Apr 27, 2004

Verizon

David S. Valdez of Arlington, Va., was named vice president of public policy and external affairs for Verizon's northwest region. Valdez will work from the Everett office on regulatory and legislative initiatives in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Crescent City, Calif. He will oversee the Verizon Foundation, which gives grants to nonprofit organizations in the Northwest. Valdez has worked with government agencies on Internet and telecommunications policies for developing markets.

Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers

Shelby Howe was named sales manager for Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers. Howe will oversee sales of convention business in the southeast region and Washington, D.C., including the governmental sector.

Marriott International

Marriott International announced the Redmond Marriott Town Center is scheduled to open in June. The 262-room property owned by Western International is located at 7401 164th Ave. The hotel will employ 125 associates. Redmond Marriott Town Center will have 10,000-square-feet of meeting space, including two boardrooms. For more information, call (425) 498-4120.

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines appointed Ben Minicucci staff vice president of maintenance. Minicucci will be responsible for Alaska Airlines' base and line maintenance, and production support. More than 1,000 technicians and management employees will report to him.

Positively For Kids

Russ Riggins, Shivonne Byrne and Jeff Keuss are new executives of Positively For Kids, a Kirkland-based publisher of character-building books for children. Greg Brown, who founded the series in 1992, will continue to ghost write under the new management team. New books feature athletes Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors, Eric Gagne of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brad Johnson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Apr 23, 2004

Columbia Bank

Tacoma-based Columbia Bank promoted Michael Drake to retail credit administrator. Drake will supervise new loans and renewals, loan policy, and credit products and services.

Alderbrook

Alderbrook named Mary Garcia director of human resources. Garcia will recruit applicants and process new hires. Garcia will continue to work in human resources with Woodmark Hotel and Spa in Kirkland. Garcia was a corporate recruiter for AT&T Wireless Services in Kirkland. Alderbrook is located in the town of Union, on the shores of the Hood Canal, and is set to re-open in June. It will have a full spa, fitness center, waterfront restaurant and meeting

WhiteTie

WhiteTie appointed Keith Gibson vice president of partner relations. Gibson was a western regional manager at the Oracle Corp. WhiteTie is a hospitality and philanthropic organization with partners in Seattle, Portland, Whistler and Vancouver, B.C. WhiteTie's partners include hotels, resorts, arts organizations, restaurants, retail outlets and professional sports teams.

Icicle Creek Music Center

Gerald Clodfelter will join the Icicle Creek Music Center as director of philanthropy. Icicle is a non-profit based in Leavenworth and offers educational and performance programming. Clodfelter worked with the Evergreen Healthcare Foundation in Kirkland and directed 11 capital and four endowment campaigns. He specializes in working with major gift donors.

Hentschell & Associates

Ted Hentschell has been promoted to vice president at the Tacoma insurance brokerage firm of Hentschell & Associates. Tricia Hendrickson, who has a background in construction insurance, is a new account manager.

Discovery Institute

Former governor of Wisconsin Scott McCallum has been named a senior fellow of Seattle-headquartered Discovery Institute. McCallum is president and CEO of The McCallum Group. He will work on state and regional development. Discovery is a national think tank and aims to promote representative government, the free market and individual liberty. Current projects explore science and culture, national defense, transportation, public life and foreign affairs.