Lake Co. Movers & Shakers

After completing new agent school, Carlotta Ruiz-Smith of Grayslake was named an agent for Country Insurance & Financial Services. Ruiz-Smith, who holds a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Mundelein College, is a member of the GE Women's Network and the African-American Forum. She offers customers a full range of insurance and financial services from her Grayslake office.

Michela D'Alesio of Addison, Elisa Sewell of Buffalo Grove, Karin Simons of Elk Grove Village and Martha Barrows Dauber of Glenview have become independent consultants with Tastefully Simple Inc., a direct-sales company of easy-to-prepare gourmet products.

Amcore Bank announced the following staff appointments in its new Deerfield branch: Janice Blake, retail market manager; Emily Crain, bank service representative; Sangita Desai, senior teller; Chad Holshouser, bank sale representative; Shailesh Agnihotri, bank service representative; Keith Racelis, employment recruiter; and Nancy Graham, private banking relationship manager. Regional retail sales manager Sharman Toomey oversees the branch.

Lake Forest resident Dr. Richard A. Chaifetz was named to Saint Louis University's board of trustees. Chaifetz is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of ComPsych Corp., a provider of employee assistance programs as well as other businesses in the wellness, behavioral health, work-life and outsourced human resource services fields. He is a 1975 graduate of Saint Louis University.