Jan 21, 1997

TCI

TCI Media Services, Seattle, has promoted Rich Strauss to manager of TV Mart, the company's 24-hour shopping and information network. He will oversee sales and programming for the network, which now serves 355,000 TCI homes in the Puget Sound region. Dan Whipple, a management information systems assistant and video editor at TCI, was named the company's 1996 "Most Valuable Player."

Ultima Systems

John Kehoe has been named chief financial officer for Ultima Systems, one of the Northwest's largest travel clubs. His responsibilities include investment development and overall financial management. Kehoe joins Ultima from TRA, an architecture and engineering firm, where he was vice president of finance and administration. Before joining TRA, he was vice president, controller and treasurer for Horizon Airlines. Ultima Systems has sold over 10,500 memberships and company revenues for 1996 will exceed $20 million.

Washington State Quality Awards

The VIOX Corporation, Seattle, has been chosen as the recipient of the 1996 Washington State Quality Award. The award is given to an organization that has achieved exceptional quality performance. VIOX is a small, private manufacturer of electronic glass materials. Annual sales total just over $5 million. VIOX has approximately 40 employees and supplies about 30 customers, including Motorola, Dupont, AVX and Kemet. Studio 904, a hair salon with locations in Pioneer Square and Mercer Island, received a certificate of merit for progress in quality management. The awards were established by the state legislature to publicize successful quality strategies.

Virginia Mason

The Sequim Family Practice Center intends to merge with Virginia Mason Medical Center effective Feb. 1. The Sequim center will join Virginia Mason Port Angeles in providing healthcare throughout Clallam County.

DyceFriend

DyceFriend, a Seattle-based public relations and promotions agency, has been awarded two new accounts: GameWorks, a business venture of Dream Works SKG, Universal and Sega; and the Wolfgang Puck Food Company which recently opened a new restaurant, ObaChine, in Seattle.

Western Washington Fair

Puyallup-area businessman, Paul Anderson, has been elected to the board of directors of the Western Washington Fair Association. Anderson takes the board position previously held by Walter Webber, who was elected director emeritus.

Kingdome

For the second consecutive year, the Kingdome has been honored as a Prime Site award winner. The award is sponsored by Facilities magazine, a New York-based monthly trade publication which covers the entertainment, convention and exposition facilities' marketplace. Award winners were chosen from nominations cast by meeting planners, trade show managers, concert/tour promoters and booking agents. Sites were rated on location, ease of set-up and breakdown, concessions and customer service.

Seattle's Best Coffee

Due to growing customer demand, Seattle's Best Coffee has added Oregon Chai as tea latte beverage in its national outlets. Oregon Chai is a tea beverage made with black tea, honey, vanilla bean, fresh ginger and spices.

USA Waste to buy Allied's Canadian units

HOUSTON (Dow Jones News) -- USA Waste Services Inc. said last Thursday it has agreed to acquire the Canadian solid waste units of Allied Waste Industries Inc. for about $518 million. The assets involved include seven landfills, 41 collection operations and eight transfer stations in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. Those operations generate annual revenue of about $270 million, the company said. USA Waste of Houston will add the acquired operations to its existing Canadian business, which include the solid waste operations acquired in August from Philip Environmental Inc. and certain other assets from its merger with Sanifill Inc. After the acquisition is completed, the company's Canadian operations will have annual revenue of about $340 million. USA Waste had revenue of $457.1 million in 1995, but with its recent acquisition spree it reported revenue of $963 million for the nine months ending Sept. 30. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Allied Waste said it would use the proceeds from the sale to pay down about $500 million of debt, reducing its debt load to less than 75 percent of its total capitalization from more than 80 percent. After the sale, Allied will operate 46 landfills, 81 collection locations, 33 transfer stations and 23 recycling operations. Also on Thursday, USA Waste announced plans to sell $300 million of convertible debt securities and 10 million of its shares. The company did not disclose when the offering would be held.

Market your technologies on the Internet

SEATTLE -- David Fleming, founder of Environmental Sales & Marketing in Bellevue, will give an overview of possible marketing strategies on the Internet at the next Washington Environmental Industry Association (WEIA) luncheon. The luncheon is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Washington Athletic Club, Heritage Room, 1325 Sixth Ave., Seattle. Fleming will focus on the following questions: Why all the hype about the Internet? How is it being used for marketing? What are the opportunities, benefits and pitfalls? How can you use the Internet for the benefit of your company? How are other people using the Internet? And what does the future hold? Fleming has been a WEIA board member since 1990 and has conducted sales and marketing in the environmental industry since 1988. He is establishing a new company, Global Environmental Marketplace (GEM), which will help environmental firms market and sell their technologies, services and products to the world through the Internet. GEM should be up and running by late February. The cost of the luncheon is $25 for WEIA member and $30 for non-members. Reservations are required by Jan. 24. Checks should be made payable to WEIA and should be sent to: WEIA, 4000 N.E. 41st St., Seattle, WA 98105. For information, call (206) 528-3410.

New head of Fish and Wildlife Commission

OLYMPIA -- On Friday the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission unanimously elected Commissioner Lisa Pelly as chairwoman. Pelly is the first woman to lead the commission. Commissioner Roger Contor was elected vice-chairman. Both Pelly and Contor will serve two-year terms. Pelly is assuming leadership of the commission from Mitch Johnson. She is a noted fly fisher and founder of the Northwest Women Flyfishers. A landscape designer, Pelly lives in Battle Ground. Contor was appointed to the commission two years ago after a 34-year career with the National Park Service. His last position was director of parks and natural preserves in Alaska, where he managed sport hunting on 20 million acres of preserves. He lives in Ellensburg. In other Fish and Wildlife news, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Ducks Unlimited purchased a Columbia River island last week that is an important nesting site for waterfowl and other birds. Located near Longview opposite Willow Grove, Fisher Island offers approximately 257 acres of wildlife habitat for great blue heron, bald eagles, ducks and geese. The department and Ducks Unlimited bought the island for $230,000 from Lloyd Ewing, who lived there in the 1940s. Ewing said he rejected several previous offers to purchase the land because he wanted to preserve its wildlife habitat. The $230,000 came from Ducks Unlimited and the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition. The department will manage the island as part of the Shillapoo/Mount St. Helens Wildlife Area.

Olympic Coast marine sanctuary meeting set

LACEY -- The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary's Advisory Council will meet Jan. 31 at the Department of Ecology's headquarters building in Lacey. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m., and public comments are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. The Council is made up of 15 representatives from local and regional organizations and agencies who advise the sanctuary manager on policy and strategic planning issues. The sanctuary encompasses 3,300 square miles off the Washington coast from Cape Flattery to the mouth of the Copalis River. The sanctuary's resources include 29 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises, large populations of nesting seabirds, Native American communities and archaeological sites, and some of the last remaining wilderness coastline in the country. For more information on the meeting or the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, call (360) 457-6622.

Study will determine if Keiko can go free

PORTLAND (AP) -- Scientists are ready to begin a one-year study of Keiko, the killer whale that starred in "Free Willy," to determine if he can survive in the wild. The orca came to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport a year ago from a much smaller facility in Mexico. "We will be announcing the findings in the form of a release date or with the conclusion that he is a happier animal but not suitable for release," said Beverlee Hughes, president of the Free Willy-Keiko Foundation. "We believe his chances for survival are going to be good. Right now that's just been based on the progress he's made. It needs to be based on science." The foundation has enlisted researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and the University of California at Santa Cruz to examine the 8,700-pound whale. Keiko has been in captivity for 17 years. He was 2 years old when captured in the waters off Iceland. Researchers will test his eyesight, hearing, ability to community and use of echolocation. Orcas and other toothed whales use echo location, sending out sounds and listening to echoes, to find both their food and their way. Hughes said the scientists will gather information about what kinds of sounds Keiko makes and whether they are the sounds emitted by any of the six pods of orcas that migrate through Icelandic waters. "Keiko has been in three different countries and has been around other animals, and he's a mimic," Hughes said. "Sometimes the noises he makes are dolphin clickings; sometimes they're fire engines from Mexico City. So we need to identify any Icelandic whale sounds he may make and compare them to a database of Icelandic whale sounds. That will allow us to better identify the migrating pod he may belong to." William N. Lange of Woods Hole has designed a six-part research program that will also document the whale's swimming speeds, his heart rate and respiration rates. The 21-foot-long whale has gained more than 1,000 pounds in 12 months in Oregon. He previously lived in an amusement park in Mexico City. "The past year has been focused on getting him healthy," Hughes said. "Now this is going to be the year of pure research and science for Keiko."