Business Beat
NEW FACES:
Sandra Gabriel had joined the law offices of Davidson, Bailey and Medeiros as a member of the firm. Gabriel has prior experience in private practice, and has served as law clerk to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Washington and to the Washington State Court of Appeals. Her practice will emphasize consumer and business bankruptcy issues.
Coffman Engineers has added the following people to its staff:
Arvind Neurkar joined the firm as a structural engineer. He is a Navy veteran and received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Gonzaga University.
Matt Jones joined Coffman as an electrical engineer. He was formerly a senior engineer with Kaiser Aluminum and had previously spent eight years in the petrochemical industry.
Electrical engineer Doug Pfaff was formerly with RAHCO International and is a 1994 graduate of the University of Idaho.
Jack Schneider joins the firm as an electrical drafter. He was previously with MW Consulting Engineers and is a graduate of ITT Technical Institute.
Cathy Hammel will be a network administrator for Coffman. She is a former computer consultant with Mires Computer Consulting and a former network lab technician at Spokane Community College, where she received a degree in network engineering.
Lonne Jordahl has joined Washington Mutual Bank as vice president/manager with responsiblity for the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene home loan centers. He has more than 20 years of mortgage lending experience and was formerly with First Bank Northwest.
Siebe Environmental Controls has added Mike Harper and Ann Cleary to it’s staff. Harper joined Siebe as a branch construction manager. He has more than 25 years of experience in construction management. Cleary joined the firm as a branch services sales representative. She has worked as a research scientist and holds master’s degrees from the University of Michigan and Gonzaga University. Cleary will work with commercial building owners and managers to ensure healthy, comfortable and safe indoor environments. She will also assist in lowering operating costs. Both will work out of the Spokane branch.
Dr. Rodney Trytko has joined Anesthesia Associates at Deaconess Medical Center. He is a 1983 graduate of the University of Florida School of Medicine and completed his internship and anesthesiology residency there in 1986. Trytko completed a cardiovascular anesthesia fellowship at the Texas Heart Institute in 1987 and became board certified in anesthesiology. He had been practicing with Physicians Anesthesia Group in Spokane for the past nine years.
APPOINTED:
Anne Tucker was appointed president and CEO of Wendt Advertising and Public Relations. She has served as president for both the Spokane and Great Galls, Mont., offices since 1996 and has been with the firm since 1976. She left the agency for a few years to live in Germany to report and edit for The Stars and Stripes military publication and to earn her master’s degree in management. Tucker returned to Wendt in 1983. She serves on the Spokane Downtown Plan Steering Committee, the Spokane Community Colleges Foundation Board and Finance Committee and the Spokane Public Schools Superintendent’s Public Affairs Advisory Council.
John Kruesi has been named the regional manager for the West Cost Paper Co. He will have executive management responsibilities for West Coast in Spokane, Boise and Clarkston, Wash. Kruesi will also maintain his current responsibility for the Medford and Redding, Calif., facilities. He is a graduate of Eastern Oregon College where he taught for two years before joining the paper industry in 1973.Group Health Northwest family practice physician Don Rappe, M.D., and vice president for Wells Fargo Bank Greg Tracy were recently appointed co-chairs of the Regional Endowment Campaign Committee for the Group Health/Kaiser Permanente Community Foundation. The foundation is a non-profit organization that funds projects in communities where Group Health Northwest, Group Health Cooperative and Kaiser Permanente of the Northwest provide services.
Trish McFarland has been named campaign manager of the Gonzaga Preparatory High School Comprehensive Campaign. McFarland, director of development at Gonzaga Prep, will be the school’s campaign manager for the two-year Covenant for Excellence Campaign. Prior to coming to Gonzaga Prep as development coordinator in 1995, she was the executive director for the Ronald McDonald House. She is a member of the Inland Northwest Development Council, Public Facilities District and the Junior League of Spokane.
MOVING UP:
AmeriPro Financial Corp. has appointed Sean Davis as vice president of operations. Davis was formerly the branch manager of the Valley office. AmeriPro also has promoted Geoffrey Fanning to vice president of development and marketing. He was formerly with Pizzeria UnoWest Inc.
Bradley Falk, a Lutheran Brotherhood district representative from Reardan, was chosen to serve on the organizations’ Field System Partnership Team. Falk is affiliated with the Peter Mauritsen Agency in Spokane.
KUDOS:
Three linemen teams from Washington Water Power finished in the top three places at the Montana Linemen’s Rodeo held this summer in Helena, Mont. A series of four timed events tested the linemens’ speed, agility, teamwork and safety expertise. The Spokane team members who took first place were: Jim Sanchez, Spike Perry and Nick Schlicter. The Coeur d’Alene team members who took second were: Bill Shaffer, Mike Daniels and Kelly Hendry. Third place was awarded to team members Mike Toutloff, Chad Summers and Tony Bird. Line foreman Dave Watson coached the three teams.
Arthur Young and Weyland Graves of Prudential Insurance Co.’s Spokane-area agency qualified to attend the company’s National Business Conference in Orlando, Fla. Attendance is based on excellence in the sale of insurance and financial products and services and quality customer service in 1997.
R&R Holiday RV Inc., a Coachmen recreational vehicle dealership in Spokane, was honored with the One Million Dollar-Round Table Award for 1998 from the Coachman RV Co. The award recognizes $1 million worth of Coachmen RV’s purchased by the dealership during the year.
Douwe Egberts Coffee Systems USA has honored Patrick Axtell of Spokane for outstanding sales performance. Axtell is currently the territory manager of Douwe Egberts.
David Pelz of Coeur d’Alene has been named a member of the New York Life Insurance Co. 1998 President’s Council, Premier Level. Pelz, who has been a New York Life Insurance agent since 1976, is associated with the company’s Spokane general office but works from Coeur d’Alene. Members of the President’s Council rank in the top eight percent of New York Life active agents based on 1997-98 sales achievement. The Premier Level is the top 50 percent of the President’s Council.
Two Gonzaga University School of Business Administration students placed first and sixth in the May 1998 Uniform CPA Examinations for the state of Washington. Yanxia Lin, a graduate student in the master of accountancy program, placed first. Leonard Sweet, an accounting major and recent graduate, placed sixth.
EVENTS:
Monday - Randy P. Baker, an executive vice president of Oracle Corp. and the fall DeYoung Executive-in-Residence for the WSU College of Business and Economics, will give a public lecture on “Oracle & You: Vision, Teamwork, Leadership” at 4:10 p.m. in Room 276 of Todd Hall on WSU’s Pullman campus.
Monday through Thursday - The Washington State Housing Finance Commission and the Washington State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development present the 1998 Statewide Housing Conference, “Windows on Washington: New Perspectives on Housing,” at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park. Cost: $175; for information or to register, call 464-7139 or (800) 767-4663.
Tuesday - Spokane Community College’s Single Parent Program presents its third annual Home-Based Business Fair from 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., in the Lair-Student Center Lobby, at Spokane Community College, 1810 N. Greene; for more information, call Shannon Stegman at 533-8182.
Tuesday - The Idaho Small Business Development Center presents a class on “Bookkeeping for the Day Care Provider” from 6:30-9:30 p.m., at the training center, 525 W. Clearwater Loop, Post Falls. Cost: $29; for registration and information, call (208) 769-3333.
Tuesday - Vaughn Baker, superintendent of the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, will discuss the proposed new general management plan for the area during a meeting of the Colville Chamber of Commerce at noon at Cookie’s Cafe in Colville.
Tuesday - The Service Corps of Retired Executives offers free counseling to potential and existing small-business owners from 9 a.m.-noon at Tri-County EDD, 347 W. Second Ave., Suite A in Colville. For appointments, call (509) 684-4571.
Wednesday - Rich Hadley of the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, Loren Mitchell of the Valley Chamber and Ken Olson of the Spokane Area Economic Development Council will discuss “Doing Business in Spokane: Who Needs Consultants?” at a meeting of the Inland Northwest Society of Consulting Professionals at 7:15 a.m. at Cavanaughs Ridpath Hotel. For information, call Vicki Hand at 448-8118.
Wednesday - The Service Corps of Retired Executives presents a workshop on the “ABC’s of Starting a Business” from 9 a.m.-noon at Metropolitan Mortgage, 601 W. First, second floor west. Cost: $20; for more information or to register, call 353-2820.
Thursday - Washington State Employees Credit Union sponsors “Scam School,” a free consumer education workshop, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Shilo Inn, 923 E. Third; for information or to register, call 532-8617 or (800) 562-0999.
Thursday - The Colville Rendezvous committee of the Colville Chamber of Commerce will meet at noon at the Pizza Factory in Colville to select a new chairperson and consider future support of the annual event by the Colville Chamber.
Friday - JoAnn Mattheisen, vice president of human resources for Washington Water Power, will discuss “The Secret Ingredient to Success,” during the Young Women’s Breakfast presented by the Action Women’s Exchange from 6:45-8 a.m. at the Spokane Club. Cost: $6.75; for information or to register, call 482-8021.
Saturday - Linda Kieffer of Eastern Washington University will speak on “Using the Internet in the Classroom” during the third annual Technology Fair presented by the Gonzaga University School of Education from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Rosauer Center for Education on the GU campus. The event is free and open to the public; for more information, call Angie Parker at 323-3494.