Awards & honors

• Moses Jaraysi, a member of Leadership Tri-Cities’ Class VI, has been selected as the Leadership Tri-Cities 2020 Alumnus of the Year. He was nominated for his commitment to numerous organizations in the Tri-Cities, in addition to Leadership Tri-Cities. Jaraysi has spent countless hours and games teaching his children and the community’s children, soccer as a coach for Tri-City Junior Soccer Association. He also has been part of the musical group Sons of Thunder, which plays at churches, funerals and homes for the elderly. Jaraysi has served on numerous boards, including Junior Achievement (2016-18), executive advisor for Mid-Columbia Leadership Development Association, Academy of Children’s Theatre (ACT) board and the Columbia Basin College Foundation board for the past 12 years, the past two years as chairman. Jaraysi’s service to Leadership Tri-Cities includes Hanford session director shadow, Hanford session director, board vice president, board president-elect, board president, class director and past president.
• Petersen Hastings, which offices in Kennewick and Walla Walla, is included among Financial Advisor Magazine’s Top Registered Investment Advisors ranking with $769 million assets under management at the end of 2019. The magazine annually compiles a list of the nation’s leading independent financial advisory firms based on their total discretionary and nondiscretionary assets reported on their Form ADV, a form used by investment advisors to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and state securities authorities.
• Gary Richberg, a registered nurse with a bachelor of science degree in nursing and the director of Ambulatory Surgery Centers at Kadlec in Richland, has been recognized by Becker’s Healthcare as one of the top African American leaders to know in health care. Richberg became the director of Surgery Centers at Kadlec Clinic in January 2020.
• Piton Wealth founder and Chief Executive Officer Michelle Clary has been accepted into the Stanford Graduate School of Business Leadership Series. The Stanford Business Leadership Series is an executive program focusing on thriving during extraordinary times and strategic leadership during crisis. She has been in the financial industry for 20 years, advising clients around the country in faith-based wealth management.
• Lacey Lybeck of Sagemoor Vineyards in Pasco has been named to Wine Enthusiast’s 40 under 40 list. She manages about 1,000 acres of grapevines and partners with about 100 winemakers.
• Sarah Sherrill, an independent insurance agent and owner of Purple Tree Insurance in Kennewick, has been recognized by the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance. Sherrill is recognized and now included as part of the Association’s 2020 national directory of 1,000 leading local Medicare insurance agents.
• West Richland Mayor Pro Tem Fred Brink and Councilman David Fetto earned their certificate of municipal leadership from the Association of Washington Cities. The program recognizes elected officials for accomplishing training in four core areas and provides them with the knowledge they need to effectively operate within the law, plan for the future, secure and manage funds and foster community and staff relationships.

Boards

• Kennewick City Councilman Chuck Torelli has been elected to the Association of Washington Cities Board of Directors. He was elected during the organization’s Business Meeting on June 25. He serves District 2, which covers 34 cities in the counties of Asotin, Benton, Columbia, Franklin, Garfield, Walla Walla and Whitman. The board is comprised of 25 directors, 23 of whom are mayors or city councilmembers from Washington cities or towns, and two non-elected city officials who also serve as the president and past president of the Washington City/County Management Association.
• The 62 Toastmasters clubs of District 9, which covers eastern Washington, have three new leaders to guide them through the challenges of Covid-19 during the next year.

The new District 9 director is Debra Kroon, a Distinguished Toastmaster, or DTM, of Yakima, a retired employee of the state of Washington Department of Ecology, and member of Toastmasters for 20 years. She is assisted by the new Program Quality Director Victoria Chadderton, DTM, of Wenatchee, a trainer, author and public speaker; and the new Club Growth Director Karen A. Mobley, DTM, of Kennewick.

Mobley is the senior accountant with Amentum at the waste treatment plant being built at Hanford. A resident of Kennewick since 1981, she has been a member of Toastmasters since 2011. She belongs to Sun Country Toastmasters, as well as the advanced Faculty Club. Mobley is also a longtime member of the Institute of Management Accountants where she has previously served as chapter president. As club growth director, Mobley is responsible for all aspects of new club building and club retention within District 9, as well as marketing the Toastmasters’ Communication and Leadership Training program throughout the Inland Northwest. Mobley served District 9 as its administrative manager for one year, its finance manager for three years, and was its audit committee chair last year. Their terms will run through June 2021.

New Hires

• Prosser Memorial Health has hired a doctor couple. Board certified ear, nose, throat and allergy specialist Dr. Coral Tieu will be treating patients at Prosser Ear, Nose & Throat Center and Prosser Allergy Center at 713 Memorial St. She received her bachelor’s at the University of South Florida in Tampa and medical degree at Rosalind Franklin University, Chicago Medical School. She completed her residency at the Southern Illinois School of Medicine in Springfield. She is a board-certified member of the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.

Her husband is board certified urologist Dr. Thomas Tieu who is joining the PMH at the new Urology Center in Prosser. He received his master’s in business administration at the University of New Mexico and bachelor’s at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He attended medical school in Chicago and completed his residency at the Southern Illinois School of Medicine, Division of Urology, in Springfield, Illinois. He is a member of the American Urological Association.

Most recently, the two doctors cared for patients in Lewiston, Idaho.

• Columbia Basin College has hired Jay Frank as assistant vice president for communications and external relations. He will serve as the college’s public information officer and media relations contact.
• Dr. Christopher O’Keeffe has joined Trios Medical Group as a nocturnist, an overnight physician. O’Keeffe will see patients at Trios Southridge Hospital, treating patients who have been admitted to the hospital. He recently completed his three-year internal medicine residency with Trios. O’Keeffe attended Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine in North Carolina and then completed his residency at Trios. He also earned a post-baccalaureate degree in biology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and completed a master’s in medical science at the University of South Florida. He is a member of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Osteopathic Internists.
• Dr. Joshua Spendlove has joined Trios Medical Group as a urologist. He will see patients at the Trios Care Center at Southridge fifth floor clinic, at 3730 Plaza Way in Kennewick. He treats patients for kidney and bladder stones, male and female incontinence, prostatitis, bladder, kidney, prostate, testicular and penile cancer, erectile dysfunction, hematuria, adrenal gland disorders, pelvic prolapse, elevated PSA, recurrent urinary tract infections and more. He is board certified and studied at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, where he completed a bachelor’s in microbiology with a minor in chemistry. He then completed medical school at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska, followed by his residency in urology at the University of Colorado in Denver. He is fluent in Spanish.
• Candice Smith, a senior certified professional-Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional, joined Community First Bank and HFG Trust as the company’s new human resources director in July. She brings 15 years of HR experience with her, including previous roles in small business startups and later held positions overseeing employees in the United States and across Europe. Prior to joining the Kennewick-based local community bank and wealth management firm, her most recent role was with the e-commerce site, Wayfair, where Smith was the company’s global director of talent management.
• Piton Wealth, an affiliate of Thrivent Financial, has hired Trixy Glasgow as assistant director of operations. She has a master’s in business administration from Washington State University with an emphasis on human resources, as well as over 16 years of management and consulting experience. Her professional focus is on repeatable standards and process replication during business growth and expansion. At Piton Wealth, she will help to devise strategies and policies to ensure that the company meets its goals. Piton Wealth is currently expanding its operations with the launch of a new office in Kalispell, Montana.
• Ahmed Bur, who has held a variety of financial-related positions at various organizations, has been named the chief financial officer at Seattle-based Treehouse, a nonprofit which works with youth in foster care statewide.

Donations

• Gesa Credit Union donated more than $227,000 from the 2019-20 school year earnings of it Co-Branded Affinity Debit Card Program to several school districts during a Zoom reception on Aug. 24. The program supports local schools by earning money for partner districts to use toward academic programs, athletics, and extracurricular programs. To date, Gesa has donated more than $500,000 through this program to Washington schools. With every swipe of a branded debit card, Gesa makes a small donation to that particular schooldistrict.
• Hayden Homes, along with First Story, the company’s philanthropic arm, donated $25,000 to Second Harvest. The donation will support Second Harvest’s strategic organizational initiatives to provide healthy food healthy food to those in need through partner food pantries and meal programs.
• Battelle, which operates the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, donated $50,000 to science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, tourism via Visit Tri-Cities. As a global leader in STEM-related disciplines and scientific discoveries, Battelle becomes the official partner of STEM tourism in the Tri-Cities. This partnership will help support, elevate and establish the Tri-Cities as the STEM tourism capital of the Pacific Northwest, according to Visit Tri-Cities.

Grants

• Washington State University Tri-Cities received a $35,000 grant from Battelle, which operates the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. The grant will be used to provide relief to students experiencing hardship amid Covid-19 and to support technology needs for instruction and academics.
• The Building Industry Association of Washington awarded six grants to organizations offering programs in construction-related fields of study, residential construction career training, continuing education, and apprenticeship and skills assessment services. This year’s grant recipients are the community boat project in Port Hadlock; the Darrington School District in Darrington; the Grays Harbor College carpentry program in Grays Harbor; Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County in Port Angeles; Kitsap Building Association in Bremerton; and Perry Technical Institute in Yakima.
• The TRIO Student Support Services program at Washington State University Tri-Cities received a $2.53 million grant to support student services over the next five years. The program provides support, tutoring and mentorship to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. To qualify for the program, students must be a first-generation college student, from an economically disadvantaged background or have a documented disability.

Scholarships

• Signe Questad of Pasco and Cayden Tanasse of Richland received education scholarships from the Building Industry Association of Washington. BIAW awarded $40,377 in scholarships and grants to students and programs across the state. The scholarship winners are continuing their education with future careers in the homebuilding industry.