Officials from Nintendo of America have announced that the company has appointed Steve Singer as the new vice president of licensing for Nintendo of America, effective immediately. Singer replaces Juana Tingdale, who is retiring from the position on March 5 after working with Nintendo for 22 years. Singer started with Nintendo of America in 1999 as general manager of Latin America, after which he was later promoted to vice president and general manager of Latin America in July 2006. Singer has considerable experience in the business field. He joined Nintendo of America in 1999 after nearly 11 years and numerous domestic and international positions with Whirlpool Corporation. At Whirlpool, he helped establish Whirlpool Colombia, a wholly owned subsidiary, serving as president and managing director. "Juana built the licensing division from the ground up, and now hands over a very strong foundation for Steve to build upon," notes Mike Fukuda, executive vice president, business development, which oversees the licensing group. "Steve is adept at relationship building and maneuvering the intricacies of international business -- essential traits in today's global games business and where game publishers have to make wise decisions where to allocate development resources." Filling Singer's previous role will be Melissa Wright, who is being promoted to director and general manager of Latin America. Wright joined Nintendo in 1993, and has during her time with the company held numerous positions. Since 1999, Wright has worked alongside Singer in the development of the Latin America business and expansion of Nintendo into emerging markets. In her new role, she will lead strategic direction for the Latin America business and continue to work alongside Nintendo's Japanese parent company to further development of Nintendo's business in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.