Biz Bits
Published 9:31 pm Sunday, September 26, 2010
People
Allen Funk, president and publisher of The Herald, has been re-elected chairman of the board of trustees for the YMCA of Snohomish County for 2010-2011. Serving with him as vice chairpersons are Brenda Baltrusch, senior vice president at Wells Fargo, and Leslie Lauer, director of 747-8 entry into service at the Boeing Co.
Other officers are Jim Sporrong, director of operations support at Frontier Communications, as treasurer; Tracy Cumming, vice president of finance at Precor Inc., as assistant treasurer; and Bob Wojcik of Umpqua Bank as secretary. Immediate past chairperson is John Haskell, senior vice president managing director of property and casualty with Wells Fargo Insurance Services Northwest, Inc.
Newly elected to the trustees board are Kim Bedier, Comcast Arena at Everett/Global Spectrum; Tam Bui, Snohomish District Court; Phyllis Turner-Brim, Intermec Technologies Corporation; and Don Whitfield, Whitfield’s United Insurance Agencies. Re-elected to the board are Tom Braaten, Bank of America; Wojcik; Dave Brooks, Providence Everett Medical Center; Haskell; Lauer; Fred Safstrom, Housing Hope; and Mike Zubovic, Community.
Sara Christensen has been named president of Snohomish County Operations for Pacific Northwest Title Company. The Snohomish County office plans to celebrate its 25th anniversary with an open house from 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 14.
Norman Parker, an Everett High School graduate, was hired as vice president and relationship manager of Banner Bank’s Everett-Colby branch and commercial banking center.
Eric Overton of Mukilteo, Sparling president and chief executive officer, will speak at the Professional Services Management Journal “Mergers &Acquisitions for Buyers,” an A/E/C industry senior executive roundtable, in early October in Scottsdale, Ariz. Overton will talk about Sparling’s strategies in its acquisition of ILA Zammit Engineering in San Diego.
Sandy Ward, marketing director for the Future of Flight Aviation Center &Boeing Tour, 8415 Paine Field Blvd. in Mukilteo, and a Washington State Tourism commissioner, recently returned from a trade mission in China, along with Gov. Christine Gregoire and about 100 Washington state tourism representatives. Washington State Tourism, Seattle’s CVB and the Port of Seattle led a group of professionals in the fields of destinations, hotels and tour operators to Beijing and Shanghai, where they met with more than 200 Chinese travel buyers, tour operators and travel agents who are interested in expanding business to Washington.
Glenn Wattum is the newest certified construction-industry financial professional with Moss Adams accounting and consulting firm. A tax partner with Moss Adams since 1992, Wattum primarily works with construction and real estate companies.
Events
Fraud workshop: A fraud-protection workshop, “Increasing Your Profits While Reducing Your Risk,” will be presented from 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 17 at Holiday Inn, 3501 Pine St. in Everett. Presented by various financial institutions and retail merchants, the workshop will include information on ID theft and detecting thieves, current laws and latest scams, and minimizing your company’s economic risk. Register by emailing pshaw@ci.everett.wa.us or phoning 425-257-8506. Phone Dee Larson with questions at 425-257-8457.
Leadership challenge: Places are still available for next month’s Leadership Snohomish County Challenge Program for Young Adults, a five-month program that begins in October for people ages 21-29 who live or work in Snohomish County. Participants will be matched with a nonprofit organization, complete a project to meet its needs and attend a two-hour seminar each month to learn more leadership skills. The program cost is $400; some local employers cover the expense. Applications are online at www.leadershipsc.org. For more information, contact Sarri Gilman, executive director of Leadership Snohomish County, at sarrig@leadershipsc.org or 425-512-5244.
Quarterly results
Cascade Financial Corp., Cascade Bank’s parent company, plans to report its third-quarter results after the stock market closes Oct. 26. Cascade will host an analyst call at 11 a.m. PDT Oct. 27 to discuss the results. Investors may listen to the call live or by replay at Cascade’s website, www.cascadebank.com. To listen live by phone, call 480-629-9724. A telephone replay will be available for one week at 303-590-3030, using access code 4365064.
Awards
Fluke Corp. in Everett and Canyon Creek Cabinet Co. in Monroe were among 11 manufacturing companies chosen for the Association of Washington Business’ 2010 Manufacturing Excellence Awards. The AWB cited the honorees for their contributions to the state’s economy, operational excellence, innovation and their commitment to green manufacturing. Fluke, in the larger-businesses category, was given the Innovation Award. A statement released with the announcement noted that Fluke “responds to customer needs with innovative products” and “the company has a proven system that drives every aspect of the company’s culture and performance.” Canyon Creek was awarded for Green Manufacturing in the medium-size business category. Canyon Creek was cited for installing systems and refining its practices to reduce or eliminate use of hazardous materials, and the statement noted the company’s adherence to the one of the world’s toughest standards for placing formaldehyde emissions in products.
Send your Business FYI news and color photos to Mike Benbow, Business editor, The Herald, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206, by fax at 425-339-3435 or by e-mail at economy@heraldnet.com.
