The People: Aug. 15, 2011

By Ulf Buchholz

Monday, Aug. 15, 2011 | 3 a.m.

Thom Sheets is a partner with McDonald Carano Wilson. Sheets was general counsel for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Before joining FERC, Sheets had been a partner with McDonald Carano Wilson and he returns to the firm’s energy practice group.

Flo Rogers is a board member of National Public Radio. Rogers is president and general manager of Nevada Public Radio. She was elected to serve a three-year term from 2011-2014.

Russ Joyner was promoted to president and Angel Williams was promoted to director of community relations for Miracle Mile Shops. Joyner was executive vice president and general manager and Williams was director of marketing and tourism for the company.

Tod Little is president and founder of First Business Capital, which opened its corporate office in Las Vegas. Little founded a community bank in 1996 and served as its chairman for more than 10 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology, is a certified public accountant and a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington.

Traci Preus was promoted to vice president of marketing and advertising and Michael Tozzi was promoted to director of marketing advertising for the Mirage. Preus was vice president of advertising and Tozzi was advertising manager for the Mirage.

Ken McFarlane is managing director of Philip Chun North America. He will oversee the firm’s civil engineering services in North America. Chun was director of operations for Martin & Martin.

Amy Parks is acting insurance commissioner, Larry Dizon is acting labor commissioner, and Michael Tanchek is an attorney with the Division of Industrial Relations. Parks was chief counsel for the Division of Business and Industry, Dizon was the labor commissioner’s chief investigator and Tanchek was the labor commissioner.

Dale Bunkers and Richard Green are project superintendents and Cory Svejovsky is project manager for the Jaynes Corp.

Dennis Downing is an existing building consultant for Lawyer Trane. Downing recently planned and implemented HVAC retrofit solutions for Nellis Air Force Base and Monte Carlo. He has a BS in chemical engineering from Colorado School of Mines.

Brian Neighbarger is an associate in the Las Vegas office of Duane Morris.

Mitch Fulfer is branch manager of the Sahara Avenue office of Americana Holdings. Fulfer has been with Americana Holdings since 2000. Before that, Fulfer was in restaurant management.

Kelly May is corporate events coordinator for Hawthorne Plumbing, Heating & Cooling. Kelly graduated from Mesa Community College and continued her education at UNLV. She owned a home-based business for seven years.

Michael Westra is chairman and Amber Stidham is vice-chairwoman for Leadership Henderson. Westra is a 2007 graduate of the program and owner of a Henderson Allstate Insurance agency. Stidham is a 2006 graduate of the program and public relations manager for the Smith Center for the Performing Arts.

Mike Yoder, chief operating officer at Advanced Information Systems, is president; Dixon Keller, director of sales at Humana, is vice president; Catherine Lu, account executive at the Ferraro Group, is secretary; and Rick Beavin, vice president of provider contracting and network management at Cigna Health Insurance, is treasurer for Helping Hands of Vegas Valley.

Officers of the 2012 Greater Las Vegas Assocation of Realtors board of directors include: President Kolleen Kelley of Realty Executives of Nevada; President-elect Dave Tina of Realty ONE Group; Vice President Heidi Kasama of Prudential Americana Group; and Treasurer Kathryn Bovard of Prudential Americana Group. All will take office Jan. 1.

Madeleine Sigman-Grant, area extension specialist for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, was inducted into the Breastfeeding Hall of Excellence by Medela. In honor of her tireless commitment and dedication to the advancement of breastfeeding, Sigman-Grant was chosen from 100 nominees by an independent panel of judges.

Steve Johnson is financial advisor for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce 401(k) plan. Johnson is branch manager fo Raymond James Financial Services. Johnson is a registered investment advisor representative, and a member of the Financial Planning Association, the Investment Management Consultants Association, and the Profit Sharing/401K Council of America.