On the Business Fast Track

Monday, May 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Bandelin will be managing all aspects of the retail branch network in Las Vegas, including revenue growth, implementation of new products and services, customer relations and expense management.

Bandelin has worked for Citibank Nevada for more than 10 years as a corporate reporting accountant, general ledger manager, business administrator and, most recently, area service manager. A certified public accountant, she has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Northern California.

Marcia Synko has been promoted to area service manager.

A 16-year employee, Synko served as office manager, account manager, credit analyst, credit officer and hub manager for six branches in San Diego. She most recently was branch manager at the Park branch of Citibank Nevada.

Bill Smith has been promoted to area sales manager.

Smith's primary objective is to implement a consistent sales process across the branch network.

A seven-year employee at Citibank Nevada, Smith has served as market manager and management associate. He most recently opened and managed the Summerlin branch. He has a degree in business administration from Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

* Mike Hansell and Dave Knapper have been named shareholders and appointed to the board of directors of Lee & Associates. As a broker-owned commercial real estate firm, Lee & Associates now has seven shareholders in its Las Vegas office.

Hansell has been promoted to vice president from his previous associate position as office specialist. His commercial real estate expertise lies in landlord and tenant representation, space analysis, contract negotiations, market price evaluations and financial analysis. He was named Lee & Associates' Associate of the Year for 1996. A graduate of UNLV, his past experience includes serving as beverage manager for Mirage International Resorts.

Knapper joined Lee & Associates in 1994 as an industrial investment specialist and was recently promoted to vice president. Prior to joining the firm, Knapper handled industrial and investment sales for CB Commercial. He also managed three commercial brokerage firms. He has a master of arts degree from the University of California at Long Beach.

* Charles Witters has been elected to the board of directors for the Southern Nevada Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.

Witters is an executive vice president and shareholder of Lee & Associates' Las Vegas office. He was a founding partner of the firm's Ontario office in 1985 and has continued to serve as a specialist in the commercial brokerage firm's office division. He has 14 years' experience in management, marketing and finance with such corporations as Mobil Corp., Occidental Petroleum and Fluor Corp. He has a business degree from Eastern Illinois University and an MBA from Illinois State University.

* John Eary and Lynn Purdue have been named senior vice presidents of Thomas Puckett Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations.

They will manage the day-to-day activities of the agency. Eary will be responsible for all client services, including account management and media. Purdue will take responsibility for agency administration, human resources and public relations.

Eary has more than 15 years of advertising experience, including eight years at Merica Dickerson, where he served as account supervisor. He later joined the Robert Jones Co. as director of marketing.

During Purdue's 10 years of public relations experience, she has represented a variety of industries, including hotel-casino, home builders, land developers, public utilities and communications companies. Before joining Thomas Puckett, she was a public relations account supervisor at R&R/PBN.

* Dennis Waibel, assistant manager of the Las Vegas office of Carter & Burgess, has been named a vice president.

Waibel is a civil engineer with 18 years of professional experience in major infrastructure feasibility and final design on international and stateside projects. He served as project manager on many resort and casino projects, including the Monte Carlo, Luxor, Circus-Circus and MGM Grand.

Carter & Burgess is a design and construction management firm with 20 offices nationally and project offices throughout the world.

* Beth Casotti has transferred to Norwest Bank Nevada from Minneapolis Private Banking where she held the position of vice president of Norwest Medical Specialty Group for the past five years. As vice president/ private banker for Norwest Bank Nevada, she will oversee the new private banking area.

The Private Banking Division, recently introduced in Nevada, offers a complete relationship to high net worth clients with a variety of financial needs.

Casotti began her career with Norwest Bank in 1991 in Fargo, N.D. in retail banking. She later moved to Regional Credit Analysis and then to the Minneapolis Private Banking Group. Prior to joining Norwest, she was manager of consulting services with a CPA firm in Minneapolis and served as marketing director for First Interstate Bank.