Business Beat

NEW FACES:

Stephen Shrope has joined David Evans and Associates Inc. as manager of its Spokane office. Shrope previously was a principal engineer and Seattle office manager for Bovay Northwest. He has been involved in the design and management of several major Northwest projects, including the Spokane wastewater treatment plant and the Boeing facility.

Greg Hagen has joined the Spokane office of Piper Jaffray Inc. as an investment executive. Hagen, a Washington State University graduate, previously was a financial consultant with Smith Barney in Spokane.

Dakotah Direct Inc. has added the following people to its staff:

Kenny Lohmeyer joined the corporate offices in Spokane as director of computer operations. Lohmeyer has more than 25 years of experience in computer operations, primarily in the telecommunications industry, but most recently with SallieMae.

Jennifer Gray joined the corporate offices as administrative services manager. Gray, who has more than 10 years of experience in office management, most recently worked for EMCON Consulting.

Geo Engineers announced the following staff additions:

Richard Allinger was hired as a senior environmental scientist. Allinger has more than 15 years of experience in site assessment, remedial design and management of geoscience and environmental programs for various projects throughout the nation. His areas of expertise include regulatory compliance, permitting, remedial studies of hazardous waste sites and compliance audits.

Brian Binsfield will be responsible for project management and execution of field and laboratory programs. He has more than eight years of experience in geotechnical and environmental site investigations and laboratory testing of engineering materials.

Victoria Redlin has joined Ramm Associates Inc. as a strategic planner. Redlin has more than 10 years of business experience in Spokane and previously was the director of public affairs and assistant general counsel of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce. Her responsibilities include public hearings, public involvement strategies and implementation, regulatory analysis and growth management planning.

Robert Brown joined Val-Pak as a marketing consultant. A graduate of Eastern Washington University, he previously was location manager for United Furniture Warehouse.

Nathan Elmore joined Nextlink Solutions as a sales executive. Elmore previously was the Eastern Washington sales/marketing manager for Digital Access Communications.

Shelley Perkins has been named Spokane manager of the Cremation Society of Washington. Perkins, a Gonzaga University graduate, recently was licensed by the state of Washington as a funeral director.

WTB Inc. has hired James Thirsk II as director of safety. Thirsk has extensive experience in safety and operations within the trucking and transportation industry.

Windermere Real Estate’s Spokane-Manito office has added five new sales associates:

Bill Tierney, who is new to real estate, has worked in the grocery business for nine years.

Olivia Wicks practiced real estate for three years with Bruch & Vedric/ Better Homes & Gardens until 1990, when she dedicated herself full time to her business, Florals by Olivia.

Irma Breesnee is a 12-year real estate veteran, working with Coldwell Banker Grand and John L. Scott. She previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry for nine years.

Patricia Chaffee-Peterson joins the office from Tomlinson Black South, where she worked for six years.

Lon Boothby worked with Upper Columbia Confederation for two years after a year in real estate with Latah Realty.

George Maness has joined Windermere’s Spokane-East Sprague office as an associate broker. He has worked in real estate for nearly 30 years, most recently with Blue Ribbon Realtors since 1994.

Dick and Torie Lawrence have joined Windermere Real Estate’s Spokane-North Wall office as sales associates.

Dick Lawrence has 16 years of experience in real estate, most recently with ERA. He also has 21 years of experience as a self-employed general contractor.

Torie Lawrence also joins Windermere from ERA, where she had worked since last year. Prior to that, she was self-employed for 21 years.

Robert Gillespie, who has been with LeMaster & Daniels for 16 years, will relocate from the accounting firm’s Yakima office to its new Spokane Valley office this summer. Gillespie recently was granted the designation of Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) by the Association of Government Accountants.

MOVING UP:

Charles Zahara was promoted to senior vice president and manager of the credit administration division at Washington Trust Bank. He joined Washington Trust in 1983 and has worked primarily in credit administration, managing several departments within the division.

Steve Cox has been appointed managing director of the Spokane office of BDO Seidman LLP. He succeeds Daniel Pavelich, who has been elected the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer. Cox has more than 15 years of experience in business consulting, corporate finance, audit and accounting services. He joined BDO Seidman in 1985, transferred to Spokane in 1989 and became a partner in 1993.

Brenda Packer has been promoted from editor to quality control manager at Information Mini-Mall. Packer, who is an Eastern Washington University graduate, manages the pre-release approval process for the company’s online publications and customer web sites.

STARTING UP:

John Keene has opened a branch of Keene Engineering Associates Inc. in Spokane. Keene has experience in single and multi-family housing, commercial and industrial projects. The firm also has offices in Port Orchard, Wash.

NEW IDENTITY:

Quinn Sperling Advertising and Marketing has changed its name to Quinn Group Advertising and Marketing.

MOVING ON:

Dan Swaim, Westinghouse Hanford Company’s director of emergency, safety and quality services, was named vice president and technical director of Safe Sites of Colorado. Safe Sites is responsible for nuclear operations at the US Department of Energy’s Rocky Flats site near Denver.

TRANSACTIONS:

Metallic Arts Inc. has sold its lighting and fireplace division to Mr. & Mrs. Robert Billmire. The Billmires will be doing business under their corporate name, BLB Inc., DBA Metallic Arts Lighting and Fireplace.

Don Hadley and Gary McVay, co-owners of Gary McVay Siding & Windows, have purchased a franchise for United States Seamless Steel Siding and will be doing business as United States Seamless under their new name Spokane Seamless. Hadley and McVay purchased a franchise for the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene markets and are acquiring rights for Grant, Lincoln and part of Adams counties. They plan to open a Coeur d’Alene office soon.

ELECTED:

Maurice Williamson, Colville, was elected president for the fourth year of the Washington Farm Forestry Association. Williamson heads Maurice Willimason ACF Consulting Forestry in Colville.

Rich Alego, of the Spokane law firm Alego and Clarke, was elected chairman of the Washington State Bar Association section on taxation.

The Single Parent Outreach Connection (SPOC) elected directors and officers for 1996-97: president, Sima Thorpe, coordinator of volunteer services at Gonzaga University; vice president, Jim O’Connor, attorney; treasurer, Alice Tyler, assistant director of development for Sisters of the Holy Names-Washington Province; secretary, Mary Murphy, attorney. Members-at-large are: Elizabeth Keeler, Patty McCorkle, Julie Rector, Nancy Davis, Sarah Miller, Becky Swan, Jeanne Ager, Julie Pickerel, Elizabeth Heath, Fran Greene, Agnes Warn and Sue Wright.

The American Business Women’s Association, Spokane Falls Chapter, elected the following new officers: president, Kim West, owner of Movie Machine in Cheney; vice president, Irene LaBounty, clinical lab scientist at Sacred Heart Medical Center; secretary, Pat Heiner, independent food products representative; and treasurer, Sandra Zierdt, clinical lab scientist, Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Charles Boos was installed as president of the National Skal Clubs of the USA. Skal is an International Association of Travel Professionals. Boos is a charter member of the Skal Club of Spokane.

KUDOS:

Holiday Inn-Express in Pullman has received the Holiday Inn Express Hotel of the Year Award. The Pullman hotel was the only one in the Holiday Inn-Express chain to win the award.

Union Pacific Foundation has distributed grant checks totaling $205,500 to 32 non-profit organizations in Washington, including the following Spokane recipients: Children’s Ark, Gonzaga University, Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest, Lilac Blind Foundation, Miryam’s House of Transition, Spokane Food Bank, Spokane Guilds’ School and Neuromuscular Center, Spokane Symphony Orchestra, United Way of Spokane County, VNA Home Health Care Services and Whitworth College.

EVENTS

July 8-11 - The Institute for Extended Learning presents a course on “Internet: Exploring with Netscape” from 5:50-8:30 p.m. each day at the Business Training and Applied Technology Center, 3939 N. Freya. Cost: $140; call 533-3770 for more information or to register.

July 9 and 16 - The Small Business Development Center presents a class on beginning recordkeeping from 6-9 p.m. each day at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, 665 N. Riverpoint. Cost: $45; call 358-7544 for more information or to register.

July 9-August 27 - Northwest Inland Empire APICS, the Educational Society for Resource Management, presents a class on material requirement planning and capacity requirement planning from 5:15-8 p.m. Cost: $125 for members, $150 for non-members; call Jim Holcomb at 455-8566 by Tuesday to register.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 12 Photos

MEMO: Do you want to submit an item for “Business Beat?” Send a brief press release to: Bill Sallquist, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane WA, 99210-1615. Photos will be used, space permitting, with new staff additions, promotions and new businesses. Put names on backs of photos. If you want a photo back, write “WILL CALL” on the back and pick it up at the newspaper reference library. Allow three weeks for publication.