APPOINTMENTSBrian O’Neill, an Earth systems scientist who studies the relationship between future societal development, emissions and climate change impacts, has been named the new director of the Joint Global Change Research Institute, the institute is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland and...
Awards & honorsMoses Jaraysi, a member of Leadership Tri-Cities’ Class VI, has been selected as the Leadership Tri-Cities 2020 Alumnus of the Year. He was nominated for his commitment to numerous organizations in the Tri-Cities, in addition to Leadership Tri-Cities. Jaraysi has spent countless hours and games teaching his children...
Retirements Julie Richardson, the city of West Richland’s city clerk, retired in July after 19 years of service. She began her career with the city as an administrative assistant in the police department and was promoted to city clerk in 2006. She plans to spend time with her family and...
NEW HIRES• Danielle Connor has been hired as the Port of Benton’s director of finance/auditor. She graduated from Central Washington University with a bachelor of science in accounting and a master’s of professional accountancy. She is a certified public accountant and has more than 12 years of experience in accounting...
NEW HIRES• Kennewick’s Wave Design Group has launched an affiliate company, Wave Quantum Group LLC, to provide nuclear and federal design and engineering services. Wave Quantum announced several positions for its June launch. They are:• Harvey Prickett is president. He came to the Tri-Cities in 2009 and started Wave Design...
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...
