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Peter V. Ferris has been named president and chief operating officer of Dur-A-Flex. Since 2006, Ferris served as president of Charter Medical Ltd. in Winston-Salem, N.C., a business unit of Manchester-based Lydall Inc. He also spent seven years with Princeton, N.J.-based Tyco International Ltd. where he was vice president of strategic marketing. Prior to Tyco, Ferris spent nine years with the Dexter Corp., a specialty chemicals and materials company based in Windsor Locks. Previously, he founded and was president of a regional, perishable distribution company for nine years in Simsbury and Madison. Dur-A-Flex is a privately-held, manufacturer of polymer flooring and wall systems. The East Hartford firm has been chosen four times as among the Hartford Business Journal’s ‘Best Places To Work.’
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Comcast has named Janet Uthman as its vice president of marketing and sales for the Western New England Region. In this role, Uthman will oversee all marketing and sales initiatives for the region, which encompasses 300 communities in Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, New York and Vermont. She previously served as director of product management for Comcast’s Western New England Region and also owned her own cable industry consulting company. Prior to joining Comcast, Uthman served as corporate marketing director for Black Entertainment Television, and also held management positions at The Disney Channel and Coopers & Lybrand. She is no stranger to Comcast; Uthman previously served as the regional director for Comcast in Baltimore.
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BL Cos., a Meriden-based architectural and engineering firm, has promoted Rainer Muhlbauer to director of architecture. He will join Robert Celata, the firm’s director of architecture and building engineering, in leading the architecture practice. Muhlbauer, a principal at BL, has 29 years of experience, including opening the firm’s New York City office in 2001. He was responsible for managing the rollout of over 200 banks for Washington Mutual in the New York, New Jersey and western Connecticut region. BL Cos. is employee-owned.
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Environics Inc. in Tolland has hired Rachel Stansel as vice president of project development. She most recently was vice president of operations at AboutFace Corp. and brings a background in chemistry and marketing strategies. Environics Inc. specializes in computerized gas flow instrumentation for a wide variety of applications worldwide.
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Conning, the global provider of asset management services, and research to the insurance industry, has appointed Teri James as head of marketing and communications, and David Motill as head of consultant relations. James was senior vice president and director of brand management for CIT, a global commercial finance company. She also held senior positions at MMC Capital, a global private equity firm, and Oxford Health Plans. Motill joins Conning from Alpha Equity management, where he was partner and chief marketing officer. Previously, he was head of global consultant relations with Fischer, Francis, Trees and Watts; head of North American consultant relations with Citigroup Asset Management; head of consultant relations at GE Asset Management, and vice president, investment specialist for global asset allocation products at Putnam Investments. Conning has almost $77 billion under management through its Hartford and Dublin investment centers.
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Michele Hughes is the new director of sales and marketing at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. She has been the center’s director of sales since 2008 and has been with the Waterford Group for 15 years. The facility is owned by the state of Connecticut, and is managed by Waterford Venue Services, with headquarters located in Waterford. She previously served as director of sales & marketing for the Hilton Hartford.
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KBE Building Corp. has promoted Allan Kleban, a 14-year veteran of the firm, to vice president of business development. In his new role, Kleban oversees business-development efforts for the entire company. He previously served in this role at the Columbia, Md., office. He is a member of the firm’s senior leadership team, and has held multiple managerial positions at KBE, including general counsel and vice president of administration. Also, William Hasson has been hired as business development manager for the firm’s commercial construction unit. Hasson will focus on KBE’s senior housing and healthcare services divisions, drawing upon more than two decades of real-estate planning, development, construction, and management at continuing care retirement communities, rehabilitation centers, and nursing homes. He was previously the business development manager for Morgan-Keller, Inc., a commercial construction company in Frederick, Md. Hasson is based in KBE’s Columbia, Md., office, but also manages business development in senior housing and healthcare for the firm’s Farmington headquarters. Also
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Cronin and Company LLC. a Glastonbury marketing communications agency, has promoted two staff. Tracy Klimkoski has been promoted from media supervisor to media and analytics supervisor. She will be responsible for media planning, buying and analytics for clients and for new business. She has been at Cronin since 2003. Also, Nick Koutsopoulos has been promoted from media planner/buyer to senior media planner/buyer. His experiences include marketing, events and sales work at Fox 61 WTIC-TV.
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Barnum Financial Group has added three financial service representatives in its Wethersfield office — Bill Rogers, who spent 20 years as a retail executive; Iga Szabat, who comes to Barnum from ING Financial Advisors; and Randy Kessler, who spent more than 25 years in management and sales in the telecom industry. Barnum Financial Group, based in Shelton, is an office of MetLife.
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Wright-Pierce, a Middletown-based environmental engineering firm with offices throughout New England, has hired Jon M. Beekman as senior advisor with responsibility for planning and managing strategic initiatives. He has held senior level management positions in New England municipalities and at multi-national engineering firms and has worked with over 200 New England communities in the design, construction management, and operations of ground and surface water treatment plants. Beekman has also been president of the New England Water Works Association and the American Water Works Association, New England Section, and president and fellow of the American Council of Engineering Companies. Wright-Pierce specializes in water, wastewater, and infrastructure services.
