• Salary.com has appointed Chris Power as CFO, succeeding Ken Goldman. Power joins the firm from Monster Worldwide, where he had been the CFO of global operations for two years. He also held other CFO titles at Monster, which he joined in 2002. In addition, he has held finance roles at Nortel Networks, where he worked for 14 years. Goldman is leaving to pursue other growth opportunities but will remain on Salary.com’s board of directors. He will help Power during the transition.
• Doug Shepard has joined marketing giant Harte-Hanks Inc. as executive vice president and CFO. He most recently served as CFO and treasurer of HVHC Inc. He has also worked at Eye Care Centers of America as CFO, a restaurant company, and Deloitte & Touche. At Harte-Hanks, Shepard fills the spot left vacant when Dean Blythe became president last summer. Blythe had been filing in as interim CFO in the meantime.
• Robert Woodbury, executive vice president and CFO of Brooks Automation, has resigned. The company’s corporate controller, Richard Small, will serve as interim CFO. Woodbury had worked at the semiconductor services provider for five years.
• Netgear Inc. has promoted Christine Gorjanc from chief accounting officer to CFO. She succeeds Jonathan Mather, who left the technology company in November 2006. Gorjanc joined Netgear two years ago as vice president of finance and was promoted to CAO one year later. She previously served as controller and treasurer for Aspect Communications Corp., manager of tax for Tandem Computers Inc., and manager of tax operations for Xidex Corp.
• Chinese search site Baidu.com has asked its senior management team to temporarily take on responsibilities of the CFO role following the death of CFO Shawn Wang in an accident. Wang joined the firm three years ago from PricewaterhouseCoopers. “We are all completely shocked and deeply saddened by this tragic news,” said Robin Li, Baidu’s chairman and CEO. “Shawn’s leadership and vision helped transform Baidu into a leading U.S. public company, and his presence will be greatly missed.” Wang is credited with leading Baidu through its Nasdaq-listed IPO in 2005.
• Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has appointed Michael Morrow as CFO. A 20-year veteran of Blue Cross, Morrow has also been promoted from senior vice president to executive vice president of finance and business development. He replaces Timothy Peterson, who is retiring as CFO after nine years.
• Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. has hired Daniel O’Brien as executive vice president, CFO, and treasurer. He most recently served as CFO of Hawaiian Telcom. He has also held finance chief roles at Global Crossing, Genuity Corp., and GTE Corp. In October, Jackson Hewitt promoted CFO Mark Heimbouch to chief operating officer. He has been serving as interim CFO since then.
• Omni Energy Services Corp. has named Ronald Mogel senior vice president and CFO. Expected to begin his job in the middle of January, Mogel joins Omni from Horizon Offshore Inc., which was acquired by Dive International in December. At Horizon, he was most recently CFO and also held the title of director and vice president of international accounting and tax from 1999 to 2005. He has held financial roles at Newpark Shipbuilding- Pelican Island Inc., John E. Chance & Associates, Offshore Pipelines Inc., and Zapata Gulf Marine Corp. He began his career with Deansgate Inc. and Ocean Drilling & Exploration Co.
• Digital Ally Inc. has appointed Thomas Heckman as CFO. He had been serving the surveillance products maker as a consultant since October. For the past six years, Heckman provided consulting and business investment services to publicly traded and private companies. In 1983, he began an 18-year tenure at Deloitte & Touche.
• Tony Esposito has joined communications agency WeissComm Partners as CFO from a similar role at Ruder Finn, a public relations firm. He spent 10 years at Ruder Finn, as well as a 10 years at Manning, Selvage & Lee, where one of his titles included CFO.
• Patrick Bagley will retire as senior vice president and CFO of Dover Motorsports Inc. on April 1. He will remain a member of the company’s board of directors. Timothy Horne, CFO of Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment since 2002, will now serve as the finance chief for both his business unit and Dover Motorsports Inc.
• Universal Background Screening Inc. has promoted Nancy Hyttel from vice president of operations to senior vice president and CFO. She has spent nearly 20 years holding operational and fiduciary management roles in the commercial real estate, hospitality, and financial services industries.