Stonefly Communications Group, a customer-centric marketing, advertising and communications agency, named Neal Fitzpatrick senior vice president. He is responsible for leading and managing several of Stonefly’s accounts as its key customer account team leader.
Fitzpatrick brings more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical marketing and sales. He joins Stonefly from SkyePharma PLC, where he served as vice president, global marketing, with responsibility for managing all marketing aspects for the company, including branding, strategic planning, P&L management, forecasting and market research. He also managed key business partnerships and chaired the company’s pipeline strategic initiative, which was responsible for the identification and recommendation of the organization’s strategic development pipeline.
Prior to SkyePharma, he was senior group marketing director of hematology at Wyeth, responsible for managing all marketing and product launch aspects for the franchise. He has also held numerous sales management positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Fitzpatrick holds a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from the University of Rhode Island.
“Neal brings deep marketing experience in the areas of hematology, cardiology, infectious disease and oncology,” says John Racik, president and CEO of Stonefly. “He’ll be using his expertise to provide on-site strategic counsel and senior-level leadership to our clients on many of their marketing initiatives. We’re thrilled to have him on our growing team.”
Headquartered in Columbus, Stonefly is a subsidiary of inChord Communications Inc. With capitalized billings of $885 million in 2003, inChord is one of the largest independent communications organizations in the world.
VSP
VSP appointed Dave Heglund as laboratory director of its high-tech lab in Columbus. Heglund brings nearly three decades of optical lab experience to his new post. Since 1998, he has worked as director of production at the VSP Lab in Sacramento.
Heglund’s responsibilities include managing production, operations and customer service staff, as well as all other laboratory functions, using the most advanced optical machinery available.
Heglund received a bachelor of science degree from California State University, Sacramento, in production and operations management.
VSP provides a variety of flexible eye care benefit plans. With more than 38 million members, one in eight people in the United States relies on VSP for eye care health coverage. VSP’s Sight for Students program has helped 250,000 low-income/uninsured children receive free eye care services since its inception in 1997.
PROGRESSIVE MEDICAL INC.
Progressive Medical Inc. hired Todd Hare as director of home delivery.
Bringing more than 16 years of pharmaceutical experience to the Progressive Medical team, Hare has complete responsibility for the management of home delivery processes. He monitors all activities necessary to effectively provide daily operations of the department and provides quality products and services to home delivery recipients.
“Progressive Medical is growing at a tremendous rate, and this increased growth creates a need for departmental leadership. Hare fills this roll effectively, and we are happy to have his skills and experiences on the PMI team,” says David Bianconi, president and CEO of Progressive Medical.
Progressive Medical Inc., founded in 1986, is a nationwide managed care cost-containment company specializing in coordinating care on behalf of eligible injured parties from workers’ compensation, auto-no-fault and personal injury protection cases. It provides medical equipment and supplies, total pharmacy management, health services and ancillary services such as outpatient rehabilitation, transportation, translation and radiology services, all designed to meet the needs of eligible injured parties.
COLUMBUS DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT CORP.
American Electric Power Chairman, President and CEO Michael Morris was appointed to Columbus Downtown Development Corp.’s board of trustees.
In addition, The Columbus Foundation President and CEO Douglas Kridler and Dispatch Printing Company Chairman and CEO John Wolfe were reappointed to the CDDC board for second terms.
Morris joined AEP in January after serving as chairman, president and CEO of Northeast Utilities Systems in Berlin, Conn., since 1997. While with Northeast Utilities, he led the company’s $679 million merger with Yankee Energy System. Before joining Northeast Utilities, Morris was president and CEO of Consumer Energy in Jackson, Miss.
He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in science from Eastern Michigan University. His law degree, cum laude, is from the Detroit College of Law. Morris also serves on the boards of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the Business Roundtable.
NATIONAL CITY BANK
National City Bank signed a two-year agreement to engage Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN personality and former quarterback for The Ohio State University, as the “face” of National City in Columbus. Herbstreit appeared in print, billboard and radio ads in Columbus and will also make appearances at a select number of National City events within the Columbus market throughout 2005.
Herbstreit is a 1993 OSU graduate and was the university’s quarterback and captain of the 1992 football team. He is now co-host of ESPN College Football’s Game Day Show and is also host of the daily radio show Fan SportsRadio 1460.
“We are thrilled to have Kirk join the National City team here in Columbus,” says Kevin Sloan, National City executive vice president of retail banking for the Columbus market. “Kirk has both local and national visibility and a lot of credibility in this market, which we believe will help us increase visibility for National City. He’s one of our own hometown heroes, who has demonstrated a winning spirit by parlaying a successful college football career into an even more successful second career in broadcast.”
“Kirk is a great fit for our organization because he embodies many of the same values National City espouses. Kirk is charismatic, hard-working and community-focused, which meshes so well with National City’s brand image as an engaging, insightful and grounded partner in financial success. Like National City, Kirk is an active supporter of this community, and he connects with residents on a very personal level.”
