Business Beat

New faces:

Joseph Connellan has been named treasurer of the Washington Province of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. Connellan, who is the first lay treasurer of the province, earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Rochester and is working on a master’s in spirituality at Gonzaga University. Before joining the staff of the Sisters of the Holy Names, he spent 21 years in management at Kaiser Aluminum in Spokane.

Dr. Jeffrey L. Shoemaker has joined his father, Dr. James Shoemaker, at Shoemaker Chiropractic Center, 501 W. Francis. Jeffrey Shoemaker is a graduate of Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic in Spartanburg, S.C. Earlier he attended Spokane Falls Community College and Eastern Washington University.

Moving up:

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has promoted the following people at its Spokane Research Laboratory:

John R.M. “Ros” Hill was named director of the laboratory. Hill, who served as acting director since 1996, has been involved in mine health and safety research for 28 years. In 1981, he was appointed research supervisor for the mine health and safety group at the Spokane facility. A certified professional geologist, Hill received a degree in geological engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.

Ken Hay was promoted to chief of the Branch of Catastrophic Failure Detection and Prevention. Hay began his career with the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1971 while attending Gonzaga University. He received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Gonzaga and a master’s in engineering from Washington State University. Hay previously served as supervisor of the Ground Support Group and most recently was acting chief of the branch.

F. Mike Jenkins was named chief of the Branch of Mining Injury and Disease Prevention. He began his 23-year government career in Morgantown, W.V., while a student at West Virginia University. He earned a master’s degree in mining engineering there, then transferred to the Spokane office. Jenkins is a graduate of the Department of the Interior’s Departmental Managers Development Program and has worked with the U.S. House of Representatives as a staff engineer.

Brad Rutt has been named manager-accounting and control at Farm Credit Services. He will be responsible for managing all general ledger functions, accounts payable, the fixed asset system and the division’s internal control programs and cross-divisional internal control issues. Rutt joined Farm Credit in 1997 as an accountant after a stint as a senior staff accountant for Ripley Doorn & Co. PLLC in Nampa, Idaho. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Boise State University and is a certified public accountant in Idaho.

Farm Credit Services has promoted Tessina Strunk to vice president-management accounting. She will oversee portfolio and specialized pricing, profitability performance measurement, budget, financial projections, capital management and internal financial reporting. She also will be responsible for the technical accounting group that handles large, complex loan products. Strunk, who joined Farm Credit in 1995 as an accountant, previously was an assistant vice president-management information. She earned bachelor’s degrees in accounting and business administration from Mount Marty College in Yankton, S.D., and is a 1998 graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School.

Starting up:

Sterling Savings Bank is establishing item processing centers in Spokane and Seattle. The bank appointed the following people to oversee the new operation:

Steve Cree was named item processing manager. Cree previously was president of Credit Union Support Services, which he organized and developed. He received a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and marketing from Eastern Washington University.

Laura Hamma was appointed item processing supervisor-Spokane, and Chriss Jensen is Hamma’s counterpart in Seattle. Hamma most recently was customer service supervisor at Sterling’s Spokane Valley Branch. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, including stints as operations/systems analyst for Bank of Latah and regional item processing manager/assistant vice president for Norwest Bank of Montana. She received a bachelor’s degree in business from Montana State University. Jensen, who has 15 years of banking experience, previously was information services specialist for I-Pro Inc. in Kent, Wash.