LOCAL BUSINESS PEOPLE TO WATCH
FINANCE
Trez Forman Capital Group, a leading private commercial real estate lender, has added Jeff Gersh and Ben Gluck to its team. Gersh joins the company as a senior vice president of finance. He will be responsible for all financial aspects of the firm’s deal and business operations. Prior to joining Trez Forman, Gersh was area vice president for the Florida Division of Shea Homes Active Adult Lifestyle Communities. He earned both his bachelor’s degree in accounting and his MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Gluck is the company’s new associate in the Credit Risk and Underwriting Department. He most recently worked as a real estate analyst for Capital Properties where he supervised the financial performance for residential, commercial and hotel assets. Prior to his job at Capital Properties, he worked for Deloitte’s Real Estate Consulting Practice performing fair value analyses and valuations for multiple property types. Gluck earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Queens College.
HEALTH CARE
Palm Beach Orthopaedic Institute has appointed Linda ClenDening as the new chief executive officer. Prior to her new position, ClenDening worked as a manager in health care consulting at Pershing Yoakley and Associates for five years where she specialized in working with physician practice operations and process change management in response to value-based reimbursement models. She earned her master’s degree from the Middle Tennessee State University, Jennings A. Jones College of Business in 2010 and her bachelor’s degree from Trinity University in San Antonio. She is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Practice Executives.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Gift of Life Marrow Registry, a national bone marrow registry that helps patients suffering from blood cancer, has leased the 17,465 square-foot penthouse Sabre Centre I in Boca Raton.
Gift of Life Marrow Registry has more than 260,000 donors in the registry and has accomplished 3,100 lifesaving transplants. Those who join the Gift of Life registry become part of the international registry database serving more than 70 countries. Donors can be searched by transplant centers and physicians around the world.
West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio has appointed Joseph Chase and Lisa Gerard to the board of the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority (DDA). Chase is a business and corporate attorney with Gunster law firm. He focuses his practice on helping clients navigate private company mergers and acquisitions and other complex business transactions. Chase has represented private companies, private equity firms and venture capital firms in connection with mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, debt and equity restructurings, executive compensation and incentive equity matters, as well as general corporate matters. Prior to joining Gunster in 2010, he did similar work as an attorney with Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago.
Gerard is a real estate investor, broker and general contractor with a primary focus in the downtown West Palm Beach area. For the past 17 years, she was president of David Associates, a commercial real estate company based on Clematis Street, that specializes in leasing, property management, acquisitions, investment, development and construction. She recently stepped down from her position with David Associates but continues to consult for the company.
The Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center announced that the Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival (BRJFF) has been newly named the Judy Levis Markhoff Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival. The festival, beginning its third year, will run from March 10-31, with an opening night on March 7. The Levis JCC also announced that Alex Rosenberg has been named managing director of the film festival. Prior to joining the Judy Levis Markhoff Boca Raton Jewish Film Festival, Rosenberg was the donor relations manager for the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. He earned a B.A. in English from the State University of New York at Oswego.
WPTV has announced a week-long celebration of the 20th anniversary of their Chief Meteorologist Steve Weagle. Weagle signed on the air at WPTV in West Palm Beach on July 14, 1998. His tenure includes Hurricane Frances in 2004, where he talked South Floridians through the storm for almost 67 hours. Then, later that month, he did the same during Hurricane Jeanne and a direct hit by Hurricane Wilma a year later. In 2016, Weagle received The Governor’s Award at Florida’s Annual Hurricane Conference.
Doane and Doane, PA has announced that three of its attorneys have been selected for the inclusion in the September 2018 “Top Lawyers” special edition of Palm Beach Illustrated Magazine. Randell Doane
and Rebecca Doane, managing partners of estate planning law firm Doane and Doane, PA, along with associate Katherine Barski have been named “Top Lawyers” for trust and estate planning.
Inclusion in the Palm Beach Illustrated’s “Top Lawyers” is based solely upon peer review honoring excellence in all areas of practice. To submit an announcement for Local Business People to Watch, please email a short description of the new hire, promotion or award, along with the location of the business and a high-resolution photo of the person to pbbusiness@pbpost.com. wladika@pbpost.com