Business Beat
New faces:
Wendy K. LePiane has joined WhiteRunkle Associates as an account coordinator. Her portfolio will include Washington Water Power, Silverwood and Johnson Matthey. LePiane has more than 10 years of experience in the advertising business, as well as extensive retail experience. Most recently, she was marketing director for the Spokane Valley Mall.
Lee Northwest Publishing Co., which recently acquired Thoen Publishing, has hired Julie Yake as corporate sales manager. Yake, a graduate of Eastern Washington University, previously worked for URM Stores for 15 years as director of advertising and communications. She is an adjunct professor at EWU, teaching evening courses in marketing, business, management and salesmanship.
Kimberly Rose has joined Humanix Learning Centers as an account executive. Rose, who previously worked for Select Farms, will focus on corporate and government accounts.
The Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce has named Marilee Wallace as sales/marketing director. Wallace will be responsible for new memberships, servicing and upgrading existing chamber members, chairing the Coeur d’Alene Chamber Sales Leadership Committee and overseeing volunteer sales drive advertising. She previously was an account executive and business owner in the telecommunications software industry for nine years.
Carolyn Jones Morrison has joined American Behavioral Health Systems Inc. as program administrator. She will work primarily with the company’s residential alcohol/chemical dependency treatment program. Morrison earned a master’s degree in social work from Eastern Washington University. She is a former executive director of the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery and most recently was director of the YWCA’s Alternatives to Domestic Violence Program.
John McGirk has been named clinical supervisor at American Behavioral Health Systems Inc. McGirk has 24 years of experience in chemical dependency and mental health counseling. He has held various supervisory and counseling roles with intensive inpatient, outpatient and wilderness facilities.
Linda M. Brown has joined the Community Colleges of Spokane as manager of accounting and internal controls in the CCS District Business Office. A certified public accountant, she previously was accounting manager with Cavanaughs Hospitality Inc. She received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Gonzaga University.
Mike Hogan, a 1994 graduate of Gonzaga University’s administration of physical education and athletic master’s program, has been hired as the Bulldogs’ director of athletic development. Hogan has been director of marketing, promotions and events at the University of Idaho since 1995 and was coordinator of marketing and promotions at Weber State University during the 1994-95 academic year. He received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Santa Clara University.
Washington Gov. Gary Locke has appointed Sue Manfred, executive director of the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery, to serve as a member of the Washington State Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. Manfred, who has been executive director of Vanessa Behan for six years, will serve a term on the council running through June 30, 1999. The council advises the governor’s office on issues impacting families and children in the state.
Moving up:
Washington Trust Bank has promoted Michelle Starry to the newly created position of sales manager of branch banking. She will work with area managers and branch managers to ensure branch sales goals are met and review branch resources and manage their overall business development efforts. An assistant vice president of the bank, Starry joined Washington Trust in 1994. She previously was the Indiana branch manager.
Alison Pollard has been promoted to assistant vice president of Mountain West Bank. Pollard, who has more than 13 years of banking experience, joined Mountain West 4 years ago. She has managed the bank’s Hayden branch since it opened in February 1996.
Colleen “Kay” Burland has been named comptroller of the Spokane Regional Health District’s Administrative Services Division. Burland joined the health district nearly 10 years ago and has been in the finance field in the public sector for 19 years.
Transactions:
The American Society of Women Accountants has completed the merger of Spokane Chapter No. 4 and Coeur d’Alene Chapter No. 57 into a new chapter, Inland Northwest Chapter No. 4. 1998-99 officers of the organization include: president, Lisa Vaughn, Phenneger & Morgan Inc.; president-elect, Jessica Mason, Double M Inc.; vice president, Theresa Horsch, Farm Credit Services; recording secretary, Angie Hughes, Washington State Employment Security; corresponding secretary, Allison Kendall, Washington Trust Bank; and directors, Connie Goodman, LeMaster & Daniels; Ann G. Lunceford, retired; Leslie A. Melby, LM Accounting; Renee A. Svec, Manito Golf & Country Club; and Joyce Towne, Holy Cross Cemetery.
Elected:
The Spokane Chapter of CLU/ChFC has elected the following officers for 1998-99: president, James Bockemuehl, Northwestern Mutual Life; vice president, Scott Cordell, Western United Life; treasurer, Steve Gray, Moloney and O’Neill Financial Services; and secretary, Richard Tiffany, The Guardian. Board members are: Charles Harris, New York Life, and Larry Sanderson, American National.
New officers of the Spokane Airport Board for the 1998-1999 term are: chairman, Phil Harris, Spokane County commissioner; vice chairman, Irving Reed; and secretary, Richard Atwood.
The Spokane County Bar Association has elected the following officers and trustees for 1998-99: president, C. Mark Casey; vice president, William D. Hyslop; secretary, Carl Hueber; and treasurer, Nancy Isserlis. Newly elected trustees are Mary Ellen Gaffney-Brown, Michael Price and James Spurgetis. Serving their second year as trustees are Laurie Connelly and Steven Grovdahl.
Duane Jacklin has been elected a director of the Idaho Community Foundation. Jacklin, who replaces Harry Magnuson on the board, is general partner of Riverbend Commerce Park and president of Riverbend Hospitality. He also serves on the board of Jobs Plus in Coeur d’Alene, the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, Empire Airlines and Washington Trust Bank.
Kudos:
Ted Watson of Coeur d’Alene has qualified as a “Championship” agent for Farmers Insurance Group of Companies for his contributions to customer growth and service. He is among a small group of district managers and agents who have achieved a high sales volume for auto, home, life and business policies.
Randall S. James, a teacher at North Central High School, was chosen to receive a $10,000 1998 Toyota Tapestry grant from Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc. His idea to apply biotechnical methods to the vitality of soils was selected out of nearly 800 grant applications. Assisting on the project are Shawn Jordan and Jay Webber, a fellow teacher at North Central.
The Gonzaga Alumni Mentor Program (GAMP), which links Gonzaga University alumni with current students and recent graduates for career mentorship opportunities, and Sue Weitz, Gonzaga vice president for student life, have been honored by the Jesuit Association of Student Personnel Administrators. GAMP received the Ignatian Medal for an Outstanding Campus Program and Weitz is the recipient of the Ignatian Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Jesuit Student Affairs.
David Bergen, dean of student services at Gonzaga University, was awarded the Donald D. Gehring Award. The annual award is given by the Association for Student Judicial Affairs and is the association’s highest award. The Gehring Award recognizes sustained performance in service to the association and outstanding performance in the field of student judicial affairs.
Edward Van Vliet, Kent Lupton, Bret Wheeler, Neal Kroll and Debbie Hamilton of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. have received the National Sales Achievement Award from the National Association of Life Underwriters. The award promotes and recognizes excellence in client and customer representation.
Malcolm Gray, branch manager for the Spokane office of Principal Residential Mortgage Inc., has been named a Top Producer. The award honors company leaders in the production of residential loans.
Events:
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.
Wednesday - Dave Tomson and Larry Soehren will discuss the Building Owners & Managers Association International Convention and Trade Show during a meeting of the Spokane affiliate from noon-1:15 p.m. at Cavanaughs Inn at the Park, 303 W. North River Drive. Cost: $10 for lunch; call 466-4905 for reservations.
Thursday - The Small Business Development Center presents an “Employers’ Tax Seminar” from 6-9 p.m. at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, 665 N. Riverpoint Blvd. Cost: $20; call 358-7890 for information or to register.
Thursday - Associated Industries of the Inland Northwest presents part one of a four-part series on “Leadworker Training” from 8:30 a.m.-noon at 920 N. Washington. Cost: $199 for members, $299 for nonmembers; for information, call 328-6832.
Thursday - The Inland Northwest Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners meets from 5:30-8 p.m. at Knipprath Cellars, 163 S. Lincoln. Cost: $15; for information and reservations, call Susan Thomas at (208) 773-3906.
Friday - The Washington State Bar Association presents a continuing legal education seminar on “Strategies for Taxable Estates” from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Cavanaughs Inn at the Park, 303 W. North River Drive. Cost: $169; for information, call Steve Rosen at (206) 727-8225.
Friday - The Hispanic Business and Professional Association meets at 11:30 a.m. at Cavanaughs Fourth Avenue. For more information, call 891-0625.
Friday - Spokane Indians owner Bobby Brett will speak about the ballclub and its future prospects at a Good Morning Spokane Area gathering presented by the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce at 7 a.m. at Seafirst Stadium. Cost: $10 for members if prepaid, $15 after Wednesday, or $15 for nonmembers if prepaid, $20 after Wednesday; for reservations, call 459-4111.