Business Beat

New faces:

Telect Inc. has named Ronda Stalnaker its trade show and events planner. She will oversee more than 60 communications industry events that Telect attends every year, as well as internal corporate events. Stalnaker most recently worked as an event planner and account manager for Design Events in Coeur d’Alene.

Group Health/Kaiser Permanente Community Foundation has appointed the following people to staff its Spokane regional office:

PJ Watters was named regional development director. Watters, a 15-year employee, previously was the director of Group Health Northwest’s Center for Health Promotion.

Fran Papenleur was appointed regional office coordinator. A 20-year employee, she formerly was a clinical health education coordinator for Group Health Northwest.

Additionally, Dr. Bill Sayres, a Group Health Northwest physician, was appointed to the foundation’s Program Committee. The committee oversees the annual grant-making and community service activities of the foundation and develops grant-making priorities.

Holly Tucker has been elected to the board of directors of Wendt Advertising and Public Relations. She is an account manager assigned to some of the agency’s largest accounts and also vice president of operations. A graduate of the University of Great Falls, she joined the firm 15 years ago.

Sandpoint-based Lifestream Technologies Inc. has named Criss Sakala as chief financial officer. A CPA, Sakala’s most recent position was vice president of finance/controller for Nypro Colorado. Earlier, he was a senior manager for Deloitte & Touche LLP in Denver.

Dr. Kirk Lund has joined the Hospice of Spokane staff as medical director. Lund, who practices at the Rockwood Clinic, is board certified in internal medicine, oncology and hematology. He is a graduate of the University of Utah and the University of Texas Health Sciences Center.

Cynthia Norwood has been named chief executive officer of Spokane Physician Hospital Community Organization. Norwood previously was vice president of clinical outcomes research and quality improvement for Empire Health Services. Dr. Jeff Collins was named executive medical director of the network, with Drs. Dave Gilman, Dean Martz, David Kramp and Robert Wigert as associate medical directors.

The Volunteer Lawyers Program of the Spokane County Bar Association has hired Jay Frank to oversee the program’s recruitment effort. Frank previously practiced in Alaska.

Moving up:

Patty Haskins has been promoted to distribution account manager at Telect Inc. Haskins will be responsible for account management with Telect’s distributors in the Western region. She was formerly the trade show and events planner.

Starting up:

Cleary Building Corp. has opened a sales office in Post Falls to service Eastern Washington and North Idaho. Bob Goff has been named branch manager. Initially, the office will employ seven to 12 people, with growth to 15 to 20 expected. Wisconsin-based Cleary Building has plants in Nebraska, Idaho and Wisconsin, and sales offices in 19 states.

First National Financial Group has opened First National Real Estate with offices at 429 E. Third. The broker of record is Dale Anderson, a 22-year veteran of residential and commercial real estate who has owned and operated Century 21 Anderson Realty and Anderson Management Co.

Elected:

Officers and directors of the Northwest Inland Empire Chapter of APICS for 1998-99 include: Rick Luttrell, Waggstaff Inc., president; Lori Reiss, Key Tronic Corp., vice president of finance; Richard Andrues, Caelus Inc., vice president of education; Debra Benson, Cowles Publishing Co., vice president of seminars/programs; Bill Turnquist, Central Washington University, vice president of membership; John O. Mackey, Wagstaff Inc., vice president of communication; and John Minnihan, vice president of professional development.

Transactions:

Aurora Graphic Communicators of Coeur d’Alene has been hired by Spokane-based Output Technology Corp. to produce OTC’s corporate marketing and communications materials for both print and electronic media.

Kudos:

Kootenai Electric Cooperative of Hayden has been awarded the 1998 Spotlight on Excellence Award by the Council of Rural Electric Communicators. KEC was honored for best total communications program, best newsletter category, best advertising campaign, and best desktop publishing design. Catherine Ward, KEC communications specialist, produced and coordinated the award-winning communications programs.

The McGregor Co. of Pomeroy, Wash., is one of 15 state winners of the 1998 Environmental Respect Awards. The award recognizes environmental stewardship efforts among U.S. agricultural retailers. McGregor received the award based on criteria that includes proper site design, in-plant storage and handling procedures, proper application, leadership in environmentalism, safety and stewardship among farmer-customers and employees.

Washington CEO Magazine has listed Zak Designs Inc. as one of the top private companies in Washington state. Zak Designs was ranked 145th. When it moved to Spokane in December 1992, the company had five employees. Today the company has more than 175 employees and has projected a 20 percent sales growth in 1998.

Jean Auerbach, a Realtor with Tomlinson Black South, has been awarded the Accredited Buyer Representative designation by the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council of the National Association of Realtors.

The 1998 DALBAR Seal for Financial Professionals has been awarded to Keith Hegg, a financial advisor with the Spokane office of American Express Financial Advisors. The rating program was created last year to help consumers identify trusted, qualified financial advisers. Hegg has 14 years of experience in financial services.

Bette Fears, an accredited residential manager with Tomlinson Black at the Park Place Apartments, has for a second year in a row been nominated as one of the top three accredited residential managers nationwide by the Institute of Real Estate Management. Fears also has been nominated to the institute’s governing council.

Patty Wells, of Washington Trust Bank, has achieved the designation of Certified Securities Operations Professional from the Institute of Certified Bankers. The certification recognizes excellence in the securities operations field and requires an ongoing commitment to professional development. Wells is a trust officer and assistant manger of securities services in Washington Trust’s Private Banking Group.

Johnson Matthey Electronics has received a Performance Award from Zetex Plc, which also named Johnson Matthey a Preferred Supplier. The Zetex Performance Award is presented annually to the semiconductor materials and components suppliers that achieve an A-rating for 12 consecutive months in four different evaluation quarters, based on standards in quality product performance, on-time delivery capability and overall customer service.

Lane Chitwood, a graduate of Mead Senior High School, is the local winner of the 1998 Padgett Business Services Scholarship worth $500. Chitwood plans to attend Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho.

Eastern Washington University won second place and $1,000 with their One Nation Baskets and Beadwork Shop business plan at the National American Indian Business Leader’s Third Annual Tribal Business Plan Competition.

Carol Bigalke, warehouse manager of Safelite Glass Corp. in Spokane, was named to the company’s Wall of Fame, which is the highest honor that the corporation awards to its associates. Bigalke was honored for her cost control measures and increase in wholesale unit sales. She also was recognized for her role in cross-training associates and boosting morale.

Burlene Blankenship, an employee at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites in Pullman, has received the Bass Hotels and Resorts 1998 Best of the Best Breakfast Bar Attendant of the Year Award in the company’s Americas Division. Nominees were selected based on performance that goes above and beyond day-to-day job responsibilities, outstanding and unusual service to the property, guests and the community.

Paul Van Doren of Camp Imports in Spokane is one of 14 North American 1998 Volvo VISTA winners. A master technician, he competed in written tests and hands-on technical challenges. The tests, given over a 12-month period, are taken by more than 1,500 technicians throughout the U.S. and Canada. Winners gather at Volvo’s headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, at the VISTA Winners’ Conference, the highest honor Volvo service personnel can earn.

WhiteRunkle Associates, competing against more than 10,000 entries from across the country, earned seven Telly Awards in this year’s competition. They won three Silver Statuettes, the highest honor given in the Telly Awards, and also were finalists in four categories, walking away with four Bronze Statuettes. The winning entries are Rocket Science, produced for Washington Water Power, and Drive and Car Parody, produced for the Spokane Transit Authority. Finalist entries include productions for the Spokane Symphony, Silverwood Theme Park and additional ones for WWP and STA.

Environmental excellence competition awards have been presented to Lafarge Corp.’s, Metalline Falls, Wash., terminal. The award is given for distinction in several areas, including outreach/advocacy programs, innovative technology, landscaping, remediation/rehabilitation, waste management/pollution prevention and overall/innovative environmental managements.

Allsport Polaris of Greenacres has been honored for outstanding snowmobile sales as a Polaris dealer. Allsport received the Century 100 Club award from Polaris, the world’s largest snowmobile manufacturer.

Sacred Heart Medical Center nurses and management have selected Jean Sutton to receive the 1998 Staff Nursing Excellence Award. Sutton has worked at Sacred Heart for 32 years, almost exclusively in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (recovery room). She has helped develop a nationally-distributed film and a training book that serves as the “bible” for recovery room nurses.

United Coatings of Greenacres has won the 1998 Pollution Prevention Award from the Association of Washington Business. The firm was honored for its achievements in environmental protection and education. Since 1993, the company has focused on reducing solid and hazardous waste, air emissions and water discharges.

Events:

Monday - The Small Business Development Center presents a class on “Payroll Recordkeeping” from 6-9 p.m. at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, 665 N. Riverpoint Blvd. Cost: $35; call 358-7890 for information or to register.

Monday through Friday - The Service Corps of Retired Executives offers free counseling to potential and existing small-business owners from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Business Information Center in Room 240 of the Spokane Regional Business Center, 801 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.

Thursday - Associated Industries of the Inland Northwest presents a class on “Challenging the Experienced Worker” from 8:30 a.m.-noon at 920 N. Washington. Cost: $49 for members, $75 for nonmembers; for information, call 326-6885.