Palm Beach County business awards and promotions

Aug. 03--ACCOUNTING

A&G Management Services in Wellington announced the addition of a new partner, Sebastian Yeend, to the firm. Yeend's years of experience in taxation and accounting services will benefit associations seeking professional association management and tax services.

BANKING

Legacy Bank of Florida in Boca Raton recently announced that Kate A. Murphy has been elected to their board of directors. Murphy is a private real estate investor, who earned her juris doctorate degree from Brooklyn Law School and her bachelor's of arts degree from Dartmouth College.

John Tranter has been sworn in as chairman of the Florida Bankers Association for the 2014-2015 association year. Tranter is executive vice president and chief banking officer of CenterState Bank in Stuart and has nearly 40 years of banking and community leadership experience in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast. He earned a degree in banking/finance from University of Florida and graduated from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking, the Graduate School of Commercial Lending at the University of Oklahoma and the National School of Real Estate Finance at Ohio State University. Tranter also earned an Advanced Commercial Training Certificate from Barnett Bank. The Florida Bankers Association serves as the primary resource through which Florida financial service providers work in unity to influence the state and federal legal regulatory environment in which they serve their customers.

TD Bank has named Kim M. Morgenstern as assistant vice president, store manager at 1660 SW St. Lucie West Boulevard in Port Saint Lucie. She is responsible for new business development, consumer and business lending, managing personnel and overseeing the day-to-day operations at the store serving customers throughout the area. Morgenstern has more than 35 years of retail banking experience.

INSURANCE

Allstate agency owner Gilbert Suarez has been named to The Florida Century Club for his dedication to helping customers plan for their insurance and financial needs and retirement savings goals. The Florida Century Club recognizes the top Allstate agents and financial services specialists in the state of Florida. Suarez was among the top ten percent of Florida agents in helping customers by offering a wide array of assistance -- such as helping people save to put their children through college, strategies for retirement and approaches for protecting existing financial assets.

LEGAL

Leslie M. Kroeger, partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll in Palm Beach Gardens, was re-elected to the board of directors and executive committee of the Florida Justice Association recently. In addition, Kroeger received the Bronze Eagle award for annual fundraising from the association. The association is a statewide association of plaintiff attorneys established to represent consumers.

Attorneys I. Jeffrey Pheterson and Michael J. Posner of Ward Damon in West Palm Beach, have been named by Florida Super Lawyers magazine as among the top five percent of attorneys in Florida for 2014.

The tax law firm of Comiter, Singer, Baseman & Braun in Palm Beach Gardens announced that five of their attorneys have been selected to the 2014 Florida Super Lawyers list. Richard B. Comiter, senior partner; Michael S. Singer, managing partner; Alan H. Baseman, partner; Keith B. Braun, partner and associate Lisa Z. Hauser.

The six named partners at the West Palm Beach law firm of Clark, Fountain, La Vista, Prather, Keen & Littky-Rubin have been recognized as Super Lawyers for 2014. They are Mark W. Clark, Donald R. Fountain Jr., Nancy La Vista, David C. Prather, W. Hampton Keen and Julie H. Littky-Rubin. Firm associate Cyrus S. Niakan has been recognized in the Rising Stars category. Additionally, Julie H. Littky-Rubin has been ranked the Top 50 female attorneys in the state of Florida, and Littky-Rubin, W. Hampton Keen and David C. Prather were recognized among the Top 100 in the Miami/South Florida region.

Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll announced that four of its litigators have been selected for inclusion in the 2014 Florida Super Lawyers' list. Theodore J. Leopold, a partner at the firm, has been selected to the Top 100 Miami Florida Super Lawyers list. Partner Leslie M. Kroeger and of counsel attorney Wallace B. McCall have been selected to the 2014 Florida Super Lawyers list and Diana L. Martin has been selected to the Florida Rising Stars list.

Howard L. Wander, a principal partner and chief operating officer with the West Palm Beach law firm Kelley Kronenberg, was named by Florida Trend Magazine as one of the Florida Legal Elite for 2014.

MANUFACTURING

Coaxial Components Corp., a manufacturer of RF microwave components and headquartered in Stuart, announced that it has been awarded the AS9100C Certification after satisfying an audit of rigorous process control, quality management, and risk management required for registration. Established as the industry's gold standard for quality and control, AS9100C is a quality management certification that assures the highest quality RF components by providing traceability, risk management, process control, customer support, product availability and completeness of documentation.

MEDICAL

The Florida Tobacco Cessation Alliance will present its first award to Boca Raton Regional Hospital for their commitment and dedication to their employee's health. The hospital has a very aggressive plan in place to help employees quit using tobacco products. The Florida Department of Health-Palm Beach County and The American Lung Association in Florida, both alliance members, have been working with the hospital supporting their efforts in achieving this award.

OTHER

Adams Ranch, one of Florida's oldest cattle ranches, has received Audubon Florida's Sustainable Rancher award for 2014. Adams Ranch has been a leader in advocating the acquisition of conservation easements to keep ranch properties in Florida intact in the face of mounting pressures for development. Audubon Florida has been cooperating with cattle ranchers to promote conservation since its initiation of a voluntary sanctuary program to protect the Bald Eagle in 1962. The Sustainable Rancher award is presented each year to an exemplary rancher or ranch that demonstrates multi-faceted efforts to integrate activities and practices that benefit wildlife habitat, water management and water quality into ranch operations.

The Palm Beach County Estate Planning Council announces officers and new board members for the 2014-15 Council year. President Alison Sih-Crawshaw, president-elect Michael G. Becker, vice president of programming Andrew R. Comiter, vice-president of membership Michael E. Schmidt, treasurer Cara Lamborn and secretary David E. Holland. Joining past presidents Robert M. Burns and Sharon C. Lindsey on the board are new board members Tish Carlo with Hospice of Palm Beach County Foundation, Connie A. Eckerle with Smolin Lupin & Co., Mark R. Parthemer with Bessemer Trust and Andrew Shamp with Life Audit Professionals.

The Delray Beach Public Library announced that Colleen Hasey Schuhmann and Ann Margo Cannon have joined the library board of directors. Schuhmann graduated with a bachelor's of science in finance, magna cum laude, from Boston College while attending its School of Management Honors Program. She is currently vice president -- wealth management at UBS Financial Services. Cannon, a public relations professional and communications consultant, graduated from University of Florida with a bachelor's of science degree in public relations. Ann Margo has been in the field of public relations and communications for over 10 years locally.

REAL ESTATE

Charles Siebrecht announced that Siebrecht Properties, a real estate firm serving the Palm Beaches and Martin County for more than 23 years, is merging with Paradise Real Estate International, a Jupiter-based real estate firm founded by Bates Stoddard. The firm has offices in Jupiter and Palm Beach Gardens.

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