Business Beat
New faces:
Columbia Lighting has added the following people to the staff of its Spokane manufacturing facility:
Glenn Rohrer was named fabrication manager. Rohrer has more than 23 years of manufacturing management and engineering support experience. A graduate of Chaffey College, he spent 21 years in the military as a pilot.
Joel Casebier was hired as manufacturing manager for Columbia Lighting’s Spokane operations. He has more than 14 years of manufacturing experience, including management positions in both the chemical and aerospace industries. Casebier is a 1984 graduate of Washington State University.
Telect Inc. has named Walt Takisaki as program manager for fiber optic products. He will oversee Telect’s fiber optic product marketing effort, including new product development, strategic marketing programs, industry research and staff management. Takisaki previously worked for Hewlett-Packard, where he held several marketing and product management roles, most recently as a product marketing specialist. He attended Washington State University and Spokane Community College and holds an advanced associate’s degree in electronics engineering technology.
Dr. Bruce E. Becker has joined St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute as medical director. He has an extensive background in physical medicine and rehabilitation and most recently was vice president of medical affairs with the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan. Becker received his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine and completed a residency at the University of Washington Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. He then established the Oregon Rehabilitation Center in Eugene and practiced there for several years before moving to Detroit. His office will be in Suite 310 of the St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute Medical Building, 711 S. Cowley.
Patrish Voag Brady has been appointed general manager of Spokane Opera. Brady, who recently returned to Spokane after living in Alaska, has a background that includes work as an administrative consultant to nonprofit organizations.
Moving up:
Design Works Inc. has promoted the following employees:
Kimberly Janhunen was named company administrator. Janhunen, who had been the firm’s office manager, will be responsible for many day-to-day administrative decisions. She previously worked as the office manager at Expressions Custom Furniture in Spokane and as an accounting specialist for Southland Corp.
Kathryn Smith was named customer service specialist and will work with Design Works clients to provide both initial and continuous communication during design and furnishing projects. Before joining Design Works, Smith worked at Spears Home Furnishings and Spokane Tile and Design. She earned an associate’s degree in applied science from Spokane Falls Community College.
Moving on:
Bruce Winer, a partner with Winer Cooper Partnership, a Spokane-based construction management firm, has been named director of construction management services for Ninteman Construction Co. in San Diego, Calif. Winer will provide executive design and building management on mixed-use ski area projects being developed by Marriott Corp. in Park City, Utah, Lake Tahoe, Calif., and Steamboat Springs, Colo. He also will be responsible for implementation and management of a new company division, which will specialize in public projects.
Elected:
`Eric Brown, vice president of Shea Construction Inc., has been elected president of the Inland Northwest AGC, a chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America. Other officers include: Lonnie Cargile, Cargile Construction Group, and Steve Robinson, Acme Materials & Construction Co., both vice presidents; and Bob Haney, treasurer. Newly elected members of the board of directors are: Hollis Barnett, Garco Construction; Jim Cameron, Cameron Construction; and Jerry Tombari, Tombari Structural Products.
Scott Waples, chief system planning engineer for Avista Utilities., has been elected chairman of the board of the Northwest Power Pool. The 30-member organization is comprised of major generating utilities serving the northwestern United States and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Waples has been a member of the Power Pool board of directors since 1997. The organization was formed in 1942 to serve as a forum for Northwest electric utilities in an effort to more effectively coordinate operations and ensure reliability.
Kurt Olsson, dean of the University of Idaho College of Letters and Science, has been elected to a two-year term as chairman of the Idaho Humanities Council board of directors. Olsson, who has served as a member of the council board since 1994, succeeds Vince Hannity, executive vice president of investor relations at Boise Cascade Corp. Olsson joined the University of Idaho in 1974 as an assistant professor of English.
Kudos:
Maggie Crabtree, public relations director at Shriners Hospital for Children, has won the Spokane Public Relations Council’s Dussault Award. The award honors a person, institution or project for outstanding public relations effort. Award of Excellence winners in the council’s annual SPARC Awards competition, the project name and client include: Rockey West Communications, “Connecting Our Community,” Spokane County; Avista Corp., “A Can-Do Guy;” Desautel Communications, “Colville Indians Precision Homes Brochure,” Colville Indian Tribe; Rockey West, “Health care brochure,” Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce; Empire Health Services, “Perspectives;” Downtown Spokane Partnership, “Downtown Newsletter;” Downtown Spokane Partnership, “Partners in Progress;” Lukins & Annis P.S., “L&A Announcement;” Desautel Communications, “Education Binder,” Kalispell Tribe of Indians; Desautel Communications, logo, Inland Northwest Cancer Centers; Creative Consultants, “TechGroup Presentation Brochure,” TechGroup; Moss Adams LLP, “1998 Construction Market Analysis;” Rockey West Communications, “Media Relations Program,” Spokane Economic Development Center; Spokane Teachers Credit Union, “Easy Money Loan Campaign;” and Avista Corp., “Project Share Truck/Bear.”
The Spokane Falls Community College newspaper, the Communicator, and three members of its staff have received awards from the Washington Press Association. The Communicator earned second place for general excellence. Editor-in-chief Tom Fox received honorable mention in multiple graphics for a story on Kansas City Chiefs football player Anthony Davis. Layout editor Scott Sawyer won second place in multiple graphics for “SFCC Early Learning Center.” Photo editor Jesse Beals received honorable mention in multiple graphics for the story about Anthony Davis, and second place for the story about the SFCC Early Learning Center.
Events:
Monday - The Service Corps of Retired Executives and the Inland Northwest Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners present a women’s marketing luncheon from noon-1:30 p.m. at the Business Information Center on the second floor of the Spokane Regional Business Center, 801 W. Riverside. Cost: $10, including materials and lunch; for information, call 353-2800.
Monday and Wednesday - The Small Business Development Center presents a class on “Small Business Management” from 6-9 p.m. both nights at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, 665 N. Riverpoint Blvd. Cost: $45; call 358-7890 for information or to register.
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 Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce and the law firm of Preston, Gates & Ellis LLP present a workshop on “Legal Issues for Web Sites and E-Commerce” from 3-4:30 p.m. at the Spokane Regional Business Center, 801 W. Riverside. A more advanced class on e-commerce is scheduled from 3-4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the same location. For reservations, call 353-2800.
Tuesday - NASA astronaut Mike Mullane will be the featured speaker for the North Idaho Employers’ Group’s 7th Annual Employers’ Conference on Workers Compensation from 7:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m. at the Coeur d’Alene Inn. Cost: $69.95; for information, call Elmer Matilla at (208) 773-4511.
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 - Robert Levering, founder of the Great Place to Work Institute in San Francisco, will be the keynote speaker for the 4th Annual Family-a-Fair Workplace Awards Business Seminar and Luncheon from 8 a.m-1:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel City Center. Cost: $25 each for the seminar and luncheon, or $40 for both; for information, call 456-3733.
Wednesday - The Small Business Administration’s Business Information Center presents a free “Y2K Matchmaker Fair” from 10:45 a.m.-1:45 p.m. on the first floor of the Spokane Regional Business Center, 801 W. Riverside. For information, call 353-2800.
Wednesday - The Spokane Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals meets at 5:30 p.m. at the Gonzaga University COG. Cost: $13 for dinner; for information, call 536-8918.
Wednesday - Lisa Bentson, president of Leads Club, will host a reception from 4-7 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel at Sullivan and Mission in the Spokane Valley. For information or reservations, call 921-9581.
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 - Patrick Moore, a forest ecologist and founding member of Greenpeace, will speak on “Getting it Right: Environmentalism for the 21st Century” during a free talk sponsored by the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane area chambers of commerce at 7 p.m. at the Ag Trade Center. For information, call (208) 664-3194 or (509) 459-4117.
Wednesday - The Training and Education Coordinating Center presents session IV of a Zenger Miller Leadership Training core series on “Dealing with Emotional Behavior” from 6-9 p.m. at the Business Training and Applied Technology Center, 3939 N. Freya. Cost: $230 for the four-class series; call 533-4700 for information.
Thursday - The Business and Industry Member Services Committee of the Spokane Chapter of the Washington Society of CPAs presents a talk on “SIRTI, SBA, SBDC, SCORE and More” from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at Gonzaga University’s Schoenberg Center. Cost: $45 for nonmember CPAs, $40 for members and non-CPAs, and $10 for students; for information, call Jim Morrison at 455-8173.
Thursday - The Small Business Development Center presents an “Introduction to Construction Bidding” 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.
Conventions: Wednesday through May 30 - 94th Infantry Division Association, Cavanaughs Inn at the Park.