People: Joe Orlando, ASA, has joined California-based Exit Strategies Group Inc. (ESGI) as vice president of valuation services in the firm’s new Portland, Ore., office; some of his focus areas have been technology (software, e-commerce, and online content), wineries, craft beverages, and sports … Martin Drummond has joined Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) as a managing director in its valuation services group in the U.K.; he comes to A&M after over 20 years with the Big Four … Raymond Platz, CPA, CFE, has joined Whitley Penn’s Houston office as an associate director in the Forensic, Litigation, and Valuation group; he has more than 25 years of diversified experience in restructuring and bankruptcy consulting, forensic accounting investigations, fraud investigations, litigation support, and financial advisor roles … Paul Balynsky, CFA, CPA/ABV, a managing director at Valuation Research Corp. (VRC), has been appointed to the AICPA’s Forensic and Valuation Services Executive Committee (FVSEC); Balynsky is a senior member of VRC’s Portfolio Valuation practice.

Firms: Boston-based CFGI, a provider of high‐end technical accounting and finance advisory services, has acquired Pine Hill Group, an accounting and transaction advisory firm with offices in Philadelphia, New York City, and Princeton, N.J.; CFGI is a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group … Charlotte, N.C.-based Dixon Hughes Goodman continues to expand in Manhattan, moving three times, but staying at the World Trade Center (WTC); the firm has just signed a 12,000-square-foot lease at 3 WTC and will move there from 4 WTC in Q4 2019; before that, it was at 7 WTC … Calgary, Alberta-based MNP, Canada’s fifth-largest accounting firm, has announced that it will add Thomson & Hamilton of Parkhill, Ontario, on July 8 … Pathway Forensics, the digital forensics firm of Houston-based Briggs & Veselka Co., is opening an office in downtown Houston … Princeton, N.J.-based WithumSmith+Brown extended its ties with the University of Central Florida (UCF) and its College of Business to establish a new learning lab to help cultivate the next generation of business advisors and accountants.

Please send your professional and firm news to us at editor@bvresources.com.