Former doctor still helps kids with new Addison businesses
Purav Kapadia graduated the University of Illinois at Chicago with a medical degree and was doing his residency, with a focus on pediatrics, at St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center in Manhattan.
He didn't mind the long hours, sometimes up to 120 hours a week. What got to him were the sick kids. After one patient died while waiting for a lung transplant, Kapadia decided to return to the Chicago suburbs. He was raised in Glen Ellyn and Lisle.
He and his wife left New York in 2005 and moved to Oak Brook. He then founded two companies, both based in Addison. One is Startex, which provides furniture and lighting fixtures to the hospitality industry. The other is Linea di Liara, an online retailer that sells lighting fixtures to consumers. Lindea di Liara also has offices in the West Loop in Chicago. Both companies are growing and he plans to hire more workers this year, he said.
He also hasn't forgotten to help children. Proceeds from products sold by Linea di Liara are donated to the children's charities, Boston-based Cradle to Crayons and Los Angeles-based Shoes That Fit. And any returned products from Linea di Liara are donated to Habitat for Humanity.
His decision seems to be the right one. The hospital he worked at in New York is now closed. "I finally found what I was meant to do," said Kapadia, 40.
New role at Marcus
Palatine resident, Jeff Peterson, was promoted to the newly created role of vice president of finance and transaction administration for Milwaukee-based Marcus Hotels & Resorts. Peterson will oversee accounting and finance functions for the division as well as oversee new deal structures, joint ventures, management agreements and the implementation of funding investments. He will serve as a lead member of the Marcus Hotels & Resorts' development team and join the company's senior leadership team. Peterson, a CPA, began his career in public accounting at the international accounting firm, KPMG.
Terlato to debut new wine
William A. Terlato, CEO of Terlato Wines in Lake Bluff, welcomes Bordeaux-born winemaker Camille Benitah and her line of Maxville Lake Wines as a Terlato partner. Benitah and associate winemaker Greg Fitzgerald create the wines in Maxville Lake's production facility on their 1,000-acre property in California. Vineyards were first planted on the property in 1974 and 100 acres are now under vine. Maxville Lake harvested its first vintage in 2014.
FastTracks
• Joseph F. Bappert, a systems integrator at Baxter & Woodman Inc. in Crystal Lake, has become a certified energy manager through a certification program from the American National Standards Institute and is administered by the Association of Energy Engineers. It recognizes individuals who have demonstrated high levels of experience, competence, proficiency and ethics in the energy management profession.
• Glencoe native Barbara J. Finder and Winnetka resident Marietta Hesdorffer, both senior vice presidents and financial advisers, and Winnetka resident Kathy Roeser, a managing director and wealth adviser with Morgan Stanley in Chicago, was among other financial advisers selected by their firms to attend the annual Barron's Magazine Top Women Advisors Summit in Palm Beach, Florida.
• Jennifer Wenckowski was named director of Visa, Caroline Hemmer replaces her as Visa manager, Gregory Tonsul is the new mortgage department sales manager and Kyle Brown is now manager of the Outbound Sales team at Consumers Credit Union in Waukegan.
• David Spaccarelli is the new chief operating officer for the southern region for Downers Grove-based DuPage Medical Group. Current COO Dennis Fine will remain in his position and focus on the northern region.
• There's more to business than just the bottom line. We want to tell you about the people who make business work. Send news about people in business to akukec@dailyherald.com. Follow Anna Marie Kukec on LinkedIn and Facebook and as AMKukec on Twitter.