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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Business Beat

Compiled By Ruth Reynolds

New faces:

Kevin Curtis has joined the Spokanebased law firm of Winston & Cashatt. Prior to joining Winston & Cashatt, Curtis was a senior attorney with the Spokane County Public Defender’s office. He handled more than 2,000 felony cases during his 13-year tenure as a public defender.

Linda Wigen has joined the Prudential Crane Realty’s Valley office. Wigen’s prior real estate experience includes 10 years as an associate broker in New Mexico.

Nancy McKelvey has joined the Spokane Valley counseling practice of Hake, Crowley, English and Sullivan. McKelvey holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Eastern Washington University and Gonzaga University and has worked as a counselor for Spokane School District 81 and Spokane Valley school districts.

Escape, a professional hair styling salon at 2802 E. 30th, has hired Anita Herdner as a designer. She recently completed an advanced training seminar at a Vancouver, British Columbia, academy affiliated with Sasson.

Chris Howland, a clinical psychology resident, has joined the practice of Drs. Dormitor, Lammers & Paris in the Deaconess Medical Building. Howland received his doctor of psychology degree from Baylor University and recently completed his internship at Spokane Mental Health. He will specialize in psychotherapy and testing with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, medical/health psychology and pain management.

David Barbe has joined the law offices of McCormick, Dunn & Black P.S., as an associate. He is a 1989 graduate of Gonzaga University Law School. Barbe, who also is trained as a mechanical engineer, has practiced in the areas of construction, business and products liability for several years in the Seattle and Spokane areas.

Sedgwick James of Washington Inc. has hired Marilyn Harvey as a technical assistant in the commercial unit. Harvey was previously employed by Nelson Securities.

Bob Beck has joined Coeur d’Alenebased Mountain West Bank as manager of the small business lending department. Beck, who has more than 20 years of experience in the field of consumer and commercial lending, will handle SBA loan requests for Mountain West. He previously was senior vice president of First Citizens Bank of Butte, Mont., and assistant vice president of United Bank of Denver.

Moving up:

Anita Koch was promoted to manager of the personal insurance department at Sedgwick James of Washington Inc. Koch has been supervisor of the department for the past eight years and has been with Sedgwick James since 1985.

Mike Bevis, GTEs customer operations manager for Idaho since 1994, was promoted to a new position at the company’s regional headquarters in Everett. As manager of network design, Bevis and his team of 70 employees will plan improvements to GTE’s telecommunications infrastructure in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

Starting up:

Apex Physical Therapy, a partnership between physical therapists Becky Clark, Robert Paull and Neal Blakely, has opened an outpatient physical therapy clinic at 9921 N. Nevada. Paull, who has 14 years of experience in outpatient orthopedics, industrial rehabilitation and neurological rehabilitation, is board certified as a specialist in orthopedics. Clark is a 23-year veteran of outpatient orthopedics, hospital acute care, rehabilitation and nursing homes. Blakely has nine years of experience in outpatient orthopedics serving geriatric, neurological and acute care rehabilitation patients.

Certifications:

Gwen McMillen of Business Forms Inc. has been awarded the Certified Advertising Specialist designation by Promotional Products Association Int. McMillen has worked in the promotional products industry for eight years and recently developed the new Specialty Advertising Division for BFI.

Medical Service Corp. of Eastern Washington has received full accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance for its managed care plans. The NCQA is an independent, not-for-profit organization that evaluates managed health care plans on 50 standards for quality. Less than 40 percent of the companies it has reviewed have received full accreditation.

Arthur Bale, broker-owner of Re/ Max West Plains Realty in Airway Heights, was awarded the certified commercial investment member (CCIM) designation by the Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute. Bale, who has been a Realtor since 1979, owns three RE/MAX offices in Idaho and Washington.

Elected:

New officers and board members of the Women Helping Women Fund board of directors include: Eleanor Andersen, president; Marcy Drummond and Diana Henke, vice presidents; Sue Devaney, treasurer; and Mary Joan Hahn, secretary. New board members are: Linda Shea, Mary Jane Broom, Fran Hammond, Cherrill Edwina Shea and Betsy Wilkerson.

The Professional Secretaries International, Spokane Chapter, elected new board officers for 1996/97. These new members will serve a one-year term:

Terri Hayes, Washington Water Power, president; Julie Boyce, Spokane Parks and Recreation Department, president-elect; Gerri Sombke, Gonzaga University/Freelance Writer, vice president; Jill Morgen, U.S. Bank of Washington, secretary; Betty Hughes, U.S. Bank of Washington, treasurer.

Committee chairmen include: Julie Jacobs, Gonzaga University, membership chairman; Diane Boyd, AT&T Wireless Services, publicity and community service chairman; Patricia Crocker-Fox, Spokane Community College, secretaries week 1997; Patricia Greer, S.L. Start & Association, newsletter.

Appointed:

Farmers and Merchants Bank has appointed the following people to its advisory board: David Black, CEO of Tomlinson Black Commercial and Management Inc.; Frank O’Neill, president of the recently merged firm of Maloney, O’Neill, Corkery and Jones Inc.; Wesley Delaney, managing principal in the accounting firm of Brown and Delaney; and George Reitemeier, president of Reitemeier-Stedman consulting and former president and general manager of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce.

Kudos:

Allen Plahn of John Beutler & Associates was honored as 1996 Realtor of the Year by the Coeur d’Alene Association of Realtors. Plahn has been a licensed Realtor for nearly 25 years.

Kristen Armstrong and Jeff Budke, both staff members of EMCON, a local environmental consulting firm, have passed their respective engineering exams. Armstrong received her professional engineers license, and Budke passed his exam to become an engineer-in-training. Both have been with EMCON since 1993.

Eleven Gonzaga University School of Business Administration faculty received Jepson Faculty Fellowship Awards, which encourage independent research by business educators. The recipients are: Kenneth Anderson, associate professor of management; Randall Bennett, associate professor of economics; Scott Bozman, associate professor of marketing; Paul Buller, professor of management; Pete Chong, assistant professor of management information systems; David Elloy, associate professor of management; Scott Hedin, assistant professor operations management; James Helgeson, associate professor of marketing; Kent Hickman, associate professor of finance; Kenneth Manning, assistant professor of marketing; and Walter Teets, assistant professor of accounting.

Five local New York Life Insurance agents have qualified as members of the company’s 1996 President’s Council, which ranks them in the top six percent of New York Life’s 7,300 active agents in the United States: Ray Linker, Roberta Dresback and Tom Drynan of Spokane; and John Marcheso and Dave Pelz of Coeur d’Alene.

Events:

Monday-Thursday - The Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) offers free counseling to potential and existing small business owners from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Business Information Center in the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, 1020 W. Riverside. Call 353-2820 for appointments. Counselors also are available at the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, 8817 E. Mission. Call 924-4994 for appointments.

Wednesday - Sherri Miller, operations manager for the Kent Stowbin Division of Hexcel Interiors, Kent, Wash., will speak on “How to Regain Control of Your Meetings” during the monthly dinner meeting of the Northwest Inland Empire American Production Inventory Control Society at Templin’s Resort in Post Falls. Social hour begins at 5:15 p.m., program at 6:45 p.m. Call Debra Benson at 459-5202 or Lori Reiss at 927-5595 for information.

Thursday - Microsoft Corp. presents a free Corporate Solutions Briefing from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and an Office 97 Seminar from 1:30-4:30 p.m. in the Phase I Classroom Building at Riverpoint Higher Education Park, 668 N. Riverpoint Blvd. Call 1-800-550-4300 to register.

Thursday and Friday - Northwest Inland Empire APICS presents a training workshop from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at Templin’s Resort in Post Falls. Cost: $100 for APICS members, $150 for nonmembers; call Ed Woodall at 921-6195 or Debra Benson at 459-5202 for information.

Friday - Adams & Associates Consulting Inc. presents a workshop on “Creating a Successful Grants Program” from 7:30-11:30 a.m. at the Schoenberg Center at Gonzaga University (formerly MONAC). Cost: $40; call 747-3878 or e-mail adams.associates@ior.com, for information.

Conventions:

Monday-Friday - Washington State Hospital Association annual meeting, Red Lion City Center.

Thursday-Saturday - Washington State Business Association annual state conference, Red Lion City Center.

Thursday-Saturday - Washington State Society of System Pharmacists, annual state meeting, Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park.

Thursday-Oct. 13 - Inland Empire Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (InCon ‘96), annual October convention, Red Lion Spokane Valley.

Friday-Oct. 13 - World Wide Dreambuilders Inc., annual Britt Fall free enterprise conference, Veterans Memorial Arena.

, 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.

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.