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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Business Beat

Have an item for Business Beat? Send it to businessbeat @spokesman.com.

New faces

Keller Williams Realty Spokane has hired Cindy Hicks, Jacque Losi and Annette Lewis as new agents.

Jason Brown has been hired by Coffman Engineers as a structural drafter. The company has also hired Chris Fries as a mechanical drafter. Both hold associate degrees in computer drafting and design from ITT Technical Institute.

H2E Inc. in Liberty Lake has hired Corey Peterson as an electrical/automation engineer. He previously worked as an independent consultant.

Amy Johnson has been hired as a strategic consultant on work force training and manufacturing issues for the AWB Institute. She has extensive health care, work force, education and energy policy experience, and will continue to serve as COO for the Institute for Systems Medicine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in government and history from California State University, Sacramento; a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Colorado; a graduate degree in health policy and administration from Washington State University; and a law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law.

Sterling Savings Bank has hired Brent Wise as a commercial banker. He has more than five years of commercial banking experience and previously worked for Banner Bank in Kennewick. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Washington State University.

New position

Kevin Person has been named CEO of Wagstaff Inc. He previously served as vice president of sales and marketing and joined the company in 1998. The company has named Lee Swartling as vice president of sales and marketing. He previously served as area sales manager for Russia, Romania and Ukraine and has been with the company since 1999.

Kudos

Kauffman and Associates Inc. received two bronze Telly Awards and two gold Aurora Awards for videos created for the National Science Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Elected

Hospice of Spokane has elected Dr. Nathan Dikes to its board of trustees. Dikes is a licensed podiatric physician and surgeon and is president and CEO of Sunshine Health Facilities Inc.

Paula Kopczynski of Rockford, Wash., and Susan Nielsen of Spokane have been elected to Numerica Credit Union’s Supervisory Committee to serve three-year terms.

New business location

Scott Ellis has relocated his nonprofit organization, Blue Button Apparel, from Hillyard to the Garland District. The social enterprise specializes in producing organic cotton and bamboo apparel through a certified fair trade supplier, and providing jobs for at-risk students in Spokane. Location: 602 W. Garland Ave. Contact: (509) 481-9149 Website: www.bluebutton.org.