People Watching

Chiropractors honor Dr. Shawn Gay

Dr. Shawn Gay, a Stanwood resident and Arlington doctor of chiropractic, was recently honored by the Washington State Chiropractic Association with its Volunteer Award and its Distinguished Service Award. He was presented with both awards at the WSCA Spring Conference on April 17 at Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, on the Columbia River.

The awards were presented to Dr. Gay as he completed his service on the WSCA Board of Directors. Dr. Gay served on the WSCA board for seven years and was president of the board in 2008.

Last year, he was the recipient of the WSCA’s Outstanding Service Award and President’s Gavel Award. The 1,000-member WSCA is the only statewide association representing the chiropractic profession in Washington state.

Dr. Gay is a graduate of Life Chiropractic College West and has been in practice for 12 years. He provides chiropractic care at Arlington Family Chiropractic, 20218 77th Ave. NE.

Changes come to Monroe Chamber

With executive director Neil Watkins’ resignation and acceptance of the position as executive director of the Sky Valley Food Bank, the Monroe Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has met extensively to discuss the best way to proceed with his replacement.

It was ultimately decided to change the chamber’s management model and appoint two managers responsible for different segments of chamber responsibilities.

Kim Probst has been promoted to operations manager, responsible for all internal operations of the chamber. Probst has been employed by the chamber for the last four years, both as concierge of the Visitor Information Center and as administrative assistant and membership specialist.

Marcee Kerns assumes responsibility as membership development manager. Kerns has served as a volunteer at the chamber for seven years, owned a medical insurance agency and is an H&R Block recruiter and marketer.

Probst and Kerns will report directly to the Monroe Chamber’s president and the board of directors.

Everett couple earns IT franchise’s award

Sue and John Smythe, owners of CMIT Solutions of Everett, were presented with the Marathon Top 10 Award during CMIT Solutions’ annual convention April 22-24 in Memphis, Tenn.

CMIT Solutions is an Austin, Texas-based provider of information technology professional services and products to small businesses. The Marathon Top 10 Award is given to franchisees who reach certain benchmarks in sales, performance or leadership within the CMIT Solutions franchise system.

“Receiving this recognition is truly an honor,” John Smythe said. “We take pride in my work and service to the Everett area, so it is our pleasure to accept this award on behalf of the local business community.”

Learn more at www.cmitsolutions.com/everett or call 425-374-2436.

Radio adman Taft writes a new book

Well-known Northwest ad man and longtime broadcast executive Sparky Taft announces the publication of his new book, “The Ultimate Advertising Salesperson.”

“It is amazing,” Taft said, “that most businesses and advertising companies really do not train their salespeople in sales skills today. They train them in their specific fields and how to present their particular advertising medium or product, but they do not tell them how to sell. That is what my new book is all about — how to become a more effective salesperson.”

Taft spent many years in advertising and broadcasting, including stints as general manager of eight radio stations and owning one of his own. Before that, Taft established himself as probably the most successful broadcast advertising salesperson in Northwest history.

Perhaps more important was Taft’s background of hiring and training some of the top advertising people in the Northwest, many of whom went on to broadcast management, ownership and major business careers. Many such people have significant quotes in the new book about how Taft’s training helped launch their careers and how they still use many of the things Taft taught them.

Learn more at www.sparkytaft.com.

Regional economic group taps Albaugh for assistance

Boeing executive Jim Albaugh has agreed to help shepherd the Prosperity Partnership as a new co-chair.

The Prosperity Partnership is a coalition of more than 300 government, business, labor and community organizations from Snohomish, King, Kitsap and Pierce counties dedicated to developing and implementing a common economic strategy.

As executive vice president of the Boeing Co. and president and chief executive officer of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Albaugh is responsible for all the company’s commercial airplanes programs and related services, and he serves as Boeing’s senior executive in the Pacific Northwest.

Partnership members believe Albaugh will bring new energy and vision to the economic challenges and opportunities facing the central Puget Sound region.

Fresh Paint poster artist is from Everett

The Arts Council of Snohomish County has selected Janet Hamilton as the 2010 poster artist for Fresh Paint: Festival of Artists at Work. Now in its 14th year, the Fresh Paint festival fills the entire length of the Everett Marina with artists creating, selling and demonstrating art. From drawing and painting to pottery and weaving, Fresh Paint has unique gifts and fine art from more than 100 artists.

Hamilton lives in Everett, but grew up in Kansas and studied under Robert Sudlow (the “Monet of the Midwest”) at the University of Kansas, where she learned to love the challenge and rewards of painting the landscape “plein aire.” In her own artwork, Hamilton works to capture the subtlest colors and atmosphere of a place. Her attention is on the way light touches each form and on the patterns that are created by light and shadow.

Hamilton teaches weekly pastel painting classes and is a member of the Northwest Pastel Society, the Women Painters of Washington, the Pastel Society of America and the American Society of Marine Artists. She was the Arts Council of Snohomish County’s Artist of the Year in 2001.

Stevens Hospital awards scholarships

Thanks to donations from the Stevens Hospital medical staff, 14 graduating high school seniors planning to attend college are receiving financial assistance to continue their education, and medical help is on the way to care for the sick in Tanzania.

The students each received a $1,000 scholarship during the annual Stevens Hospital Medical Staff banquet held May 13. Students were selected by a committee of medical staff members based on academic achievement, leadership qualities, financial need, community service and subjective assessment of academic performance.

“It’s rewarding to see how our area high school seniors are excelling not only academically, but in the areas of leadership and community service,” said Marc Rosenshein, MD, president of the medical staff at Stevens.

Balkarn Thind, 18, a senior at Henry M. Jackson High School, plans to use the scholarship money to take summer classes at the University of Washington and receive a certificate in phlebotomy. Ultimately, he wants to be an anesthesiologist.

“It was awesome,” said Thind. “And the scholarship banquet was really cool, really inspirational, especially the presentation about Tanzania.”

Stevens medical staff presented donations of $2,500 each to the Prosthetics Outreach Foundation, a Seattle-based charity providing prosthetics to people in underdeveloped countries, and to Glenn Knight, a certified physician assistant at Stevens Hospital. Knight and two other medical professionals were headed to Tanzania on May 15 to treat patients. The $2,500 donation will pay for medicine to treat a number of diseases, primarily malaria.

The college scholarship recipients:

Edmonds-Woodway High School: Wai (Ken) Poon, Raymond Yap

Lynnwood High School: Lyann Trang, Alyssa Woodard

Meadowdale High School: Julia Clement, Annalicia McDougal

Mountlake Terrace High School: Suzanne Cho, Franco Yip

Scriber Lake High School: Maria Ambrocio, Wade Mendisabal

Henry M. Jackson High School: Reiko Kobayashi-Wagner, Balkarn Thind

Kamiak High School: Yoo Jung Kim, Colin Orr

Mercy Housing Northwest names new president

Bill Rumpf has been hired as president of Mercy Housing’s activities in the Pacific Northwest.

Rumpf comes from the City of Seattle’s Office of Housing, where he served for more than 10 years, most recently as the interim director. He has an extensive background in supportive housing for homeless people and in preservation of affordable housing. He has been connected to Mercy Housing for over 20 years. His early development work with Catholic Charities in San Francisco included the production of 600 affordable apartments that were later transferred to and now operated by Mercy Housing California.

Rumpf intends to use his combination of development experience, strategic leadership, technical financing knowledge and enthusiasm for the affordable housing field to advance the goals of Mercy Housing in the Northwest.

Puget Sound Energy hires efficiency programs coordinator

Pinky Vargas, a resident of Bellingham, is Puget Sound Energy’s new program coordinator for energy-efficiency services in Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties and north Whidbey Island.

Vargas, who has a background in energy efficiency and comes to PSE from Conservation Services Group, will work out of PSE’s Service Centers in Burlington and Bellingham. As the local representative of PSE’s energy-efficiency programs, her role is to inform residential and commercial customers about the utility’s energy-efficiency programs, including grants and rebates.

PSE residential customers can take advantage of PSE rebates on energy-efficient appliances, equipment and upgrades, including discounts on compact fluorescent lighting, free duct sealing, up to $3,950 to convert from PSE electric heat to natural gas, up to $1,600 for insulation installation, $800 for ductless heat pumps, up to $500 for qualifying windows, $250 for natural gas furnaces, and rebates for efficient water heaters, boilers and heat pumps, and many other incentives

In 2008 and 2009, PSE conservation programs saved customers enough energy to supply 49,000 local homes with electricity and 10,000 with natural gas for a year. The environmental benefit of their energy savings is the same as taking 81,000 cars off the road for a year. The programs also supported 450 new jobs for contractors and utility employees, among others, in Western Washington.

Davis, McCaughey join board of People For Puget Sound

Rick Davis of Bellevue and David McCaughey of Bainbridge Island joined the board of the citizens’ environmental group People For Puget Sound in April.

Davis, a Washington native, has been a financial executive at Weyerhaeuser, Cascade Natural Gas and other area companies. He is an avid water sportsman and enjoys a family-owned cabin on Case Inlet.

“I’ve been close to the Sound my entire life,” said Davis. “People For Puget Sound shares my values. After a year volunteering on remediation projects and assisting staff with lobbying campaigns and building relations with the business community, I welcomed the opportunity to contribute at the board level. My personal goal is to help the organization become even more effective and influential in its mission to restore and protect our Sound.”

McCaughey is regional accounts manager for the pharmaceutical firm sanofi-aventis. An avid boater, McCaughey is a volunteer and lead partner with the Seattle chapter of Social Venture Partners.

“I’ve come to know Puget Sound as a recreational boater exploring its incredibly rich and diverse waterways and I’ve come to know People For Puget Sound through my volunteer work with Social Venture Partners,” said McCaughey. “I’ve joined the board hoping to contribute to this effort to save the Sound and to preserve its character for years to come.”

People For Puget Sound was launched as a membership organization in 1991 to protect and restore the land and waters of Puget Sound through education and action. It currently has more than 14,000 supporter households and an annual operating budget of more than $2 million.