Business beat

Architecture

Spokane-based MMEC Architecture & Interiors has announced two hires at its Kennewick office. Ethan Sanders has been hired as an unlicensed associate architect. Sanders is a recent Washington State University graduate, and interned with MMEC over the past few summers. Brynna Jones has been hired as an interior designer. Jones is also a WSU graduate and previously served as a student intern for MMEC.

Banking

Numerica Credit Union has announced two hires. Kathy Anson will be a senior financial adviser and will provide financial planning, retirement and insurance services to clients, as well as nondeposit investment products and services through its relationship with CUSO Financial Services. She has worked in local financial services since 1992 and previously was senior financial adviser for Columbia Bank Financial Services. Robin Harrison has joined Numerica as vice president of home loan center operations and will oversee origination and loan delivery channels. Harrison has more than 30 years of experience in the lending industry and previously was the home loan business support manager for First Interstate Bank.

Mountain West Bank has named Jimmy McAndrew vice president and real estate sales manager in its Coeur d’Alene home loan center. McAndrew has 18 years of banking experience. He joined Mountain West Bank in 2014 as a mortgage loan originator and most recently was a nationwide mortgage licensing system and registry sales manager. McAndrew studied business management and marketing at North Idaho College.

Merrill Lynch has named Troy Braga as the resident director of its Coeur d’Alene office. Braga worked for Merrill Lynch for more than six years and is a wealth management adviser and senior vice president with the Baldwin-Braga Group. He is a certified financial planner, a certified plan fiduciary adviser and holds a master’s degree in business administration from Washington State University as well as bachelor’s degrees in finance and human resources management from the University of Idaho. Merrill Lynch also hired Ashley Lenz as a financial adviser for the Baldwin-Braga Group. Lenz has more than 18 years of banking experience and previously was the chief financial officer of Bankcda. Lenz earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Senior Living

Rick Myers is the new executive director for Garden Plaza of Post Falls, an independent-living and assisted-living community. Myers most recently was executive director at Life Care Center of Sandpoint and had previously served as an administrator for a skilled-nursing facility in Long Beach, California. Prior, he worked in law enforcement for 23 years.

Honors

Gonzaga University accounting alumna, Julie Baker, has received the Elijah Watt Sells Award from the American Institute of CPAs. Baker is among 89 winners across the nation to be honored for achieving more than a 95.50 across all four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination, in addition to passing all four sections on the first attempt. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting and finance from Gonzaga last year.

Providence St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chewelah was one of seven Washington hospitals to receive five stars in the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services 2021 Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings. The evaluation rates more than 3,300 hospitals nationwide on the categories of mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience and timely and effective care. Ratings range from one to five stars, with five representing the best quality. Only 455 facilities in the nation received five stars.