People on the Move: March 1
• Noble Studios' Project Management team announced the hire of Whitney Ginsburg as a project coordinator. At Noble, she will assist project managers and work with strategic services on SEO/SEM retainers. A third-generation Nevadan, Ginsburg received her bachelor's degree in advertising with a minor in Spanish from the University of Nevada, Reno. Prior to joining Noble, she worked as the online marketing coordinator at the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa. There, she developed a passion for digital marketing and technology. Her extensive customer service background gives her the ability to build client relations and manage team members. A budding entrepreneur, Ginsburg founded Sparkling Water, a customized, rhinestone water bottle company in 2011. In college, she studied abroad in Costa Rica for a semester, where she learned fluent Spanish.
• Noble Studios' Strategic Services team has announced the hire of Kate Sikora as a media coordinator. At Noble, Sikora's role will include effectively managing paid media while helping implement new products and services for clients, mainly social media strategy. She is driven by seeing results, being organized and staying on the cusp of new technology and innovation. Prior to joining Noble, she worked in digital marketing and ran her own business for three years, working with clients in Malaysia, Dubai, Germany and the United Kingdom. A native of Manchester, England, she moved to Reno in 2010 to pursue a master's in interactive journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno. She was awarded the Graduate Student of the Year award and teaches social journalism classes at UNR.
• Snell & Wilmer has announced that attorney C. Thomas Burton Jr. has joined the firm's Reno office as counsel. A Nevada attorney for more than 25 years, Burton's practice focuses on business and corporate matters and health care law. He has experience representing management and equity owners in the various facets of formation, planning and operations, and his health care law practice focuses primarily on representing physicians and physician groups. Burton has experience with start-up business ventures, developing business plans, and seeking private equity funding for his clients. Prior to joining Snell & Wilmer, Burton was a stockholder of Burton, Bartlett & Glogovac, a firm he helped found in 1995. Burton is active in Reno and serves as counsel to VSAarts of Nevada and the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. He is a past board member of the American Red Cross Northern Nevada chapter. Burton is ranked AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and is a member of Washoe County Bar Association, State Bar of Nevada, Virginia State Bar and American Health Lawyers Association. He received his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law and his bachelor's degree from Washington and Lee University.
• Downey Brand has announced that Bret Meich has joined the firm's litigation practice and is based primarily out of the Reno office. His practice focuses on commercial litigation, providing business and government clients strategies and tactics that effectively resolve disputes. Bret was awarded his JD, magna cum laude, from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law and his BSBA, cum laude, from Georgetown University. Downey Brand, one of the leading law firms in California, has focused on offering practical business solutions for more than 80 years. With offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, Stockton and Reno, Downey Brand advises and represents clients in more than 25 areas of civil practice.
• Entrepreneurs' Organization Reno-Tahoe, an organization aimed at engaging leading entrepreneurs in the area, has announced new members Alex Roodhouse, BeaverFit North America; Chris Yount, Fortifiber Corp.; Ty Whitaker, Abbi Agency and Greg Buchheister, Coffeebar.
Roodhouse is an honor graduate from the University of Notre Dame and went on to serve as a naval officer in the Riverine squadrons in Iraq. His military decorations include the Navy Commendation Medal and the Combat Action Ribbon. In the private sector, Roodhouse was an early member of a San Francisco fitness startup, where he developed and led the government business unit and the international sales channel. Roodhouse went on to found Enodo Consulting Group, a firm that works with an exclusive portfolio of clients in the human performance, sports, tactical fitness and performance apparel industries. Roodhouse is also a co-founder of BeaverFit North America, which designs, manufactures and distributes proprietary portable, functional training equipment to the United States military, corporate wellness and commercial fitness markets.
Yount is president and chief operating officer of Fortifiber Corp., a family-owned company that recently celebrated 75 years in business. Located in Fernley, Fortifiber manufactures building products that are used to waterproof the walls of homes and commercial structures. Yount is a third-generation Nevadan and Fortifiber owner and is actively involved in many organizations, including Los Angeles chapter of Young Presidents Organization.
Whitaker, co-founder and chief operating officer of the Abbi Agency, has led the company to regional and statewide recognition including the Business of the Year award from the Reno-Tahoe Chamber of Commerce in 2013 and the Best Public Relations Agency in Northern Nevada by the Reno News and Review for three years running. As a fifth-generation Nevadan and graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, Whitaker is deeply involved in the Northern Nevada community. He is a member of the Washoe County Food Policy Council and a member of the Citizens Advisory Board for Washoe County. He also led the advertising and public relations for Hillary Schieve's Reno mayoral campaign.
Buchheister is an experienced coffee entrepreneur, having opened 17 retail locations since he started in the business in 1998 when he co-founded Amante Coffee. Buchheister moved to the Reno-Tahoe area five years ago from Colorado and in 2010 started Coffeebar in Truckee. This year he opened a second Coffeebar location in Reno. He is an avid skier and was an NCAA All American in alpine skiing at the University of Colorado. Buchheister is a current member of the planning commission for Truckee.