WHO’S WHO IN LOCAL BUSINESS
NEWSMAKERS
PROFESSIONAL
Bowman Consulting, a land surveying and civil engineering consulting firm, has hired Fred
Bachman as Director of SUE Services and Paola Tardiff as SUE Project Manager, growing the company’s Subsurface Utility Engineering program. Bachman has over 30 years of SUE and surveying experience. He is an active member of the Common Ground Alliance and the Florida Utility Coordinating Committee. Tardiff has 20 years in SUE and office management experience, and she is an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Southeast Florida Utility Council, Florida Section of American Water Works Association and Woman of Water.
RECOGNITION
The Northern Palm Beach Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) has named Yvette
Temple as their 2018 Woman of Excellence. The award recognizes individuals in the community who have made outstanding achievements. This year, the award was given in recognition of educational achievements.
Temple is an intensive reading teacher at McAuliffe Middle School in Boynton Beach. She was the recipient of the Highly Effective Educator Award 2014-2017, Florida High Impact Teacher Award 2015-17 and a 2009 Dwyer Award nominee. She provides differentiated instruction to sixth to eighth grade ESE students so they can meet their individual needs and IEP goals.
LEGAL
Sachs Sax Caplan has promoted Steven G. Rappaport to equity partner in their Boca Raton office. Rappaport handles transactional matters for the firm’s community association clients, including drafting amendments to governing documents. He currently serves as an at-large member of the board of directors of the Fair Housing/ Equal Employment Board of Palm Beach County. Rappaport is an active member of the Palm Beach County Bar Association and South Palm Beach County Bar Association. He received his B.A. with high honors from the University of Florida and his juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center.
HEALTH
West Boca Medical Center names Elaine Sorensen as its new patient safety officer. In her new role, Sorensen will oversee all patient safety initiatives to improve the overall quality of the patient experience. Prior to her appointment at West Boca, Sorensen was the vice president of quality and risk at a hospital located in Kissimmee. She was responsible for the oversight of all quality improvement activities, quality measures and federal and state regulation compliance for a 76-bed acute care hospital. Sorensen is a registered nurse who received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Villa Maria College and her master’s in health administration and master’s in business administration from Pfeiffer University.
Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute has named Allan S. Stewart, M.D. as chief of cardiac surgery. Stewart has more than 13 years of experience in transcatheter aortic valve replacement procedures. He comes to Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute from Mount Sinai Health System in New York, where he served as director of the Center for Aortic Disease, co-director of the Heart Valve Repair Center and medical director of International Medicine. He has been included on New York Magazine’s list of “Best Doctors” for ten consecutive years. Stewart earned his medical degree at Rutgers University School of Medicine in Newark, N.J. He completed an internship and chief residency in general surgery at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a research fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Stewart is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery.
PROFESSIONAL
Abbey Delray South, a retirement community in Delray Beach, has named Rachel Blumberg as its new executive director. Blumberg has worked in the healthcare and senior living industries for more than 18 years, most recently serving in a similar role in Fort Lauderdale. Blumberg holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Florida State University as well as a master’s degree in health service administration from Florida International University. She’s also a Florida State Humanitarian of the Year award winner.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Tonya Akins of Spady Museum has been appointed to the Delray Beach Public Art Advisory Board. As Education Coordinator of the Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, Akins oversees youth activities, girls’ computer coding classes and assists with events. She is a mixed-media artist with a concentration in dollmaking. The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners has appointed Commissioner Hal Valeche to serve as its representative on the SFRTA Governing Board. Valeche attended Yale University and graduated with a B.A. in American Studies. Upon graduation, he entered the U.S. Navy flight training program in Pensacola, afterward attending the Wharton School, where he received an MBA in Finance and was named to the director’s list for academic achievement both years of the program. He was elected to the Board of Supervisors of the Northern Palm Beach County Improvement District in 2002 and served two terms on the City Council of Palm Beach Gardens.
Chrissy Gibson, communications and marketing manager for the City of Boca Raton, was recently selected to serve on the Florida Municipal Communicators Association (FMCA) founding Board of Directors. The association is a professional network of individuals providing communications leadership and support in Florida’s cities, towns and villages. Gibson, who was named Boca Raton’s communications and marketing manager in July 2015, developed the new communications division which oversees the city’s website, media relations, public relations and social media platforms. She previously managed the city’s Mizner Park Amphitheater from 2010-2015. Gibson is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The 120-room Courtyard by Marriott in Stuart recently completed an extensive renovation.
The hotel renovations are geared toward improving the guest experience from arrival to departure, starting with the newly refurbished lobby featuring an upgraded seating area.
Guest rooms received new carpet, wall vinyl, draperies, lighting, seating and mattresses along with a new color scheme. The corridors leading to the guest rooms also received new carpet and fixtures.
To complement the improvements, the fitness center was also updated with new flooring and fixtures along with new exercise equipment. Additionally, new outdoor seating and pool furniture along with a newly installed putting green are part of the improvements.
The hotel is professionally managed by Waterford Hotel Group, a national hotel and convention center management firm.