Business Beat
New faces:
Witherspoon, Kelley, Davenport & Toole has added the following people to its staff:
Shelley N. Swanson joined the firm as an associate. She graduated cum laude from Gonzaga University School of Law in 1998 and from Eastern Washington University in 1993, where she majored in accounting. Her practice will focus on tax and business transactions.
Joel P. Hazel joined the firm as an associate in its Coeur d’Alene office. Hazel, who previously was a deputy prosecuting attorney for Kootenai County, is a 1994 graduate of the University of Idaho College of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University. A member of the Idaho and Washington bar associations, his practice is primarily in the areas of business, insurance and real estate litigation.
Paul Wilson has joined Century Publishing Co. in Coeur d’Alene as general manager, sales and marketing. Watson is responsible for the direction of company marketing efforts and the management of Century’s sales division. Watson previously was sales and marketing director for International Travel Spectrum Inc. and Ambassador Programs Inc.
The Coeur d’Alene-based accounting firm of Magnuson, McHugh & Co. P.A. has hired Janet Gosselin as its receptionist. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Seattle Pacific University.
Moving up:
Lisa Nyquist has been promoted to administrative accountant by the Coeur d’Alene accounting firm of Magnuson, McHugh & Co. P.A. A Coeur d’Alene High School graduate, Nyquist had served as the firm’s receptionist for nearly eight years.
Kay Kindig has been promoted to district director of the Panhandle Health District. Kindig was the agency’s home health administrator for the past 12 years. Earlier she worked for several years at a multiservice health care agency in the Midwest. She is a registered nurse with a master’s degree in health services management.
The following employees of Washington Trust Bank have been promoted to retail banking officers:
Laurie Robinson is a service manager at Washington Trust’s Indiana branch. She joined the bank in 1988.
Monica Link is the service manager at Lincoln Heights Safeway and South Regal Albertson’s branches. She has more than 10 years of banking experience, the last six with Washington Trust.
Angie Nance is the service manager at the Medical Center branch at Sacred Heart. Nance joined the bank in 1990.
Lori Marotti is the service manager at the main branch. She has more than nine years of banking experience, including two with Washington Trust.
Rhonda Swenson is the service manager at the Northgate branch. She joined the bank in 1991.
James Hill is a service manager at the Indiana branch. Hill, who has more than five years of banking experience, joined Washington Trust in 1995.
Kim Kasey is the service manager at the Second and Wall branch. Kasey joined the bank in 1991.
Randi Rinker is a small business account executive. Rinker has 23 years of banking experience, the last 12 with Washington Trust.
Transactions:
Engineering Services Inc., a mechanical engineering company headed by Bill McElroy, has merged with Coffman Engineers. McElroy formed his company in 1980 as Professional Engineering Design, and it became known as Engineering Services Inc. in 1992. The company provided mechanical consulting engineering for architects, owners, developers and property managers in the Inland Northwest. Engineering Services was formerly located in Suite 214 of the Peyton Building downtown. Coffman Engineers offers structural, electrical/lighting, mechanical, construction and project management services with offices in Seattle, Anchorage and Spokane.
Elected:
Moonlighters Toastmasters, Club 431, has elected the following officers for the 1999-2000 year: President, Russ Davis; vice president education, Julie Davis; vice president membership, Grant Cummings; vice president public relations, Charlotte Dubois; secretary, Bonnie Beaty; treasurer, Anna Schmidt; sergeant-at-arms, Jim Beaty; and past president, Michael Church.
Kudos:
Gonzaga University has been awarded $216,472 from the Clare Boothe Luce Program of the Henry Luce Foundation to support four two-year scholarships for undergraduate women majoring in engineering. The scholarships will cover the recipients’ costs for tuition, room and board, books and fees, transportation and other related expenses. Gonzaga was one of only 27 colleges and universities to be selected this year to receive a Clare Boothe Luce grant.
Rich Bakes, Washington Water Power (now Avista) vice president of consumer relations and information services, and R.A. Hanson Inc. founder Raymond A. Hanson are among six professional engineers to receive the University of Idaho College of Engineering’s highest honor, the Engineering Award of Distinction. Bakes, a 1949 UI graduate, began a 32-year career with WWP that same year. He retired in 1981. Hanson attended UI, studying mechanical engineering, but left to serve in World War II. After returning to the family farm near Palouse, Wash., he patented his first invention, a device which leveled the header of a combine. He now holds more than 100 patents on machinery and his company is known internationally in the mining, agriculture and heavy equipment industries.
Educational Service District 101 has been awarded a $50,000 grant by the U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Foundation for its Spokane Service Team program. ESD 101 is one of 29 organizations that shared $2 million in grants awarded under the foundation’s Youth Employment Strategies initiative. The Spokane Service Team program, launched in 1992, helps construct housing for low-income residents and engages in construction projects in conjunction with agencies serving the economically disadvantaged.
The American Express Foundation has awarded the Inland Empire Council of Camp Fire Boys and Girls a $1,000 grant from its Volunteer Action Fund. The fund awards grants on a competitive basis to eligible organizations at which its employees regularly volunteer. The grant to the Inland Empire Council will go toward upgrading electrical panels and the water filtration system at Camp Sweyolakan, a resident camp owned by the council.
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.
Tuesday - The Small Business Development Center presents a class on “How to Start a Bookkeeping Service” 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.
Tuesday - Leads Club, a networking organization for business leads and referrals, meets at 12:15 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel on Sullivan at Mission. For information, call Beth Ann at 921-9581.
Tuesday - Power Networking meets at 7 a.m. to exchange business leads and other business information. For information about location and topics, call 468-9695 or 467-2081.
Wednesday - The Service Corps of Retired Executives presents a workshop on “Effective Marketing to Increase Sales” from 8 a.m.-noon on the second floor of the Spokane Regional Business Center, 801 W. Riverside. Cost: $35; for information or to register, call 353-2820.
Wednesday - The Small Business Development Center presents a “Pre-Business Workshop” from 6-9 p.m. at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, 665 N. Riverpoint Blvd. Cost: $25; call 358-7890 for information or to register.
Thursday - The Lake City Women’s Chapter of Leads Club meets from noon-1:15 p.m. at the Coeur d’Alene Inn, 414 W. Appleway in Coeur d’Alene. For information or reservations, call Karen Welts at (208) 667-5606.
Conventions:
Today through Wednesday Community Development Society, Cavanaughs Inn at the Park.
Monday through Saturday - World Organization of China Painters, DoubleTree City Center.