Dade Moeller Foundation awards two scholarships

Dade Moeller, an NV5 company, has announced the winners of its 2016 Dade Moeller Scholarship Foundation merit-based educational scholarship program. The winners are Phillip Fishburn of Kennewick and Emma Stempfley of Hamilton, Ohio. Dade Moeller provided each with a $1,500 award to support the costs of their first year of college.

The scholarship program is open to the high school-aged children of Dade Moeller employees who are entering their first year at an accredited two-year or four-year college or university. The winners are selected by an independent evaluator using a weighted rating system that evaluates six criteria: activities and jobs, honors and awards, leadership, class rank, grade point average, and SAT or ACT test scores.

Fishburn graduated from Kamiakin High School in Kennewick and will be attending Gonzaga University in Spokane. He plans to study mechanical engineering and compete at the NCAA Division 1 level in cross-country and track. He is the son of Mark Fishburn, a certified health physicist who performs radiation dose reconstructions under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act and has supported the U.S. Department of Energy Hanford site in areas such as dosimetry, environmental restoration, radiological characterization and emergency response.

TRIDEC hires new business recruitment specialist

David Chavey-Reynaud has joined the Tri-City Development Council as its business recruitment specialist. He will be responsible for coordinating activities involving business recruitment of new companies to Benton and Franklin counties, in cooperation with local and state partners.

Chavey-Reynaud is a recent MBA graduate of Seattle University’s Albers School of Business and Economics and previously worked at South East Effective Development as a small business consultant.

Doncaster presents at conference in Switzerland

In mid-July, Thomas Doncaster, of Doncaster Insurance and Financial Services in Kennewick, delivered “The Retirement Income Puzzle” presentation at an International Association of Registered Financial Consultants (IARFC) event in Switzerland.

IARFC serves professional consultants who help their clients wisely spend, save, invest, insure and plan for the future in order to achieve financial independence and peace of mind. Doncaster Insurance and Financial Services was established in 1987.

Doncaster is a member of the Society of Financial Services Professionals and the Million Dollar Roundtable.

Mayflower Metals celebrates 40 years

Mayflower Metals Inc. is celebrating its 40th anniversary of scrap metal recycling in the Mid-Columbia and Yakima Valley. The family-owned and operated company was opened as Valley Metal Salvage in 1976 by Richard Finch and currently has locations in Yakima and Prosser.

The name was changed to Mayflower Metals to honor the Finch’s family history — a distant relative sailed to America aboard the Mayflower in 1620. Richard Finch is a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants. Mayflower Metals handles all grades of scrap metal from food processing, farm fabrication and heavy industry. The company also accepts residential products, such as appliances, fencing and old vehicles.

Richard’s middle son, Alan Finch, joined the company in 1987 and took over as owner in 1993. Benjamin, Alan’s younger brother and co-owner, joined in 2004, and Alan’s two sons, Stephen and Taylor, recently became third-generation employees.

In all, Mayflower employs six full-time and two part-time employees.

For more information, visit mayflowermetals.com.

Golob appointed senior vice president at Frontier

Michael Golob has been named senior vice president, engineering and technology, for Frontier Communications Corporation’s west region. Golob will lead engineering initiatives for California, Oregon and Washington. His major responsibilities include leading an organization of more than 1,000 team members, regional network planning and implementation, overseeing Central Office, and construction operations. Additionally, he will continue to manage the national Central Office Installation team and program manage Frontier’s Connect America program.

Previously, Golob had led Frontier’s national engineering operations since 2005. Most recently, he led the engineering efforts during the company’s acquisition of Verizon’s 4.8 million access lines and transition of more than one million High Speed Internet customers in 14 states. Golob was instrumental in gaining California Public Utilities Commission approval for the Verizon acquisition. Before joining Frontier, Golob served as vice president of operations and engineering for Electric Lightwave Inc., a publicly-traded company formerly owned by Frontier Communications.

Lodahl joins Claar Wine Group as winery tech

Kathleen Lodahl has joined winemaker Joe Hudon as Claar Wine Group’s winery tech.

In 2007, after a career as a massage therapist, Lodahl entered the winery and vineyard tech program at Yakima Valley Community College. From 2007-15 she worked with numerous winemakers and spent several seasons working in vineyards under mentorship of Naches Heights Vineyard’s Phil Cline.

In 2010, Lodahl spent a month abroad immersed in eco-agriculture, studying biodynamics at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland, and slow food/slow wine in Piemonte, Italy, as part of a Western Washington University international program.

Lodahl has a passion for growing and making Washington wines that are sustainably produced. She hopes to explore an artisanal approach to winemaking while preserving a sense of place and varietal characteristics. Claar Cellars is a family-owned and operated company based in Pasco with 120 acres of vineyards in the Columbia Valley American Viticulture Area.

WPC opens agriculture research arm

Washington Policy Center – a public policy think tank with offices in Seattle, Spokane, Olympia and the Tri-Cities –announced the opening of its agricultural Research arm and the hiring of Madilynne Clark as its agriculture policy research director.

Clark comes to WPC from Ag Association Management in Kennewick. She holds a master’s in agriculture and resource economics from Colorado State University, as well as a bachelor’s in environmental economics, policy and management from Oregon State University.

Clark aims to provide citizens and state lawmakers with practical ideas for improving the state’s ag climate, eliminating barriers to success, protecting resources and strengthening the future of Washington’s important ag sector through in-depth research, policy briefs, opinion-editorials and events. WPC’s first in-depth ag study, Agriculture: The Cornerstone of Washington’s Economy, was released in March.

Schawbel to deliver policy summit luncheon keynote

Best-selling author and leading millennial business speaker Dan Schawbel will deliver the keynote lunch address at this year’s Association of Washington Business Policy Summit from Sept. 13-15 at Suncadia Resort in Cle Elum.

Schawbel is the founder of workplacetrends.com. Schawbel is a prolific magazine columnist, best-selling author, serial entrepreneur, Fortune 500 consultant, TV personality and startup adviser. Before his 30th birthday, Schawbel had written and published two best-selling books, which have been translated into a total of 15 languages. His first book, Me 2.0: 4 Steps for Building Your Future, was a No. 1 international best seller. He followed that up with Promote Yourself: The New Rules for Career Success, which was named the No. 1 career book of 2013 by the Chicago Tribune.

Schawbel is one of dozens of speakers, lawmakers and other leaders who will be part of the 2016 AWB Policy Summit. For tickets or more information, visit awb.org or call 360-943-1600.

Trios Medical Group welcomes new oncologist

Dr. Ahmad Fora has joined the Trios Medical Group-Oncology and Hematology team to provide patient care at Trios Care Center at Southridge, located at 3730 Plaza Way in Kennewick.

Fora joins Trios oncologists Drs. Amer Khouri and Stanlee Lu in their practice on the facility’s sixth floor, and is accepting new patients.

Prior to joining Trios, Fora worked as a medical oncologist and hematologist at Arkansas Cancer Clinic in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He completed a fellowship in oncology and hematology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York, where he was chief fellow for two years, and a residency in internal medicine at University of Buffalo. Fora completed an additional residency in internal medicine at King Hussein Cancer Center in Amman, Jordan, where he was appointed chief resident during his first of three years in the program.

Fora received a bachelor of medicine/ bachelor of surgery degree from Jordan University of Science and Technology in Jordan—the equivalent of a doctor of medicine in the United States. Fora is board certified in medical oncology, hematology and internal medicine.

Trios Health is the Kennewick Public Hospital District’s system of care serving the greater Tri-City area.

Pasco City Television wins national GPA award

Pasco City Television (PSC-TV, Channel 191 on Charter Cable in Pasco) won an honorable mention in the Government Programming Awards (GPAs), sponsored by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA), in the public/community meetings category for coverage of Pasco City Council meetings.

The GPAs are annual awards that recognize excellence in broadcast, cable, multimedia and electronic programming produced by local government agencies. Categories cover a variety of programming including community events, documentary, public affairs and public service, interview/talk show, performing arts, sports, election coverage and children’s issues. Celebrating more than 25 years, the GPAs celebrate the achievements of government programmers across the nation.

PSC-TV, one of the functions of the city’s Office of Communications, is part of the Executive Department of the city of Pasco, and has been broadcasting since 2006. This award is the fourth programming award won by PSC-TV since 2012.

Northwest Cancer Clinic earns re-accreditation

Northwest Cancer Clinic, a 21st Century Oncology affiliate, has earned re-accreditation from the American College of Radiology (ACRO).

This accreditation is awarded based on rigorous, third-party peer review and evaluation of patient care. The center first earned ACRO accreditation in March 2013.

The ACRO Committee for Radiation Oncology Practice Accreditation directs the program, designed to promote quality and education. It includes an onsite survey performed by board-certified radiation oncologists and board-certified physicists. To receive the accreditation, practices are evaluated on personnel, equipment, treatment planning and records, as well as patient safety policies and quality control activities.

As the nation’s oldest and most widely accepted accrediting body in radiation oncology, ACRO continues to adapt its standards to improve patient care.

Gilson named as principal of Eastgate Elementary

Kennewick School District has named Brittany Gilson the new principal at Eastgate Elementary. Gilson most recently served as an elementary school principal, assistant principal and teacher in the Granite School District located in the Salt Lake City area in Utah. She is originally from the Tri-Cities and a graduate of Hanford High School. She has a master’s in educational leadership, a bachelor’s in early childhood education and an associate’s degree in Spanish from Brigham Young University.

Gilson replaces Niki Arnold-Smith, who accepted a position with the Northshore School District in Bothell as the assistant director of curriculum and instruction.

PEMCO Insurance earns highest J.D. Power ranking

PEMCO Insurance has earned the highest ranking for customer satisfaction in the Northwest region from J.D. Power for the fourth consecutive year. Since J.D. Power began evaluating the Northwest region in 2013, PEMCO has achieved the highest ranking each year among award-eligible auto insurers in a five-state region.

To earn the top spot, J.D. Power’s 2016 U.S. Auto Insurance Study ranked PEMCO the highest in customer satisfaction points based on a 1,000-point Customer Satisfaction Index Ranking Scale. In 2016, PEMCO surpassed its own 2015 score by 10 index points. It scored 41 index points higher than the next closest competitor and bested the Northwest Region’s average by 44 index points.

The J.D. Power study, conducted from January to March 2016, reflects consumer opinions from 44,681 total responses nationally. In the Northwest region, it measures 11 award-eligible auto insurers that do business both regionally and nationally.

Though PEMCO serves Washington and Oregon residents exclusively, it has routinely outperformed larger insurance companies, earning higher customer-satisfaction rankings than its regional and national-carrier competitors within the Northeast.

This year PEMCO earned top scores in the region for the study’s five measured categories: interaction, price, policy offerings, billing process, policy information and claims.

J.D. Power’s Northwest region includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

Garcidueñas-Sease receives diversity award

Sergio Garcidueñas-Sease, attorney with Tamaki Law, is the 2016 Recipient of the Carl Maxey award. Sergio received this award from the Washington State Association for Justice in June in recognition of his commitment to diversity in the legal profession.

Garcidueñas-Sease was born in Seattle. Due to his father’s employment with the United Nations, he grew up living and traveling throughout Africa and Latin America. Garcidueñas-Sease earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the American University in Washington, D.C., where he studied international human rights. He earned his Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law in 2013. During law school, he worked for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica as a law clerk, Columbia Legal Services as a farmworker advocate and for the American Civil Liberties Union. He is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, the Washington State Association for Justice and the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington.

During his free time, Garcidueñas-Sease enjoys photography, traveling, exploring the outdoors, fitness, cooking and good wine. Growing up a witness to extreme poverty and civil war, he has an enormous passion for social justice and civil rights. He is fluent in written and spoken Spanish.

Specialty Kitchen’s Shea appointed to state board

The Washington State Food Truck Association appointed Marilou Shea, director of the Pasco Specialty Kitchen to serve on its Board of Advisors.

Last year, Shea launched Food Truck Friday, a popular program where local mobile vendors gather to provide fast, fresh and convenient lunch every Friday in downtown Pasco. In addition to providing a consistent revenue-generating outlet for micro-enterprises, the formal program provides operational, technical and marketing support to these mobile-vending entrepreneurs.

In addition to overseeing the Pasco Specialty Kitchen and launching Food Truck Friday, Shea is credited with creating the state’s first certificated educational series for mobile vendors, Mobile Vending University, offered by Columbia Basin College.

Shea has been director of Pasco Specialty Kitchen since January 2014. Her background includes 10 years at Microsoft with responsibilities for business-to-business vertical marketing and business-to-customer sector marketing, as well as strategic business development and extensive small-business experience.

Second Harvest center receives high marks

Second Harvest’s Pasco distribution center received high marks in a recent food safety audit by AIB International, an independent food industry audit company.

Second Harvest is a member of the Feeding America network of food banks and has been relieving hunger in Eastern Washington and North Idaho since 1971.

Partnerships with more than 250 neighborhood food banks and meal centers make it possible to feed 55,000 people each week.

For more information, visit 2-harvest.org or call 509-545-0787 for more information.

Mission Support Alliance employees receive awards

Several employees at Mission Support Alliance (MSA) recently received safety-related awards.

Cinda Guenther and Jan Seely were recipients of the “Outreach Award” by the Region X Voluntary Protection Programs Participants’ Association (VPPPA). Guenther and Seely focused on the safety of their coworkers and worked to repurpose power tool shipping containers that were being discarded to be used as vehicle emergency safety kits.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) VPPPA promotes effective worksite-based safety through cooperative relationships between management, labor and OSHA. VPPPA is the premier global safety and health organization dedicated to cooperative occupational safety, health and environmental management systems and supports worksites across the country in their efforts to receive and maintain VPP status.

Three employees also received MSA’s Lifesaving Award from MSA President Bill Johnson.

• Glenn Walley: While on the beach in Hawaii, Walley noticed a person in distress in the water. He helped bring the woman onto the sand. On the same vacation, Walley and three others responded to a man submerged in the water with an apparent shark bite to his shoulder. Walley had someone call 911 and warned other beach goers that the shark might still be lurking around.
• Rod Briscoe: While driving to work, Briscoe noticed a motorcycle on its side and the rider in the road. He parked his truck with emergency flashers on in front of the rider to protect him from oncoming traffic. Briscoe had someone call 911 while he helped the driver.
• Vince Leffler: Noticing a person who seemed disoriented and confused, Leffler acted quickly and helped the individual get necessary medical attention.

Matt Huffield joins Meier Architecture•Engineering

Matt Huffield has joined Meier Architecture•Engineering in Kennewick as its principal architect.

In his new role, Huffield will lead a team of architects and designers to boost the firm’s architectural practice.

Huffield comes to Meier with more than 20 years of experience in the architecture field. His career took off in Boise, Idaho, as associate/studio director for a full-service architectural and engineering firm.

Huffield was most recently principal and director of operations for a 50-person architectural office with locations in Los Angeles and New York.

He holds a master’s in architecture from Montana State University in Bozeman. He is a licensed architect and member of the American Institute of Architects and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

Trios Health welcomes fourth class of medical residents

Trios Health has welcomed six new medical residents—three in family medicine and three in internal medicine—to its programs.

The programs have 18 residents, nine in each. The three new family medicine residents are Drs. Jan Hallock, Kimberly Matz and Jessica Togiai. The three new internal medicine residents are Drs. Jessie Coleman, Jesse Isenstadt and Andrew Sou.

The three-year post-graduate residency programs in family and internal medicine are approved by the American Osteopathic Association, the accrediting agency for all osteopathic medical schools and primary certifying body for osteopathic physicians.

Designed to provide recent medical school graduates with hands-on inpatient and outpatient experience as well as relevant continuing instruction, the programs include hospital and clinic rotations in addition to one-on-one training by local preceptors with doctor of osteopathic medicine and doctor of medicine degrees.

In addition to their rotations, residents are trained in osteopathic manipulative treatment, a holistic approach using the hands to diagnose, treat and prevent illness or injury. Medical residents take appointments in the residency practice located within the Trios Urgent Care Center, 900 S. Auburn St. in Kennewick.

The organization launched its medical residency programs in 2013. The three original residents, Drs. Maria Persianinova, Mihn-Triet Vo and Shahla Walizada recently completed their three-year programs. Twelve more residents are moving into the second and third year of their respective programs.

The residency programs are overseen by Dr. Heather Phipps, designated instituational officer for Trios Health’s Graduate Medical Education Programs and board certified surgeon with Benton Franklin Orthopedic Associates in Kennewick. The family medicine residency program is directed by board certified Trios provider Dr. Sheila Dunlop. The internal medicine residency program is directed by board certified hospitalist and critical care specialist Dr. Hani Murad.

Coleman joins PBS engineering firm

PBS Engineering and Environmental Inc. (PBS), a regional engineering firm, has added former Port of Vancouver USA CEO Todd Coleman as the firm’s port sector manager to provide outreach to port organizations.

Coleman worked at the Port of Vancouver USA for 15 years, beginning as facilities manager in 2001 and eventually rising to the role of CEO and executive director, a position he held for four years.

Under Coleman’s leadership, the port’s annual operating revenue increased from $32 million to $38 million. He also guided the port’s 45-mile rail expansion to completion, while remaining nearly $80 million under budget. Coleman’s ability to navigate complex negotiations led to the resolution of an agreement that eased restrictions on the development of 450 acres and resulted in a savings of nearly $33 million dollars for the port.

Other notable accomplishments by Coleman include doubling the Port of Vancouver’s acreage, and conserving more than 500 acres on the Columbia River for migratory birds.

With a growing number of locations across the Northwest, PBS seeks to offer a blend of engineering and environmental expertise to port agencies in the region. The firm recently acquired local engineering firm, HDJ Design Group, and with it an expanded set of capabilities including transportation and traffic engineering, surveying, and land use planning – all critical to port development.

Coleman will be spending much of his time in Eastern Washington, visiting with his colleagues in ports across the state.

Over the last 30 years, PBS has worked with more than 24 area port agencies, including the Port of Portland, Port of Seattle and Port of Kennewick. Work has ranged from site development engineering and environmental permitting, to hazardous materials studies and remediation services.

Sigdel named director of Pasco’s finance department

Richa Sigdel has been named finance director for the city of Pasco under its new independent Finance Department.

For nearly two decades, the department was a division of the Administrative and Community Services Department. Recent changes triggered a discussion among the city’s management team to evaluate options. After considerable study, the group concluded it was time to progress to an independent finance department.

A major implementation step of a stand-alone finance department was the recruitment and selection of a director.

Sigdel was previously a manager at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She has experience in financial modeling and analysis, operational efficiency, complex accounting, and team building. She holds a bachelor’s in business administration and a master’s in business administration from Washington State University.

Retired clergyman named Rotarian of Year

Columbia Center Rotary Club honored a retired clergyman as its Rotarian of the Year.

Peter Kalunian received the honor during the club’s recent annual installation banquet.

Immediate past president Bob Quay selected Kalunian, the club’s incoming president for 2016-17, for his efforts helping the club plan for the future, in addition to providing key support to an international project in South Sudan.

Kalunian joined Columbia Center Rotary Club in 2000. In 2006, he transferred to several Western Washington Rotary clubs for five years and transferred back to Columbia Center Rotary Club in 2011. He and his wife, Kathy, have led 13 medical, dental and construction trips to Belize with Rotary.

Rotary International brings together a global network of volunteer leaders dedicated to tackling the world’s most pressing humanitarian challenges, including the eradication of polio.

The Columbia Center Rotary Club, one of six clubs in the Tri-Cities, meets each Thursday for lunch, which is a social event as well as an opportunity to organize service work conducted locally and around the world.

MSA local scholarship support tops $550,000

Since taking responsibility as the Hanford Site services provider in 2009, Mission Support Alliance (MSA) has awarded more than $550,000 in scholarships locally to invest in the education of the region’s future leaders.

At the seventh annual Scholarship Banquet, MSA awarded 41 scholarships to qualifying employee dependents. These funds may be used at the school of the student’s choice. Additionally, an MSA co-op intern employee also received a scholarship to be used at Columbia Basin College or at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

In addition to these scholarships, MSA provides WSU Tri-Cities with funding annually to award scholarships to under-represented students who are pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines.