Biz Bits: People and businesses in the news

Published 1:54 pm Sunday, August 12, 2012

People

Marilyn Leon has joined Coastal Community Bank as vice president and branch manager in anticipation of the Bank’s expansion in Snohomish County. Leon most recently was a branch manager with Opus Bank in Everett. She has a long commitment to community involvement, volunteering with United Way of Snohomish County, the Center for Career Alternatives and Housing Hope.

Western Washington Medical Group gastroenterology has added Dr. Gaurav Aggarwal to the practice. He will see patients at the Hoyt Avenue care center in Everett. Aggarwal completed his internal medicine residency at Emory University, followed by a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He also served as an assistant professor at the Mayo College of Medicine.

Bothell-based Hub International has acquired Signature Insurance Group, a Woodinville insurance brokerage. Dennis Boyd, Signature’s president and a former defensive lineman for the Seattle Seahawks, will be vice president of retail sales for Hub Northwest. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Kudos

United Way of Snohomish County has presented Donna Rice with the 2012 Roger Bouck Award for Volunteerism in Action. Rice, who lives in Startup, is known in the community for serving meals to the homeless, caring for seniors and helping as a midwife, all as a volunteer. The award was presented at the Everett AquaSox game Aug. 6.

Everett Community College’s Fitness Center has earned LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 49,000-square-foot Fitness Center, which opened in 2011, earned the certification for efficient energy, lighting, water and material use, as well as other sustainable strategies.

Community Transit and Snohomish County’s Curb the Congestion transportation demand management program has received a Vision 2040 Award from the Puget Sound Regional Council. The awards recognize innovative projects and programs that help ensure a sustainable future as the region grows. Curb the Congestion offers personal assistance in finding carpools, planning bus trips and considering other alternatives to driving alone.

The state Department of Commerce says that Washington’s Innovation Partnership Zone program has been honored with a Council of State Governments Innovations Award. The program helps accelerate the formation of regional innovation zones by partnering industry, research institutions, workforce development and government agencies to create commercially viable products and jobs.

Western Washington University professor of physics and astronomy George “Pinky” Nelson has been elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences. Nelson was a NASA astronaut on three space shuttle missions and was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2009. He is the head of Western’s Science, Math and Technology Education program. Nelson has been at Western since 2002.

Events

Columbia Bank is the sponsor of the Monroe ShredFest. As part of Customer Appreciation Week, customers can bring three grocery bags or one banker’s box of documents to be shredded Friday at 19500 Highway 2 in Monroe. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Shredding is being provided by Recall.

The Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber’s Business Before Hours meeting Aug. 24 will be a fast-paced televised program of members promoting their businesses and services, each in a 30-second presentation. These will later be aired on both Comcast and Frontier TV channels. For more information, call 360-659-7700.

Recruiters from major Northwest corporations will meet Sept. 7 at Safeco Field for an all-day military career day and Seattle Mariners game. More than 1,000 job-seeking members of the U.S. military are expected to attend. The event is hosted by the non-profit Hire America’s Heroes. For more information, visit www.hire americasheroes.org, email info@hireamericasheroes.org or call 425-301-5445.

Workshops

The food safety program at the Snohomish Health District is offering a 16-hour intensive training in Spanish in September for food service managers and assistant managers. The advanced training qualifies successful students for a five-year manager certification card and a 25 percent discount on annual food permit inspection fees. The tuition of $175 pays for all training materials. For more information, visit www.snohd.org/Shd_EH/Eh_FLE/FoodWorker.aspx.

The public is invited to watch the construction of a compost bin suitable for use on small farms in the Mukilteo area Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To register for this free workshop, go to mukilteocompostbin.eventbrite.com. For more information, call Alan Shank at 425-335-5634, ext. 120.

The next All Things HR webinar, “Starting the Recruiting Process,” is 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 29. The class will walk participants through the typical recruiting process and explain the compliance and best practices. Cost is $50 per registrant. More information is available at www.allthings-hr.com

Announcements

The City of Lynnwood has launched Lynnwood eNews, an electronic newsletter that delivers important news updates to subscriber email inboxes. The service is free to anyone interested in receiving email updates from the city. To sign up, visit www.ci.lynnwood.wa.us/eNews. For more information, contact community outreach specialist Julie Moore at 425-670-5023 or by email at jmoore@ci.lynnwood.wa.us.

Seas the Day Café, a subsidiary of the family-owned Pacific Coast Bakery Café in Redmond, opened last month at the Port of Everett’s Waterfront Center. It is just across the lobby from Scuttlebutt’s restaurant. Seas the Day Café offers full catering for businesses, including prepared box lunches that include a sandwich, bag of chips or grapes and a cookie.

Massage Envy will open a new location in Lynnwood on Aug. 21, across from Target and Alderwood Mall. This will be the 25th location in the state for the national franchise. The Lynnwood Massage Envy clinic will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. To learn more about offerings and membership, visit www. massageenvy.com.

The Snohomish County PUD will haul away old refrigerators and freezers at no cost and recycle them. If a new refrigerator or freezer is purchased at the Sears Alderwood or Everett Mall locations, a free same-day-as-delivery pickup of an old unit can be arranged. The program is for Snohomish County PUD customers only. The units need to be in working condition, and customers must own the units being recycled.

Washington employers could reduce their 2012 federal taxes by up to $9,600 for each eligible military veteran hired before the end of this year. To claim the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, employers must submit an application to the state Employment Security Department within 28 days after hiring a veteran. More information is available at esd.wa.gov or by calling 800-669-9271.

Good deeds

Bartell Drugs’ School Tools for Kids in Need school supplies donation drive continues through Aug. 26 at all 58 locations to support local students through World Vision’s Teacher Resource Center in Fife. Donated school supplies will help re-stock the Teacher Resource Center, where teachers shop free of charge for school supplies to help meet student needs. For more information, visit www.bartelldrugs.com.

The City of Edmonds public works department has been awarded 10 outdoor recycling bins by the Coca-Cola Foundation and Keep America Beautiful. The new bins will be added to several park locations to increase recycling of bottles and cans.

On July 17, the Snohomish County Windermere Foundation held its annual golf tournament to benefit Housing Hope. Between sponsorships, golfer fees and mulligan sales, $11,500 was raised to provide shelter and services for homeless and low-income families in Snohomish County. The title sponsor was Union Bank. The Daily Herald was among the sponsors.

Hilton Garden Inn and Feeding America recently launched Breakfast with Heart, a campaign to help fight hunger in America. Through Sept. 30, guests booking the Breakfast with Heart room rate at a Hilton Garden Inn in the Everett area will receive a cooked-to-order breakfast. For more information, visit www.hgi.com.

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