Mar 10, 2003

Skagit Valley College

Gary Tollefson was named president of Skagit Valley College by the school's board of trustees. Tollefson has been with Yakima Valley Community College for the past 22 years, most recently as its vice president for instruction and student services. Tollefson will replace George Smith, who has been serving as interim president.

Federal Home Loan Bank

Brien Lautman has been promoted to vice president and corporate relations manager, Erik Strom has been promoted to vice president and external affairs manager, and Lesley Hogan has been promoted to assistant vice president, and people and development manager at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle. Lautman manages the communications team, Strom oversees congressional relations and Hogan is involved in training and development, recruiting and employee relations. Seattle Bank is a member-owned cooperative serving Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, American Samoa and Guam.

Publicis Dialog

Publicis Dialog launched a healthcare marketing practice in its Seattle office. Kumar Shahani will be executive principal, group management director. Shahani most recently served as vice president, client services, at Lena Chow Euro RSCG, and he is a member of the advisory board of the International Journal of Medical Marketing.

Short Cressman & Burgess

Mark J. Barak joined Short Cressman & Burgess as an associate in the real estate practice. Barak's practice will concentrate on real estate development, acquisitions and sales, commercial financing and leasing, entity formation, and contracts.

Williams, Kastner & Gibbs

Williams, Kastner & Gibbs has formed a new group focused on corporate governance issues. Attorneys in Seattle and Portland participating in the group are: Amy Carlton, Dwayne Copple, Jerry Creim, Mark Davidson, Jerry Edmonds, Michael Herbst, Christopher James, John Knox, Susan Lehr, David Smith and Dan Woo.

Mar 07, 2003

Miller Rieke Whitsell & Co.

Mitch Irwin has been promoted to senior manager and Cindy Mattix has been named director of customer care at the Woodinville-based accounting firm of Miller Rieke Whitsell & Co. The firm also named Debbie Goss and Nobuko Mitsunaga senior and staff accountants; and announced that Christine Campo and Shelli Kono have joined its accounting services department as paraprofessionals.

Banner Bank

Banner Bank, headquartered in Walla Walla, named Bryan Olson branch manager at its Kennewick branch. Before joining Banner, he was vice president and chief financial officer of Community First Bank in Kennewick. Olson will replace Frank Alejandro who will be the new branch manager at the Banner Bank in Pasco.

Argens

Neal Rider joined Argens as sales manager of the electronic security division. Previously, Rider managed security for Best Products. Argens, based in Seattle, designs and installs integrated security systems.

Centerplate

Volume Services America has changed its name to Centerplate. The company is the food, beverage and merchandise services provider for the Tacoma Dome. Centerplate is based in Spartanburg, S.C., and services 130 accounts nationally in convention centers, universities and stadiums.

Discovery Institute

The Discovery Institute has moved to 1511 Third Ave. in Seattle. The phone numbers will remain the same. The institute's Web site is at www.discovery.org.