Jan 18, 1996

BEST Consulting

Kirkland-based Best Consulting has opened a Minneapolis branch serving the nation's Upper Midwest Region. The office is the 11th location for the technology consulting firm. Best Consulting provides technical expertise to a diverse client group including Microsoft, AT &T Wireless, Allied Signal and Washington Mutual. Other offices are located in Olympia, Portland, Boise, Las Vegas, Reno, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Francisco and Sacramento.

Northwest Cable Advertising

Northwest Cable Advertising has established a new office in Bellevue to serve a rapidly growing base of Eastside advertisers. Located at 3626 156th Ave SE, the office will share space with the regional all-sports cable network, Prime Sports. Northwest Cable Advertising provides advertisers access to 14 popular cable networks. The office will be managed by Keri Pickel.

Port of Portland

The Port of Portland will add two new ocean container carriers and will expand its service to Japan through an existing carrier. On January 21, the Taiwan-based Yangming Marine Transport Corporation will enter the Portland market on a weekly-call basis under a space-chartering alliance with "K" Line. Also entering the market will be London-based P & O Container Ltd. The consortium of NYK Line, Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. (NOL) and Hapag-Lloyd AG announced that P & O will join its ranks this spring, allowing all four carriers to share container space on each other's ships. In addition to its vessel sharing agreement, the consortium will add three ports in Japan this spring to its Far East Express service, expanding its transpacific trade coverage area with Portland.

Washington Natural Gas

Kathryn O. Sharp and Nina M. Odell have been appointed as directors of their departments with the Washington Natural Gas Company. Kathryn Sharp has been promoted to director of employee and organizational development in the human resource department. Previously she served as the manager of employee relations. Sharp joined the company in 1990 as a public relations representative and also served as educational services representative and employee communications team leader. Nina Odell has been promoted to director of government and consumer affairs. Her responsibilities include working with local governments throughout the company's five-county area, as well as involvement in developing the company's consumer policies. Odell joined the company in 1985 and had been serving as manager of community and consumer affairs.

Jan 17, 1996

Holland America Line-Westours

Peter T. McHugh has been appointed to the new position of executive vice president for Seattle-based Holland America Line Westours Inc. His background includes more than 20 years of senior management experience in the travel industry. Most recently, he was chief executive officer of Pan American World Airways. He also held other senior marketing and sales positions with that company and has been chief operating officer. Before joining Pan Am, McHugh was with Trans World Airlines, where he held numerous management positions, including president of TWA marketing services.

Financial Security Group

Bellevue-headquartered financial advisory firm Financial Security Group has announced the opening of an additional office in downtown Seattle. The office, in the Plaza 600 Building, will be headed by Jay Bond, a senior partner.

Port of Grays Harbor

The Aberdeen-based Port of Grays Harbor has realigned its current board members and appointed new commissioner Mac McWhoter as secretary. Jack Thompson who has been on the commission for two years, was elected president; and Jack Root of Hoquiam will serve as vice president.

Totem Ocean Trailer Express

Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) Inc. has added John Gepson and Patrick Kilgore, and promoted Mike Thrasher. Gepson comes to TOTE with 25 years of experience in the transportation industry. He has worked for Sears, Roebuck and Co. for 22 years in a variety of positions, most recently as manager of special projects for Sears Logistics Services. Kilgore has been with Crowley Services since 1983, most recently serving as a senior account executive in the company's petroleum division in Anchorage. Previously, he worked for Crowley's subsidiaries -- Pacific Alaska Fuel Services, Puget Sound Tug and Barge, and Kuskokwim Transportation Company -- in various operating and seagoing marine positions. Kilgore replaces Thrasher, who has been promoted to manager of TOTE's line-haul trucking operation and TOTE's rail service to Fairbanks, Seward and Whittier. In this newly created position, Thrasher will also oversee feeder service operations with Dojer Ltd., a joint-venture vessel service to Cordova. Thrasher has been with TOTE for two years. He previously worked for the Alaska Railroad in Fairbanks, and was manager for K&W Trucking for eight years.

Elgin DDB

Seattle-based communications company Elgin DDB has been awarded a multi-million dollar account by CompuServe/Spry of Seattle, an on-line services and content provider, to manage its advertising and media efforts in 1996. The account, previously handled in-house, was awarded to Elgin DDB after the agency's Emerging Technologies group completed a project with CompuServe/Spry in the later portion of 1995 to promote its "Internet in a Box for Kids" product.

Ferguson Construction

Seattle-based Ferguson Construction has named Larry "Jr" Lunsford vice president of construction operations and Jay L. Hall vice president of corporate development. Lunsford is currently project manager for the new Price-Costco world headquarters in Issaquah. He has been with Ferguson since 1983, serving as an estimator and project manager. Hall has been with the company since 1991, directing all marketing activities. He has over 20 years of business development experience.

Pacific Housing Materials & Design

Pacific Housing Materials & Design Inc. has made several personnel changes and additions. Karri Anderson has been promoted to manager of Sales/Service and Construction. He has been with the firm for the past two years and was formerly an owner of a Japanese construction company. Satomi Watson has been promoted to office manager. She also retains her position as sales/service representative for Japan. Dr. John Knutsen has been elected a director of the company and is the fourth member of the board of directors. He is also the director of the Business Leadership School at the University of Puget Sound. Finally, Keira Hiraiwa has joined the company in the Sales/Service department. She is a recent graduate of Washington State University.

Roadway value engineering

The University of Washington's College of Engineering is presenting a Jan. 24-26 TRANSPEED course covering roadway value engineering. Course topics include value engineering fundamentals, selection phase, investigation phase, speculation phase, evaluation phase, development phase and presentation phase. Participants will receive hands-on training using actual roadway projects. Class will be held in Lacey. Cost of the course is $210 for public agency staff and $380 for others. TRANSPEED is an ongoing program of short courses for public agencies and the private sector in traffic and transportation engineering. For further information, contact Engineering Professional Programs at (206) 543-5539 or Jim McManus, TRANSPEED program manager, at (206) 543-3747.

Job safety analysis/training

The Evergreen Safety Council is offering a Jan. 25 class on job safety analysis and instruction training at 401 Pontius Ave. N. in Seattle. Participants will be shown a systematic process that is easy to use to examine every safety aspect of a job, step by step. Job instruction training is designed to address OSHA guidelines and WISHA requirements. Course fee is $165 for members and $195 for non-members. Sign-in begins at 7:30 a.m. and the program runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For further information, contact Evergreen Safety Council at (800) 521-0778.

Asbestos awareness training

The Associated General Contractors Education Foundation is presenting several classes on asbestos awareness. Participants will learn how to protect themselves and fellow employees from adverse health effects, avoid costly fines, avoid lawsuits and other topics. Class will be held at the following locations and dates: Bellevue on Jan. 23, from 9 a.m. to noon, at CITC (1930 116th Ave. N.E.); Port Orchard on Jan. 25, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Givens Community Center (1026 Sidney Ave.); Tacoma on Jan. 30, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Lakewood Community Center (9112 Lakewood Drive S.W.); Edmonds on Feb. 1, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Edmonds Community College; Seattle on Feb. 6, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Shoreline Center (18560 First Ave. N.E.); Poulsbo on Feb. 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., at the Community Recreation Center; Steilacoom on Feb. 13, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Pierce College (9401 Farwest Drive S.W.); Arlington on Feb. 15, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Cascade Valley Hospital (330 S. Stillaguamish); Auburn on Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Green River Community College (12401 S.E. 320th St.); Bremerton on Feb. 22, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Olympic College; Puyallup on Feb. 27, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Pierce College (1601 39th Ave. S.E.); and Everett on Feb. 29, from 9 a.m. to noon, at Snohomish PUD (2320 California St.). Classes are open to all members of the building and design community. Cost is $15. Registration closes three business days prior to the start of class. For further information, contact the Education Foundation at (206) 284-4500 or (800) 562-2868.

Fundamentals of energy management

A Feb. 14-15 course on the fundamentals of energy management is being offered by the Association of Energy Engineers. The seminar is being offered as a preparatory vehicle for the CEM examination. It offers a thorough review of the basics of efficiency improvement as it relates to electrical, utility, building and combustion systems. The CEM examination is scheduled for the day immediately following the course, at the same location. Registration fee for the seminar is $595 for AEE members and $695 for non-members. For further information, contact Tamara Parker at (404) 447-6415 or AEE, 4025 Pleasantdale Road, Suite 420, Atlanta, GA 30340, (770) 447-5083, ext. 210.

AGC Safety Committee meeting

The AGC of Washington Seattle District Safety Committee will meet Jan. 18 from 9-11 a.m. on the second floor or the AGC Building (1200 Westlake Ave. N., Seattle). Guest speaker will be Jim Uding of Pro-Active Lumbar Technology. He will be discussing back injury prevention and will bring his lumbar testing van with him. Other items on the agenda include fall protection revisions, staffing changes and committee reports.

NAPA class

The National Asphalt Pavement Association is offering a Jan. 29-31 paving superintendents' training course in Cleveland. The class is designed for general and paving superintendents and paving foremen. It covers such topics as principles of supervision, project planning and scheduling, human relations, traffic control, laydown methods and procedures, and compaction methods and procedures. For further information, contact the National Asphalt Pavement Association, 5100 Forbes Blvd., Lanham, MD 20706-4413, (301) 731-4748.