Oct 09, 1995

WSU Honors Program

Washington State University's nationally recognized Honors Program has received more than $2 million -- primarily for student scholarships -- from three private donors. Gifts from E. Pat Anderson of Seattle, Buzz and Maxine Johnson of Bigfork, Mont., and Robert and Bobbie Champagne of Castella, Calif., were acknowledged during a campus luncheon on Friday. Anderson, a social service professional from Seattle, made a bequest to honor her late husband, Eddie Bornander, a World War II pilot killed in action shortly after he and Anderson married. Several years ago, she established scholarships in Bornander's name and contributed to the V.N. Bhatia Lecture program. Her recent gift will create an endowed chair in the Honors Program. A 1941 graduate in speech, Anderson's gifts to WSU exceed $1 million. Buzz and Maxine Johnson made a testamentary pledge and a gift that will generate scholarship income beginning in 1996. Buzz founded a plumbing supply chain and an irrigation company. Maxine, an economist, directed the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Maxine's brother, Robert Champagne, and his wife, Bobbie, created a charitable remainder unitrust in Maxine's name to support scholarships. Robert is a retired entrepreneur in electrical engineering; Bobbie is a real estate broker and franchisee.

Oct 06, 1995

Cucina! Cucina! Italian Cafe

Bellevue-based Cucina! Cucina! Inc. has announced the opening of its latest Cucina! Cucina! Italian Cafe restaurant at Portland's new Rose Quarter development located directly across from the Rose Garden Arena, home of the Portland Trail Blazers. The 9,940-square-foot restaurant will open for full dining service on Monday, Oct. 9. The Rose Quarter location also includes a retail venue. Cucina! Cucina! Italian Cafe is adjacent to the plaza area overlooking "Essential Forces," an outdoor sculpture featuring the elements of water and fire designed by Burbank-based Wet Design and donated by Blazers owner Paul Allen.

Wronsky Gibbons & Riely

Valerie Foster of Wronsky Gibbons & Riely, has been awarded the MAI (Member Appraisal Institute) professional designation in commercial real estate analysis.

Oct 02, 1995

Consolidated Press

Gary Stone has been installed as chief executive officer at Consolidated Press, Seattle. In his new position, Stone will handle the duties of general manager and be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the 65-year-old printing company. Dave Colby, one of Consolidated's owners, will have reduced operation responsibilities. Stone, a California native, spent 18 years with Cal Central. His last position with the large, heat-set printer was as vice president of operations. For the past year and a half, Stone managed the Sacramento branch of LDR, a western graphic arts supply company. Consolidated has also hired Robert Brown, a certified public accountant from Florida, as its chief financial officer. Brown was formerly vice president of finance at Carlson Color Graphic in Ocala, Fla., for eight years. He also has experience in financial management with Ernst and Whinney, a Syracuse accounting firm, and GeoSolutions in Gainsville, Fla.

Sep 27, 1995

Montage

Montage, a Northwest multimedia agency launched by MacTemps, has appointed An Webster to the position of market manager and Tom Linde to account manager. Webster will supervise the Seattle-based firm as well as MacTemps and Enterprise business activity in the Puget Sound Region. She is an active member of the Women's Business Exchange, the Washington Software Association, the National Association of Temporary and Staffing Services, and the International Interactive Communications Society. Linde will manage Montage operations. He previously served as Seattle office manager of Custom Courseware Development at Wicat Systems. MacTemps, the Boston-based national computer staffing agency, launched Montage in June as a prototype regional multimedia venture. The new staffing service assembles teams who manage, design and produce multimedia communications on a temporary or permanent basis.

Microsoft

Microsoft Corp. has appointed product group leaders John Ludwig, Bob Muglia and Jon De Vaan to the position of vice president. Ludwig, 35, has been named vice president, Windows, in the personal systems division. In his previous position as general manager, he was responsible for the design and development of network-connectivity features of the Microsoft Windows 95 operating system. Previously, he was a key contributor to Microsoft's entry-level networking product, Windows for Workgroups. He is currently responsible for future releases of Windows and Microsoft's interactive personal computer project, the next step in the evolution of Windows for home and consumer users. Ludwig joined Microsoft in 1988. Muglia, 36, becomes vice president, Windows NT program management and Microsoft BackOffice, in the business systems division. Formerly a director, he contributed to the development of the Windows NT operating system and associated server applications. He is currently working on future releases of Windows NT and the Microsoft BackOffice family of products. Muglia has been at Microsoft since 1988, when he began as a key player on Microsoft projects for SQL Server, OS/2 and Windows NT. De Vaan, 35, was promoted to vice president, development, in the desktop applications division. Previously, he was a director in that division and led the formation of the Office development group. He was instrumental in helping build the desktop applications division into a $3 billion business. De Vaan joined Microsoft in 1984 and was one of the main contributors to the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and Office for Windows 95. In his new position, Jon will focus on finding ways to share code-building consistency between office components.

Sep 26, 1995

MK Corp.

Patrick L. Pettiette, a 20-year veteran in project development and construction management, has been named executive vice president of Morrison Knudsen Corp.'s Heavy Construction Group. Pettiette was formerly vice president of operations for MK's Environmental Group. He holds a degree in architectural engineering from the University of Texas.

EcoChem

EcoChem, an environmental consulting firm located in Seattle, has hired Allan Chartrand as senior toxicologist. Chartrand has 14 years of experience in toxicological evaluation of aquatic systems, NRDA issues and risk assessment. He will lead EcoChem's efforts to expand its services in human health and ecological risk assessment. Sherri L. Wunderlich has also joined the company, which specializes in data validation and environmental chemistry, as project chemist. Wunderlich has 10 year of experience in laboratory settings, most recently serving a five-year stint as senior chemist in GC/MS analyses. And, Kari L. O'Keefe has been hired as marketing coordinator. She has been marketing northwest environmental services for the past two years.

Geraghty & Miller Inc.

Lorna Luebbe has joined the Seattle office of nationwide environmental consulting, engineering and remedial design firm Geraghty & Miller Inc. as a project scientist. She will be responsible for managing remediation and litigation support projects, providing support to the firm's corporate CERCLA program, conducting compliance audits and providing support for large scale projects. Luebbe joined Geraghty & Miller in 1994. She previously worked for two years as an environmental law clerk for the Bonneville Power Administration in the Portland area, and concurrently held an associate editor position for the Lewis & Clark Environmental Law Journal. Luebbe has also been an environmental geologist/project manager in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Environmental positioning for the year 2000.

Interested in learning what leading Pacific Northwest companies are doing to turn environmental challenges into market advantages? Shapiro and Associates, a Seattle-based environmental services firm, will present results of a major research project designed to determine what industry leaders are doing to position themselves for the 21st century. Results of the survey will be presented Thursday, Sept. 28, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. in One Financial Center, Second Floor Conference Room, 121 S.W. Morrison Street, Portland. To attend, call (503) 274-9000 by Sept. 27.

Omega Environmental

BOTHELL (BW) -- Omega Environmental Inc. has finalized a previously announced credit facility with New York-based BNY Financial Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of New York, for senior secured term and revolving credit facilities totaling $30 million. The new facility will enable the Bothell-headquartered company to consolidate its regional facilities, and will provide additional working capital for internal growth and expansion, according to Omega Environmental President and CEO David C. Kravitz. The BNY Financial facility is a $10 million senior secured 3-year term loan and a senior secured revolving line with availability up to $20 million, subject to certain asset levels. It will bear interest at favorable rates over either LIBOR or Prime, at the company's election, and is secured by the company's assets. As of June 30, Omega Environmental reported current assets of $63.8 million and liabilities of $40.5 million, with working capital of approximately $23.3 million. Total assets were $112.6 million and shareholders' equity was $64.4 million. Omega Environmental provides products and services for fuel and chemical storage and handling, including engineered remediation services for contaminated soils and groundwater, through 49 locations in the United States and North America.

ICF Kaiser wins $330 million contract

ICF Kaiser International Inc. has signed am estimated $330 million to perform "cradle-to-grave" environmental restoration work at federal installations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District. The Total Environmental Restoration Contact is for four years, with two, three-year options. It is the largest hazardous, toxic and radioactive waste contract ever awarded by the Corps and the U.S. Department of Defense. The TERC program was established to clean up contaminated Army sites in a streamlined manner by partnering with private contractors to handle all aspects of remediation. The result is quicker cleanup, more effective project management and better coordination with federal and state regulators and the public. ICF Kaiser also announced the signing of a five-year contract estimated at $50 million to provide environmental services for the Corps of Engineers, Savannah (Georgia) district.

Skagit, Fraser named 'Heritage Rivers'

VANCOUVER, B.C. (AP) -- The Fraser River, the Skagit and six other British Columbia rivers will be protected with heritage designations, says Environment Minister Moe Sihota. "We are making a commitment to nurture these rivers in a fashion that has never been seen before in the history of this province," he told a news conference Tuesday. Sihota pledged action to improve and protect several of the eight rivers but revealed few specifics. The Skagit flows into Washington State, past Mount Vernon into Skagit Bay near La Conner. Besides the Fraser and the Skagit, the rivers nominated by a public advisory board for heritage designation are: Adams, Babine, Blackwater, Cowichan, Similkameen and Stikine. The government intends to name 20 heritage rivers in the next year. Sihota said the government will make acquisition of large tracts of valley land adjacent to the Cowichan River a priority. He said his ministry will tailor a response to each river and the first move on the Cowichan will be to limit further stream-side development. Much of the valley bottom is owned by timber companies and Sihota said approaches will be made to acquire several hundred yards on either side of the river from Lake Cowichan to Duncan, 30 miles north of Victoria. The government's Forest Practices Code imposes new limits on logging near rivers but does not apply to privately held lands. Sihota said the threat is not so much from logging as from the potential for timber companies selling their holdings to developers.