Business Beat

New faces:

Washington Trust Bank has hired the following people as home loan originators at its Spokane Home Loan Center:

Michael Bjorge has more than eight years of mortgage lending experience. He is a graduate of Montana State University.

Chad Schmidt, who is a graduate of Washington State University, has five years of experience in the finance and mortgage industry.

Patricia JoAnne Heglund has joined Potlatch Corp. as a wildlife biologist for the resource management division. She fills a vacancy created when Bill Wall left last summer to join Safari Club International. Heglund, who taught at the University of Idaho as a visiting faculty member, previously conducted research on Potlatch lands as owner and president of Turnstone Environmental Research Associates Ltd. of Moscow. She received a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in fisheries and wildlife from the University of Missouri.

Alan Mark has been named a turf specialist for Medalist America, a part of Simplot Turf & Horticulture. Mark, who has 10 years of experience in the seed industry, will be responsible for sales of Medalist America seed varieties, distributor relations and technical agronomic support for customers in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky. He previously was a sales representative for Lofts Seed. Mark will be based in Washington, Ohio.

Moving up:

Merrill Lynch has named Peter Wagstaff as assistant vice president and senior financial consultant in its Coeur d’Alene office. Wagstaff joined the firm in 1991. Earlier, Wagstaff, who is a graduate of Stanford University and Cornell Law School, was in private law practice in business and trust law in Coeur d’Alene.

Dennis R. Murphy has been appointed manager of Heritage Funeral Home and Crematory. Murphy joined Heritage in 1996.

Linda McDermott has been named interim vice president of human resources for Community Colleges of Spokane. McDermott, currently district director of budget and finance, replaces Marion Boenheim, who took a job as vice chancellor of human resources for the Ventura, Calif., Community College District. McDermott joined CCS in 1989. She earned a master’s degree in business administration from Eastern Washington University.

Elected:

The Credit & Financial Development Division-Spokane Chapter, National Association of Credit Management, has elected the following officers for 1999-2000: President, Kay Havens, System TWT; president-elect, Renee Keith, Rowand Machinery; vice president, Cindy Cloe, Washington Auto Carriage; treasurer, Shari Mills, EM Space Inc.; secretary, Sue Witte, Dupree Bldg Specialties; and members at large, Charlotte Tobin, Multi-Fab SBI Inc., and Penney Laird, Core-Mark International.

Kudos:

Gus Abariotes, a foreman for Modern Electric Water Co., has received the 1998-99 Muddy Boots Award, the Operator of the Year Award selected by the American Water Works Association’s Inland Empire subsection. He was cited for being “first on the job, first in the ditch and first to get his hands dirty.” Abariotes, who joined Modern Electric nine years ago, previously owned and operated a Sprague Avenue service station.

The Washington State Council of Farmer Cooperatives has elected the following people to the Co-op Hall of Fame:

Ray Brazington, a certified public accountant and principal of Moss Adams LLP, has spent 34 years helping marketing and supply cooperatives and agribusinesses with their accounting and taxation needs. A leader in the regional chapter of the National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives, he has been key in promoting the cooperative way of doing business.

Joe Carter retired in 1982 after serving 19 years as president of the Spokane Bank for Cooperatives. Carter led the bank’s efforts to achieve significant growth in providing credit and related services to cooperatives throughout the Northwest. Earlier in his career, he worked for the Federal Land Bank of Spokane and served on the Pendleton Grain Growers board of directors.

Henry Polinder, who died in 1998, was a dairyman who served as the president of Darigold Farms for 23 years after leading the formation of the co-op in 1961. As a strong advocate of regional cooperatives, Polinder served for 30 years on various boards of directors and was key in a series of mergers that turned Darigold into one of the most successful dairy cooperatives.

Dixie Riddle, a small grains and grass farmer, has held numerous roles with cooperatives in Washington state and abroad. Riddle served on the Cenex board for 24 years and on the Inland Farmers Inc. board for 30 years.

Lynn Garber, a registered nurse in the Holy Family Hospital Short Stay Unit, has been chosen as the 1999 Holy Family Nursing Excellence Award winner. Garber was chosen from among 12 nurses nominated by their peers.

Donald Smith, owner of Medicine Man West and Medicine Man Southwest pharmacies in Post Falls, has been honored with the 1999 DuPont Innovative Pharmacy Practice Award. Smith, a 1981 graduate of the University of Montana School of Pharmacy, began his career working for Brian Jorgensen at Medicine Man Pharmacy. He opened Medicine Man West in 1985 and recently added Medicine Man Southwest.