The Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business is excited to announce this year’s Young Professionals winners.

Please meet the Class of 2024:

• Raul Contreras, assistant director, Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
• Kristy Leitze, director - Therapy Services & Wound Care, Trios Health.
• Josh Lozano, senior government and external affairs specialist, Energy Northwest.
• Melissa McCoy, principal architect and owner, CKJT Architects.
• Nicholas Mercer, wealth advisor, Piton Wealth.
• Ryan Nell, geochemist, INTERA Inc.
• Jaylicia-Jinei Kanani Patricio-Young, industrial hygiene lead/senior project manager, PBS Engineering & Environmental.
• Austin Regimbal, marketing and communications director, Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce.
• Melissa Torres, director of fire systems maintenance, Hanford Mission Integration Solutions (HMIS).
• Sonee Kulaga Wilson, mission services opportunity specialist, Goodwill Industries of the Columbia.

This year’s honorees will be recognized in an event from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, May 15 at J. Bookwalter Winery, 894 Tulip Lane, Richland. Tickets for the event are now available at tcjournal.biz/yp.

The honorees also will be featured in a special supplement in the Journal’s May edition.

This is the 17th year the Journal has recognized our community’s Young Professionals. To be eligible, individuals must be 40 years old or under this year, work in Benton or Franklin counties, distinguish themselves in their careers, and make a difference through charity work, leadership and community involvement.

The 10 winners were selected by the Journal news team from a group of nominations received over the past month.

In all, the Journal received 65 nominations.