Yearsley honored

Sonja Yearsley of Sonja Photography in West Richland was named as the 2016 Photographer of the Year at the Professional Photographers of Washington’s 2016 Photographic Competition and was presented with the Jentoft Trophy. The competition was held in conjunction with the PPW Spring Conference, an annual convention and tradeshow for professional photographers.

Yearsley won several other awards during the event, including: Best Unclassified Portrait in the Commercial Division; Best of Show; Russ Clift Trophy; Rodger Dudley Trophy; Judges Choice for image entitled ‘Mother Nature’; and honorable mention for Best Pictorial entitled ‘Wind Blown.’

Kennewick Man, Woman named

Bob Kelly was named as the Kennewick Man of the Year and Maureen Bell was honored as Kennewick Woman of the Year at the annual Kennewick Man and Woman of the Year Banquet.

Kelly is a retired city employee who is a volunteer for the Kennewick Kiwanis Club and a co-founder of the Columbia Basin Badger Club. Kelly has served on the Tri-City Development Council and the Tri-Cities Cancer Center’s Men’s Club.

Bell is retired librarian who worked for the Kennewick School District for 26 years. Bell is also a Kiwanis volunteer and she volunteers on the S.H.A.K.E. board, the Volunteer Center board, the Tri-Cities Cancer Center Guild. She also helps coordinate the Backpacks for Kids program and countless other campaigns.

Johnson named to MDRT

Jason E. Johnson, a private wealth advisor for Ameriprise Financial in Kennewick, has been named to the Million Dollar Round Table — The Premier Association of Financial Professionals. Johnson attained MDRT membership based on client service, adherence to a code of ethics, professionalism and involvement in at least one other industry association. Attaining membership in MDRT is achieved by less than 1 percent of the world’s life insurance and financial services professionals.

Nagel to be inducted

Dr. Charles Nagel, a former Washington State University food scientist, has been selected as the 2016 inductee into the Legends of Washington Wine Hall of Fame.

The Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center will honor Nagel with posthumous award at the Legends of Washington Wine gala Aug. 12 at the Walter Clore Center.

Nagel earned his Bachelor’s degree in bacteriology from the University of California Berkeley in 1950 and a Doctorate in microbiology from the University of California Davis in 1960.

Nagel joined WSU an assistant professor of horticulture and his early work focused on studying the effect of sugar on the perception of acidity in wines and juices.

He became an important fixture in the earliest days of Washington’s wine industry, working closely with Dr. Walter Clore and George Cater, making and testing wines from the early experimental vineyards. Starting in 1964, Nagel coordinated consumer tasting panels, comprised of WSU faculty and spouses in Pullman, to evaluate the experimental wines.

In his later career, Nagel touched many early winemakers as he became a voice of authority on matters related to wine science and technical issues.

Nagel retired in 1993 and passed away July 5, 2007.

Castilleja named Youth of the Year

Sebastian Castilleja was named the 2016 Youth of the Year by the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties, Castilleja will compete against other Boys & Girls Club members for the Washington Youth of the Year title and a $1,000 college scholarship from Disney Corporation, in addition to $1,500 in scholarships from the Eerkes family.

Castilleja, a senior at Prosser High School, was awarded the title after being interviewed and judged by 12 community leaders. He and other candidates were evaluated based on their speeches, interviews, essays, letters of recommendation and overall candidate quality.

Nead joins Inland Northwest AGC

Curt Nead has joined the Inland Northwest AGC as its new director of safety. Nead has more than 20 years of experience in safety and human resource management in the construction, manufacturing and association markets. He will oversee the association’s safety program, which includes site consultation, program development and review and training for all levels of an organization.

The Inland Northwest AGC represents more than 275 construction-related companies throughout Eastern Washington and has offices in Spokane and Kennewick.

Petersen earns designation

Matthew Petersen of Petersen Hastings, a registered wealth management and investment firm in Kennewick, has earned the Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA) designation.

The Certified Trust and Financial Advisor designation requires a minimum of three years of work experience with personal trusts, complete a qualified Institute of Certified Bankers training program, and pass an exam that covers fiduciary responsibilities and trust activities, personal finance, insurance, estate planning, tax law and investment manager.

Clary honored

Michelle A. Clary CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®,RICP®, a wealth advisor with the Sageland Financial Consultants of Thrivent Financial, has qualified for the Pinnacle Council conference by providing outstanding financial guidance, solutions and service to members of the organization in 2015. Out of Thrivent Financial’s more than 2,300 financial representatives nationwide, Clary finished fifth in production in the organization, demonstrating service to members.

Clary has been with Thrivent Financial for 15 years and recognized for her performance 15 times.

Lercher Elected

Dr. Johannes Lercher, director of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Institute for Integrated Catalysis, was elected to the European Academy of Sciences. At this international organization, distinguished scholars and engineers promotes science and technology and its ability to foster economic and social development. The Academy’s members advise European entities on improving research, technology and education.

Lercher was chosen because of his reputation as a scientist and collaborator. He has led pioneering research into characterizing catalytic reactions in real time and using the information to design and patent new catalysts – or chemicals that accelerates other chemical reactions.

Lercher is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Academia Europaea. He also serves as president of the European Federation. He is an honorary professor at the China University of Petroleum and several other institutions. He has written or co-written more than 500 publications and is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Catalysis.

Salisbury name engineer of the year

Michael Salisbury of the Fuel Business Unit was selected as the overall AREVA Engineer of the Year for redefining the mission of AREVA’s Modular Extraction Recovery Facility in Richland to recover uranium from incinerator ash.

Weber announces retirement

Beverly Weber, who has served 12 years as president and CEO of United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties, will retire in July and move closer to family in the Midwest.

Weber was the first woman to lead the organization since its founding in 1958. During her time with the organization, Weber initiated collaboration with more than 200 community leaders to create United Way’s Community Solutions Plan to directly address community needs in the areas of education, health, safety and self-sufficiency.

Community Solutions has earned UWBFCO recognition for three consecutive years as being in the top 5 percent of more than 1,200 United Way organizations, across the country for innovative impact work.

Under Weber’s leadership, the annual fundraising efforts consistently raised and distributed more than $3 million to community programs and services.

Willingham honored

T.J. Willingham, who has been an Edward Jones financial advisor in Kennewick since 1988, was invited to the Edward Jones Managing Partner’s Conference in April in St. Louis, MO. The event honors the top 350 of the firm’s more than 14,000 financial advisors.

The three-day meeting allows Edward Jones’ most successful financial advisors to have discussions with Jim Weddle, Edward Jones’ managing partner, on issues facing the firm and the financial services industry as a whole.

This is the sixth time Willingham has been invited to the event.

Ruff joins Cornerstone

Beau James Ruff has joined Cornerstone Wealth Strategies, a full-service independent financial planning firm in Kennewick, to help the company expand its financial planning services to include comprehensive estate planning and more.

Cornerstone Wealth Strategies offers clients within the Tri-Cities a range of services including retirement planning, financial planning, investment management, estate planning, and insurance and annuities. The addition of Ruff to the team will allow the firm to expand the services they offer, particularly to high-net-worth individuals looking for more comprehensive estate, business and taxation planning. The firm plans to blend its current high-end investment management and comprehensive retirement planning services with these new offerings to create a more holistic experience for clients.

Ruff has practiced law since 2003. In 2008, he joined Leavy, Schultz, Davis & Ruff P.S., where he focused on estate planning, real property, probate, trusts and business planning, and helping clients with sophisticated tax planning to minimize federal and state tax liability.

Ruff has a law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law in 2003 and earned his Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Washington School of Law in 2008.

Hamm, Roach join Campbell & Company

Campbell & Company, a local leaders in the HVAC, plumbing and electrical industry, has hired Bob Hamm as its chief financial officer and Joseph Roach as its commercial sales and operations officer.

Hamm previously was a controller for Kadlec Regional Medical Center for eight years and has more than 28 years of financial and accounting experience. He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from WSU.

He is responsible for the administrative, financial and risk management operations of the company, to include the development of a financial and operational strategy.

Roach has 15 years of experience as a mechanical engineer and project manager in the Tri-Cities. Roach will develop new customer initiatives, oversee the conversion on incoming leads, and supervise scheduling, installation and project completion for the commercial division.

Johnson qualifies for conference

Annaliese M. Johnson has qualified for the 2016 Waddell & Reed Circle of Champions conference, recognizing the company’s top financial advisor. The event takes place in June in Phoenix, AZ.

Selection is based on an analysis of investments, insurance and financial planning sales generated by the advisor. More than 600 advisors qualified for this year’s event, out of Waddell & Reed’s national network of more than 1,800 financial advisors. This is the fifth time that Johnson has earned this distinct honor.

Johnson has been a professional in the financial services industry for nine years, serving individuals and families throughout the Tri-Cities community on their personal, long-term investment goals. She joined Waddell & Reed in 2006.