Mar 11, 1996

Edmonds Community College

Carol Berg-Christiansen, vice president for college relations and development at the Edmonds Community College, has received the CASE District VIII Distinguished Service Award bestowed by District III of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Berg-Christiansen served 19 years as director of the Seattle Community College District's public and community relations program.

Interactive Catalog Corp.

Seattle-based Interactive Catalog Corporation, a privately-held company dedicated to helping businesses participate in and reap rewards from electronic commerce, has hired Bo Wandell as vice president of sales. Wandell is a former vice president of sales for Compuserve/Spry, a company producing Internet software.

Itron

Spokane-headquartered Itron, a supplier of energy information and communications solutions to the utility industry, has named David G. Remington to the position of chief financial officer. Remington was most recently a managing director of Dean Witter Realty Inc. and Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. He joined Dean Witter Reynolds' San Francisco office in 1988 as a investment banker.

Seafirst

Grant Pavolka, Seafirst senior vice president & manager for Community Business, has announced that the bank ranked 15th in the nation for U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) guaranteed loans made during the government's fiscal year ending September 30, 1995. Seafirst made 183 loans valued at more than $22 million.

Westin Hotels and Resorts

Westin Hotels & Resorts has linked its Westin Travel Guide web site to TravelWeb's site, allowing guests reservations capabilities. Guests may access Westin's reservations system, receive descriptions of room types and rates, and make actual reservations using credit cards as payment.

Aalbu Landscape Maintenance Inc.

Everett-based Aalbu Landscape Maintenance Inc., has announced the opening of a Bellevue office. Carol Ford is the new branch manager. She brings an extensive background in both horticulture and business management.

Career Dynamics'96 Conference

Career Dynamics'96, the ninth annual Women's Conference, will be held on Wednesday, April 3, at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, in downtown Seattle. The one-day conference will feature speakers, a special musical guest appearance by folk singer Ann Reed, and a dozen concurrent breakout workshops on a wide variety of subjects. For more information, call the Seattle Federal Executive Board at (206) 220-6171.

Mar 07, 1996

Parks and Cultural Resources

King County Executive Gary Locke has appointed two new division managers to the King County Parks and Cultural Resources Department. Mickey Fearn has been named as recreation and aquatics division manager. Fearn was recently the innovations project director for the city of Seattle. And, Bobbi Wallace has been named as maintenance and operations division manager. For the past three years, Wallace has been the North division manager for Seattle Parks and Recreation.

Country Harvest Buffet Restaurants

Bellevue-based Country Harvest Buffet Restaurants, owning and operating 34 buffet-style restaurants in seven Western states and Canada, has brought on board Greg Dollarhyde as its new president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Dollarhyde was formerly both vice chairman of Roasters Corp., the parent company of the Kenny Rogers Roasters restaurant concept, and chairman and chief executive officer of FOODQUEST Inc., a Florida based company. Dollarhyde will also be elected to the company's board of directors. In conjunction with the engagement of Dollarhyde, Chicago-based CHB Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Heller Financial which currently owns 96% of the common stock of Country Harvest, has executed an agreement in principle with Dollarhyde and another private investor to sell substantially all of the common stock of Country Harvest Buffet Restaurants Inc., subject to certain residual rights, to a newly-formed corporation controlled by Dollarhyde.

Bell Harbor

Stephanie A. Hill has been named national sales manager for Bell Harbor International Conference Center, a meeting facility located on Seattle's downtown waterfront which is scheduled to open in June. Hill joins Bell Harbor after an extended volunteer project and archeology dig in South America on Easter Island. Prior to that, she was capital campaign officer for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Additionally, Joie L. Rice has been named banquet sales manager. Most recently, Rice was an event coordinator at Kiana Lodge in Poulsbo.

Port of Everett

Eric Russell has been hired by the Port of Everett for the newly created position of accountant/network specialist. For the past five years, Russell has worked at the Washington State Housing Finance Commission as a financial analyst.

First Choice Health

First Choice Health Network Inc., a network of 64 hospitals and nearly 6,400 health care providers, has named Judith Ann Sarafin as vice president for operations. Sarafin joined First Choice Health in 1994 as director of operations. She has 18 years of health care experience in indemnity, preferred provider organization, health maintenance organization and clinical work.

Convention and Visitors Bureau

The Bellingham/Whatcom County Convention & Visitors Bureau's Internet site won the 1996 Washington State Tourism Georgie Award presented at the state tourism conference Feb. 29 in Everett. The bureau's award was one of nine presented to statewide agencies for outstanding tourism programs. The site was developed by Pacific Rim Network of Bellingham.

Graphic Associates

Bellevue-based Graphic Associates, a marketing communications firm, has completed the design/development of its website for an athletic apparel line. The firm is also working on the development of various sites with other clients.