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PROMOTIONS

• Sarah Del Toro is Kennewick School District’s new director of learning programs and supports. Her new position will include oversight of migrant and multilingual, ECEAP and LAP/Title I programs. In 2022, she was named the Washington State Migrant Education Program’s Federal Programs Director of the Year. For the past four years, she has served as the district’s multilingual program coordinator, overseeing the migrant, dual language and English language learner programs. Previously, she served as the district’s family and community engagement manager for 11 years. Del Toro holds a master’s degree in educational leadership and a certificate in program administration from Washington State University Tri-Cities, along with a bachelor’s degree in human services from Western Washington University. She will replace Kevin Pierce who is retiring at the end of the school year.
• Meier Architecture | Engineer promoted Alex Butterfield to project manager. Butterfield has worked at Meier for more than 10 years. He received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University.
• Jeff Aultman has been promoted to assistant chief civil deputy with the Benton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. He has been an attorney since 2003. He has a broad range of experience in private practice, which includes insurance defense, construction defect claims, personal injury, business disputes and product defects claims. He was an attorney with Paine Hamblen in Spokane from 2005-11. He then worked at two firms in San Antonio from 2012-19. Since that time, he relocated to the Tri-Cities and started his own law firm advising small business clients and handling various civil disputes.
• Cameron Stephens has been promoted to director of commercial banking at Community First Bank. He will oversee the day-to-day operations of the commercial lending department. Stephens has more than 20 years of banking experience, including nearly a decade in commercial lending. He joined Community First Bank in 2020, previously holding the role of business banking team lead. He is an alumnus of Utah Tech University and holds a Master of Business Administration from Southern Utah University.
• Meier Architecture | Engineer promoted Bobbi Keen to vice president. She has been at Meier for more than eight years. She received her Master of Science in Financial Management and Bachelor of Science in Business Accounting from City University. She is a licensed certified public accountant and certified management accountant. This promotion recognizes her work as controller, operations manager, human resources, business development and project manager. Keen has assisted in establishing and preparing long-range goals and financial budgets for project management, human resources and general operations activities. She monitors the project managers’ performance and provides assistance to ensure the project results are consistent and meet clients’ expectations.

NEW HIRES

• Columbia Industries has hired Chase Wharton as a philanthropy officer. He has an extensive background in the travel and tourism industry, including sponsorship creation, partnership design, corporate giving and event planning. Prior to joining Columbia Industries, he spent four years at Visit Tri-Cities, working in business development, community relations and convention sales. Wharton holds a Bachelor of Arts in Recreation Management from Eastern Washington University and Master of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Purdue University.
• Columbia Industries also has hired Renee Hale as an accounting specialist. She has more than 20 years of experience in accounting and finance, with experience in accounts receivable and accounts payable, auditing, collections, payroll, records management and cost accounting. Hale has worked for the city of Richland, Isoray and most recently Christensen. She studied accounting at Columbia Basin College.
• Bryan Bell joined the Port of Benton as construction project manager. His responsibilities include project management for new construction, overseeing improvements to port-owned rail and barge facilities and guidance on port projects. He brings substantial construction management experience, including 15 years of owning and operating a construction business. His work history includes project management of residential and commercial projects, business and customer relations, sales, marketing, payroll and purchasing. Bell successfully grew his company from two to 36 employees and became an industry leader in the market. He was then offered an opportunity to be a professional angler that took him all over the country in recent years.
• Charlie Dow is the new manager of Benton County’s Office of Public Defense. He fills a position that’s been vacant since June 2022. An interim director had led the office for the past year. Dow is a Tri-Cities native, born and raised in Richland. He has made a career of public service that includes the Alaska Fire Service, U.S. Forest Service, Benton County Prosecutor’s Office, and, most recently, Franklin County Office of Public Defense. He is a graduate of Washington State University and University of Denver Sturm College of Law. The Office of Public Defense employs seven staff members and attorneys.
• Tim Applebee has joined STCU as a home loan officer. He will serve homebuyers in his own hometown of Walla Walla and borrowers in Pasco, Kennewick and Richland. The lifelong Walla Walla resident was a longtime restaurant owner and manager before entering real estate. Applebee’s own dream home? It’s a Walla Walla house on five acres that he shares with his wife and three sons, in addition to three ducks, 11 chickens, Millee the dog, and Kisha the cat.
• A longtime Bechtel leader is taking over as project director of the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, known as the vit plant, at the Hanford nuclear site. Brian Hartman, a senior vice president, has been with Bechtel for 40 years. He started in the new role on May 30 and will lead the vit plant team through final commissioning of the Low-Activity Waste Facility and its support facilities, and he’ll oversee the team working on a facility to treat high-level waste. Hartman started at Bechtel in 1982 as an intern and was hired full time the next year. He’s held leadership roles in nuclear, thermal, and renewable energy systems, and he most recently worked as corporate manager of engineering and technology and project execution manager.

He became a principal vice president in 2013 and senior vice president in 2020.

Hartman, a certified professional engineer, holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He’s a member of the International Association of Automation ISA and the National Society of Black Engineers.

He succeeds Valerie McCain, who died after a short illness earlier this year.

• GLP Attorneys named Roger “RJ” Ermola as a partner, practicing out of its Spokane, Tri-Cities and Vancouver locations. He has been practicing personal injury law since 2007 and specializes in negotiation, litigation, mediation, arbitration and trial. He is licensed to practice in Washington, New Jersey and in the Federal District Courts of Eastern Washington, Western Washington and New Jersey. He originally joined GLP Attorneys in 2013 as a litigation attorney in its Tacoma office. Prior to joining GLP, he was the managing attorney for a prominent personal injury firm overseeing operations in their Spokane, Boise, and Salt Lake City offices. He has been an eagle member of the Washington State Association of Justice for the past 10 years and currently serves on the Court Rules Committee. Each year he teaches a class on government at Satori Camp for gifted and highly capable teenagers in Cheney and is currently mentoring a law clerk, who upon successful completion of the program will be eligible to take the bar exam.

APPOINTMENTS

• The city of Pasco appointed Kevin Crowley as the city’s new fire chief, effective July 3. Crowley was one of five finalists for the position following the retirement of long-serving Chief Bob Gear, who retired in May. Crowley will transition to Pasco from the Kennewick Fire Department, where he has accrued nearly a quarter-century of experience in various roles, most recently serving as deputy chief, a position he assumed after a competitive selection process. The Pasco Fire Department, equipped with four operating stations and an upcoming fifth, also includes a training center and supplementary facilities. The fire department provides emergency transport services with medics assigned to EMS response units while actively flexing firefighter/medics to fire response as needed. Currently, the department employs 103 staff members. His appointment follows a national search conducted through the Western Fire Chiefs Association.
• Two new members have been appointed to the board of directors for Baker Boyer bank: third-generation Lowden farmer Edward Chvatal Jr. and Jim Edmunds, a tech entrepreneur and owner of Ingeniux, a Seattle-based web content management and digital experience software provider that expanded to Walla Walla in 2016.

ELECTIONS

• Columbia Generating Station stakeholders, representing 92 utilities in six states, elected member utilities and individual officers to the nuclear power plant’s Participants Review Board during a May 16 meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. The meeting was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Northwest Public Power Association. The three utility participants elected for a three-year term to the nine-member board are: Stu Nelson of Franklin County PUD; Michael Kelly of Lewis County PUD; and Bill Colyar of Okanogan County PUD. The board also elected Nelson as chairman. Officers serve a one-year term. The board reviews Columbia’s annual budget and fuel management plans as well as nuclear construction and purchases of more than $500,000.

AWARDS & HONORS

• Good Shepherd Health Care System, based in Hermiston, Oregon, was recently recognized as a U.S. Best-in-Class Employer after participating in Gallagher’s 2022 U.S. Benefits Strategy and Benchmarking survey. The health care system was awarded this designation for excelling in optimizing employee and organizational well being.
• Edward Jones financial advisor T.J Willingham, who has an office in Kennewick, recently qualified for the firm’s managing partner’s conference, which celebrates the contributions and achievements of 400 top financial advisors from among the firm’s nearly 19,000. This is the 10th time Willingham has been invited to attend this conference, which was May 11-12 in Scottsdale, Arizona. During the two-day conference, attendees had the opportunity to interact with and learn from firm leaders, confer on timely topics and share best practices for serving clients.
• Ryan Washburn received the Heritage University 2023 Violet Lumley Rau Outstanding Alumnus Award for his commitment to serving others long before he attended Heritage University. He dedicated eight years to serving in the Navy as a fire control technician where he oversaw Tomahawk Missile Systems. After leaving the military, he enrolled at Heritage University where he earned a bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies in education. He then went on to earn a master’s in clinical social work from Walla Walla University. After he graduated, Washburn served as program director of Elijah Family Homes, helping families in recovery. He continued his work with veterans by becoming the first case manager for the then newly formed Benton County Veterans Court, working with veterans who were struggling with PTSD, depression, addiction and mental health issues. He was later promoted to run the Benton County Therapeutic Courts, which also oversees the Mental Health Court. Under his leadership, the program thrived and has expanded to include the new Recovery Court.
• Each year, the Washington Department of Ecology honors wastewater treatment plants across the state with the agency’s Outstanding Performance Award for achieving excellent compliance with their water quality permits. The wastewater treatment facilities in Benton City, Kennewick and Richland each received the 2022 outstanding wastewater treatment plant award. Benton City and Kennewick also were recognized for earning the award at least 15 times in the past.
• Trios Health recently announced that Tom Pickard has been recognized as its 2023 Mercy Award winner. The award recognizes one employee from each of Lifepoint Health’s facilities who profoundly touches the lives of others and best represents the spirit and values on which the company was founded.

Pickard is an MRI technician in Diagnostic Imaging. He is being recognized not only for the compassionate care he provides, but for his community contributions. He regularly volunteers for mission trips and relief efforts. He has been to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Around 15 years ago, Pickard had learned American Sign Language (ASL) when his wife lost her hearing and went deaf. A friend asked if he would be willing to tutor their son, Luke, in some basic sign language. Today, Pickard and Luke run the deaf ministry at his church, providing ASL interpretation for at services.
     Each facility winner, including Pickard, will be considered for Lifepoint’s 2023 companywide Mercy Award. The award is considered the highest honor a Lifepoint employee can receive.

• Lourdes Health recently announced that nurse Mary Ebbers has been recognized as its 2023 Mercy Award winner. The award recognizes one employee from each of Lifepoint Health’s facilities who profoundly touches the lives of others and best represents the spirit and values on which the company was founded.

Ebbers, a clinical educator/staff developer with 25 years of experience, has been a valued employee at Lourdes for nearly 15 years, most of which has been spent managing emergency preparedness, trauma and stroke. She has worked to strengthen relationships with first responders and emergency management staff. She has organized many specialized trainings unique to the Tri-Cities area, including radiation training for a nuclear plant response. All of her teachings and practices came into play during the Covid-19 response. There was constant communication between her and community officials. While coordinating with community partners, she could also be found assisting on the floors educating staff about personal protection equipment, working as the house supervisor and picking up shifts on one of the medical floors.
Each facility winner, including Ebbers, will be considered for Lifepoint’s 2023 companywide Mercy Award. The award is considered the highest honor a Lifepoint employee can receive.

• Five Tri-Cities-area Banner Bank employees have been selected to receive the Banner’s Best award. This represents the highest level of recognition within the company and celebrates Banner’s top performing employees. These employees received the award for surpassing their individual professional goals, demonstrating excellence within their respective professions and consistently delivering outstanding service to the bank’s clients, communities and their colleagues:
  • Shaun Gordon, senior vice president, senior commercial relationship manager, Columbia Basin.
  • Rueben Garcia, residential loan officer, Tri-Cities.
  • Jason Fraser, senior systems administrator, business systems integration.
  • Karen Allmann, vice president, process automation administration manager, central deposit operations.
  • Isaac Cortez, vice president, branch manager, Pasco branch.
• The Washington Public Ports Association selected the Port of Kennewick as its 2023 Creative Partnership Award winner. WPPA recognized the port’s collaboration with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Benton County and the city of Kennewick to restore and revitalize Clover Island.
• Jason E. Johnson, a private wealth advisor with Ameriprise Financial in Kennewick, was named to the list of “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” published by Forbes. The list recognizes financial advisors who have demonstrated high levels of ethical standards, professionalism and success in the business. Johnson was chosen based on assets under management, industry experience, regulatory and compliance record and revenue produced over a three-year period. He graduated from Eastern Washington University with a degree in finance and economics.
• Wheatland Bank, which has a Pasco branch, announced that Susan M. Horton, the bank’s president and chief executive officer, is one of eight new members on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s Advisory Committee on Community Banking. Composed of a cross section of community bankers from around the country, the FDIC committee shares input on a broad range of community bank policy and regulatory matters.

GRANTS

• Westgate Elementary School in Kennewick is one of 300 schools from 36 states to receive a $5,000 grant through the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries.

The foundation – which provides grants to low-income schools to help them expand, update and diversify their collections – awarded $1.5 million in library grants this year. It has awarded $21 million to more than 3,600 schools across the country in all since it formed in 2002.

• The Wildhorse Foundation awarded $12,000 to the Kennewick Grid Kids 2023 cheer/flag/tackle football season. The foundation, established by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, awards grants to organizations throughout the region.
• Panda Cares donated $20,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties to support in- person, after-school academic programs that empower club members to excel in school and ensure they graduate on time. These programs include homework help, computer labs, STEM sessions, workforce development, and more. Panda Cares is the philanthropic arm of Panda Express.
• Heritage University’s 37th annual Bounty of the Valley Scholarship Dinner, raised $838,966 for student scholarships. For the second year in a row, the event featured hosts Alex Vera and Gerardo Ruelas, two Heritage alumni and Valley natives who have gone on to successful careers at Costco Wholesale at the company’s headquarters in Issaquah. Heritage University alumnus Miguel Mendoza, who recently graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biology in May, was the student speaker. He was born and raised in the Yakima Valley and graduated from Toppenish High School in 2019. Not only did he excel academically, but he also worked with the College Assistance Migrant Program at Heritage and as a tutor in the Academic Skills Center, where he supported his fellow students and helped them succeed in their studies. Mendoza is now preparing to take his MCAT exam in preparation for applying to medical school.