Engelman Berger expands public finance practice

Engelman Berger, a law firm concentrating on business deals and disputes, announced the expansion of its public financing practice with the addition of Brigitte Finley Green.

Brigitte is Engelman Berger’s 15th attorney and brings over 25 years of experience in structuring tax-exempt financing deals to Engelman Berger’s stable of talent. Co-founder and shareholder Steven Berger, states, “Brigitte cements our place in public bond financing and joins our attorney, Julie Arvo MacKenzie, in creating a formidable bond practice.”

Brigitte practiced for over 20 years at large regional and national law firms, where she served primarily as bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel on a wide variety of municipal bond and lease-purchase transactions for state and local governmental issuers. Brigitte spent two years as an attorney adviser with the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Chief Counsel in Washington, D.C., where she practiced exclusively in the tax-exempt bond area and her duties included preparing treasury regulations and IRS rulings. Over the course of her career, Brigitte has represented governmental issuers, investment banking firms, trustee banks, and conduit borrowers. A majority of her practice currently includes acting as bond and disclosure counsel on tax-exempt conduit financings for nonprofit charter schools. She also has experience in qualified private activity bond financing of multi-family housing facilities, manufacturing facilities, single-family mortgages, student loans and facilities for 501(c)(3) organizations, such as hospitals, private universities and other charitable organizations.

Jason Muhme joins Arizona Bank & Trust

Arizona Bank & Trust announced the addition of Jason Muhme, Commercial Banker, SVP, to their team. Jason brings 14 years of experience in commercial banking to Arizona Bank & Trust.

In his current role, Jason is responsible for working with clients to understand their businesses, industries and financial goals to provide strategic ideas specifically tailored to their needs. Jason joined Arizona Bank & Trust from KeyBank where he most recently served as a Commercial Banking Relationship Manager. He attended Indiana Tech where he studied Business Administration.

As a very active member in his community, Jason volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, Relay for Life, Bulldog Rescue and has previously served on the Child Abuse Prevention Board. Arizona Bank & Trust is a member of the FDIC.

Velocity Mortgage Capital adds veteran marketer

Velocity Mortgage Capital announced the hiring of Michael Oddi as the firm’s Chief Marketing Officer.

Oddi is responsible for the company’s brand image, messaging, marketing communications and media strategy, including print, digital, search, social, content and email marketing. He has over 30 years of experience in brand development, advertising, creative, and media on the agency side with well-known brands such as Apple, QuickBooks, TurboTax, Household Credit Services, Charles Schwab, Kaiser Permanente, Mercury Insurance, and Guitar Center.

“Mike brings to us an extensive background in brand development, market research, media strategy, marketing automation and targeted digital advertising,” said Chris Farrar, CEO and co-founder of Velocity Mortgage Capital.

Prior to joining Velocity, Oddi was the CEO Tango Partners, a marketing and business development consultancy. Before that, he was the Chief Marketing Officer of a 135-person media agency where he handled marketing, business development and public relations.

Colon cancer expert joins UA

Juanita L. Merchant, MD, PhD, a renowned physician-scientist who has made paradigm-shifting contributions to understanding the gastric response to chronic inflammation and colon cancer, joins the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson faculty this month as the new chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in the Department of Medicine.

She also is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest honors in the field of medicine.

“Dr. Merchant is an incredibly accomplished investigator and a National Academies member who has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for 25 years. She brings academic leadership to the University of Arizona, the Department of Medicine and the GI division,” said Monica Kraft, MD, Department of Medicine chair, professor of medicine, the college’s Robert and Irene Flinn Chair in Medicine and deputy director of the UA Health Sciences Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center. “I’m very excited about having her work with me and the GI faculty to build programs and enhance education as well as move the research endeavor forward.”