Simon hired by Van Eperen & Co. as VP

Steve Simon recently joined Van Eperen & Co., a communications consulting firm in Bethesda, as a vice president. Simon had worked as a public relations consultant operating his own firm, Simon Public Relations, after serving as public information director for Montgomery County Public Schools, a director of communications for Montgomery College, and a public information officer for Montgomery County government. Earlier in his career, he was managing editor of The Chronicle Express Newspapers in Montgomery County. Simon is a former president of the Maryland Council of Community College Public Relations Officers, a former vice president of the Montgomery College Alumni Board of Governors, and a graduate of Leadership Montgomery. He serves on the boards of Identity Inc. and A Message of Hope Cancer Fund Inc. Simon majored in radio and television broadcasting at Montgomery College and the University of Maryland, College Park.

Architecture

Mahan Rykiel Associates, of Baltimore, has added three staff members: Morgan Handley has worked at a design build firm and interned at the Landscape Architecture Foundation; he will work primarily with Mahan Rykiel’s retail studio. Grace Ryan works in the firm’s higher education and health care groups; she is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where she was secretary and president of the Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Andrew Scott is working at the firm through Purdue University’s Cooperative Education Program.

Boards

The Maryland Humanities Council has elected seven new members to its board of directors: Diedre L. Badejo, inaugural dean of the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Baltimore; Gordon Cooley, Western Maryland regional president of PNC Bank; Michael S. Glaser, professor emeritus at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, where he taught literature and creative writing and was an administrator for nearly 40 years; Peter Kelly-Detwiler, senior vice president of energy technology services for Constellation New Energy; Heather Sarkissian, business strategist at Community Analytics and former CEO of mp3Car; Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Stephen J. Sfekas, who previously practiced health care law for 35 years with the Office of Attorney General and in private practice; and Joseph R. Urgo, president and professor of English at St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

David A. Goldner, a managing partner at Gross, Mendelsohn & Associates, a Baltimore CPA and consulting firm, has been appointed to the board of directors of BKR International, a global association of independent accounting and business advisory firms. In addition to being a CPA, Goldner is a Certified Financial Planner and a Certified Valuation Analyst. He provides integrated tax, investment, estate and financial planning services to high net worth families and individuals. He also provides business valuation services for estate, litigation and planning purposes. Goldner has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in taxation from the University of Baltimore. He serves on the investment committees of the Komen for the Cure Maryland and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Maryland.

Insurance

FinSecure, of Towson, has added three experienced assistant vice presidents of sales: David Cassel for the Northern Mid-Atlantic region, Chuck Cook for the Midwest, and Scott Harris for the West. FinSecure, a member company of W.R. Berkley Corp., provides insurance for financial institutions — predominately small to medium-sized banks, savings and loans, and credit unions.

Marketing

Heather Border has been hired as senior designer of Warschawski, of Baltimore. Border previously was a print and interactive graphic designer at Harvey & Daughters, and a graphic designer at Pivec Media and Graphic Design.