VENTURA COUNTY BUSINESS : VALLEY PEOPLE

* Crane Aerospace, Burbank, a division of Crane Co., announced promotions at two of its operating units.

Greg Ward has been named president of Hydro-Aire Inc. Ward joined Hydro-Aire as vice president of manufacturing in 1993 and most recently was senior vice president, operations and customer satisfaction.

Elise Kopczick has been named president of Lear Romec. For the past four years, Kopczick had been vice president, people and processes at Hydro-Aire.

Lear Romec designs and builds high-performance pumps and related accessories for fluid systems used in aircraft, missiles and sophisticated ground and marine applications. Hydro-Aire manufactures anti-skid brake control systems and pumps for the aerospace industry.

* Brian Compton has been appointed senior vice president, chief financial officer for Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, the company said. Compton will be responsible for overseeing the financial management of both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios CityWalk.

He had been the director of operations, finance for Coach Leatherware, a division of Sara Lee Corp.

Frederick D. Huntsberry has been promoted to chief financial officer of Universal Pictures, the company announced. He had served as chief financial officer for Universal Television & Networks Group.

He will be responsible for the global financial activities of Universal Pictures Group, which includes Universal Pictures.

Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Pictures are part of Universal Studios, a unit of Seagram Co., a global entertainment and beverage company.

* Bruce Hendricks has been promoted to president of physical production for Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, Burbank, the company said. In his newly expanded role, Hendricks will continue to oversee physical aspects of production for motion pictures produced under the Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures banners.

For the past four years, Hendricks has served as executive vice president in charge of production for the motion picture divisions of Disney Studios. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of the division.

Steve Finney has been promoted to senior vice president in charge of finance and business planning at Disney Interactive, the company said. Finney had been vice president and chief financial officer for the company since 1997.

Disney Interactive develops, markets and distributes a variety of family-oriented CD-ROMs and video games. The company is part of the Disney Consumer Products division of The Walt Disney Co.

* Mitchell Freedman, Mitchell Freedman Accountancy Corp., Sherman Oaks, has been named to Worth magazine’s annual list of the nation’s 250 top financial planners. Freedman is a certified public accountant and holds a personal finance specialist credential awarded by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Worth, published by Capital Publishing, New York, examines investment issues and provides financial news. It has a circulation of 302,000.

* Replacement Parts Industries, Chatsworth, announced several personnel changes.

Joan Woodlock has been promoted to vice president of marketing and customer service. Woodlock will continue her duties directing marketing, customer service and ISO 9000 management for the company.

Phil Goldstein has been promoted to director of product development. Goldstein has held numerous positions of increasing responsibility since joining the company in 1981.

Hector Rodriguez joins the company as finance and operations manager after leaving the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority as chief administrative analyst.

RPI specializes in supplying parts for medical, dental, hospital and laboratory equipment, as well as offering a variety of support services to the industry.