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AWARDS & HONORS

• Lourdes Pediatrics has received a 2023 Immunize WA Bronze Status Award from the state of Washington, recognizing a vaccination rate of 70% or higher. Doctors at Lourdes Pediatrics engage in active conversations with patients’ families about immunizations, encourage questions and address vaccines at all clinic visits. Immunize WA has run this recognition program for nine years, and Lourdes has been recognized in each of those years.
• Teresa Krell with Meier Architecture and Engineering earned her structural engineer’s license, becoming a registered professional structural engineer. Krell received her Master of Science in civil engineering with a structural emphasis from Washington State University.
• Beau Ruff has been appointed as U.S. Army Reserve ambassador for the state of Washington. The Army Reserve Ambassador Program is an all-volunteer initiative established in 1998, and ambassadors receive an honorary rank equivalent to an Army major general. In this role, Ruff will bring the Army Reserve to the attention of his community as well as Washington state leaders and legislators. Ruff is an active member of the Tri-Cities community, where he has volunteered for several programs, longtime columnist for the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business, and is currently the president and director of planning for Cornerstone Wealth Strategies in Kennewick. He served four years on active duty as an attorney, including a year in Iraq for which he was awarded the Bronze Star. Ruff spent 17 more years in the Army Reserve before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 2021.
• Nicole Lee, Benton County’s lead deputy coroner, became certified as a registered medicolegal death investigator. Lee passed a 240-question written test from the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators. In addition, she proved that she could independently conduct a medicolegal death scene investigation.
• Justin Teeguarden has been named a Distinguished Eagle Scout by the National Eagle Scout Association. The award recognizes Eagle Scouts who have achieved national-level recognition 25 years or longer after initially receiving the Eagle Scout Award. Teeguarden earned his Eagle Scout Award in 1985, and he currently serves as the chief science officer of the Environmental Molecular Sciences Division and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland. He has had 20 years of scientific leadership at PNNL and also has received numerous honors and awards while serving in leadership roles with Boy Scouts of America.
• Paterson Elementary has earned recognition from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as a National Distinguished School. The Distinguished Schools Awards recognize schools that bridge educational gaps; schools are eligible if 35% of their student population is identified as low-income. Paterson Elementary’s recognition was due to exceptional student performance and academic growth, and the school will receive a grant of $30,000. School representatives will attend the National ESEA Conference in Portland, Oregon this February.

NEW HIRES

• Joseph Williams has rejoined the Washington Department of Commerce as the Information and Communications Technology sector lead. He held this position from 2016-19, during a time of unprecedented growth in the state’s technology sector. The sector accounts for over 9% of Washington’s workforce and 22% of its economy, the highest rate in the nation. From 2019-22, Williams served as the Seattle director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Most recently, he was the global lead partner for the cybersecurity practice at Infosys Consulting, and he is currently a visiting fellow at the National Security Institute.
• Terry Doherty joined Goose Ridge Estate Vineyards & Winery as chief operating officer. Doherty has worked 20 harvests at Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, where he most recently served as director of capacity and asset utilization. He spent 15 years of his career in grower relations before transitioning to logistics and product development. In his new role, Doherty will focus on sustainably growing the estate, its branded products and its custom services.
• Dr. Fadi H. Akoum has joined Good Shepherd Health Care System’s Nephrology Clinic in Hermiston. Dr. Akoum previously practiced at the Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland and has more than 15 years of experience caring for adult patients. He completed a heart failure and cardiac transplantation fellowship and an internal medicine residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland, where he later graduated as a fellow in nephrology and clinical hypertension. Dr. Akoum also graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the American University of Beirut. His work focuses on treating diseases of the kidneys, electrolyte imbalances, hypertension, post kidney transplant care and dialysis.
• Pac/West Lobby Group, which has an office in Hermiston, has hired George Plaven, a longtime Oregon journalist, to its communications team. Plaven has a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder and has reported for the Capital Press for the last six years. He has also worked for the East Oregonian and the Montana Standard. Plaven has won multiple first place awards in the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspaper Contest and was an Oregon State University Food & Agriculture Media Fellow in 2022. The Pac/West Lobby Group team covers industries including health care, organized labor, agriculture, transportation, local governments and more.
• Selena Diaz, psychiatric nurse practitioner, has joined Prosser Memorial Health’s Benton City Clinic. Diaz received her associate degree at Yakima Valley Community College, her bachelor’s from Western Governors University and her master’s from Marysville University. She began her nursing career in oncology and home nursing before going on to receive a certificate in Psychiatric Mental Health at Frontier Nursing University. Diaz also has worked at several medical facilities in the area, including Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic, Lourdes and Astria. At Prosser Memorial Health, Diaz provides a wide range of psychiatric services.
• Jason Valentine has joined Franklin County as the government affairs coordinator. He is a graduate of the University of Washington and has worked at the Tri-Cities ABC affiliate/Apple Valley News Now since 2005. In his new role, he will directly engage with local community groups, collaborate with lobbyists in Olympia and provide support to the Franklin County administrator.
• Catherine Spomer has joined Lourdes Gastroenterology as an advanced registered nurse practitioner. Spomer received her master’s in nursing from Purdue University after attending Purdue University and Indiana University School of Nursing for her undergraduate studies. She has 16 years of experience in the medical field, working throughout Indiana, Colorado, Idaho and Wisconsin. In her role with Lourdes Health, Spomer will treat patients for conditions including acid reflux, abdominal pain, gastrointestinal bleeding, digestive diseases, chronic heartburn, colon cancer screening and more.
• Meier Architecture and Engineering has hired Matthew Blaire as the electrical group manager. Blaire has over 10 years of experience in electrical engineering, including project management, electrical design and project deployment. He also has experience helping to develop project scope centered on client-oriented solutions and ensuring projects achieve design objectives. Blaire holds a bachelor’s degree from Walla Walla University. In his new role, he will provide leadership and support to Meier and their clients.

PROMOTION

• Benjamin Goodey has been promoted to the role of principal at Gravis Law’s Kennewick and Richland offices. Goodey is dedicated to client welfare and uncomplicated services throughout the Tri-Cities community and has contributed to the area’s success. He is a member of the Tri-Cities Estate Planning Council and also serves as an adjunct professor of business law and operations management.

DONATIONS

• The Kennewick Kiwanis Foundation Board donated $120,000 to the B5 Learning Center Board and Leadership for its building campaign. The money was raised through community sponsors and the sale of car raffle tickets, led by Ty Haberling and the Young Professionals of the Kiwanis Club of Kennewick and the Kennewick Kiwanis Foundation.
• The Children’s Reading Foundation of the Mid-Columbia, through sponsorship from Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, announced plans to distribute 7,200 of books to the community in January 2024. The foundation will donate 12 books to the first 400 families who registered online for Resolution Read, a resolution to read 20 minutes with a child every day in 2024. Two hundred additional book bags will be donated to local community groups to distribute to the low-income families they serve.

GRANTS

• STCU employees have documented 12,000 hours of volunteerism in 2023. In response, STCU is providing $40,700 in Volunteers Count grants to organizations where an employee reported at least 20 hours. Organizations received between $100 and $1,000 in grants. Across the Inland Northwest, STCU employees give their time to 354 organizations, 140 of which have an STCU employee in a leadership position on boards or committees.

APPOINTMENT

• Washington State University President Kirk Schulz appointed Brian Hartman to the Advisory Council Tri-Cities (ACT) for Washington State University Tri-Cities. Hartman is a Bechtel senior vice president and is the project director for the DOE Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant at the Hanford site. He has over 40 years of experience designing, constructing and commissioning major projects for both government and commercial customers. ACT’s goal is to foster closer ties between WSU Tri-Cities and the community, region and state, and it is made up of business, civic and education leaders and alumni. Membership on the council represents a commitment to improving WSU Tri-Cities’ ability to positively affect the community through education, scholarships and outreach.