•GlaxoSmithKline CFO John Coombe will retire next March when he turns 60. The company has “a succession plan in place,” a representative of the pharmaceutical giant told Reuters. The spokesman would not confirm a press report that the company has already hired headhunters to find a new CFO, according to the news service. Coombe has been CFO since 2001 and was previously finance director at Glaxo Wellcome before the company became GlaxoSmithKline.
•Chiquita Brands International has named John W. Braukman III, 50, as its new senior vice president and CFO. He succeeds James Riley, who will remain with the company through the end of August to ensure a smooth transition.
•Silicon Image CFO Robert Gargus plans to retire from the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based semiconductor company early next year. Gargus said in the company’s announcement that he would stay on to help find a replacement, as well as continuing in his “role and responsibilities through the end of our fiscal year, and with the completion of Sarbanes-Oxley 404 requirements and our 2004 10-K.”
•Ballston Spa National Bank appointed Douglas Welch as its new CFO. Welch joined Ballston Spa National in 1986 as cashier/controller. He was promoted to vice president in 1988 and to his most recent slot as senior vice president of the bank’s treasury division in 1999. Before joining the bank, Welch worked in the public accounting profession.
Welch’s appointment was announced two days after the bank said William Bennison, its president for eight years, had left and had been replaced by Christopher Dowd. Dowd was the bank’s senior vice president and senior loan officer. No reason has been given for Bennison’s departure.
•Active Interest Media has named Mitchell Faigen senior vice president and CFO. Prior to joining the company, Faigen served as finance chief of Primedia Enthusiast Group and CFO of McMullen Argus Publishing, the division of Primedia Enthusiast Group created to acquire and develop automotive enthusiast publishing properties. His 24-year career began at Coopers & Lybrand in Montreal, Canada.
•Texas Children’s Hospital’s longtime CFO and an executive vice president, Sally Nelson, has resigned, the Houston Business Journal reported. In a brief statement, Texas Children’s thanked Nelson for her 18 years of service but offered no explanation for her sudden departure. Randall Wright, senior vice president and chief information officer at Texas Children’s, will serve as acting executive vice president and CFO.