Dec 05, 1995

WSU

Washington State University civil engineering professor Roy Pellerin has been named Wood Materials and Engineering Laboratory director. He succeeds Tom Maloney. Pellerin has been on the teaching faculty at WSU since 1985 and specializes in non-destructive testing and structural properties of wood. He is co-inventor of 12 patented systems for grading wood, testing beams, tensile measurement, axial load testing and evaluating the mechanical properties of composite materials.

Leisure Care

Kenneth Hooge has been hired as construction manager for Leisure Care retirement communities. Hooge has 20 years of management and development experience. His new duties include facilities management, space planning, and management of vendors, contractors and the construction process. He most recently served as senior vice president of American Baptist Homes.

Commercial Tool Company

Commercial Tool Company is now open for business at 1215 Center St. in Tacoma. The company carries a full line of name-brand tools and supplies from over 30 manufacturers for the commercial woodworking industry and other disciplines. The new store is open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Store manager is Bob Underwood. Phone is (206) 272-4343.

Burke Concrete Accessories

Dywidag Systems International USA Inc. has designated Burke Concrete Accessories as its distributor of Dywidag form tie systems for medium and heavy concrete forming applications in Washington, Oregon, northern California and northern Nevada. Burke, a concrete construction equipment distributor, has offices locally in Kent, Everett and Portland.

ASHRAE

Claire Barrett has been named manager of technical services of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. She will coordinate the society's technical committee activities and answer a wide range of technical inquiries from the public. Barrett was formerly a mechanical/process engineer for Bechtel. She holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University.

Zoning code open house

King County is conducting three open houses during December to inform the public about the new Title 21A zoning code that became effective earlier this year. Under the new code, all previously established P-suffix standards were carried forward for review under the new Title 21A standards. The first open house will be held today from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Redmond Library, 15810 N.E. 85th St. The second will take place Dec. 7, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Lake Wilderness Community Center, 22500 S.E. 248th St. The final open house will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec. 12 at the Federal Way Regional Library, 34200 First Way S. For further information, contact Lee Carte at (206) 296-7146.

WCOE

Women Construction Owners and Executives is hosting a representative from the Construction Industry Training Council to discuss its labor force training and apprenticeship programs. The Dec. 13 meeting will also include WCOE's usual feature Business Opportunity of the Month. The event will begin at 6 p.m. at Franco's Hidden Harbor restaurant in Seattle. For further information, contact Ann McPhee at (206) 882-2002.

CSI exam

An application deadline of Dec. 15 has been announced for the Construction Specification Institute's Certified Construction Product Representative examination. The exam will be given March 30, 1996, in more than 80 cities in the United States. The exam and related program are open to all construction product representatives who have passed CSI's Construction Documents Technology exam, have at least one year experience representing one construction product line, and have assisted in preparing technical specifications sections. CSI has also announced a Dec. 15 application deadline for its Certified Construction Specifier examination, which will given March 30, 1996. The exam and related program are open to anyone in the construction industry who has at least five years of experience in a construction design discipline, who has prepared or supervised the preparation of construction documents, and who has passed CSI's Construction Documents Technology examination. For further information, or to request an application, contact CSI at (800) 689-2900, or write: CSI, 601 Madison St., Alexandria, VA 22314-1791.

Air monitoring

Bob Checca of All West Underground will speak about air monitors at the Dec. 8 meeting of the Seattle District Safety Committee of the Associated General Contractors of Washington. The meeting will be held between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. at the AGC Education Center, 1200 Westlake Ave. N., Suite 301, Seattle.

PDCA program

Painting and Decorating Contractors of America has introduced a certification program for residential painting contractors. The program is the product of a yearlong strategic planning process that identified improving the professionalism and image of painting contractors as one of its main goals. Open to PDCA members only, the program requires contractors to demonstrate that they are complying with all required licenses, tax laws and workers' compensation rules. In addition, they must demonstrate that they carry appropriate levels of insurance, follow appropriate accounting procedures, maintain a business plan with projections for five years, and have a comprehensive safety program implemented in accordance with OSHA requirements. There is also a written examination at the end of the process that requires applicants to demonstrate that they understand the procedures. The program initially focused on the residential contracting market, but PDCA is now planning on expanding it to include commercial and industrial contractors.

Clover Park Technical College

Tacoma-based Clover Park Technical College (CPTC) has promoted two staff members to the director level and added two directors to fill vacancies. Mike Anderson, formerly an instructor of the tool and equipment rental and repair program, is director of plant services. He is president of the Clover Park Vocational Association. Prior to joining the CPTC, Anderson was owner and operator of an equipment rental company in Evanston, Wyo. Jim Crabbe is a director of instruction responsible for the CPTC automotive and aviation training programs. He recently retired from the U.S. Army as an artillery officer specializing in training development and operations. Bob Holloway, formerly human relations manager for the Private Industry Council, is the new director of continuing education. Kathy Kieffer, previously an instructor in the management and employee development department, has been named director of related instruction, adult basic education and outcomes assessment.

State software firms ranked

Best Consulting, a information systems consulting firm headquartered in Seattle, was listed number 10 among Washington's 1995 Software Leaders, a ranking of the state's software and computer-related companies compiled by Washington CEO magazine. The company was in the 17th spot last year. Other companies included in the top 10 on Washington CEO fourth annual high-tech industry roundup, published in the November issue, included (from ninth place to number one): Data I/O Corp., Sierra On-Line, Walker Richer & Quinn Inc., Wall Data Inc., Itron Inc., Allied Telesyn International, Adobe Systems Inc., Attachmate Corporation and Microsoft in the lead. The rankings are based on the number of employees a company has and on revenues. Best Consulting also won an Emerging Business Award in 1995 from the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce, and was recognized as one of the fastest growing firm in Northern California, receiving a "Fast-Tract 25" honor for its growth in the Sacramento area. With the recent acquisition of Prodata, the five-year-old company employs more than 750 people and anticipates revenues of nearly $60 million in 1995. Best has two remote development centers and branches in Boise, Olympia, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Sacramento and San Francisco, and is opening a new office in Minneapolis.

Kindred Nolan & Callahan Advertising

Longtime Elgin Syferd advertising and public relations executive Bob Frause has joined Kindred Nolan & Callahan Advertising as the Seattle agency's fourth partner. The new firm will be named Kindred Nolan Callahan Frause. Primary areas of expertise include financial services, electronic and digital technologies, environmental, grocery and restaurant services, consumer goods, travel and tourism, heath care, and maritime. Frause, 50, had been with Elgin Syferd for nearly 10 years. Previously, he was a partner and vice president of marketing for Commercial Publishing. He also worked for the Economic Development Council of Puget Sound, where he was deputy and executive director from 1981 to 1984); Seattle University (director of communications and development from 1978 to 1981); and Hill and Knowlton Public Relations (director of account services, 1971 to 1978).

Banana Pages On-line

Banana Pages On-line, an Internet version of the fun neighborhood telephone directories distributed in the Seattle and Portland markets, is offering free classified ads. The service allows readers from anywhere in the world to type in their own ad for posting on the Internet. The entire yellow pages database for Metropolitan Seattle and Portland are available on-line to be searched and selected. The web-site address (URL) is http://www.ebp.com. For more information, contact John Richards at (206) 937-5550, ext. 102, or by e-mail at JohnR@ebp.com.

Environmental cost accounting seminar

A live, interactive satellite seminar entitled "Environmental Cost Accounting and Capital Budgeting for Small and Midsize Manufacturers" will be held on Dec. 13 from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Design for the Environment group, the seminar will focus on the connection between environmental cost accounting and investment decision-making, and will introduce total cost assessment as an improved approach to conventional accounting practices. Two case studies will be presented, including Precision Circuits of Lynnwood, which recently completed a collaborative project with the Pollution Prevention Research Center and the University of Washington to test the usefulness of total cost assessment as a cost-assessment tool. The small manufacturer of printed circuit boards assessed the purchase of plastic coated racks to eliminate a nitric acid strip bath and a chemistry change in the waste treatment process to minimize waste generation. A video about the company's experience will be shown, and a representative will participate in the interactive portion of the seminar. For information about downlink locations or arranging a downlink site, contact Blaine Howerton at National Technological University at (970) 495-6423. Contact Jason Omenn at PPRC at (206) 223-1151 for details about the downlink location in Seattle.

Book proceeds to help fight wildlife crime

ASHLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Why would someone pay $500 for a book? Tell them the proceeds go to fight wildlife crime around the world. By selling 2,500 copies of the book "North American Endangered & Protected Species," filled with prints of 80 original paintings by wildlife artists, Ralph Wehinger hopes to build an endowment for the International Wildlife Forensics Foundation. The foundation then would pay to bring people fighting wildlife crime in foreign countries, particularly poor Third World countries, to Ashland to learn from scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory. "Linking law enforcement people from countries like Uganda, Rwanda and Chile with the forensics lab in Ashland so they can go home and make a difference will go a long way towards maintaining the biodiversity we need on this planet," said Wehinger, an Eagle Point chiropractor. The campaign kicked off Thursday night with a showing of some of the prints at the Hanson Howard Gallery here, attended by Linda Day-George, star of the "Mission Impossible" television series, who serves as spokeswoman for the campaign. Wehinger was among the people who helped persuade the federal government to build the forensics laboratory, the only one in the world devoted to wildlife crime, in southern Oregon. He also is founder of the International Wildlife Recovery Center, under construction in Lake Creek outside Eagle Point to clean birds injured by oil spills. The lab has made breakthroughs that allow scientists to testify with certainty whether something seized at the border, such as a purse, was made from an endangered species, making it illegal to bring it into this country. By law, contributions can't go directly to the forensics lab, so Wehinger created the foundation.

Applicants sought for environmental projects

The Puget Sound Water Quality Authority is requesting proposals for Public Involvement and Education (PIE) Model Project Funds. During this round of funding, more than a third of a million dollars is available to projects relating directly to the cleanup and protection of Puget Sound. Any individual, business or community organization, tribe, school or local government agency may receive PIE funds. State colleges, universities and community colleges also may apply. Maximum funding is $40,000 per project. Workshops to assist applicants in writing proposals will be held Jan. 8-11, 1996, at various locations around Puget Sound and attendance at one of them is highly recommended. Proposals are due Jan. 31. Call the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority at (800) 54-SOUND or (360) 407-7300 to request a copy of the Round 10 Request for Proposal, or fax your request to (360) 407-7333. Since 1987, the authority, a non-regulatory agency charged with developing and overseeing the implementation of the Puget Sound Water Quality Management Plan, has allocated over $3.88 million for 219 PIE projects. Funding for the PIE program comes from the Centennial Clean Water Fund and is allocated by the state legislature.

Foster Wheeler gets $14 million contract

CLINTON, N.J. (BW) -- Foster Wheeler Environmental Corp. has been awarded a Technology Management Support (TMS) contract with Battelle Memorial Institute's Pacific Northwest Laboratories (PNL) in Richland. The potential $14 million, two-year, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract is designed to provide PNL with support in assessing, developing, demonstrating, and deploying technologies to solve environmental, energy, and national security problems at Department of Energy (DOE) and other federal agency facilities under Battelle's prime contract with DOE. Foster Wheeler Environmental Corp. is an international environmental consulting, engineering, and construction firm employing over 1,800 people in a range of environmental sciences and engineering disciplines.

Clausing named regional ecosystem director

Ted Clausing, a veteran habitat biologist at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, has been named acting regional ecosystem director for the Region 3 area covering much of central Washington. Clausing's charge will be to communicate to central Washington landowners and local officials how their actions impact fish and wildlife, and to help staff from various programs in the Yakima office continue enhancing fish and wildlife resources. An 18-year employee of the agency, Clausing has served as the regional habitat program manager in the Yakima office since 1988. Prior to that, he spent seven years as an area wildlife biologist in Kennewick. Clausing also has served in Walla Walls, Bridgeport and Olympia during his departmental career.

Wolves winter at WSU

PULLMAN (AP) -- Wolves are wintering at Washington State University. A pack of 10 wolves will live at the university until a new home is completed for them next year near Yellowstone National Park. The gray wolves are staying at WSU's bear research facility. The school's bears are currently hibernating for the winter in another building. Because the research center is visible to pedestrians, people are getting a rare close-up look at the wolves. "When people come, they can see very much what wolves act like in the wild," said Einav Shochat, a graduate student in zoology and caretaker of the animals. The wolves will stay at WSU until April, when they will move to a new home at the Grizzly Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Mont. The 10 wolves were born in captivity in Montana, and will never be released into the wild. One wolf is 18 months old and is the leader of the pack. The others were born last May.