ANNOUNCEMENTS.

• Position: Brief Article

Banks

Wendy S. Bolas has been appointed senior vice president and retail sales manager for FirstMerit Bank, Akron, Ohio. Bolas joined the bank in 1985 and has served in retail banking, training and sales development.

Coastal Banc of Houston has made several appointments in its marketing and product strategies divisions. Vice President Joni Mitchell was promoted to manager of marketing and product strategies. Jennifer Drake was promoted to community marketing coordinator. Melinda Combs transferred from the training department to the position of product manager. Denita Holmes was hired as advertising project manager, and Kimberly Daniel was hired as research analyst.

Michael D. Linck has been named banking officer, in charge of advertising and market research, at North Dallas Bank & Trust Co.

Labe Bank of Chicago has appointed Pernilla Jonsson as marketing coordinator, responsible for advertising graphic design and administrative support to the marketing department.

Alisha Rindal Johnson has been named senior vice president and director of marketing at Highland Bank in St. Paul, Minn. Previously she had been vice president and director of marketing for Signal Financial Corp.

Del D. Karfonta, senior vice president for retail banking at The Columbia Bank, Howard County, Md., has been promoted to executive vice president. He will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the bank's network of branch offices. He will also manage and supervise retail marketing and promotional activities.

Interchange Bank of Saddle Brook, N.J., has promoted long-time employee Annette Smith to assistant sales manager. Previously she has been merchant accounts manager, retail sales assistant and corporate services administration. She received the Board of Regents award for achieving the highest academic average while completing her professional banking studies with the American Institute of Banking.

George Cohan, regional sales manager in Colonial Bank's southwest Florida region, has been given increased responsibilities as lead trainer and sales motivator in nine additional regions. His new responsibilities include training senior-level associates, designing workshops to address specific training needs and coordinating sales efforts to stimulate growth.

Financial Services

Robert H. Griffith has been promoted to president and chief executive officer of Irwin Financial Corp.'s mortgage subsidiary, Irwin Mortgage Corp. Previously, Griffith was executive vice...