Debra Kuykendall was named vice president of sales and marketing at the Merced Sun-Star. Darla Ruiz was named VP of operations and human resources, and Cathy Allison director of human resources, both at The Modesto Bee.
Kuykendall's promotion is effective Oct. 8. She will be replacing Larry Do-vichi, who earlier this year announced he will retire Oct. 5 after 47 years with The McClatchy Co. For the past three years, Dovichi served as advertising director for the Sun-Star.
Kuykendall is vice president of operations at The Modesto Bee. She began her career at The Bee 34 years ago as a classified telephone sales representative. She was promoted to several positions in the advertising department, including outside classified automotive manager, real estate account manager, sales and training supervisor, telephone sales supervisor and classified advertising manager. In 1993, Kuykendall was named advertising marketing manager. In 1996, she became the ad operations manager and eventu-ally was given responsibility for the entire prepress department. In May 2000, Kuykendall began serving in her current role as vice president of operations, in charge of all aspects of production at The Modesto Bee.
In her new role, Ruiz will have responsibility for all production aspects at The Modesto Bee and continue to have overall responsibility for human resources.
She has been vice president of human resources for The Mo- desto Bee since her arrival in July 2000. She is responsible for all employee relations, ben-efits, worker compensation and safety. She also serves as the company's lead negotiator for union contracts.
Ruiz played a key role in the Merced Sun-Star acquisition, was responsible for the Latino publication El Sol for a time and currently provides strategic oversight of Vida en el Valle. Prior to The Modesto Bee, Ruiz was the human resources director for the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas, from 1987 until she was hired by The Bee.
Allison's promotion to director of human resources for The Bee is effective Oct. 8. Currently manager of human resources, her promotion and expanded role are a result of Ruiz taking the added responsibility of operations.
Allison has been with The Modesto Bee for 20 years in the human resources department. She began her career as a secretary and was promoted to employment coordinator, employment manager and then her current position. She currently oversees benefits, health and safety and compensation. Allison also is heavily involved in employee relations, company diversity initiatives and union negotiations. She also worked in human resources for a Fortune 500 com-pany for five years prior to starting her career at The Bee.
The Frito-Lay North America fleet team is recognizing truck drivers who this year will reach the career milestone of more than 1 million, 2 million or 3 million miles driven accident-free, including three based at Frito-Lay's Modesto plant: James D'Amico, Dennis Easley and Ken Kranz.
On average, it takes a Frito-Lay driver about 10 years to reach the 1 million mile mark. Frito-Lay's 1,700 fleet associates travel a combined 105 million miles a year. Through the "Million Milers" program and the company's safety efforts, Frito-Lay has seen a 64 percent decline in collisions in 10 years.
This year's class of "Million Milers," along with their fam-ilies, was recognized earlier this year by Frito-Lay's top executives at an annual gala at the company's national headquarters in Plano, Texas.
Announcements of promotions, awards and other business achievements can be faxed to David W. Hill, business editor, 578-2207; mailed to Biz Lines, The Modesto Bee, P.O. Box 5256, Modesto 95352; or e-mailed to dhill@modbee.com. Photographs are encouraged but can not be returned.
