Notebook

UNITEDHEALTHCARE

As part of its overall plan to grow business in Ohio, UnitedHealthcare is shifting the geographic responsibilities of its Columbus and Cincinnati CEOs and bringing the chief administrative officer from its Chicago health plan to Ohio.

Thomas Brady is now CEO for the Columbus health plan. Dorothy Coleman is CEO for Southwest Ohio and Brett Bäby is now CEO for the Cleveland-Akron health plan.

Brady will assume the responsibilities for all of Ohio. He will work with employer groups, engage medical and trade/business associations, lead the network development activities outside current metro areas, establish and maintain regular relationships, and communicate with political decision-makers at the state and federal levels. He joined UnitedHealthcare in 1992 and was most recently CEO of the Southwest region.

EQUITY

Real estate development company Equity hired Norma Brownfield as director of property management. She is responsible for expanding the company’s property management business throughout Central Ohio. She will oversee the management of specific commercial properties managed by Equity’s Property Management Division and seek out new management opportunities.

Before joining Equity, she was director of facility services for the Longaberger Co., where she was responsible for facility service support for approximately 2.5 million square feet, including the corporate headquarters, manufacturing, warehousing, retail and food services operations.

GERBIG, SNELL/WEISHEIMER

Gerbig, Snell/Weisheimer, an independent advertising agency, announced three executive promotions. Ed Gunn, formerly account director, was named vice president/account director. He serves as the leader for overall business efforts and manages client relationships for GSW pharmaceutical accounts. Gunn has worked on accounts for Abbott Laboratories, Genentech and aaiPharma.

Kurt Richards, formerly associate creative director, was named vice president/associate creative director. He is responsible for overseeing one of GSW’s creative teams, providing direction on creative work and developing client relationships. Richards has worked on creative teams for accounts including KeyBank, AstraZeneca and CIGNA Healthcare.

Tom Sawyer, formerly account director, was named vice president/account director. He is responsible for leading overall business efforts and managing client relationships for several of GSW’s pharmaceutical accounts. He has worked on the Genentech and Roche accounts.

PROPERTY ONE

Property One, a full-service commercial real estate company, named Jason Diwik chief operating officer. He will provide strategy and direction in relation to all sales, marketing, property management, finance and human resource activity for the company.

Diwik will spearhead a three-year growth plan focused on marketing and process improvements. He brings more than 10 years of sales, marketing, consulting, accounting and operations management experience. He has held top management positions for high-profile companies, most recently in Pleasanton, Calif.

GRAEBEL MOVERS INC.

Bryan Bigelow was promoted to regional vice president of business development for Graebel Movers Inc. Bigelow, a former sales manager for the Columbus location, brings 10 years of experience in the relocation industry, including more than five years with Graebel, to his new position. He will continue to be based at the Graebel service center in Columbus and lead the integrated sales efforts in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

Bigelow earned his MBA from Franklin University and is a member of the Relocation Council of Central Ohio.

CHESTER, WILCOX & SAXBE LLP

James Maniace was named a partner in the law firm of Chester, Wilcox and Saxbe LLP. He will focus his practice on business, real estate and intellectual property law. Maniace serves as chairman of the Board of Zoning Adjustment for the city of Columbus and is past president of the Board of Trustees of the Columbus Metropolitan Club. He is a frequent lecturer and author of articles on legal issues relating to business, real estate development and intellectual property.

SEQUENT

Jan Hitchcock was named payroll services manager at Sequent, a full-service human resources consulting firm. Hitchcock brings more than 15 years experience in payroll management roles with other local businesses and consulting firms and will oversee all payroll operations while managing a staff of seven payroll associates.

INCHORD COMMUNICATIONS

inChord Communications Inc., an independent health care marketing organization, named Wassihun Alemayhu vice president of research. He will lead the inChord research team and oversee all primary and secondary research efforts for inChord’s seven companies. He will be based in Columbus and report to Vince Parry, chief branding officer of inChord.

Alemayhu joined inChord from Pharmacia Corp. (now Pfizer), where he served as director of global marketing research. In this role, he coordinated and integrated the global marketing research program into the company’s business model and developed and implemented marketing research programs and guidelines from product inception to mature stages of development.

EWI

EWI, an engineering and technology organization dedicated to welding and materials joining, hired Dale Robinson as director of commercial sales and marketing. Robinson specializes in the development of new markets for engineering and research and development services. He will have lead responsibility for EWI’s commercial marketing and sales strategy.

Robinson was previously Medical/Microelectronics Market Leader at EWI. Prior to that, he was director of account management for Battelle’s Healthcare Products Group, where he managed the selection and cultivation of strategic client relationships.