Business Beat
NEW FACES:
Taylor Engineering Inc. has added the following employees to its staff:
Timothy G. Gavin joined the company as a landscape architect and park planner. Gavin has 22 years of experience in the business, including neighborhood and regional park designs, street and highway beautification and other public and private landscape projects. He was the owner and landscape architect for Gavin & Associates and most recently was Spokane office manager for a regional landscape architectural firm.
William D. White joined Taylor Engineering as a transportation engineer. White is a recent graduate of Vanderbilt University, where he majored in civil engineering with special emphasis on transportation and traffic engineering.
Dr. Thomas Helvey has joined the Spokane office of Columbia Dental Group. Helvey is a graduate of Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. He spent the last two years at the Southwest Community Health Center practicing all aspects of dentistry.
Todd R. Whipple has been named president and CEO of Inland Pacific Engineering. He succeeds IPE founder Richard L. Mason, who will remain with the company in an advisory capacity. A Gonzaga University graduate, Whipple’s field of expertise is traffic and transportation. He has designed many roads, highways and interchanges, and prepared numerous traffic studies and design reports.
MOVING UP:
Wells Fargo Bank has promoted Jim Hanson to market area manager. Hanson oversees 14 Wells Fargo branches in Spokane and five others in North Idaho. He joined First Interstate Bank, which later merged with Wells Fargo, in 1980 as a commercial lender in San Francisco. He then transferred to Santa Rosa, Calif., where he worked for the next two years as a branch manager. Hanson moved to Spokane in 1989 and became manager of the Spokane main branch. In 1990, he was promoted to district manager, the position he held immediately prior to his current assignment.
Thomas Clark has been elected president of Shea Construction Inc. He succeeds David R. Shea, who was appointed chairman of the board. Clark has worked for Shea since its formation in 1986 and has managed projects ranging from remodels to multimillion-dollar developments.
Medical Service Bureau of Idaho Inc. and Blue Shield of Idaho have promoted the following executives:
John Stellmon was promoted from senior vice president and general counsel to executive vice president and chief operating officer. Stellmon, who will oversee day-to-day operations of the company, joined MSB-Blue Shield in 1990 after six years as a lawyer in private practice. He is a graduate of the University of Idaho Law School.
Dr. John Rusche, MSB-Blue Shield’s medical director since 1995, was named senior vice president and chief medical officer. He will oversee all commercial and governmental managed care programs, as well as the company’s relationships with physicians and hospitals and direct its clinical and quality improvement activities.
United Way of Spokane County has assigned two employees to lead its Resource Development Department:
Cheryl Freeman was named vice president of resource management. Freeman has worked for United Way for 10 years and is a former campaign project manager. Her responsibilities include the planning and implementation of United Way’s fund-raising activities.
Gene Apedaile was named assistant vice president of resource development. Retired from the Air Force, Apedaile joined United Way two years ago. He previously was income development coordinator for the American Cancer Society.
Tim Murphy was promoted to nurse clinician for mental health services and Sharon Bradley was promoted to nurse clinician for intravenous nursing services at VNA Home Health Care Services. Nurse clinicians are clinical program specialists who provide direct patient care, as well as consulting and education, to VNA patient care staff.
ELECTED:
New officers of the Inland Northwest Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners include: president, Susan Thomas, Selective Media & Marketing; vice president, Nadine Sullivan, W.O.W. Pollution Control Systems; secretary, Nancy Racek, The Gourmet Gift Horse; treasurer, Teri Little, United Specialty Advertising; membership, Jan Krogh, Jan Krogh Insurance Inc.; public relations, Charlene Rinkuns, Weekender Casual Wear; and program, Cindy Esch, At Your Service.
Carl E. Hueber has been elected to a two-year term on the Board of Governors of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a 700-member advocacy group created to improve the quality of the administration of justice in the state. Hueber is a partner at Winston & Cashatt P.S. where his practice focuses on criminal defense, construction litigation and appeals.
APPOINTED:
Bob Crump, Kootenai Electric Cooperative general manager, has been appointed by Idaho Gov. Philip Batt to be a member of the Electric Restructuring Sub-Committee of the Governor’s Council on Hydroelectric and River Resources. The committee is responsible for investigating and developing recommendations for the Governor’s Council concerning the potential restructuring of the electric energy industry.
Gonzaga University history Professor J. Roderick Stackelberg has been named the Robert K. and Ann J. Powers Professor of the Humanities for the next two years. The chair is funded through a gift by the Powers. Stackelberg has done important work on the origins of Nazism and the Holocaust, particularly its relation to German intellectual history.
CERTIFICATIONS:
Three members of the Greater Spokane Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America have passed the national Accreditation in Public Relations exam: Chris Eriksen is director of public relations for Rockwood Clinic; Leni Selvaggio is corporate communications manager for Olivetti North America; and Jennifer West is president of Rocky-West Public Relations.
KUDOS:
Sandra Rowe, an agent for the Farmers Insurance Group, has been honored for outstanding achievements during 1996. Rowe, whose office is located at 225 N. Sullivan Road, will attend the 1997 annual meeting of Farmer’s top sales producers.
Valorie Marschall, corporate credit manger at Columbia Paint and Coatings, was awarded a scholarship to the NACM National Legislative Conference from the Jerry Andrews Scholarship Committee.
FirstBank Northwest, of Lewiston, received the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle’s 1997 Award for Excellence in Community Lending. The award recognizes the bank’s commitment to improving the quality of life of citizens in its service area.
Sonna Brado, co-owner of Spokane’s Jaazz Salon & Day Spa, has been selected for inclusion in the 1996-97 edition of Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals.
The University of Idaho College of Engineering will receive more than $300,000 from Hewlett-Packard Co. to create an advanced interdisciplinary senior design laboratory for students majoring in computer science, electrical engineering and computer engineering. The grant was one of 16 proposals funded from a pool of 91. It was submitted by UI computer science Professor John Dickinson.
GTE Wireless has donated Personal Communications Services phones to Daybreak of Spokane to assist the nonprofit organization in helping area teenagers overcome drug and alcohol addictions. The PCS phones will give Daybreak’s residential treatment center staff the ability to communicate quickly and efficiently in emergency and on-call situations.
Gro Media has been named a national finalist in the Silver Microphone Awards for 1997. The competition is designed to select the best local and regional radio commercials created by advertising agencies, production companies and radio stations nationwide. A radio campaign created by Gro Media for Certified Seed was honored as a finalist in the category “Institutional/Professional/Agricultural.” The spots were written by Wey Simpson and directed by Nedra Bayne, who also served as producer. Amy Ownby was the agency account executive for the project.
EVENTS:
Monday through Friday - The Service Corps of Retired Executives offers free counseling to potential and existing small-business owners from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Business Information Center in the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, 1020 W. Riverside. For appointments, call 353-2820. Counselors also are available on Tuesdays at the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, 8817 E. Mission. For appointments there, call 924-4994.
Tuesday - Leads Club, a structured networking organization for business leads and referrals, meets from 12:15-1:30 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel at Sullivan and Mission in the Spokane Valley. For more information, call Beth Ann Daigre at 921-9581.
Wednesday - The Service Corps of Retired Executives presents a workshop on “Basics of Recordkeeping” from 8 a.m.-noon at the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, 1020 W. Riverside. Cost: $35, including materials; for information or to register, call 353-2820.
Wednesday - Merrill Lynch presents a free luncheon seminar for women on “What Every Woman Should Know About Money” from noon-1 p.m. at Patsy Clark’s Mansion. For more information or to register, call Margot Hamstra at 458-4219.
Thursday - Terry Savage, author of “New Money Strategies for the 90s,” will be the featured speaker for a free seminar on “Money 101: The Basics of Balancing Your Budget” sponsored by the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Inland Northwest at 7 p.m. at Crescent Court, 707 W. Main, Ballroom 1. For more information, call 327-3777 or (800) 892-6854 and ask for the education department.
Thursday - Julia Hubbel, a nationally known speaker, seminar leader and trainer, will speak on “Professional Networking Skills … or If You Don’t Schmooze, You Lose” at a meeting of the Inland Northwest Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners from 5:30-8 p.m. at the Shilo Inn, 923 E. Third. Cost: $15 for members, $25 for guests; for information, call Cathy Doerr at 838-8755.
Thursday - Power Tipps, an organization for sharing business leads and networking, meets from 7-8 a.m. on the North Side. For more information, call 468-9695 or 891-2353.
Thursday - Leads Club, a structured networking organization for business leads and referrals, meets from 12:15-1:30 p.m. at Cavanaugh’s Inn on Fourth Avenue. For more information, call Nora Laughlin at 466-6832.
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