NEW HIRES• Joel Ockey has joined Cornerstone Wealth Strategies Inc., a full-service independent financial planning firm based in Kennewick, as a wealth advisor. Ockey has been in the financial industry since 2002. After graduating from the University of Saint Mary in 2002, he became a financial advisor at Waddell &...
NEW HIRES• The Port of Benton hired Miles S. Thomas as the director of economic development and governmental affairs. The port previously contracted Thomas as a consultant to fulfill the port’s economic development and state/local governmental affairs duties. After serving in this role for the first quarter of 2020, the...
NEW HIRES• Erika Wier joined Pasco’s Lourdes Health as chief financial officer in February. She previously worked at Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she was assistant chief financial officer and served as compliance officer and was responsible for the oversight of several departments, including case management,...
Awards and Honors• Rich Breshears of Breshears Professional Photography in Kennewick has earned the photographic craftsman degree from Professional Photographers of America, a nonprofit photography trade association. The degree was presented at the association’s annual convention, Imaging USA, held Jan. 19-21 in Nashville, Tennessee. Breshears has met the standards of...
Promotions• Heritage University’s new director for its Tri-City branch campusat Columbia Basin College is Martín Valadez. He was the director ofworkforce education at Heritage. The former Tri-City director, MarisolRodriguez-Price, had expressed a desire to return to the professorate withinthe College of Education. Valadez will report to David Wise, the vice...
NEW HIRESLourdes Health has hired Dr. Dianna Lang as a pediatrician. Lang completed her residency at BronxCare Health System in New York. She has joined Dr. Paolo deVera and Dr. Geraldine Dizon at Lourdes Pediatric Services at Road 68 and Wrigley Drive in Pasco.Stephanie Button has been hired as the...
NEW HIRESLucas OrganizationalPerformance Training Team of Richland has hired twonew trainers, Seth Gulley and Dan Gilliam. Gulley works with MissionSupport Alliance providing instructional design support for its respiratorytraining program. He has experience in operational excellence, leadership andtraining program development, process safety management, human performanceimprovement, apparent cause, organizational effectiveness and emergencymanagement....
NEW HIRESAndrea Whitlow has been named manager of STCU’s Queensgate branch in Richland, and Andres Montero will be the assistant manager of the Pasco branch, set to open early next year. Whitlow brings 14 years of financial services experience, including nine years with credit unions. Montero draws on six years...
NEW HIRESDerekO’Konek is the new principal of JeffersonElementary School in Richland. O’Konek joined the district in 2013 and hashelped implement various programs at Jason Lee aimed at building connectionswith the community, creating a positive school culture and improving studentacademic performance. He also was an assistant principal at Badger MountainElementary and...
NEW HIRESAlexandraMickelsen has joined PS Media Inc. inKennewick as a digital account executive. She is a graduate of Washington StateUniversity and has a degree in strategic communication and a minor in business.DaveMcClure has been named PacificNorthwest National Laboratory’s chief audit executive. He has mostrecently been an auditor on PNNL’s Audit Services team....
