Business Beat

New faces:

Steve Leifer has joined Spokane- based Kimmel Athletic Supply as sales manager. He has more than 12 years of team and retail sporting goods sales and management experience. Leifer, who attended Whitworth College, worked in the team sales business in Seattle for four years, then returned to Spokane and worked for another team dealer for eight years before joining Kimmel.

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Washington State has named Leslie Woodfill as wish coordinator for Eastern Washington, North Idaho and Montana. Woodfill, formerly with Portamedic, was a volunteer for the foundation for several years before joining the staff.

Carol Pederson has joined the sales staff of Dodson’s Jewelers in downtown Spokane. Pederson, who has 25 years of experience in the jewelry business, previously worked for Ben Bridge Jeweler for 21 years. She is a registered jeweler by the American Gem Society.

Moving up:

Kati Carl has been named regional manager for Make-A-Wish Foundation of Washington State. Her territory includes Eastern Washington, North Idaho and Montana. Carl, formerly wish coordinator, will oversee development, marketing and fund-raising duties in this area. She has been with the foundation for two years in Spokane.

Action Mortgage Co. has promoted Theresa Matson to assistant vice president. Matson, who is Action’s information systems administrator, joined Sterling Savings Bank, Action’s parent company, in 1992 as a loan servicing assistant. She was promoted to loan servicing supervisor in 1996 and last February transferred to her current position at Action Mortgage. Prior to joining Sterling, Matson and her husband owned and operated a dental lab. She attended Spokane Falls Community College.

Noelle Gering of Clark, Anderson, McNelis & Co. P.A., a Coeur d’Alene accounting firm, has received her CPA license and will provide services in all areas of accounting. Gering, who joined the firm a year ago, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Eastern Washington University with a major in professional accounting and management information systems.

Starting up:

Merit Distributing Inc. is opening an office in Spokane for custom manufacturing, sales, customer service and technical support. The company, which merged with Canadian computer manufacturer Hewitt Rand in April, will offer both the Merit and Hewitt Rand lines of business computers and servers through the new office. The Spokane office is one of three opened by Bothell, Wash.-based Merit Distributing. Others are in Denver and Salt Lake City.

Appointed:

Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne has appointed the following North Idaho residents to state boards and commissions: Pea & Lentil Commission, Jeff Boyd and William Newbry, both of Genesee; Motor Carrier Advisory Committee, Jack Buell, St. Maries; Commission for National & Community Service, Nancy Deringer, Moscow; Magistrates Commission/First District, Mayor S.J. “Gus” Johnson, Post Falls; Statewide Vocational Rehabilitation Advisory Council, Jim Flowers, Hayden; Mike Hauser, Coeur d’Alene; and John Centa, Hayden Lake.

Certifications:

Kathleen Bergeron of Coeur d’Alene has earned the certified picture framer designation from the 4,200-member Professional Picture Framers Association. To qualify for the certification, Bergeron successfully completed a 3-1/2-hour examination.

Kudos:

Countrywide Home Loans’ wholesale account executive David Moe of Spokane has been named a co-recipient of the Affiliate of the Year Award from the Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers.

The Sandpoint-based Pend d’Oreille Winery has earned a Silver Medal Award to compliment its 1997 Chardonnay at the 25th Anniversary Northwest Enological Society Wine Festival in Seattle. The young winery, located at 1067 Baldy Industrial Park Road, is owned by Stephen R. Meyer.

The following people have qualified as members of the 1999 Executive’s Council of New York Life Insurance Co., based on 1997-1998 sales performance: Colleen M. Stevens, Berge Borrevik and Paul G. Smith, all of Spokane, and David W. Pelz, of Coeur d’Alene.

Gonzaga University’s Iota Delta Chapter has been honored by the National Beta Alpha Psi Fraternity for the second straight year. Gonzaga’s principal accounting fraternity was granted superior status based on its accomplishments in the field of accounting, the self-development of future accountants and the encouragement of responsible, ethical behavior.

Bruce Hardie, a sales associate at Coldwell Banker Grand Realty Inc., has donated $2,252.71 to the Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery. The donation represents his share of the real estate commission from his 100th sale of 1999. The Hardie Group has set up a charitable program to aid the poor and disenfranchised, abused women and needy children and youth by providing support to shelters.