MANAGEMENT Who's News PERSONNEL.

Simon Brand Ventures announced that Drew Sheinman was named president of the New York-based strategic business initiative. He was formerly senior vice president.

EMCOR Group, Inc. has named Richard A. Aquino vice president of business development. In his new position, Aquino is responsible for EMCOR group-wide business development activities, and will report to Jeffrey M. Levy, president and chief operating officer of the firm.

Aquino has more than 25 years of business development and sales management experience, Prior to joining EMCOR, he was vice president of business development for Energy International, responsible for managing business development for power engineering and turnkey projects in North and South America. He has held senior management-level sales positions with several major engineering and construction companies, including Raytheon Engineers and Constructors, Inc. and Ebasco Constructors, Inc.

Aquino is a graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a B.S. in civil and environmental engineering. He resides in Boonton, N.J.

Louise Sunshine, president and CEO of The Sunshine Group, Inc. has announced the promotions of Judith Banham and Joan Kaplan.

Banham, who has been with the company for more than 10 years, takes on the role of chief operating officer of The Sunshine Group. She was previously a senior managing director. In her new role, she will be responsible for the daily operations of the company. Banham will continue to oversee the predevelopment planning, and marketing and sales programs for New York properties. She will also continue to direct the development and implementation of marketing strategies and manage the sales process. Banham is a graduate of St. John's University in New York. Her prior experience includes 10 years as vice president of The Glick Organization, a New York City development firm.

Joan Kaplan has been appointed director of the private brokerage division, providing marketing and brokerage services to a wide variety of clients. Kaplan has been with the firm for more than 10 years. Kaplan is an executive vice president with The Sunshine Group. She received a B.A. from Smith College and an M.A. from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She is active in charitable and community organizations and is professionally affiliated with the Real Estate Board of New York and Interfirm Forum, where she served on the ethics committee.

Robert A. Knakal, chairman, and Paul J. Massey, Jr., chief executive officer, of Massey Knakal Realty Services, reported that Thomas A. Donovan has been promoted to senior managing director of the firm's Queens office.

Donovan began his real estate career in Howard Beach, Queens, where he specialized in residential real estate sales. In November of 1998, he joined the Massey Knakal staff to head up the newly formed Forest Hills office.

In forming the Queens office, Donovan implemented the same block by block approach approach used by Massey Knakal in Manhattan.

Cushman & Wakefield announced the election of Andrew L. Ghertner, Christopher J. Lowery and Edward J. Weiss to its board of directors. Among chief responsibilities of the board include corporate-wide strategic direction and leadership on such matters as mergers and acquisitions, new markets, technology, resource allocation, improved services and major corporate initiatives.

Ghertner is an executive director and joined Cushman & Wakefield in 1977. He specializes in office leasing as a tenant representative for clients in Atlanta and throughout the Southeast. During his career, he has represented clients in transactions involving several million square feet of office space. A graduate of the University of Georgia, Ghertner was one of the founders of Cushman & Wakefield's operations in Atlanta and the greater Southeast.

Lowery is the executive vice president of Cushman & Wakefield's advisory group, and has been with Cushman & Wakefield since 1988. Prior to assuming his current responsibilities, Lowery served as national director of the structured finance group. Lowery is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and attended the masters program in city and regional planning at Pratt Institute. Among his many community activities, Lowery was twice elected to the Manhasset Board of Education, serving two terms as its president, and served several terms as chairman of the Village of Munsey Park's Board of Zoning Appeals.

Weiss is an executive director and has been with Cushman & Wakefield since 1976. He has been the firm's number one broker (among 850 professionals) for the past two years. Weiss is a graduate of SUNY Stony Brook and Long Island University and earned a diploma in real estate analysis and appraisal from New York University. A former naval flight officer, Weiss is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York and the Board of Benefactors for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind.

The Ashforth Company has promoted two of its managers to directors, promoted a graphic designer, and appointed a new information technology specialist.

Jill E. Coscia, of Norwalk, has been promoted from manager of human resources to director of human resources, responsible for overseeing and maintaining recruiting, training, employee relations, employee career development, benefits, compensation, and insurance for The Ashforth Company and its divisions. She earned a certificate in human resources management from Fairfield University and has successfully completed a variety of training, real estate, and management development courses.

Kim DePra, of Redding, has been promoted from manager of marketing and public relations to director of marketing. She is responsible for directing public relations, community relations, corporate communications, graphic design, websites, advertising, tenant relations, special events, and corporate entertainment for The Ashforth Company and its divisions. She has a B.B.A. in marketing management from Pace University.

Deborah Heelan, of Bethel, has been promoted to senior graphic designer, responsible for designing all communication materials for the company and its divisions, including marketing collateral, websites, and PowerPoint presentations. Heelan has a B.S. in business administration from Iona College.

Richard Profit, of Bridgeport, has joined The Ashforth Company as the help desk specialist in the firm's information technology department. Profit has an associate's degree in computer science and business management from Mid-State College in Auburn, Maine, and a certificate in computer network operations and technical support from Gibbs College.

Robert Cronheim, chairman of the David Cronheim Mortgage Corporation, announced the appointment of Andrew Stewart as chief operating officer.

Stewart has been with Cronheim for seven years. Previously, he was employed by the Donald Zucker Company as well as investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. He began his career as a nineteen year-old college junior, renting apartments in Boston.

Since joining Cronheim Mortgage in 1994, Stewart has established new production records for the 105-year-old firm. Among his more important projects are the financing of the world headquarter facilities tenanted by Toys R Us and Colgate Palmolive, Inc. and shopping center and industrial portfolios for National Realty and Development Corporation and AmCap, totaling more than $380 million.

UJA-Federation of New York's Real Estate and Allied Trades Division will honor William L. Mack, co-founder and managing partner of Apollo Real Estate Advisors, L.P., at its annual luncheon on May 1.

Mack is chairman of the board of directors of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, and a director of the Bear Stearns Companies Inc. He is a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the board of overseers of its Wharton School of Business and Finance. In addition, Mack is chairman emeritus and member of the executive committee of North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System.

Nancy Erickson has been appointed director of business development for international interior architecture firm IA, announced Eric Regh, managing principal of the New York office.

Erickson is the former managing director of business development for HLW International. She has been active in the design and construction industry for 17 years, marketing professional services for such industry-recognized architectural, engineering and construction firms as York Hunter, Inc., Morse Diesel International, Inc., Tishman Construction and FR Harris.

Erickson, of Hoboken, is a member of several professional associations. She earned a bachelor of science degree in management/marketing from Kean University and an MBA in marketing from Monmouth University.

Donna M. Chaklos has been promoted to assistant property manager at Albert B. Ashforth Inc. Management Services.

Chaklos, a Norwalk resident, has received two promotions since joining the company in May 1998 as an administrative assistant. Her first promotion came in August 1999, when she was named property operations administrator for Greenwich Plaza. Her most recent promotion was to assistant property manager at Greenwich Plaza.

Chaklos has a B.S. in real estate from Pennsylvania State University. She has also successfully completed courses offered by the Building Owners and Managers Institute, the Institute of Real Estate Management, and the Appraisal Institute. Chaklos is an associate member of the Southern Connecticut chapter of the Building and Owners Association and a member of the Southern Connecticut Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association.