COO Moves this week include:
| NIKA | RideBidz Inc. | The Doctors Company |
| Business First Bancshares | Pulleez | The Segal Group |
| HealthONE | bulb | Creative Learning Corporation |
| Kindred Systems Inc. | Watercrest Senior Living Group | Yippy, Inc. |
| Texas Instruments Incorporated | OppenheimerFunds | ConcertoHealth |
| Global Education & Workforce at Educational Testing Service | Unit4 | Ciena |
| FedEx Corp. | Bulletproof | C Space |
| First Internet Bancorp | The Vosay Collection | Sprint |
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COO Moves is published by Samuel Dergel (Executive Search Consultant with Dergel Executive Search). Samuel can be reached by email at samuel@dergelsearch.com or by phone at +1 (415) 738-2070.
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NIKA [ROCKVILLE, Md.] announced the current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Usman Shakir will also be named Chief Operating Officer of the company. Before joining NIKA, Shakir served as Chief Financial Officer at Berico Technologies and held senior corporate finance roles with Deltek and with AOL.
RideBidz Inc. [CALABASAS, Calif.] announced that Jeanella Blair has joined the Executive Management team as COO. Most recently Blair consults representing some of the most respected non-profit agencies in the country including the Magic Johnson Foundation where she previously served as Executive Director, Kanye West Foundation, HollyRod Foundation and the South Carolina’s Department of Commerce. In 1999 Blair launched Eastwind Consulting Group and consulted to corporations such as Pfizer, Cheap Tickets Travel, Cedar Sinai, Toyota Lift and others. Prior to launching Eastwind Consulting Group she was employed by Reuters America relocating to Los Angeles from Boston to be a part of the Executive Leadership team for the western region.
The Doctors Company [NAPA, Calif.] announced the appointment of Bill Fleming as chief operating officer. Fleming replaces Rob Francis, who is leaving the company. Fleming is a 24-year veteran of The Doctors Company and had been senior vice president and regional operating officer for the Northeast. Previously, he served in a number of capacities, including claims, underwriting, product development, and as integration leader for AP Capital, Advocate MD, and Intermed as they joined The Doctors Company.
Business First Bancshares, Inc. [BATON ROUGE, La.], and its wholly owned subsidiary, Business First Bank announced the promotion of Keith Mansfield to Chief Operations Officer. Mr. Mansfield brings nearly 20 years of experience to his responsibilities, serving most recently as the bank’s chief information officer.
Pulleez International Incorporated (Pulleez) [RUMSON, N.J.] announced Laura Duprey will assume the responsibilities of Chief Operating Officer.
The Segal Group [NEW YORK] has announced John Flynn has been named Chief Operating Officer (COO). Mr. Flynn is a senior vice president and has successfully led the firm’s East Region for more than a decade.
HealthONE [ENGLEWOOD, Colo.] announced that Ryan Simpson has been named the new Chief Operating Officer. Simpson will transition from his current role as COO at The Medical Center of Aurora (TMCA) to Swedish Medical Center, HealthONE’s only Level 1 Trauma Center. Simpson has been with HCA since 2010.
bulb [AUSTIN, Texas] announced the appointment of Ed Gillispie as Chief Operating Officer.
Creative Learning Corporation [ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.] (OTCQX: CLCN) announced that it has retained Karla Kretsch to serve as its Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Kretsch brings to the Company expansive, high-level professional experience at major U.S. corporations as well as in franchising, where Ms. Kretsch has herself operated one of the Company’s most successful Bricks 4 Kidz® franchises. Prior to becoming a Bricks 4 Kidz® franchisee in 2010, Ms. Kretsch served in various executive positions at Wells Fargo for 18 years. Ms. Kretsch began her career at Arthur Andersen in audit and in financial consulting.
Kindred Systems Inc. [SAN FRANCISCO] announced it hired Jim Liefer to be its Chief Operating Officer (COO). Most recently he served as One Kings Lane’s COO. Before One Kings Lane, he was vice president of operations for Walmart.com.
Watercrest Senior Living Group [VERO BEACH, Fla.] is proud to announce the promotion of Michele Thompson to Chief Operating Officer. Thompson joined Watercrest in 2013 as Vice President of Operations. Thompson previously served as National Director of Dementia Services and Vice President of Operations for a regional operating company.
Yippy, Inc. [ATLANTA] (OTCMKTS: YIPI) announced that it has appointed John P. Macartney as its President and Chief Operating Officer. Macartney will continue to serve as a member the Company’s Board of Directors and Mike Pointer, who previously served in the capacity of Chief Operations Officer, will now serve as the Company’s Chief Scientist. Mr. Macartney previously served as the Chief Scientist for the web research business unit of Cengage Learning. Prior to Cengage, Mr. Macartney held various positions including Director of Technology, Chief Architect and Chief Scientist at Highbeam Research, Inc. Between 1985 and 1999, Mr. Macartney held senior engineering positions for IBM/Lotus and Unisys.
Texas Instruments Incorporated [DALLAS] (NASDAQ: TXN) promoted Brian Crutcher to chief operating officer (COO). Crutcher is a 21-year veteran of the company and has been executive vice president responsible for all business and sales operations, Kilby Labs and information technology. Crutcher joined TI in 1996 and during his first 10 years served in a variety of leadership roles in the sales organization, including vice president in charge of the Americas. He later moved into business operations and at separate times led each of the company’s two business segments, Analog and Embedded Processing.
OppenheimerFunds [NEW YORK] announced Alex Depetris has joined the firm as Chief Operating Officer, Beta Solutions. Depetris joins from Deutsche Bank AG where he was a founder, COO and Chairman of the board of Deutsche X-trackers ETF business in the U.S. and also managed the PowerShares DB ETF platform (sold to Invesco PowerShares in 2015). Previously, Depetris was an associate with the law firm of Arnold & Porter LLP in New York.
ConcertoHealth [IRVINE, CA] announced the appointment of Chrissie Cooper as chief operating officer. Prior to joining ConcertoHealth, Cooper served as chief operating officer for the California division of DaVita HealthCare Partners, Inc. Cooper previously held the roles of president of Florida and the west region at WellCare Health Plans. She has also held leadership roles at United HealthCare and PacifiCare Health Systems.
Global Education & Workforce at Educational Testing Service (ETS), [PRINCETON, N.J.] announced Senior Vice President, David Hunt has been appointed as Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Operating Officer (COO). Hunt joined ETS in 2003 as Executive Director of the Account Management Organization in the Operations division. In 2004, he was named Group Executive Director of the Process Management Organization in the company’s Brand division. And, in 2005 as Associate Vice President for Channel Expansion in the Higher Education division. Hunt was promoted to Vice President of ETS’s International Division in 2006 and named Chairman of ETS’s for-profit foreign subsidiaries, ETS Global B.V. and Edusoft Learning. Before joining ETS, Hunt was Vice President of Customer Service with Global Crossing Telecommunications, He also served as Vice President of Acquisition Marketing with Prudential® Financial Services.
Unit4 [BURLINGTON, Mass.] announced Jim Millard as Chief Operating Officer (COO). He was formerly VP of Sales and Strategic Alliances. He joined Unit4 in 2013 having held a number of senior sales roles with enterprise software vendors including Lawson Software and Information Mosaic.
Ciena® [HANOVER, Md.] (NYSE: CIEN) announced that François Locoh-Donou will step down as senior vice president and chief operating officer (COO). Locoh-Donou joined Ciena in 2002 and served in several leadership positions before becoming COO in November 2015.
FedEx Corp. [MEMPHIS, Tenn.] (NYSE: FDX) announced that David J. Bronczek is assuming a new role as President and Chief Operating Officer of FedEx Corporation. David L. Cunningham will succeed Bronczek as President and CEO of FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp.
Bulletproof™ [SEATTLE] announced the hiring of Anna Collins as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Most recently, she served as worldwide general manager of Amazon Prime membership. Prior to Amazon, she served in a variety of leadership roles with responsibilities including operations, business development, product and marketing at Microsoft, CVS Health, Johnson & Johnson and aQUANTIVE.
C Space [BOSTON] announced that Howard Kogan has taken on the role of global Chief Operating Officer of C Space. Kogan joined C Space in 2010, and has successfully led the business in the Americas as President for the last three years. Outside of C Space, Howard serves on the Board of Advisors of AnswerLab, the Board of Directors of America SCORES Boston and is a mentor for entrepreneurs at MassChallenge, a start-up accelerator.
First Internet Bancorp [FISHERS, Ind.] (NASDAQ: INBK), the parent company of First Internet Bank, announced today Nicole Lorch has been named Chief Operating Officer of the Company and the Bank. Ms. Lorch joined First Internet Bank as Director of Marketing. She served as Vice President, Marketing & Technology from May 2003 to May 2011 and Senior Vice President, Retail Banking from May 2011 until this appointment.
The Vosay Collection [NEW YORK] announced that Kevin Killough will join the company as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Killough was one of the initial team members of Twin-Star International (TSI).
Sprint [OVERLAND PARK, Kan.] (NYSE: S) named Néstor Cano to the newly created position of chief operating officer. Most recently, he was president of European Operations at Tech Data. Before joining Tech Data, Cano held positions with technology companies in Spain, including Tronik and CCR Informatica.