May 14, 1996

Piper Jaffray

Michael O'Brien has joined the Seattle office of Piper Jaffray as an investment executive. He was formerly with Prudential Securities in Santa Barbara. Warren Mach is new in the Seattle office as vice president-investments. Mach was sales manager with Merrill Lynch in Seattle and Federal Way and is a 17-year veteran of the industry.

Siefkes Group

Brad Chatfield has joined the Seattle public relations company Siefkes Group as an account executive. He was formerly with the Pierce County Herald in Puyallup.

Paramount Hotel

Audrey Fan was recently hired as director of sales for the Paramount Hotel. She was formerly with the East King County Convention and Visitors Bureau as senior convention sales manager. She also worked for the Warwick Hotel and the Resort at Port Ludlow. Fan has seven years experience in the industry and will oversee all activities in the Paramount Hotel. The 148-room, 12-story hotel is located at Eighth and Pine in downtown Seattle and will open in August.

Parks and Recreation Commission

Glenna Hall, a partner in the law firm of Hall and Holman, has been elected chair of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. The seven-member citizen commission manages 124 developed parks statewide. Hall has served on the commission for 10 years. Robert Petersen, former Port of Ilwaco manager, was elected vice chair. Jack Shreve of Wenatchee was elected secretary.

MacDonald Recording

Paul Goldberg has signed a letter of intent to acquire MacDonald Recording, a Seattle audio production and sound design studio. Goldberg is a sound engineer and has been an employee for five years. He and several partners will become owners of MacDonald Recording which will continue to operate under that name for the foreseeable future. The firm was established in 1979 and produces sound for TV, radio and film.

Office Support Services Association

Office Support Services Association installed a new board of directors this month. Suzanne Keel-Eckmann of Absolute Business Services is president. Lisa Schaff of GFP Business Center is vice president. Pam Maybee is secretary and Laurie Larsen is treasurer. The association is a nonprofit trade association of secretarial and business service professionals.

Wood-Lam Structures

Brian Mandt and Geoffrey Carson have joined Wood-Lam Structures Inc. Mandt is the new direct sales representative, specializing in Glu-lam beams, Glu-lam and timber trusses, Lock-Deck laminated decking, and wood pedestrian and vehicle bridges. Carson is the new erected sales representative. He specializes in wood, wood/steel and steel structures.

May 13, 1996

Seattle Art Museum

Seattle Art Museum Director Mimi Neill has announced the appointment of Trevor Fairbrother to the museum's chief curatorial position, effective Aug. 1. Presently the Beal curator of contemporary art at the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston, Fairbrother brings 15 years of curatorial experience from the MFA, having served as curator in both the American paintings and contemporary art departments.

Bell Harbor Conference Center

Bell Harbor International Conference Center continues to round out its management and operations team with the addition of three new members. Steven M. LaRose will be operations manager for audio visual. He joins Bell Harbor from his post at the AT&T Learning Center in New Jersey. His experience includes seven years in the staging, concert and corporate audio visual industry. Rebecco J(Zi Jie) Zou will serve as the conference center's conference services concierge. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and previously served as a sales representative and coordinator for the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Xi'an, China. Laurie Reinhart will work in the conference services department as a planning manager. Most recently she was director of catering at Seattle's Claremont Hotel and previously served as conference planning manager at the Ocean Edge Conference Center in Brewster, Mass. Bell Harbor International Conference Center, scheduled to open in June, will be a 52,000-sq.-ft. meeting facility on Seattle's downtown waterfront at Bell Street Pier (Pier 66). It is owned by the Port of Seattle and managed by Seattle-based CRG Hospitality.

Caffe Appassionato

Cafe Appassionato Specialty Coffee Roasting Co. has announced three appointments. Carl Jeffers is vice president and chief operating officer of the franchise division. He has 14 years of experience in the franchise industry and was the founder and president of Intel Marketing Systems, a franchise consulting firm based in Los Angeles. Said Jeffers: "I am here to help Caffe Appassionato reach its goal of 350 national franchised stores in the next five years, with additional expansion internationally." Stephen McHugh has been named wholesale account manager. Prior to joining Caffe Appassionato, McHugh spent 13 years with Magnolia Hi-Fi in various sales and management positions. John Nelson is the company's new grocery store sales director. Previously Nelson was a sales support representative with Active Voice Corp. Founded in 1991 by president Phil Sancken and executive vice president Tucker McHugh, Seattle-based Caffe Appassionato is a coffee retailer, franchiser and distributor of over 30 different roasts of coffee. The company has five Seattle area coffee stores and three stores in the Boston area. It also provides coffee to full-service restaurants, private clubs, offices and specialty food stores throughout the U.S.

Benchmark Group

The Benchmark Group has announced the implementation of its first regional health plan. Designed to serve companies with employees in three Northwest states, this preferred provider plan features a network of more than 20,000 providers and more than 120 hospitals. The Benchmark Group is an affiliation of four health plans: King County Medical Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oregon, MSB-Blue Shield of Idaho and Pierce County Medical.

ProVideo Productions

ProVideo Productions has expanded its facilities to include five edit suites, in-house non-linar editing, concept design and graphic development, CD-ROM production and upgraded computer graphics and animation. Founded in 1979, ProVideo produces video programs ranging from one-camera documentation to major training and sales videos and broadcast-level productions. The company recently moved to 80 S. Washington St. in Seattle.