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DONATIONS

• The Washington State Tree Fruit Association (WSTFA) donated air purifiers to the Catholic Charities of Central Washington and the Yakima Housing Authority for use in farmworker housing units. WSTFA bought the purifiers using a $20,000 grant from the Yakima Valley Resilience and Response Fund. This grant is the result of a funding partnership with the United Way of Central Washington, the Latino Community Fund and the Yakima Valley Community Fund. These air purifiers are FDA-approved to remove viruses, including Covid-19, from indoor air and provide farmworker housing operators with another tool to ensure safe housing for the agricultural workforce.
• Numerica Credit Union distributed $20,000 in scholarships between 14 students through a pair of scholarship programs: the Continuing Education Scholarship for enrolled college students and $tarting Off Right Scholarship for graduating high school seniors.

• Amentum donated $15,000 to the Pasco School District in support of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs for the 2022-23 school year. Amentum is the parent company of Washington River Protection Solutions and Central Plateau Cleanup Co.

• The Cooperative Balloon Associates donated $510 to Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels on behalf of Benton REA. Every day its hot air balloon was flown, a monetary contribution was made to a local charity on behalf of the sponsoring Touchstone Energy Cooperative. Benton REA employees nominated and voted to give Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels the donation. Hundreds of people rode on the tethered Touchstone Energy Cooperatives hot air balloon at the 85th Benton REA annual meeting on July 16.
• Baker Boyer has designated $32,500 in pandemic giving to help support organizations in Walla Walla, Tri-Cities and Yakima. Five nonprofits, including Safe Harbor in the Tri-Cities, each received $6,500 to help with operational costs in the face of rising demands for services.
  • Junior Achievement in Southeastern Washington has received $25,000 from Bechtel Group Foundation in support of its programs for students in the region. The grant will enable the nonprofit to deliver programs to K-12 students, teaching critical skills in financial literacy, career readiness and entrepreneurship. Bechtel has been supporting the local JA chapter for two decades. This most recent donation is part of Bechtel’s Building Future Leaders Grant, which has contributed $260,000 toward JA programs since 2012. Outside of this grant, the Bechtel foundation donated an additional $157,090, bringing the total financial support to JA of Southeastern Washington to $417,090 since 1997.
• Columbia Industries, a mission-based organization committed to supporting and empowering those with disabilities and other challenges, has received a $10,000 grant to support its Opportunity Kitchen food service training program. The Jacques Pépin Foundation, founded in 2016 by chef and author Jacques Pépin, supports free culinary and life skills training, through community-based organizations, that helps individuals detached from the workforce gain confidence, skills and employment in food service. Opportunity Kitchen offers a structured path out of underemployment to those with disabilities and those facing other employment barriers. Students in the program spend 12 weeks alongside an executive chef instructor as they cover a comprehensive curriculum to prepare them for food service, hospitality or catering employment.

AWARDS & HONORS

• John Bookwalter of Bookwalter Winery has been named honorary vintner of the year by the Auction of Washington Wines. Since 1999, the group has honored leaders for their contributions to the Washington wine industry. Each year, nominations are made by members of the industry and considerations include service, leadership and overall contribution to the Washington wine industry and their communities. The honorees represent the state’s more than 1,000 vintners.
• The Prosser Leadership Class of 2022 graduated with eight participants Aug. 4 at Tirriddis Winery in Prosser.

Graduates are: Chris Cisneros, Boys and Girls Club; Gabriel Crowell, Tirriddis Winery; Penny Gardner, Windermere Real Estate; Kevin Gilman, Prosser School District; Tom Glover, city of Prosser; Tricia Hawley; Mallory Luther, Prosser Chamber of Commerce and Dakota Renz, Renz Farmers Insurance.

Participants spent one five-hour day per month from January through July in seminars, trainings,a nd tours. The class was presented with opportunities to discuss issues with current businesses, social and political leaders. They also were tasked with a class project; this year’s class was working with SILAS Education to bring an orbital marker to Prosser.

• Erik Berglund of Pasco finished first in the men’s division of the 2022 Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation World Elk Calling Championships. He gave up hunting more than a decade ago when his father died but was taken in and mentored years later by close bow hunting friends to begin again. He won all five of his matches to win the men’s division championship.

• Mirage Pool ‘n’ Spa in Kennewick recently received recognition from BIO.design for one of its local landscape pool creations that features a high-end hand-troweled Italian quartz/resin sand. Mirage recently became an installer of BIO.design pools because of their structural stability, ecofriendly building technology and reduced installation time.

Mirage was founded in 2004 and is locally owned and operated. Chad Simmonds, part owner and general manager has been building custom vinyl-lined swimming pools most of his life.

BOARDS

• Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed Ken Roske of Pasco to the Criminal Justice Training Commission; Ed Lopez of Richland to the Washington Medical Commission; and Vijay Patel of Kennewick to the Washington Tourism Marketing Authority Board of Directors.

NEW HIRES

• Petersen Hastings recently hired two associate wealth advisors. Both are responsible for assisting the advisory team in managing existing client relationships and supporting their development of new client relationships.

Rachel Chacko, a certified financial planner, joins the team from fellow Zero Alpha Group affiliated firm, Carlson Capital Management, in which she held a similar role for four years. She is responsible for assisting the advisory team in managing existing client relationships and supporting their development of new client relationships. Raised in Iowa, Chacko earned a doctorate in music theory from the University of Colorado in 2010 and holds a doctorate of musical arts degree in flute performance and a postgraduate artist diploma from a European conservatory. Before her role with Carlson Capital Management, she was a tenured professor in the music department at Whitman College in Walla Walla.

Lily McKeirnan joins the team with a bachelor of science in mathematics and a minor in computer science from Whitworth University in 2018. After graduation, she traveled to Thailand where she taught high school computer science, e-commerce and English. Upon returning to the U.S., she earned a master in teaching degree and then moved to Seoul, South Korea, to teach elementary English.

• Ray Leist has joined Morton Buildings as a local sales consultant serving residential and commercial customers in the Tri-Cities and surrounding area. His new role includes helping to meet the local demand for farm, equestrian and winery facilities, as well as home accessory structures such as garages, hobby shops and boat and recreational vehicle storage buildings. He has a construction background, including serving as a residential general contractor and Realtor and in construction sales. Morton Buildings is a national construction company and industry leader in post-frame construction, which involves a highly engineered wood-frame building system.
• Six scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have been selected to join the Washington State Academy of Sciences.

Deb Gracio, Harry Miley, Wendy Shaw, Wei-Jun Qian, Jie Xiao and Chongmin Wang join a group of scientists and engineers from across the state for their outstanding scientific and technical achievements as well as leadership. Academy members provide expert scientific and engineering analysis to inform public policy-making and work to increase the role and visibility of science in Washington state.

The PNNL scientists will join a 2022 class of new members composed of 25 newly-elected members and five new members from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine who live or work in Washington state. New members will be inducted at the 15th annual members’ meeting on Sept. 15.

Gracio is associate laboratory director of PNNL’s National Security Directorate.

Miley is a senior scientist, laboratory fellow and a global leader in nuclear explosion detection and monitoring.

Shaw is chief science and technology officer in PNNL’s Physical and Computational Sciences Directorate.

Qian is a laboratory fellow in the Integrative Omics group in the Biological Sciences Division at PNNL and a bioanalytical chemist who joined the laboratory in 2002.

Xiao, a materials scientist, is a world leader in electrochemical energy storage. Her work spans fundamental science explorations as well as demonstrations and practical applications vital for a clean energy future.

Wang is a materials scientist with the Environmental Transformations and Interactions group in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Division and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory user program.

• The city of Richland has named Joseph Schiessl as its new deputy city manager. He has worked for the city since August 2000. He began his career with Richland in the Planning Division as a redevelopment specialist. Most recently he has served as director of Parks & Public Facilities. He was promoted to that role in 2012 and served on the executive leadership team, overseeing nearly 140 employees who perform and operate park and facility maintenance, capital planning and construction, recreation planning, the park ranger program, the Richland Public Library and the Columbia Point Golf Course. He holds a bachelor of science degree in environment science and regional planning from Washington State University and a master of Urban and Regional Planning from Eastern Washington University. He is a longtime resident of Richland. The city went through a nationwide recruitment effort for this position and four final candidates were interviewed and considered for the role.
• Lourdes Health has hired Dr. Carlos Alberto Matute Mandujano as a family medicine provider at Lourdes Internal Medicine & Primary Care Clinic. He attended medical school at Universidad Católica de Honduras (Catholic University of Honduras) and then completed his family medicine residency at University of North Dakota, Bismarck, and his geriatric medicine fellowship at Oregon Health and Science University- Portland, Oregon. He is fluent in English and Spanish. He is a member of Colegio Médico de Honduras (Honduras Medical College), board certified in family medicine and has certifications in advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) and Basic Life Support (BLS).
• Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic has hired Lorie Orozco as clinic director, overseeing dental clinics in Tri-Cities and the Lower Valley, including Miramar Health Center, Columbia Basin Pediatric Dentistry, Community Dental Clinic and Dentistry for Kids. She brings an extensive background in health care management from her tenure as the director of operations for Trios Medical Group and as a financial supervisor for Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital.
• LS Networks, a fiber optic provider in the Pacific Northwest has appointed Randy Brogle, a seasoned telecommunications industry leader with over 25 years of experience, as chief executive officer of the company. In his role, Brogle will lead the company’s growth plans to invest in the buildout of its fiber network and support the delivery of high-capacity connectivity solutions to transform underserved communities across the region. He most recently oversaw the global acquisition and construction of fiber networks to support the apps for Meta.
• Alex Garza has been hired as a senior home loan officer for Numerica Credit Union. Garza has more than 10 years of experience in the financial industry. Before joining Numerica, he was a loan originator for Envoy Mortgage.

PROMOTION

• Simplicity by Hayden Homes has promoted Ryan Jennings to president. He succeeds Ken Brodeck, who announced his retirement after leading the company over the past 11 years. Brodeck will remain with the company through the transition before retiring later this year. Jennings has more than 17 years of management experience within both Hayden Homes and Simplicity by Hayden Homes, including project manager, senior project manager, regional director, operations director, and most recently, purchasing director. Dennis Murphy will remain CEO of both Hayden Homes and Simplicity by Hayden Homes.

POSITION CHANGE

• Tim Schauer, shareholder and chairman of the board of MacKay Sposito, which has offices in Pasco, has transitioned into a part-time role with the firm. As part of the firm’s multiyear leadership transition plan, Schauer moved to emeritus status, where he will invest his time on land development projects and economic development advocacy. From this new role, he will continue to support and mentor MacKay Sposito’s land development leadership, strengthening its next generation of land development professionals. The professional engineer served as president and CEO of MacKay Sposito from January 2010 to May 2020.