• Wheeled shoe maker Heelys Inc. has appointed Lisa Peterson as senior vice president and CFO to replace Mike Hessong, who is resigning to pursue other interests. Most recently Peterson was CFO and executive vice president of the jewelry retailer Friedman’s Inc. The hiring comes after Don Carroll was named CEO in May, replacing Michael Staffaroni, who resigned.
• Ralph Goldwasser, the CFO of enterprise marketing management software provider Unica Corporation, will step down on August 15. Goldwasser has been with Unica since February 2006, before which he served as a senior finance executive for 14 years at the internetworking company BBN Inc. Unica, based in Waltham, Mass., has started a search for his successor.
• Two Eastman Chemical Company executives, including CFO Richard Lorraine, announced retirement plans. Curtis Expeland, Eastman’s vice president of finance and chief accounting officer, will take over as CFO on Sept. 1, though Lorraine will remain with the company in various roles through the year-end.
• David Green has been appointed CFO and treasurer of SJW Corp. and its subsidiary San Jose Water Company. Most recently Green was CFO and treasurer of Specialized Health Products International, where he served from 2006 until this year, when it was acquired by C.R. Bard, Inc.
• McWhinney, a Loveland, Colorado-based real estate company, has hired Joshua Kane as a principal and CFO. In the finance seat Kane replaces Ken Howell, who recently accepted a position as CFO of The Allen Group, a logistics parks and inland ports developer in San Diego. Most recently Kane was CFO for Premier Properties USA Inc.
• Johnna Howard will oversee finance at Thompson National Properties, LLC. She served as senior vice president and controller at IHP Capital Partners for 10 years before her recent appointment. She was also a regional accounting manager for Prudential Home Building Investors.
• Park Ohio Holdings Corp. has hired Jeffrey Rutherford to succeed Richard Elliott as its CFO, starting immediately. Rutherford had been CFO of UAP Holding company since last year. He’s also served as president and CEO of Lesco, Inc., a division of John Deere & Co.
• Avanex Corporation CFO Marla Sanchez has resigned following the firing of the company’s CEO Jo Major. The Fremont, Calif.-based fiber optics communication company said the pair’s departure has nothing to do with its operational performance or financial condition. Giovanni Barbarossa, who had been Avanex chief technology officer and senior vice president, will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for the replacements.
• William Smith was appointed CFO and director for Mogul Energy International as the company focuses its development on oil and gas leases in Southeast Saskatchewan, Canada. Smith brings with him more than 30 years of financial and accounting experience.
• U.K. housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has started a search for a new group finance director after announcing that CFO Peter Johnson will step down at the end of 2008. Press reports suggested Johnson has become a casualty of the downturn in the housing sector. Taylor Wimpey has warned that it is expecting to write down around £660m (US$1.3 billion; E830m) in its 2008 interim results.
• Sean Coyle, director of scheduled revenue at Irish budget airline Ryanair, is to join domestic rival Aer Lingus as CFO. Coyle replaces Greg O’Sullivan, who was promoted to company secretary in May.
• Marco Mangiagalli, CFO of Italian oil company Eni, is to step down after being appointed chairman of oil services provider Saipem, in which Eni holds a 43 percent stake. Alessandro Bernini, currently CFO at Italy’s Saipem, will replace Mangiagalli at Eni and Giulio Bozzini, vice president for strategies and development at Saipem, will step into Bernini’s shoes.
• Zurich Financial Services, the Swiss insurance company, has named Vibhu Sharma CFO of its North America Commercial division. Sharma was previously executive vice president and chief operating officer of John B Collins Associates, a reinsurance broker based in Minneapolis.
• Emmanuel Frantz has been named vice president and CFO for Europe at Yahoo! Frantz joins from Kodak, where he had been finance director of EMEA. He replaces Brian Porritt, who has been promoted to the new position of vice president finance international. Porritt is now responsible for all of Yahoo!’s finance functions outside the US.
• Marsh, the insurance broker and risk advisor, has appointed Angus Cameron as CFO of its U.K. operations. Cameron joins from Dublin-based Depfa Bank, where he was also finance chief.
• SCi Entertainment Group, the U.K.-based maker of the Tomb Raider video games, has named Robert Brent as its new CFO. Brent, whose start date has not yet been set, is currently head of research at KBC Peel Hunt, SCi Entertainment Group’s joint broker.
• Steve Makin has been appointed group finance director of Shop Direct, the U.K. online and home shopping retailer. He was formally CEO of Umbro, the U.K.-based supplier of sportswear to the England football team. Makin replaces Peter Ahye, who is “leaving to spend more time with his family,” according to press reports.
• Miguel Angel Garrido is to become finance director of Fortia, an alliance that procures electricity from Spanish utilities including Endesa, Iberdrola, and Union Fenosa. Garrido was formerly director of finance and administration at Jazztel, the Spanish Internet and telephony services provider.