Oct 19, 1995

Watson Wyatt

Seattle-based Watson Wyatt Worldwide, an international human resources and management consulting firm, has hired Valerie Stevens as Northwest retirement practice leader. Stevens has particular expertise in coordinating retirement benefits alignment studies, early retirement incentive programs and strategic retirement planning. Prior to joining Watson Wyatt, she was a consulting actuary with Towers Perrin in Houston and San Francisco. She began her actuarial career with Safeco Life Insurance in Seattle in 1984, and has served as primary actuary to public and private sector organizations including Continental Airlines, San Francisco city and county, and Union Texas Petroleum.

MWW/Savitt

Dana Smith has joined Seattle's MWW/Savitt, the West Coast office of independent public relations firm MWW/Strategic Communications Inc., as an account executive. Previously, Smith was deputy director of communications for Northwest Strategies. She honed her government relations savvy and writing skills during a four-year tenure as public information officer for the Democratic Legislative Services office at the Washington State House of Representatives.

Puget Sound Therapy Services

Allen Weymiller has been named practice manager for Puget Sound Therapy Services. Weymiller comes to PSTS after five years as an administrator for the University of Washington's Housing Services Department. Prior to that, he worked for the Housing Services department at Michigan State University. With offices in Kent, Seattle, Tacoma, Bremerton and Bainbridge Island, PSTS is one of Western Washington's largest locally owned providers of occupational, physical and speech therapists.

KOMO TV

KOMO TV 4, a Seattle affiliate of ABC owned and operated by Fisher Broadcasting, has made several additions and promotions hired in its news department. Debra Preitkis, previously a TV news producer at KOAT TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been hired as the weekday morning TV news producer. Alan Blaich has been hired as a TV sports photo journalist. He formerly worked for KTXL in Sacramento as a news/sports photo journalist. Tina Pontecorvo has been promoted to TV news writer/producer. Previously, Pontecorvo worked for KOMO TV as a part-time TV news writer in 1994 and in 1993 as a Microwave production assistant. And, Sharon Quashie has been hired as TV news receptionist/desk monitor. Before joining KOMO, she worked for Seattle's KIRO TV in local programming.

Washington State University

Three executives from Trillium Corp. have been named Washington State University's Fall De Young executive-in-residence program. The Bellingham-based company acquires, develops and manages a portfolio of real estate and natural resource assets in the United States, Canada and Chile with a value approaching $500 million. Chairman and chief executive officer David Syre, a 1964 WSU graduate who founded and owns Trillium, and co-presidents Steve Brinn and Erik Anderson will be on the Pullman campus Oct. 26 and 27 to visit classes and share their company's story with students. As part of that visit, the trio will present a public program, "Entrepreneurial Leadership, Artistry and Hope," at 8 p.m. on Oct. 26 in the Todd Hall Annex, Room 276. The executive-in-residence program, established in 1973 and later sponsored by the Dennis DeYoung family of Kirkland, brings regional, national and international business leaders to WSU.

Oct 18, 1995

Seattle Weekly

After 19 years as a paid-circulation publication, Seattle Weekly will shift to free distribution and increase circulation to 50,000, a 50 percent jump, beginning with its Nov. 1 issue. David Brewster, founder, publisher and editor of Seattle Weekly, pointed out that the majority of city weeklies have gone to free distribution and cited Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles as successful models. Seattle Weekly's sister paper, Eastsideweek, with a circulation of 31,000, has been offered as a free weekly for the past five years. Some of the funding needed to support the increase in Seattle Weekly circulation will come from the sale of Sasquatch Books, best known for its Best Places guidebook series. Sasquatch Books has been a division of Sasquatch Publishing, which also publishes Seattle Weekly, since 1986. Paid home delivery subscriptions will continue, but all other copies will be available free at 1,000 retail and newsbox locations throughout the city. Current subscribers preferring to pick up the paper free may discontinue their subscriptions, and the company will make good on the unfulfilled portion through premium offers.

Economic Investment Advisors

Economic Investment Advisors, a Seattle-based private money management firm, has appointed Edward A. Bondy as vice president, responsible for sales of EIA's services to institutional and retail investors in the Pacific Northwest. Previously, Bondy was regional vice president for The Pioneer Funds Distributor. During his 15-year career in the industry, he has also held account executive positions with Kidder Peabody & Co. and Crowell Weedon & Co.

Fairbanks Industrial Development Corp.

Air Cargo Express, a new Fairbanks-based air carrier, has begun its all-cargo service between Fairbanks and Barrow, Alaska. Scheduled operations are for four days a week. The fledging airline's fleet consists of one ex-U.S. Air Force C-118 (DC-6) resurrected from the Arizona desert and brought into Part 121 conformity. The company already offers non-scheduled charter service throughout Alaska.

BEST Consulting acquires Prodata

Seattle-based Business Enterprise Systems and Technology Inc. (BEST) has acquired Prodata, a Boise-headquartered information technology consulting firm with eight offices in the western United States including one in Seattle. Both companies offer the same technological services, including management consulting, system integration, development and implementation of new application systems and support of current systems. The combined company anticipates revenues of almost $60 million in 1995 and plans to expand its workforce to 700 employees. In addition to its Seattle office, BEST has offices in Olympia and Portland, and is in the process of opening a new location in Minneapolis. The company was listed as one of the top 100, high-technology firms by Washington CEO magazine and Resolution Press last year.