Business beat
Have an item for Business Beat? Send it to businessbeat@ spokesman.com.
Accounting
Nicholas Knapton, P.S. has hired Angela Garner,, Kelsey Magnuson and Angie Dierdorff as support staff. Previously, Garner was with the Mead School District, Magnuson was with Wendle Motors and Dierdorff was with John F. Dierdorff CPA PLLC.
McDirmid, Mikkelsen & Secrest, P.S. has appointed William Simer, Keith Schmidt and Andrew McDirmid as directors of the firm. McDirmid, who has been with the firm since 1993 and was named a partner in 2001, has also been named a managing director. Simer is a board member of the Inland Northwest Community Foundation and the Spokane Symphony Endowment Board. He chairs the Eastern Washington University Foundation and serves as a board member and officer of WSCPA. Schmidt is a personal financial specialist who has served as treasurer of the Inland Northwest Land Trust and as president of the Spokane Estate Planning Council.
Finance
Joel Ferris Jr., the Spokane-area district leader for the Pacific Northwest Agency of Genworth Financial and a long-term-care insurance career agent, and other members of the Seattle-based PNW were awarded the highest ranked regional office for Genworth nationwide for 2013.
Health care
Peter Springs has joined the Hanger Clinic’s Spokane office. Springs is a licensed and certified orthotist and prosthetist. He has completed residencies at the University of Michigan and at Boston Children’s Hospital. Previously, Springs was with Shriners Hospital for Children in Salt Lake City for seven years.
Marketing
Richard Brantley has joined the marketing/sales team at Stuart Advertising. Brantley has experience in sales, marketing and business development and was previously with KXLY Broadcast Group.
Nonprofit
Associated Industries has promoted Bill Sweigert to senior vice president. Sweigert has been with Associated Industries for more than 25 years and has worked to help local businesses succeed, particularly in management and leadership training and education. He has served for 13 years on the board of directors of the Martin Luther King Center. Sweigert has also served on the Spokane Falls Community College Business Management Advisory Committee and the board of the Gonzaga University Justice for Fraud Victims Project.
The Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce has named the winners of the 2013 Awards of Excellence as follows: Business of the Year - Tier I, The Splash/The Current; Business of the Year - Tier II, Telect Inc.; Entrepreneur of the Year, Mark and Steffanie Anderson of Business Cents; Charity/Cultural Services Award, Spokane Symphony; Community Caring Award, Mark Peterson “KXLY Extreme Team”; Chamber Member Volunteer of the Year, Julie Van Wormer of ALSC Architects; Educators of the Year, Leanne Donley of the Central Valley School District and Haley Murray of the West Valley School District. Max Spalding was the recipient of the 2013 Harry E. Nelson Citizen of the Year Award.
Real estate
Jeanine Wade has joined Five Star Spokane Group Keller Williams Realty as the office manager.
Retail
Etailz has hired James Patton as a software engineer/developer and Joy Goins as a vendor onboarding specialist.
Software
Imprezzio Inc. has hired Randy Wessels as a lead developer. Wessels has held several technical and management positions in the software development industry. The company has also promoted Lisa Bick from recruiting specialist to human resources manager; Molly Cavanah from financial business analyst to financial manager; and Caitlin Robirds from product analyst to business manager.
Tourism
Doug Burnett has been appointed as the Region I representative of the Idaho Travel Council. Burnett is the resident manager of the Coeur d’Alene Resort. Burnett is the past president of the Idaho Lodging and Restaurant Association and serves on the executive committee.