HONORS & AWARDS

Flo Sayre, a real estate agent with Farmers National Co. in Pasco, received the 2017 Land Realtor of America Award from the Realtors Land Institute. She has been a real estate agent for 24 years and is a fourth-generation Pasco resident.

Jason E. Johnson, an advisor with Ameriprise Financial in Spokane, who also serves the Tri-Cities, has qualified for the company’s Circle of Success annual recognition program for the company’s top advisors. Ameriprise has an office in Kennewick.

Longship Cellars in Richland was awarded Best of Class for its 2014 Quinn red blend at the 2017 SavorNW Wine Awards in the other red blends category. Proceeds from this wine, named after a local 5-year-old girl, will benefit the Great Strides team “All in for Quinn” to help find a cure for cystic fibrosis. Its 2015 Wise Man Cabernet Sauvignon also won best of class.

Petersen Hastings, an investment company in Kennewick, has been named as one of the 2018 Best Places to Work for Financial Advisors by InvestmentNews.

Tammy Darling has been named Secondary Educator of the Year for the Washington Association for Learning Alternatives. Darling teaches high school students and Mid-Columbia Partnership and coaches the school’s Destination Imagination team. The award recognizes middle and high school teachers and staff members in alternative learning programs who stand out for their contributions and service to educating students and helping make their school or program be successful.

Keith Klein was honored with the WMS/Wendell D. Weart Lifetime Achievement Award that recognizes the commitment of recipients to solving major nuclear challenges. Klein is a retired Department of Energy Richland Office executive director. He is now a vice president of Longnecker and Associates and served on the Environmental Management Advisory Board.

The city of Pasco has been named one of 20 finalists for the All-America City Award given by the National Civic League. This year’s theme is “Promoting Equity Through Inclusive Civic Engagement.” Teams from finalist communities will participate in presentations and workshops June 22-24 in Denver to compete for one of 10 awards given.

Richland lawyer George E. Telquist was named among the 10 Best Personal Injury Attorneys for Client Satisfaction in Washington by the Four Years American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys.

Junior Achievement of Washington Southeastern Region announced the following prize winners for its annual bowling classic, the Comic Con Bowl-A-Thon: Brittney Hopperstad, HAPO, top individual fundraiser; Jamei Perez, Bechtel, top individual fundraiser runner-up; Ana Valencia, HAPO Community Credit Union, AutoZone’s getaway fun vacation stay; Keith Schmaljohn, CH2M, prize table drawing, resort stay with Vacation Internationale; Jim Hui, Wheatland Bank, Seahawks autographed football; Kevin Gunn, Pacific Crest Planning, Gold’s Gym membership; and Danielle Smith, Gesa Credit Union, overall best costume.

The following John L. Scott Pasco agents have received Northwest honors: Curtis Dahl, President’s Elite, top producing agent; Juan and Netty Zuniga, President’s Gold; Tina Morales, President’s Gold, top producing agent. The following received regional recognition: Geoff Guidry, top producing agent; Tony Verret, Rookie of the Year.

Zane Castilleja, a Prosser High School sophomore, was named the 2018 Youth of the Year for Boys and Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties. It is the highest honor a Boys and Girls Clubs member can receive. He went on to be chosen as the 2018 Washington State Youth of the Year by a panel of 10 judges based on his outstanding character, leadership skills and willingness to give back to the community. The honor comes with a $5,000 college scholarship. Zane will be eligible to compete for the Pacific regional competition in July. He hopes to attend the University of Washington to become a surgical nurse.

Michelle Frost, security chief for the Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District, was recognized as the Corps’ best anti-terrorism program manager for 2017. She joined the district readiness office in 2012 and contributed to the district achieving Emergency Management Accreditation Program accreditation in 2017.

Kennewick insurance agent Scott Smith has been named to State Farm’s Chairman’s Circle. It is the fifth time he has won the award since he opened his office in 2011.

Framatome’s Richland fuel manufacturing facility recently was recognized by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its commitment to safety and continuous improvement during its biennial licensee performance review.

The NRC review confirmed that between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2017, the Richland fuel facility met all compliance and regulatory requirements with no areas identified for improvement. The facility has sustained this rating since August 2006.

NEW HIRES

Tracie Cowen has been selected as chief financial officer at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. Cowen also will serve as associate laboratory director for Business Services. She will assume her new responsibilities on April 23.

She replaces Marty Conger, who after 42 years at the lab, is retiring. He recently chaired the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce’s board, and chaired and served on some of its committees.

PNNL’s Business Services Directorate is comprised of nearly 180 staff who oversee the laboratory’s $1 billion annual operating budget as well as all financial functions including payroll, accounts receivable and payable, asset management, contracts, business development and analysis, and other related business functions. Cowen has held several positions with increasing leadership responsibilities during a 25-year career at PNNL and Battelle. Currently, she is division director for business development and analysis.

Clint Whitney will be the city of Richland’s next director of Richland Energy Services. He currently is the engineering and operations manager, and transitioned to his new role April 5 after Bob Hammond retired from the position.

Whitney has worked for the city for more than 20 years in both engineering and operations capacities. Previously, he spent five years at Hanford working on the electrical distribution system. He is working toward a master’s in business administration from Washington State Univeristy with an expectation of completing the program this fall. He has been married for 30 years and has two sons.

Richland Energy Services is a city-operated public power utility that provides reliable, safe, non-for-profit electric services to Richland customers.

Michael Morales has been appointed the deputy director of community and economic development for the city of Pasco. He formerly was the city’s interim economic development program manager.

Monteith Insurance in Kennewick hired Josh Hanson as its business and farm account manager.

Ed Dunbar has been named the Pasco Fire Department’s deputy fire chief. He has been in fire services since 1983 and has lived in the Tri-Cities since 1994.

Dr. John Groner joined PMH Medical Center and will lead the integrated health care team at the newly opening PMH Pain Clinic in Benton City.

The clinic at 701 Dale Ave. provides comprehensive pain management care, including physical and message therapy, occupational medicine, medication management, chiropractic care and behavioral health services. Previously, Groner worked at hospitals and pain centers throughout Washington and Oregon.

U.S. Cellular has named Roberto Pineda the business area sales manager for Oregon and Washington. He will lead business sales associates to help Tri-City area customers select the best plan and devices to meet their data needs. He has more than 12 years of wireless sales experience at U.S. Cellular. Most recently, he was the retail area sales manager in central Oregon.

Jaleh Flinders has been hired by Numerica Credit Union as the assistant branch manager for the recently merged Monad Credit Union branch in Pasco.

Jeannie Steiling passed her Realtor license exam and joined the team of Integrity Real Estate Northwest in Richland as a real estate agent and licensed broker.

Steve Worley is now the public works director for the city of Pasco. He was previously the assistant public works director for the city of Fife.

DONATIONS

Bechtel donated $12,000 to Second Harvest’s Bite2Go program that provides food supplies for weekends during the school year for children of need. More than 25 Bechtel employees volunteered their time during a Bite2Go Build event, packaging the food kits. The kits contain healthy, kid-friendly, easy-to-open and nonperishable single-serve items that will supply food for four meals and three snacks, and do not require preparation or cooking.

In an effort to assist local veterans in need, the Department of Energy’s Richland Operations Office, with support from Hanford site contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA), is donating excess clothing. More than 250 pieces of clothing including pants, shirts, sweatshirts, vests, jackets, coveralls and bib overalls, valued at more than $16,000, will be donated to the Columbia Basin Veterans Opportunity Center (CBVOC).

CBVOC provides a variety of services to local veterans. In addition to helping veterans access benefits they have earned through their service, CBVOC also offers transitional housing, counselors and case managers, and assistance with identifying education and employment opportunities. CBVOC requested the clothing to assist local veterans in finding jobs.

This is the second donation of its kind to CBVOC, bringing the total value of excess clothing donations to CBVOC to more than $27,000 in the past two years.

As the Hanford site integrator, MSA processes excess property, including clothing, from DOE and Hanford’s prime contractors. Property is excessed in many ways, including through direct donations.

SCHOLARSHIP

Seth Lowery of Hanford High School has been selected by Better Business Bureau as one of only 29 regional finalists in the 2018 Students of Integrity $10,000 scholarship contest.

Applications were open to students in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Hawaii and Western Wyoming. Students submitted a 90-second video on how to be a smart consumer. Videos were posted on YouTube, and 20 percent of the finalists’ scores were dependent on the number of viewers. One recipient will receive $10,000. Lowery’s video is at bit.ly/2I1Bj1y.

The winning video will be announced in mid-April.

PROMOTIONS

Don Persinger, a certified public account with Northwest CPA Group in Richland, has been admitted as a partner with the firm. Persinger manages the technology needs of the company as well as other services. He has been with the company since it was established in 2004. He is a graduate of Washington State University.

Alison Gebers, the manger of audit and accounting services of Northwest CPA Group, has been promoted to principal. Gebers has been with the company since it was established in 2004. She is a graduate of Washington State University.