincoln as senior vice president and national sales manager, in charge of distribution channels and broker-dealer wholesaling.
Cavanaugh has been director of life and annuity products for Merrill Lynch Insurance Group in Plainsboro, N.J., since 1996 and before that worked for Hartford Life Insurance Cos. of Simsbury, Conn.
Americas Variable is a subsidiary of AMAL Corp., a joint venture of Ame-ritas Life Insurance Corp. of Lincoln and AmerUs Life of Des Moines.
HDR Architecture Inc. has named Jay R. Gordon and David Peterson design managers for planning services at the company's Omaha office.
Gordon, a landscape architect, has more than 12 years of experience, including five with HDR, in urban design, community development, university and recreational planning and site design.
Peterson has more than 30 years' experience in planning, site design and architectural projects in the U.S. and abroad. A registered architect and landscape architect, he ran his own firm before joining HDR.
Thomas E. Vandeveer has been promoted to director of the justice marketing program in HDR's Eastern region. He has been with the company since 1988, most recently as regional director for the Alexandria, Va., office. He has more than 20 years of experience.
Michael Brenchley has been named marketing manager for the justice program nationwide. He has more than 15 years of experience in justice facilities and alternative project delivery methods. He will continue to work out of the Dallas office.
Harris Falkin has been hired as di-rector of the justice program in the Northwest region. He has been assisting state corrections departments in site selection and evaluation and environmental assessment. He will work out of the Bellevue, Wash., office.
Richard D. Fieler has been hired in the Dallas office with plans to transfer to the Tampa. Fla., office as project principal.
Data Transmission Network has made several promotions following its acquisition of Kavouras Inc., a Minneapolis-weather information company now operating in Minneapolis as a subsidiary of the Omaha firm.
Steve Kavouras, formerly president and chief executive officer of Kavou-ras, will be president of DTN Kavouras Weather Services.
Reed Moormeier was promoted from DTN Weather Center project manager to vice president of DTN Kavouras Weather Services. Don Wilmes was promoted to product manager for DTN Weather Center in Omaha.
Laura Burrow, formerly chief operat-ing officer for Kavouras, is now chief operating officer of DTN Kavouras in Minneapolis. Barbara Farrell, formerly director of customer service operations for DTN in Omaha, has been promoted to chief operating officer of DTN Kavouras' Omaha operations.
Ray Tackitt will be director of customer service in Omaha. Julie Oswalt was promoted to general manager of FarmDayta operations in Des Moines.
Methodist Health System has appointed Dr. C. Lee Retelsdorf as vice president of medical affairs, responsible for physician relations and clinical excellence. He has been vice president of medical affairs for Methodist Hospital since 1976.
Dr. William A. Shiffermiller was named to replace Retelsdorf as vice president of medical affairs at Methodist Hospital and will continue his medical practice at Physicians Clinic-Inter-nal Medicine Midwest.
Dr. Charles Morris was named vice president of medical affairs for Jennie Edmundson Hospital and will continue his medical practice as well.
World Insurance Co. has appointed Julie Bard to vice president of claims. Formerly assistant vice president of claims, she has 18 years of experience in the insurance industry. She worked for MidAmerica Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Watertown, S.D., until that company became part of World Insurance last year.
Sandy Heng is new assistant vice president of policy issue and service, where she will oversee the company's new business area and manage service teams. She joined World in 1981 and has been a supervisor and manager of the company's policy-owner service area for 12 years.
Terry I. Moore has been joined Paul Davis Systems and Signature Professional Cleaning as controller for the company's insurance restoration team.
Moore, a native of Columbus, Neb., has been a controller for 15 years, working with Coleman Powermate in Springfield, Minn., and other compa-nies. The Omaha company specializes in restoring losses from residential, commercial and industrial damages.
Western Nebraska National Bank of North Platte, Neb., a subsidiary of First Commerce Bancshares of Lin-coln, has named Mary Gerdes chairman of the board. She will continue as president and chief executive officer, positions she has held since June 1997.
The former chairman is James Stuart Jr., who is chairman and CEO of First Commerce.
National By-Products Inc. of Des Moines has elected Michael J. O'Dowd to president and chief operating officer. He previously worked for Foxley Grain Co. as chief executive officer and Foxley Cattle Co. as chief operating officer in Omaha.
He succeeds C. Dean Carlson as president. Carlson has been promoted to the newly created position of chairman and will continue as chief executive officer.
United Parcel Service has promoted Rosemary Turner to northern plains district manager, managing the Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota area and its 3,000 UPS employees.
She will work out of UPS's facility in Omaha. She has been with the company for 19 years, most recently served as package division manager in Sacramento, Calif.
DeEtta J. Merritt of Lincoln is the new director of TeamMates of Nebraska, a statewide program that matches volunteer adult mentors with middle school-aged students. The program is modeled after a similar mentoring program started by former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne and his wife, Nancy, in Lincoln.
The Osbornes are sponsors of the statewide program through the Nebraska Community Foundation. Nebraska Industrial Competitive Alliance members are helping to recruit communities and individuals to take part in the program, and the State Department of Economic Development is providing office space and support.
Merritt has been school-to-careers coordinator for the Lincoln Public Schools and worked with the Osbornes' Lincoln program. She has taught at Lincoln Northeast High School and in Seward, Raymond and North Platte and has been a research assistant at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Bill Davis has been named director of credit underwriting at Farm Credit Services of the Midlands. He will lead the team which processes and services home loans, leases and agricultural loans under $100,000. He was previously senior vice president of lending services with Farm Credit Services of Western Missouri in Springfield.
Bruce Dean is the new director of credit analysis, managing underwriting for agribusiness loans and participation loans. He has worked for the company for over 18 years, most recently as vice president of credit analysis.
Rick Harms is director of strategic risk management, responsible for credit policies, procedures and reports. He was most recently assistant vice president for credit and previously was president of the Audubon (Iowa) State Bank.
Jim Greufe has been named assistant vice president for credit approvals, responsible for making credit decisions on large and complex presentations. He has worked for the company for more than 16 years, most recently as director of credit underwriting.
Terry Reams has been promoted to vice president for the employee benefit division in voluntary products of Guarantee Life Insurance Co.
He joined the company in 1993 and is responsible for growth and development of the company's worksite marketing effort.
First Data Resources has promoted Harold Sargent to senior vice president of client services. He joined the company in 1994 as a vice president.
Karol Svoboda has been promoted to vice president of client services. She has been with the company for more than 10 years and previously was a service delivery director in client services.
Patty Gaston was promoted to vice president of client development. She joined Fist Data in 1996 and previously was an assistant vice president at FirsTier Bank.
Dennis Hill has been named vice president of testing services, responsible for the strategic planning and tactical direction of software testing. Hill has been with the company for almost 19 years.
Sheila Waring has been named vice president of client development. Waring has been with the company's client services area since 1985.
Scott Schmidt is the new vice president and cashier for City National Bank in Hastings, Neb.
Schmidt worked for the bank as a college student and became a full-time employee in 1988. He has been an assistant vice president since 1997.
Tim S. Shea has been named president of Millar Elevator Service Co., a division of Schindler Elevator Co. of Switzerland. Shea formerly was vice president of modernization. He succeeds Heikki Poutanen, who was assigned to Schindler's corporate office in Switzerland.
CAREERS: Lori Noack to controller for Home Real Estate ... Jeffrey R. Kirkpatrick to the Lincoln office of the Kelley, Le-han & Hall law firm ... Michelle Har-rington to marketing services manager for the Nebraska area at Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of the Midlands ... Jim Hladky to training director and Bill Coyne to district manager at Panda Inc., an Arby's franchisee ... Robert E. Evans to human resources manager at the Salvation Army ... Beth Bergholz to site marketing coordinator for the Nydic Open MRI of America in Omaha ... Jeff Quandt to marketing manager for Data Management Products Inc.
Dr. James Flynn to cardiologist at BryanLGH Medical Center East in Lincoln ... Linda Busby Norwood to chief executive officer for the Beatrice (Neb.) State Developmental Center ... Cheryl Wichman to public relations coordinator for Vetter Health Services Inc.... Jackie Gray to director of sales and compliance for First Concord Group of Lincoln.
Jim H. Hageman to project manager in the Omaha office at Leo A. Daly ... Robert A. Lento to senior vice president of sales and marketing at Conver-gys Customer Management Group of Cincinnati, Ohio, which has Omaha operations ... Robert R. Parmelee to president of the biosciences division at Cargill Inc.
Equity Fund of Nebraska: Orrin A. Wilson, U.S. Bank, president; David L. Bomberger, Guarantee Life Cos., vice president; Sister Marilyn Ross, Holy Name Housing Corp., secretary-trea-surer.
Insurance Accounting and Systems Association: Douglas W. Yenzer, the Catholic Relief Insurance Co. of America, vice president.
APICS: John Larsen, Arthur Ander-sen, president; Alison Stormberg, Ar-thur Andersen, president-elect; Janet Deane, Crown Cork and Seal, secretary; Douglas Van Dyke, Arthur An-dersen, treasurer.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers: K.P. Rajurkar, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, fellow.
Nebraska Home Office Life Underwriter Association: Lee Janecek, president; Jim Stutzman, vice president; Janice Brooks, secretary-treasurer.
Business People lists management, professional and executive appointments and promotions, plus officer positions in professional groups and business-related organizations. Photographs may appear with executive and owner-ship positions.
Business Happenings lists new businesses and services, relocations, acqui-sitions and other activities.
Announcements will be edited. Include a contact name and phone number. Information received by Wednesday usually appears Sunday. By mail:
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(c) 1998, Omaha World-Herald, Neb. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
