Inforum Formalizes Kalamazoo-Area Expansion, Names Southwest Michigan Regional Council

DETROIT, June 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Inforum, Michigan's leading network for professional women, is pleased to announce that its board has authorized the creation of a new Southwest Michigan Regional Council, to be chaired by Amy Jones-Calderon, a financial adviser with Merrill Lynch. Audrey Perricone, partner, The Perricone Group, will serve as vice chair.

The creation of the Southwest Michigan Regional Council formalizes Inforum's expansion into the Kalamazoo area, which was started earlier this year.

"We are thrilled with the way Inforum has been received by the Southwest Michigan community," said Terry Barclay, president and CEO of Inforum and Inforum Center for Leadership. "In a very short amount of time, we've gained more than 100 new members in the new region. We also are very grateful for the generous financial support of The Perricone Group as a new Inforum Corporate Investor."

Besides Jones-Calderon and Perricone, the other members of the Southwest Regional Council are:

• Dana Faux, owner, Great Lakes Plastic and Hand Surgery
• Melani Ferworn, first level officer, Comerica Bank
• Shelley Fitzgerald, owner/health educator, Everything Fitz
• Amy Forrester, CPA, Plante & Moran PLLC
• Sue Fritz, owner, Fritz Financial & Insurance
• Deanne Gavalis, Wealth Advisor, Comerica Bank
• Ted Himelhoch, financial adviser, Ameriprise Financial Services
• Meg Kuchek, staff officer/banking office manager, Huntington Bank
• Sue Maas, senior manager, Jansen Valk Thompson Reahm
• Kathleen Mechem, president, Organizational Solutions
• Sue Meisheri, nutrition consultant, LifesaverJuice Plus
• Lorie Munson, account executive, Technisource
• Cynthia Ortega, partner-attorney at law, Miller Johnson
• Julie Pausch, vice president, Comerica Bank
• Sherri Pence, managing director, Technisource
• Audrey Randall, president, Paradigm Franchise Group

ABOUT INFORUM: Inforum is Michigan's leading business forum for women, with more than 1,800 members from a cross-section of Michigan's business community. The mission of the organization is to strengthen the business environment by creating opportunities for women to lead and succeed. Founded as the Women's Economic Club in 1962 in Detroit, Inforum has affiliates in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and Lansing, Michigan. For more information, visit www.inforummichigan.org or call 877.633.3500.

SOURCE Inforum