JT Westendorf, Executive Search Consultant, is pleased to announce the following placement with Credit Union One: Tamara DePonio as Branch Manager for the Traverse City, Michigan branch. Credit Union One has 19 branches located throughout Michigan with 117,000 plus members.

Megan Uphoff, Managing Director, teamed up with Mark Angott, President, and they are pleased to announce several placements: Michael Blackburn as Commercial Relationship Manager and Marie Duprey as Regional Credit Analyst.. Flagstar is excited to welcome these individuals to their Michigan team!

Flagstar is a community bank with 162 banking centers in Michigan, Indiana and Georgia. Chartered in 1987 as a federal savings bank, today Flagstar has assets in excess of $12.7 billion.

Quentin Burchill, Managing Director of the Energy Practice, pleased to announce the placement of Kevin Shiau with First Solar, Inc. (FSLR) in New York City. He has many successful achievements throughout his career and is excited to be joining the team as he assumes an Analyst role in First Solar’s project finance group.

Brian Rhonemus, Managing Director, teamed up with Mark Angott, President, to successfully complete the placement of Mr. Rich Russo with Isabella Bank.  Mr. Russo has accepted the role of Division President and he will be based in Greenville, MI.

Tom Blackwell, Director, successfully completed a search for an Information Security Manager for Midland States Bank.  Bradley Schaufenbuel has accepted this position and he is excited to be joining this $2bb bank located in Effingham, Illinois.

Brian Rhonemus, Managing Director, and Beth Grossman, Director, are pleased to announce the placement Mr. Michael Gheen into a VP Retirement Planning Manager role with Peoples Banking & Trust, a $2 billion regional community bank in southeast Ohio. This diversified financial products and services company offers a complete line of banking, investment, insurance, and trust solutions to over 45 locations in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

 The full report can be seen here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.htm.

According to the Labor Department, gains of 17,000 positions in private sector employment were offset by a loss of 17,000 public sector workers in August, mostly from local education. The approximately 45,000 union workers who participated in a work stoppage in August contributed to a total of 47,300 telecommunications positions lost during the month—jobs that are expected to return in full in September’s numbers. The unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent.

Industry-specific job losses were broad-based with telecommunications the only space seeing a significant loss. The countering job gains, however, were more concentrated. Computer system design and related services added 7,700 positions, temporary help services added 4,700 positions, and healthcare added 29,700 positions.

The numbers are unlikely to provide the shot of confidence that global markets need, yet, as is often the case, the top-line figures belie some of the details. The management, professional, and related occupations unemployment rate fell year-over-year from 5.1 to 4.9 percent. Meanwhile, total employment for those with a four-year degree rose by 131,000 in August and by more than 1 million in the last year.

While many industries did see losses in their total employment, it would be unwise to consider it an indication of the return of large-scale layoffs. The decrease in many sectors could be attributed to employers simply not filling many positions that became open during a month where uncertainty seemed to loom around every corner. In fact, the increase in four-year degree employment points to the willingness of employers to fill their more highly skilled and educated positions, even while leaving other roles unfilled.