HONORS & AWARDS

Trios Health received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award. The award recognizes Trio Health Southridge Hospital for treating stroke patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to core standards level of care for at least 24 consecutive months.

Pasco City Television received the Hometown Award in government meeting coverage/professional access center from the Alliance for Community Media for its coverage of the city council. PSC-TV is part of the executive department for the city of Pasco and serves as a function of the city’s communication services division. 

Dave Sheen, Tom Hall and Rob Pratt received Distinguished Inventor of Battelle awards during PNNL’s annual Pathway to Excellence event. Pratt also was named the PNNL Inventor of the Year. Sheen and Hall were instrumental in the development of millimeter wave imaging that is now used in more than 2,300 airport security and portal scanners worldwide. Pratt is a national leader in defining and realizing a power grid that is smart, efficient and resilient with 15 related patents.

Bon Voyage French School in Richland has become the first sister school of CAVILAM, one of the top French schools in the world. The partnership will make learning French more accessible and the school will become one of the first U.S. language schools to partner in an international campaign to promote French in the U.S.

Pacific Office Solutions of Richland has been awarded the Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year award from the Department of Energy. The award recognizes small businesses that demonstrate innovative ideas and solutions while providing cost, time and manpower savings for DOE.

The latest graduating class from the Association of Washington Institute’s Leadership Washington was honored recently. The program is a nine-month leadership development program to nurture the state’s economy. Participants include: Brent Downey, Kaiser Aluminum; Ryan Eddy, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Matt Hawley, Lamb Weston; Mike Kennedy, Energy Northwest; Kevin Leneker, Single Handed Consulting; Josh Lozano, Office of Congressman Dan Newhouse; Brodey Mann, State Farm Insurance; Joey Mertlich, Wilson Albers & Co.; Katherin Morgan, Bank of America; Marcela Navarro, Cadet; Dustin O’Quinn, Lane Powell; Andrew Thompson, Granite Construction Co.; Eric Wolf, Workforce Training and Education Board.

Benton PUD has earned a reliable public power provider diamond designation from the American Public Power Association, the highest level awarded, for safely providing reliable electric service. The designation, which lasts for three years, recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplines: reliability, safety, work force development and system improvement. 

Edward Jones, which has offices in the Tri-Cities, and the Alzheimer’s Association received a Gold Halo Award in the Best Health Initiative category at the Engage for Good Conference on May 24 in Chicago. The Halo Awards are North America’s highest honor for corporate social initiatives and showcase successful consumer and employee engagement efforts.

The Port of Kennewick recently completed audits and marked 22 years of clean audits. The financial audit was conducted by CliftonLarsonAllen, an independent certified public accountant firm, and the compliance audit was done by the Washington State Auditor’s Office.

Katie Gordon Nelson, marketing specialist and bookkeeper for of Kamiak Vineyards/Gordon Estate Winery in Pasco, recently graduated from the Washington Agriculture and Forestry Leadership Program.

NEW HIRES

Numerica Credit Union recently hired Tracey Taylor as the regional director for Central Washington overseeing six branches and Janet Rodgers as a senior home loan officer.

With construction underway at 4704 W. Hildebrand Blvd. in Kennewick, STCU’s first Tri-City branch location, the nonprofit credit union is putting together its local team.

Tri-Cities native and Kennewick High School graduate Jaleh Flinders joined STCU as the Kennewick branch manager on June 1. She has worked for financial institutions for 16 years, most recently as a Numerica branch manager in Kennewick. Community Engagement Officer Elizabeth Burtner will work to build partnerships with local organizations and plan STCU events in the Tri-Cities. Before joining STCU, Burtner worked in branding and communications with Kennewick-based FDM Development. Home Loan Sales Manager Jennifer Cunnington will lead a team of home loan officers who’ll serve members throughout the Tri-Cities. She’ll ultimately be based at the STCU Home Loans office in the Kennewick branch. She worked from Richland in sales force training and development with Stearns Lending.

STCU plans to add Richland and Pasco branch locations in 2019.

Hanford Site services provider Mission Support Alliance has announced the retirement of two longtime employees in June and has named their successors.

Vice president of Portfolio Management, Steve Young, retired June 15 and MSA welcomed Rick Millikin as the incoming vice president in this role. Young was with MSA for seven years and at the Hanford site for more than 30. Millikin comes to MSA from CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. where he most recently served as the vice president of prime contract and project integration. He has more than 28 years of business and program management experience, working at some of the most technically complex sites in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management complex.

 After 27 years leading the Volpentest HAMMER Federal Training Center, Karen McGinnis will retire in June. Paul Vandervert is now the director of HAMMER. He has been with HAMMER for 26 years, from concept and design to construction and operations. He has served as operations manager since HAMMER opened and has been recognized for his leadership in developing HAMMER as a model for performance and customer service. 

Rebecca Thornton is the new philanthropy officer with the Kadlec Foundation. She has had a career in public service and nonprofit, including most recently as a resource development director at United Way of Central Washington.

Jayden Henes, a senior at Delta High School, has been hired as an Avea Financial Planning intern in Richland. She joins Lexi McBreairty, also a senior at Delta High School, who was hired as an intern at the beginning of the school year.

Mike Davis is the new executive chef for Fat Olives Restaurant Catering. Davis has spent nearly 30 years as a chef and has worked throughout the nation and Northwest, including being the former owner of 26brix Restaurant in Walla Walla and opening McMenamin’s Anderson School in Bothell. The Washington native also has received numerous awards.

The Better Business Bureau has hired Tyler Russell as its new media and community contact for Eastern Washington and North Idaho and will serve as the marketplace manager.

DONATIONS

Mission Support Alliance donated $12,000 to the Children’s Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia to support the Read Up program. The money will be used to buy summer book collections for more than 350 third-graders who many not otherwise have access to books.

The Communities In Schools of Benton-Franklin Counties’ fundraising breakfast raised $17,000 to help local youths. The agency works with school districts to support students to stay in school and achieve in life.

Dutch Bros across seven states, including Washington, raised more than $1.3 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association during the annual Drink One for Dane event. Dane Boersma co-founded Dutch Bros with this brother, Travis, in 1992 in Grants Pass, Oregon. Boersma died from ALS in 2009.

GRANTS

The Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board approved a $50,000 grant to the city of Othello for the Industrial Water Treatment Feasibility Plan to explore industrial wastewater treatment. It was matched by $41,000 in local resources. The board also approved a $50,000 grant to the Port of Moses Lake for the Industrial Park Feasibility Study to evaluate a conceptual 2,086-acre industrial park. It was matched by $16,667 in local resources.

Warrior Sisterhood, a program of the Tri-Cities Cancer Center in Kennewick, received a Legends Casino Hotel grant totaling $2,000. The money will be used for chemotherapy gift bags filled with items to make infusions more tolerable for cancer patients. Legends Casino Hotel — through the Yakama Cares program — distributed almost $480,000 to local nonprofit organizations.

SCHOLARSHIPS

The Kiwanis Club of Richland recently awarded each of the following Tri-City graduates with a $2,500 scholarship:

From Hanford High School: Haley Coleman, Washington State University.

From Richland High School: Nicholas Conrad, University of Idaho; Annie DeLuna, Western Washington University; Caitlan Gallivan, Utah State University; Daedan Olander, Utah State University; Jenna Schrieder, Western Washington University; Gavin Silguero, University of Idaho; Jared VanDine, Eastern Washington University.

Students participating in programs at Tri-Tech Skills Center received the following scholarships at the Tri-Cities Education Cooperative Scholarship Awards ceremony:

Nathan Blakely, Southridge High, PK Rotary Tool and Equipment, $1,000.

Erica Carroll, Southridge High, Faurot, $1,500 and CCR RAAVE for $2,000.

Francisco Climaco, Prosser High, Sunrise Rotary Tool and Equipment, $500.

Isabella Funk, Richland High, Mark Kennedy, $500.

Mason Hagins, Hanford High, IAFF Local 1296 Firefighting, $500.

Ruth Hayter, GED student, CCR Tool & Equipment, $500; CCR RAAVE, $2,000; PK Rotary Tool & Equipment, $1,000; Columbia Valley Day Break, $500; Sunrise Rotary Tool & Equipment, $500.

Ethan Hurt, Prosser High, CCR Tool and Equipment, $500; Columbia Valley Day Break, $500.

Cami Logan, Hanford High, PK Rotary Tool and Equipment, $1,000; Columbia Valley Day Break, $500.

Bailey Newton, Richland High, PK Rotary Tool and Equipment, $1,000; Columbia Valley Day Break, $500; Sunrise Rotary Tool & Equipment, $500.

Tho Paw, Kennewick High, CCR RAAVE, $2,000.

Peyten Reffalt, Kiona-Benton City High, Sunrise Rotary Tool and Equipment, $500.

Hunter Robbins-Bilow, Kamiakin High, PK Rotary Tool and Equipment, $1,000.

Nataly Romero-Gomez, Kennewick High, CCR RAAVE, $2,000; PK Rotary Tool and Equipment, $1,000.

Valentin Sanchez, Columbia High, Ye Old Car Club, $500.

PROMOTIONS

Lori Butler was named the director of assessment and professional development for the Kennewick School District. She has been the principal of Ridge View Elementary since 2004 and has worked in education for 33 years. She has been honored multiple times for her work, including in Kennewick and Richland.

Numerica Credit Union has promoted Andy Stirling to senior vice president of the Central Washington region, Jennifer O’Callaghan to senior vice president of marketing and KayCee Murray to senior vice president of information technology.

Trios Health announced that two of its residents have been appointed to serve as chief residents for the hospital system’s family and internal medicine residency programs. Dr. Andrew Sou was chosen as chief resident for the internal medicine program and Dr. Jessica Togiai was selected for family medicine. The physicians were chosen by their program directors and will serve as chiefs for one year, beginning in July. Chief residents serve as role models for other residents and provide leadership within a medical residency program by teaching, facilitating conferences, supervising, scheduling, implementing policy and mediating.

CERTIFICATIONS

Trios Health’s Internal Medicine Residency Program has achieved initial accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The hospital’s third class of residents will graduate in June. Having the pre-accreditation allows residents to seek a council fellowship and means the hospital is in compliance with council regulations.

Paul D. Casey of Growing Forward Services received the Associate Coach certification from International Coach Federation.

BOARDS

Rep. Bill Jenkin, R-Prosser, was selected to serve on the Hyogo Friendship Association. Washington and Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, have been sister states for more than 30 years to aid in international trade, tourism and cultural exchanges. The association matches its Japanese counterpart to foster friendship exchanges. The association has eight members with two from each major party from the House and Senate.

Heather McMurdo has joined the Columbia Basin College Foundation board of directors. She is the manager of the Nuclear Safety Quality Culture program for Bechtel and the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, or vit plant.

MILITARY

Col. Torry A. DiCiro has assumed command of the Northwestern Division Office of the Army Corps of Engineers. He succeeds Maj. Gen. Scott A. Spellman, who had served since July 2015.

Seaman Apprentice Anthony Lathim, a 2017 Kahlotus High School graduate, is serving in the Navy supporting nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarines homeported in the Gronton, Connecticut area. Lathim is responsible for operating and repairing computers aboard the submarine. Personnel are accepted on a submarine community only after rigorous testing and observation.

Ensign Caleb Aaberg, a 2013 Prosser High School graduate, completed the Civil Engineer Corps Basic Qualification Course at the Naval Civil Engineer Corps Officers School in May. He is serving with the Navy as a civil engineer overseeing construction projects. Aaberg also received a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of Washington.