Virginia retailer named JAPAC chair

New York--The Jewelers of America Political Action Committee has elected Jenny Caro, owner of Jewelry by Design in Woodbridge, Va., as its new board chair.

She takes over for Scot Congress, co-owner of Congress Jewelers in Sanibel, Fla., who served as chairman of the PAC for the last three years and oversaw significant growth for the committee.

Caro’s interest in jewelry began with a high school jewelry-making class before going on to earn a bachelor’s in fine arts and jewelry, teaching jewelry making at the high school level and then opening her own business.

Caro and her husband, John, opened Jewelry by Design in 1989 to specialize in custom designs and have expanded the store a number of times in the last few years.

She also has served on the JA board of directors since 2013 and is active in local politics, participating in her first fly-in to Washington D.C. with the JAPAC this past June.

In other industry appointment news, Frederick Goldman has named Roxanne Rabasco as its director of integrated marketing and communications, and Patrick Retzer has joined the Jayden Star team as fashion sales director.

In her new role, Rabasco will be responsible for planning, developing, managing and implementing new communication strategies as well as media management and public relations. She will be reporting directly to Chief Marketing Officer Robin Ettinger.

She joins the company after serving as the senior director of digital and social media marketing for Parlux Fragrances, where she helped build the social and digital media strategies for a number of fragrances.

Before that, she worked in the events and public relations department at Starwood Hotels & Resorts, helping launch two new chain hotels.

Meanwhile, at Jayden Star, Retzer will be responsible for managing key accounts and identifying new opportunities for the distributor to expand.

He has worked in management for a number of retailers, including Fred Meyer Jewelers, Shane Co., and Sterling Jewelers.