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NEW YORK: Lou Hammond & Associates recently won a number of new accounts in the travel and tourism sector. The agency will now handle PR for the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau, Sonoma County Vinters, and the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission, in Sonoma County, CA, . Additionally,  LH&A was hired by the Paradise Island Tourism Development Association and the Nassau Paradise Island Promotion Board, both in the Bahamas, and Gurney’s Inn, located in Montauk, NY.

NEW YORK: Ketchum appointed partner Tom Barritt to the newly created position of director of online relationships and reputation for Ketchum’s global food and nutrition practice. Barritt will also serve as associate director of the practice, where he will lead food reputation management and assist with the practice’s business development. He continues to oversee the agency’s communications training network. Most recently Barritt was director of Ketchum’s global issues and crisis management network.

IRVINE, CA: Bivar, which provides LED indication products and solutions, hired high-tech PR firm Lages & Associates as marketing AOR. The agency will design and execute a full communications program, including brand messaging, advertising, PR, internal communications, and online.  The campaign will work to enhance Bivar’s image in the marketplace and publicize the company’s recent shift into emphasizing LED lighting.

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, NJ: Palisades Safety and Insurance Management Corporation hired MWW Group as AOR, effective March 12. The agency’s consumer lifestyle and digital marketing practice groups will work together on the account, a consumer awareness campaign targeting drivers in New Jersey.

BLOOMINGTON, MN: The Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) hired Carmichael Lynch Spong for project work, starting in March. The firm is providing media relations and PR counsel for ICSI’s Diamond program, which aims to improve healthcare for people with depression.

NEW YORK: PRoject JS2, the recently-launched project practice of JS2 Communications, has added its first four clients: Rare Concepts Group, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Margo’s Bark Root Beer, and advertising firm Karlin & Pimsler.

LOUISVILLE, KY: Humana named Raja Rajamannar as SVP and chief marketing and innovation officer, effective April 27. Rajamannar, former EVP and CMO for Citigroup’s global cards division, will report to Mike McCallister, president and CEO of the Louisville, KY-based health benefits company. He is responsible for marketing, corporate communications, and government relations at Humana.

WASHINGTON: The government of Turkey hired Edelman for media relations and influencer outreach during President Barack Obama’s visit to the country, according to the US Department of Justice Web site. Work on the $117,000 account began April 4.

WASHINGTON: American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the employee and healthcare workers union, named Chris Policano as its public affairs director, effective April 13. Policano is the former communications director for Source Communications in New York. He is reporting to Lee Saunders, assistant to the AFSCME president.