What’s New: In brief (September 11, 2006)

ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS Remediation Services (ESRS) has opened a new ESRS office in Montral, which will be managed by Ray Penta. A native to Montral, Penta has over 17 years of experience specializing in environmental investigations and remediation projects. The Montral office will serve both U.S. and Canadian clients, as do the other ESRS hub office locations in Calgary, Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa, Gatineau, Saint John and Halifax. Mark Samis, operations vice-president of ESRS, says appointing Penta as the project manager and the opening of the new ESRS Montral office “reaffirms our commitment to expanding ESRS capabilities in Qubec and growing our range of environmental services in partnership with our clients.” The new office is located at 1250, rue Guy, bureau 1000, Montral, Qubec .

Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. (Sedgwick CMS) has appointed William A. Houlihan to the position of chief financial officer of the North American claims and productivity management services company. Houlihan has also joined the firm’s executive committee as an executive vice president. Previously, Houlihan has served 29 years in various positions in the arenas of financial management, investment banking and public and private accountancy. He was the chief financial officer of Metris Companies Inc., a national credit card company recently acquired by HSBC Finance Corporation. Prior to that he was the chief financial officer of Hudson United Bancorp, a regional bank holding company. As an investment banker for 21 years with Goldman, Sachs; Bear, Stearns; J. P. Morgan Securities; and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Houlihan specialized in financial strategies for banks, savings institutions and non-bank financial companies. He began his business career as an auditor with Deloitte, Haskins and Sells.