Blake Named To Avista Board

From Short Reports in the business briefs, May 18, 2000, page A12: Correction: Kristianne Blake does not co-chair the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as was stated in Wednesday’s newspaper.

Kristianne Blake will join the Avista Corp. board of directors July 1.

In announcing the appointment, Chairman Tom Matthews praised the accountant and civic activist for her dynamism and involvement in the region.

“Her expertise in finance, accounting and economic development will be a strong asset to Avista Corp. as we continue to focus our strategic growth in the areas of energy, information and technology,” he said in a statement.

“Avista is a company that’s going places,” said Blake, who added that the diversity of the company’s board also attracted her to the new position.

Also, she said, maintaining local representation on the board is important because of Avista’s value to the community.

Current board member Larry Stanley, chief executive officer of Empire Bolt & Screw Inc., will retire next year.

Blake is president of her own accounting firm, which she formed in 1987 after leaving Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, where she was a partner.

She is a trustee of the Frank Russell Investment Co., St. George’s School and Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce.

Blake also sits on the boards of United Way of Spokane, YMCA of the Inland Northwest, Washington Society of Certified Accountants and Washington State Securities Advisory Committee, among others.

She also co-chairs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Blake is the sister of Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft. Gates, through Cascade Investment LLC, owns 5 percent of Avista stock.

Gates has made several investments in utility and energy companies in the past year. He is regarded as a passive, long-term investor.