Business Beat

Education

The Eastern Washington University Office of Alumni Relations has hired Adriana Berndt as assistant director for alumni relations and Stephanie Wetzel as assistant director of communications and events. Berndt previously worked in alumni relations at Gonzaga Prep for seven years. Wetzel previously worked for Centene Corp. and has six years of marketing and community outreach experience.

Health

Surgical oncologist Jessemae Welsh of Cancer Care Northwest is among 1,993 initiates to become Fellows of the American College of Surgeons during the convocation ceremony at the College’s Clinical Congress 2019 in San Francisco. To be named, applicants must be a graduate of an approved medical school, possess certification by an American surgical specialty board, complete advanced training in one of 14 surgical specialties and have been in practice for at least one year.

Law

Feltman Ewing P.S. has hired associate attorneys Alex Wilson and Kate Geyer. Both are graduates of Gonzaga University School of Law. Wilson’s area of focus is bankruptcy, creditor-debtor relations and business transactions. Geyer’s focus is civil and criminal defense.

Witherspoon Brajcich McPhee PLLC has hired Laura J. Black as a partner. Black is a graduate of Gonzaga University School of Law. Her area of focus is civil litigation, appellate law and employment litigation.

Dunn and Black P.S. has hired Aspyn S. Butzler as an associate attorney. She graduated from Gonzaga University School of Law in May and worked for the firm as a Rule 9 licensed legal intern during her final year of education. Butzler’s area of focus is business and construction litigation.

Nonprofits

Partnering for Progress has appointed Mark Kartchner to its board of directors. He is owner and principle at Kartchner Engineering in Spokane. The Spokane-based nonprofit sends biannual volunteer teams to rural Kenya to work with local groups to improve health, education, water, sanitation and economic development.

Utilities

Avista Corp. has promoted Latisha Hill to vice president of community and economic vitality and Greg Hesler to vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer. Hill joined the company in 2005 and has worked in operational and business policy support roles for multiple areas of the Avista service area. Hesler joined the company in 2015 after more than a decade of work as outside counsel as a partner in the law firm Paine Hamblen LLP. Their new roles begin Jan. 1.