Business People on the Move

Ballard Spahr has formed a dedicated political and election law group to help individuals, organizations, and government officials, to be led by partner Joseph A. Kanefield. He had been general counsel to former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. Other members include Edward G. Rendell, special counsel, and former Pennsylvania governor and general chair of the Democratic National Committee; partner Kenneth M. Jarin, vice chair for national finance for the Democratic National Committee and former treasurer of the Democratic Governors' Association; and partnerJon M. Laria, who chaired the finance committee for former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and served on the transition steering committee.

ESM Productions, an event-production company, has promoted Christina Wong to vice president, from production manager. Wong has been with the company since 2006, starting as an intern in college as a production assistant.

Nina McNeely Diefenbach has been hired as deputy director for advancement at the Barnes Foundation. Diefenbach joins the Barnes after 34 years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she held the position of vice president for institutional advancement since 2004. She will begin her new role in April.

Lincoln Financial Group, Radnor, has hired Dan Miller as a senior relationship manager for the Northeast region in the retirement plan services business. He had been director, institutional solutions, for Savitz in Philadelphia.

Tompkins Insurance, Wyomissing, has hired Rebecca Weiler as an account executive in its employee benefits and commercial lines division. She had been an account executive for Gerhart, Hartmand & Ritner.

The Philadelphia litigation law firm Kaufman, Coren & Ress P.C. has named lawyer Deborah R. Gross as of counsel. Gross concentrates her practice on plaintiffs securities fraud, antitrust, and consumer class-action cases litigated across the United States. She had been a lawyer with the Law Offices Bernard M. Gross P.C. for nearly 30 years. She is chancellor-elect of the Philadelphia Bar Association and has been elected to serve as its chancellor for 2017.

Mass tort and class-action lawyer Alfred M. Anthony has joined Locks Law Firm as a partner working out of the planned North Jersey office, as well as its Cherry Hill and New York City offices He had been a lawyer at Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer P.A.

Umbreit, Korengel & Associates P.C., certified public accountants, Kennett Square, has hired Kathleen A. Wileczek as a principal of the firm.

Axalta Coating Systems, a Philadelphia manufacturer of liquid and powder coatings, has hired Dan Key as senior vice president, operations and supply chain. Key will oversee Axalta's manufacturing network of 35 production facilities and 6,000 people working on six continents. He had been vice president and chief supply chain officer at Sigma-Aldrich.

Abington Hospital-Jefferson Health says Anthony Scarpaci has joined Abington Cancer Care Specialists, a group of physicians board-certified in hematology and oncology. Scarpaci specializes in diagnosing and treating all cancers, with a special interest in breast cancer management.

Sara Anderson has joined Avison Young in Philadelphia as senior project manager. She will focus on managing and delivering a wide range of commercial, institutional, and nonprofit projects in the Philadelphia region. She had been senior project manager for a Philadelphia-based real estate company.

Ryan E. Borneman has been promoted to partner, from associate, at Duane Morris L.L.P., Philadelphia.

TD Wealth Private Client Group, Exton, has hired Larysa P. Smykovskaya as investment adviser in the suburban Philadelphia market. She had been an investment adviser at PNC in Philadelphia and on the Main Line.

Reetika Kumar has been hired as senior medical director at Health Partners Plans, Philadelphia, a nonprofit managed health-care organization. Kumar will focus on care utilization and disease management. Kumar served as the senior medical director of utilization at Cigna HealthSpring and previously was a physician hospitalist for the Advanced Care Centers at Bravo Health.

Medgenics Inc., a Wayne biotechnology company specializing in the development of genomic medicines, has promoted Brian Piper to chief financial officer, from vice president of finance and investor relations.

William A. Gray, an interventional cardiologist, has been appointed system chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Disease at Main Line Health. He succeeds Peter Kowey, who served in the role for more than 25 years. Gray has also been named the first president of Main Line Health's Lankenau Heart Institute, the system's cardiovascular medicine and surgery program.

Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel L.L.P., Philadelphia, has hired Matthew McHugh as a lawyer in the business and finance department. He had been an associate at Grim, Biehn & Thatcher.

Williams Family Law P.C., Doylestown, has named divorce and family law lawyer Susan J. Smith as a partner. Smith had been head of the family law group at Fox Rothschild's Warrington office.

SSH Real Estate has hired Cathryn Coate as senior vice president in its Center City office. She had been senior vice president with Colliers International.

Houghton International Inc., a Valley Forge provider of metalworking fluids and services to the metalworking, aluminum, and steel industries, has hired Kevin Smith as senior vice president, Houghton International, and president, Europe, Middle East and Africa and Global Automotive and Aerospace. He will be based in the company's Manchester, United Kingdom, office. He had been CEO, EMEA, for Arysta Lifescience.

Michael Finke, has been named dean and chief academic officer at the American College of Financial Services, Bryn Mawr. Finke, a professor and director of retirement planning and living in the department of personal financial planning at Texas Tech University, will assume his new duties this summer

Macquarie Investment Management, the investment management arm of Macquarie Group in Philadelphia, has hired Dominic Janssens as global chief operations officer. Janssens will join the organization April 4. He had been director of Global Investment and Institutional Client Services at T. Rowe Price.

Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County Inc., a 37-year-old Media nonprofit human-service agency that provides advocacy, counseling, and legal services and assistance, has named Kathy L. Stone executive director. Stone will succeed Rita Buckley Connolly, who has retired. She had been vice president for development at Newhouse Inc., an 88-bed, $1.9 million domestic-violence shelter in Kansas City, Mo.

JLT Re, a London provider of insurance, reinsurance, employee benefits advice, and brokerage and associated services, has launched JLT Re Structured Products in Philadelphia and named Hugo Kostelni president of this new operation. He had been vice president and location manager for the West Coast and Hartford, Conn.

Andres Capital Management, a registered investment adviser in Berwyn, has named Mariel Clemensen managing director. She will manage the firm's high-yield and high-income strategies.

The Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership, Southampton, has hired Kevin McPhillips as founding executive director. He had been CEO of 1,000 Museums, a community destination to discover, shop, and share museums and exhibitions from around the world. The nonprofit promotes better understanding of the values of employee ownership.

Firstrust Bank, Conshohocken, has hired Richard Preskenis as vice president of commercial lending. He had been senior portfolio manager with Citizens Bank.

- Mike Zebe