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Courtney Davis has named Sam Abell vice president with a focus on new business development. Abell reports to Linda Balogh, president and founder of the San Francisco-based art licensing agency. Abell joins Courtney Davis from C.R. Gibson, manufacturer of paper party goods and social expressions. Courtney Davis has recently added two new artists to the roster represented by the licensing agency — Patricia Brubaker and Karen Hillard Good.

Gift for Life, the gift and home decor industry's volunteer group raising funds for AIDS research and education, named board member Mary Liz Curtin chairperson. Curtin assumes the duties of Su Hilty, who was chairperson for the past three years. Curtin, a board member for four years, is a gift and home decor industry speaker, writer and consultant. A former retailer, she also worked as director of sales for Fante Stationery and Mrs. Grossman's Paper Company. She began her current business, Mary Liz Curtin & Co., in 1993.

Wild Apple has appointed Charlie Kimbell to lead the licensing efforts of the company, taking over the helm from longtime Licensing Director Debby Leggat, who has left to establish her own licensing company, Blue Sky Art & Design. Kimbell has been with Wild Apple for eight years as director of sales and marketing for the print division. In his new role, he will be focused on building the licensing programs of Wild Apple artists with key manufacturers.

Sferra Bros. has named Jeffrey Jacobs to the newly created post of executive vice president of sales. Jacobs reports to Paul Hooker, president. Jacobs was previously the executive vice president of sales and marketing at Keeco and vice president of marketing and licensing at Mohawk Home.

Thompson Lange, co-owner of Homescapes, Carmel, Carmel, Calif. competed in his first marathon earlier this month in Beijing. Lange competed in the Great Wall Marathon as a fund-raiser for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Center in Salinas, Calif. The DHHSC assists deaf and hard of hearing individuals in achieving their goals of independence and equality by offering such vital services as job counseling and training, health education, alcohol and drug abuse prevention and interpreting services. Lange began running during a period of self-quarantine after returning from a business trip to Beijing during the SARS epidemic of 2003. For more information on the DHHSC, visit www.dhhsc.org.