Business Beat

Architecture

ALSC Architects has hired Mark Irving as a project architect. He is currently working on Cheney High School’s $30 million modernization and expansion.

Aviation

President and CEO Tim Komberec of Empire Airlines Inc. has been named Executive of the Year by the Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance. The award recognizes significant contributions to the advancement of the Pacific Northwest aerospace industry. Komberec has been president and CEO of Empire since 2000.

Banking

Alison Gonsalves has been promoted to executive vice president and commercial lending manager at Mountain West Bank. Gonsalves has been with Mountain West since 1993, starting as a personal financial representative. She most recently was the manager of the Coeur d’Alene commercial banking team. In her new role, Gonsalves will oversee commercial loan production and loan operations.

Janice Baldwin, a financial adviser with Merrill Lynch, has been recognized in Forbes magazine’s Best-In-State Wealth Advisors inaugural list. The ranking is based on in-person and telephone meetings measuring client retention, experience, review of compliance forms and quantitative criteria. Baldwin has been with Merrill Lynch in Coeur d’Alene for 25 years.

Health

Mitch Riddle has joined Spokane Occupational and Hand Therapy. Riddle, an occupational therapist, received his master’s degree in occupational therapy from Eastern Washington University in 2017.

Karen Karpman has been appointed to the Pullman Regional Hospital Board of Commissioners. Prior to her retirement, Karpman practiced in Pullman for 17 years as a clinical neuropsychologist.

Gary Schwander has joined Whispering Falls Massage Therapy in Spokane Valley. Schwander, a licensed massage therapist, specializes in structural integration, deep tissue, sports and medical massage. Schwander served as an athletes’ medical massage therapist at the 1996 and 2002 Olympic Games and at the New York Mets Rehabilitation Center in Florida.

Real estate

Riley Long has joined RE/MAX Inland Empire as a new broker. Riley is a third-generation Realtor.

Miscellaneous

The Inland Northwest Council Boy Scouts of America has announced three new executive board members. Jim Harper served 20 years in the Air Force as a commander and acted as both chair and vice chair of the Spokane County Parks Advisory Committee from 2011-2017. Daniel Law is a faculty member in the School of Business at Gonzaga University and previously worked as a certified public accountant. Bill Meeks is a senior project manager with Allwest Testing & Engineering and serves as the president for the Inland Empire Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.