People, Companies & Deals

April 1, 2008

Personnel moves ...

SunTrust Bank President and CEO James M. Wells III will become board chairman when the Atlanta bank holds its annual meeting April 29. He will succeed current chair L. Phillip Humann, who plans to retire next April ... Porsche AG has named Detlev von Platen president and CEO of Porsche Cars North America, headquartered in Atlanta ...Stiefel Laboratories, the Duluth-based dermatology company, named William D. Humphries as president ... Piedmont Park Conservancy President and CEO Debbie McCown is leaving in May after 10 years ... WiFiMed Holdings, the Marietta-based specialty pharmacy services company, tabbed Daniel Thomas as its CFO ...  Fischer Connectors SA appointed Mark Barber as president of Fischer's U.S. subsidiary in Alpharetta ... Management and technology consulting company AGSI promoted Harold Hamilton to senior VP and managing principal ... Dennis Bruce has been named president of the Argentine-American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia ... The Rubicon Group, a provider of market information applications and services for global travel, added Cliff Isaacson, VP of product management; Bill Rieke, VP of business development; and Emma Browne, customer service analyst, to its team.

Awards & honors ...

Georgia is the best managed state in the Southeast and one of the best in America, according to The Pew Center on the States and Governing magazine. Georgia earned an overall grade of B+. Only three states received a higher grade, while four others posted a B+. The national average was a B-. Georgia's grade was determined by averaging the state's score in four categories: "Money" B+, "People" A-, "Infrastructure" B, and "Information" B+ ... Southern Company improved its score and ranking on J.D. Power and Associates' 2008 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study. Southern placed third in the survey's South Region with a score of 728, compared with a ranking of fourth and a score of 712 last year. The scores are based on a scale of 1,000  ... Atlanta law firm Elarbee Thompson had seven attorneys recognized as "Georgia Super Lawyers," including Alisa Pittman Cleek, William D. Deveney, R. Read Gignilliat, Sharon P. Morgan, J. Lewis Sapp, Brent L. Wilson and Stanford G. Wilson ... Several members of architecture firm HGOR were cited during the U.S. Green Building Council's Natural Talent Design Competition, including Sarah Thomas, Haley Heard and Christina Carlisle.

Moving out ...

Hardin Construction Company has relocated to expanded facilities in southeast Cobb County at 3301 Windy Ridge Parkway, off Powers Ferry Road.