Business news briefs

Monday, June 2, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Hurtado's responsibilities include managing all regional, national and international sales divisions, developing new marketing formats and increasing corporate advertising accounts.

Hurtado has nine years of experience in sales, working with the nation's top corporations, including AT&T and GTE. He has received numerous awards for revenue production.

* Julie Smith, district customer service manager for U.S. Bank, has been named to the U.S. Masters Club for the first quarter of 1997.

Smith was selected for the honor through nomination by her supervisor and peers, who noted her volunteering spirit, caring attitude and dedication to her customers. An 18-year banking veteran, Smith joined U.S. Bank in 1992.

* Cristopher Crider has been named vice president and general manager of the Flamingo Hilton.

Crider began his career as a hotelier while he was still in high school, working at the Palmer House and Towers in Chicago. He then went on to the Brown Hotel in Louisville, the Chicago Hilton and Towers, the McLean Hilton in Virgina and the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., where he served as director of food and beverage operations. He most recently was executive assistant manager and then resident manager of the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. He has a bachelor's degree from Illinois State University and attended the Executive Education Program in Advanced Strategic Marketing at Cornell and Wharton School of Business.

* Tom Bruny, former vice president for marketing and entertainment for the Reno Hilton, has joined DRGM as an account supervisor.

Bruny's accounts include Summerlin and International Game Technology.

Before Bruny's stint with the Reno Hilton, he was director of communications for the Stratosphere hotel-casino and, earlier, director of advertising and publications for the MGM Grand. In 1994, he was recognized by Advertising Age magazine as one of the top 100 marketers.

DRGM also hired Joanne Dry as a junior media buyer.

Dry will assist the media director with Summerlin, Allstate, Willden's Pride Doge and Trophy Homes accounts.

Dry earlier was manager of advertising and promotions for Hawaiian Vacations in Anchorage, Alaska.

* Donna Muffaletto, Crayton Jones and Rebecca Oscarson have been promoted in Southwest Gas Corp.'s Southern Nevada Division.

Muffaletto takes over the position of customer relations director.

Muffaletto has been in the utility industry since 1982 and has worked in Phoenix; Victorville, Calif.; and Las Vegas. She most recently was district manager for the company's Sierra Vista District.

Jones has been named sales manager.

Jones joined the company in 1981 in the Central Supply Department and received a series of promotions, most recently serving as sales supervisor for residential and small commercial customers. He is a graduate of UNLV.

Oscarson was named sales supervisor.

Oscarson has been with the company since 1977 and in sales since 1980, primarily in multifamily new construction. She is a member of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association.

* Dan Morgan, vice president and senior account executive at Rose-Glenn Advertising and Public Relations, has been named a partner in the firm.

Morgan, who joined Rose-Glenn in 1991 as media director, will continue his day-to-day involvement with account management, business development and comprehensive strategic marketing plans for the agency clients.

Morgan has more than 12 years of agency experience and spent several years in the hotel-casino industry.

* Buddy McDonald and Candy Cristy have been named to management positions with the Las Vegas Ice Arena, scheduled to open this fall on Industrial Road, north of Blue Diamond.

McDonald has been appointed director of operations and Christy was named administrative and marketing director. They are owners of Nevada Ice Promotions Inc., which is the management company for LVIA.

McDonald was one of the first hockey players with the Las Vegas Gamblers, the first semi-pro team which played in Las Vegas from 1969-71. He was player-coach for the Las Vegas Outlaws from 1972-75.

Christy is the former art director in the display advertising department of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. She also was in the public relations office of Circle K Corp. in Phoenix.

* Mark Byrd and Jerry Witt have joined the staff of the WLB Group Inc.'s Henderson office.

Byrd has been named director of survey.

Byrd is a registered land surveyor in Utah and Arizona and a professional land surveyor in Nevada and Florida. He attended the University of Utah and Palm Beach Community College.

Witt was named construction services manager.

Witt is a certified project management professional and a member of the Project Management Institute. He has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering technology from Texas A&M University.

* Perry White of the Las Vegas office of Marcus & Millichap has been appointed regional manager.

White joined the firm in 1994 and was appointed sales manager of the Las Vegas office in 1995. Prior to his association with Marcus & Millichap, he was a real estate lawyer and broker in California. He is a graduate of Denison University and the George Washington University National Law Center.

* Michael Ferguson has been named brewmaster of the new Gordon Biersch brewery restaurant at Hughes Center.

Ferguson began his career as a brewer at Gordon Biersch's original location in Palo Alto, Calif. Since 1995, he has been working with Barley's Casino and Brewing Co. in Henderson. He began his career as an engineer and worked at IBM for more than 10 years before apprenticing at Gordon Biersch. He has a degree in electromechanical engineering from the University of California.

* Sherri Payne has been named a partner in The Fielden Cos., an architectural, planning and urban design firm.

A licensed architect, Payne directs Studio Two-Architecture for Robert A. Fielden Inc.

Laura Spina has been promoted to manager of The Fielden Cos.

An interior designer and space planner, Spina directs Studio One-Planning for Robert A. Fielden Inc. and is an interior designer for Fielden & Partners.

Richard Danielson has joined Robert A. Fielden Inc. as a project architect.

Danielson has more than 25 years of experience as a designer and project architect. He is a past recipient of three American Institute of Architects Design Awards.

Randy Spitzmesser has joined Robert Fielden Inc. as a project architect.

Most prominent in Spitzmesser's portfolio are a number of elementary, middle and high schools in Southern Nevada. He has also planned and designed air terminals, jails, courthouses and medical facilities.

Jacob Young has been selected as an architectural intern for Robert A. Fielden Inc.

Young was a CAD draftsman for a structural engineering firm in Honolulu and was involved in the design development of a number of high schools in the Las Vegas area. He has a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Hawaii.

Laura Gerber has joined The Fielden Cos. as director of business relations.

Formerly an international marketing executive for The Mirage, Gerber is responsible for maintaining customer relations, marketing to potential clients and overseeing employee community involvement throughout the organization.

Kathryn Crosato of Fielden and Partners has been named one of the first registered interior designers in Nevada.

In addition to being certified under the National Council of Interior Design Qualification, Crosato took part in the pilot test program for interior design registration administered by the State Board of Architecture, Interior Design and Residential Design.

* Mark Fisher has been promoted to senior vice president for organization at City Mortgage.

Fisher will oversee the organizational expansion at the company. He has been with City Mortgage for six years.

Robert Smith has been promoted to senior vice president for investments and will be handling all private loan investments.

Smith has 13 years' experience in finance, 11 years specializing in commercial and residential lending and investing.

* Kevin Halpin has been named the regional director of marketing at 360grees Communications.

Halpin oversees advertising and marketing activities for the wireless communication provider in New Mexico, Texas and Southern Nevada.

A certified public accountant and former regional accounting manager, Halpin is a six-year 360grees veteran. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

* James Dempsey has been promoted to partner and operations/creative director of Newlon & Dempsey Communications Group.

Prior to the partnership, Dempsey was art director for the marketing, public relations and advertising agency, formerly known as Newlon Communications Group.

Dempsey has more than 10 years of experience in design, production and media buying. His ads have appeared in national and regional publications. After earning an art degree in Phoenix, he created artwork for the Arizona Republic and freelance graphic design. In 1991, he was named graphic designer for the Riverside Resort hotel-casino in Laughlin, eventually adding advertising production administration to his job responsibilities.

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