To submit a promotion, new hire, award or donation, go to: tcjournal.biz/customer-service/submit-news.
Community & Economic Development Director Rick White retired April 30. He has a community planning history with more than 35 years of experience. A graduate of Eastern Washington University, White worked at Spokane County Planning, and city of Kennewick. He was the community and economic development director for the city of Pasco for 14 years. White had a special interest in community economic development, land use and the provision of public infrastructure that enables commercial and industrial growth.
Corry has more than 18 years of experience in the insurance industry and risk management. As a state representative, he represented west Yakima County and all of Klickitat County. In his community he serves on a number of boards including Crime Stoppers of Yakima County, Central Washington State Fair Board and the Yakima Salvation Army Advisory Board.
He replaces longtime director Jason Mercier, who accepted a job as the vice president and director of research at the Idaho-based think tank Mountain States Policy Center. He starts July 1.
Mercier directed WPC’s Center for Government Reform for nearly two decades and is known as a state budget analysis and tax expert.
Mercier worked for both the Washington Policy Center and the Freedom Foundation and is a fellow with the national Better Cities Project. He is also a member of the State Tax Advisory Board for the Tax Foundation. In 2008, he worked with lawmakers in Washington state to create the state’s renowned budget transparency website at fiscal.wa.gov. Mountain States concentrates its work in Idaho, Eastern Washington, Montana and Wyoming – one of the first organizations of its kind to cover multiple states.