Needham Elected WWiB President

Pam Needham, co-owner of Alicia’s Bridal Shoppe and The Formal House in downtown Bellingham, has been elected president of Whatcom Women in Business.

The other board members elected to serve in 2002 are: Judi Edwards, owner of Systems Consulting Group, vice president of membership; Deb Day, real-estate agent, John L. Scott Real Estate, vice president of programs; Susan Radonski-Anglada, vice president and manager for Bank NorthWest’s Barkley Branch, vice president of publicity; Judy Harvey, properties account representative for the Port of Bellingham, vice president of scholarships; Mary Lee Rustand, co-owner, SSP Alternative Corrections and Preferred Animal Care, secretary; Sue Holland, vice president and operations manager for Bank NorthWest, board member at-large; Nancy Pace of the accounting firm of John N. Zaremba, CPA, immediate past president and newsletter editor. Also, Becky Raney, co-owner of Print & Copy Factory, is handling newsletter layout.

WWiB is a nonprofit organization established in 1978 by business owners and executives searching for a means to provide mutual business support and education. It meets twice each month for lunch and roundtable discussions on specific issues of concern to members, as well as occasional guest speakers and field trips to local businesses. For more information, contact Radonski-Anglada at Bank NorthWest, 714-8805.

Britain Becomes Partner at Local Law Firm

Bellingham attorney James Britain has joined Timothy Carpenter and Ronald Hardesty to create a new law firm of Carpenter, Hardesty and Britain.

The firm, which opened Jan. 1, is located in the former offices of Carpenter and Hardesty at 222 Grand Ave., Bellingham.

Britain, a Phi Beta Kappa, graduated with highest honors from Washington State University before earning a law degree at Duke University and a graduate law degree from Temple University. His practice now emphasizes commercial litigation, real estate planning, probate and business and corporate formation and transactions.

Britain has extensive experience in construction litigation and represents a number of Washington affiliates of Canadian companies, many in the construction industry. He previously maintained the legal office of Britain Flynn, also of Bellingham. A Washington native, he moved to Bellingham in 1995 from Cincinnati, where he practiced for 12 years.

Carpenter and Hardesty combined their legal practice in 1982. Carpenter, a graduate of Western Washington University and Gonzaga University’s School of Law, emphasizes real-estate law, estate planning and probate and business law. Hardesty, also a Western graduate with a law degree from the Puget Sound School of Law, practices primarily in family law. His emphasis is on dissolutions of marriage with complex property division issues or child custody determinations.

Bergquist Recognized as Financial Consultant

Eric Bergquist, a sales representative in Bellingham for Mutual of Omaha, has earned the designation of chartered financial consultant from The American College in Bryn Mawr, Penn.

Bergquist fulfilled the educational, experience and ethical requirements needed for the designation. He assists local businesses with insurance and retirement planning.

For more information, call Bergquist at 303-3380.

Moss Adams Hires Seven Accountants

The Bellingham office of Moss Adams LLP recently hired seven accountants.

Christie McNaughton, Carrie Anne Gahard and Madeline Keneipp-Quigley, staff accountants in the firm’s Enterprise Group, received their bachelor’s degrees in accounting from Western Washington University. McNaughton is worked with Moss Adams audit teams.

Corey Riggs, who received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Central Washington University, also is a staff accountant in the Enterprise Group, as is Abbey Short, who will receive her accounting degree from Western in June.

Timothy Williams, a staff accountant in the Emerging Business Group, received his master of business administration degree from Western and his bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Washington.

Barry Meehan is an intern staff accountant in the Emerging Business Group who will receive his accounting degree from Western in June. Meehan is focusing on tax preparation.

Moss Adams is a regional accounting and management consulting firm and the anchor firm for Moores Rowland International, an association of leading independent accounting firms. The Bellingham office, located in Barkley Building III, provides accounting, tax, financial and business advisory services to clients internationally and in Whatcom, Skagit and Island counties.

Group Health Adds Kyles in Bellingham

Group Health Cooperative has added Lynn Kyles, a registered nurse, to its Northwest District care coordination staff.

Kyles has more than 25 years of nursing experience, including surgical nursing, coronary care, intensive care nursing, home health care and complex case management. At Group Health, she is collaborating with doctors to develop individualized care plans for patients with multiple needs. She also advocates for patients and follows up with them after a hospital discharge.

Kyles will work primarily in Island and north Snohomish counties, including making rounds at Whidbey General and Cascade Valley hospitals.

Group Health is the nation’s largest consumer-governed health-care organization and serves nearly 600,000 people in Washington and Idaho. As a nonprofit health-care system with headquarters in Seattle, it includes both health care and coverage and consists of medical centers, hospitals, an associated physician group practice, a research center and a charitable foundation. For more information, visit www.ghc.org.

Elder Managing Barkley Village Store

Haggen, Inc., has named Jim Elder interim manager of its Haggen Food & Pharmacy store in Bellingham’s Barkley Village.

Elder is managing the store while Derrick Anderson attends the University of Southern California’s Food Industry Management Program.

Elder joined Haggen, Inc., as center store manager at its Meridian store in Bellingham. He served as perishables manager at its Sehome Village and Barkley Village stores in Bellingham and the Ferndale store. As the bakery trainer, he was instrumental in launching a bakery project in the Haggen North District.

Haggen, Inc., operates 28 supermarkets in Washington and Oregon under the Haggen Food & Pharmacy and TOP Food & Drug names. It has headquarters in Bellingham.

Safety Signs Names Dyck Operations Manager

Marlene Dyck has been hired as operations manager for Safety Signs, Inc., of Bellingham.

Dyck is responsible for daily operations, customer service, sales and marketing of the business.

Safety Signs has been serving clients in Whatcom, Skagit, Island and Snohomish counties since 1992. It specializes in signs, safety supplies and traffic-control devices. It recently added trench and manhole boxes, speed shoring and other confined-space equipment to its rental product line. Safety Signs also has expanded its signing services to products such as banners, graphic logo devices, vinyl lettering, magnetic signs and more.

For more information, call 676-6272.

Davis Opens Accounting Office in Bellingham

Scott Davis, a certified public accountant, has opened a public accounting and consulting office in downtown Bellingham.

Davis has more than 15 years of experience in accounting, finance and human-resource management, both in private industry and public accounting. In addition to traditional accounting services, Davis offers assistance with writing business plans, budgeting, cash-flow planning, growth strategies, banking/lender relations and hiring/human-resource issues.

For more information, call Davis, 647-1200.

Heese Printing at Spinnaker Photo

Kelly Heese recently joined Spinnaker Photo Imaging Center in Bellingham as a printer.

Heese spent the last several years working for the University of Kansas as a photographer and photo librarian. She also organized the photo used in university publications.

Heese has a bachelor’s degree in advertising management from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Spinnaker Photo Imaging Center is located at 1059 N. State St. For more information, call 734-4668 or visit www.spinnakerphoto.com.

Garza Launches Whatcom Promotions

Jamie Garza has launched Whatcom Promotions in Bellingham and announced its first major project, a board game called Bellingham-opoly.

The game will feature a local business on each of its 34 board squares. Players will buy, sell and trade actual Bellingham businesses.

Garza began selling spaces on the board this month. He says this is the first of many projects that will be presented by Whatcom Promotions.

For more information, call Garza, 510-0919, or send e-mail to jmegarza@hotmail.com.

Angell Speaking at WPN Meeting

Cathy Angell, photographer, author and owner of a motivational speaking company, will be the guest speaker at the March 28 meeting of the Women’s Professional Network.

Angell will present tools to enable individual to plug into their personal power so they can be more honest, effective and joyful in their work and lives. Her images are featured in her award-winning book, “My Spirit Flies.” For more information about Angell, visit www.thepowerproject.com.

WPN hosts its monthly meetings from 7-9 a.m. the last Thursday of each month at Sapphire Cove, located in the Bellingham Yacht Club building at Squalicum Harbor. First-time guests with reservations receive a complimentary breakfast. For members, the cost is $12. To make a reservation or gain more information, call 650-0426 or send e-mail to wpn@mail.com. Reservations are required by March 22.

WPN’s mission is to encourage educational and leadership training, strengthen business relationships, encourage mentoring and provide exposure to community issues and business trends.

Keown Honored by American Express

Jeff Keown, a financial adviser with the Bellingham office of American Express Financial Advisors, recently received the company’s President’s Recognition Award.

The award recognizes advisers who have made quality of advice a priority in their practices and document their written advice in a way that is clear, specific, thorough and objective.

American Express Financial Advisors provides financial planning and the products and services to implement plans.

Keown works at the Bellingham office at 119 N. Commercial St., Suite 110. For more information, call 734-9000.

Human Resources Chapter Elects Boone President

Louise Boone has been elected 2002 board president for the Mt. Baker Chapter of the Society for Human Resources Management.

Boone previously served as co-vice president of programs in 2000 and president-elect in 2001. She is the corporate human resources and safety manager for Smith Gardens, Inc., a 100-year-old wholesale nursery in Bellingham.

Other members of the chapter’s board are: Charlene Schaumberg, Early Childhood Opportunities Northwest, past-president; Kara Turner, Turner HR Services, president-elect; Kathy Klemmer, The Opportunity Council, secretary; Diane Shelton, Peoples Bank, treasurer; Lorna McGowan-Smith, City of Bellingham, and Kara Turner, co-vice presidents of programs; Jack McCallum, Current Industries, vice president of communications; Kari Page, Whatcom County government, and Sarah Wills, VECO Pacific, co-vice presidents of membership; Pam Davis, VECO Pacific, certification coordinator; Larry Boone, Port of Bellingham, professional liaison; Amy Puderbaugh, Tree Island Fasteners, legislative liaison; Bernice Vonnegut, Bellingham Technical Institute, education advocate; and Mary Lou Callahan, Manpower, diversity advocate.

The chapter serves human-resource professionals throughout Whatcom County and is affiliated with the Society for Human Resource Management, representing more than 150,000 human-resource professionals throughout the world. the chapter meets from noon to 1:30 p.m. the second Wednesday of each month at Northwood Hall, 3240 Northwest Ave., Bellingham. For more information about the local chapter, call Lorna McGowan-Smith, 676-6855, ext. 307, or Kara Turner, 354-1937, or visit www.mtbakershrm.com.

Crowder Managing Farmers Market

The Bellingham Farmers Market has hired Robin Crowder as its market manager.

Crowder has an extensive background in marketing for not-for-profit and for-profit organizations.

Entering its 10th year, the Bellingham Farmers Market will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday from April 6 through Oct. 28. Its location is on Railroad Avenue, east of Chestnut Street, in downtown Bellingham. The market offers fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, honey, cut and dried flowers, baked goods, seafood, eggs, crafts and ready-to-eat foods.

The organization also runs a market in Fairhaven from 3 to 7 p.m. each Wednesday from June 5 through Sept. 25 at the corner of 11th and Mill streets.

For more information about either market, call 647-2060 or visit www.bellinghamfarmers.org.

Elzea Becomes Associate Broker

Alan Elzea has joined the Bellingham office of Windermere Real Estate as an associate broker.

In addition to 22 years of experience in local real-estate sales, Elzea has managed and owned several offices in Bellingham. As a sales trainer, he has coached agents and taught continuing-education courses in Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties. He has achieved the designation of licensed real estate instructor.

Elzea most recently was owner of Marketing Strategies, which created marketing tools and systems for real-estate companies and other service providers.

For more information, contact Elzea at Windermere Real Estate/Whatcom Inc., 734-7500.

Consultant Completes Environmental Course

Rob Baxter, a consultant at EpiLogic Consulting in Bellingham, recently completed an ISO 14001 Environmental Lead Auditing course accredited by the American National Standards Institute.

The training allows Baxter to offer consulting and auditing services for companies and organizations seeking ISO 14000 registration. ISO 14000 is a series of international standards for environmental management systems. Companies and organizations can voluntarily seek registration if they meet these standards. According to Baxter, the registration is widely used in Europe and Japan and becoming popular in North America. Some vendors require it of their suppliers.

EpiLogic Consulting is a management consulting firm in Bellingham. In addition to environmental management systems consulting, it also offers information technology consulting and training. For more information, call (877) 645-5866 or visit www.epilogicconsulting.com.

AGC’s Trustees Include Two from County

The Associated General Contractors of Washington recently installed two residents of Whatcom County on its board of trustees for 2002 and another as an officer.

The board includes David Huber of Impero Contracting in Bellingham and Mary Lawrence of Matia Contractors in Fendale. Also, Marlin Statema of Andgar Corp., Ferndale, was installed as Northern District vice president.

The AGC of Washington is the oldest construction industry group in the state, celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. The membership consists of general contractors, specialty contractors and associates from supply, law, consulting and other fields related to the construction industry. Its headquarters are in Seattle and district offices and a legislative office are in Bellingham, Tacoma, Yakima and Olympia.

Elsworth Launches Bellingham Benefits

Todd Elsworth has founded Bellingham Benefits, LLC, a full-service event production and public relations/communications consulting agency

Elsworth says the agency is focused on assisting public-sector groups and recreational clubs with fund-raising events by providing the creativity, resources and expertise necessary for success. Its core services for fund-raising events include ideas, communications, participant management, media promotions, sponsorship programs and operations management.

Elsworth, a Bellingham native and Western Washington University alumnus, returned last summer to the city after living the past six years in Portsmouth, N.H. After teaching history at a middle school, he became project manager at Harbour Light Productions, a Web and print-design business. While there, he donated his professional expertise to public-sector groups, guiding event production and public-relations campaigns on their behalf.

For more information, call 752-1127 or visit www.BellinghamBenefits.com.

Bott Becomes Personal Financial Representative

Marvin Bott, an Allstate insurance agent in Bellingham with more than 20 years of experience, recently earned the title of personal financial representative.

Bott gained the designation after passing Series 6 and Series 63 securities license exams and completing an extensive Allstate training curriculum. He is appointed with broker dealer Allstate Financial Services, LLC.

Bott provides fixed, variable, indexed and market-value adjusted annuity products, in addition to providing variable life and investment products from five families of mutual funds. For more information, call him at 671-8155.

Lolkema Acquires Stake in Interlube Sales

Paul Lolkema, vice president of sales for Bellingham-based Interlube Sales & Distribution, has purchased an equity position in the company.

Lolkema has been a vice president of the company for two years and exercised his option to purchase part of the company on Jan. 1, according to Dan Robbins, president and majority shareholder. Lolkema’s responsibilities will continue to include sales and marketing for portions of the United States and Canada. He has future options to purchase a controlling interest in Interlube Sales, which sells Opti oil products in North America.

Lolkema has more than 18 years of retail and wholesale sales experience.

Interlube Sales, founded more than 20 years ago, has more than 50 distributors of its Opti products, which can be found in more than 7,000 lawn-and-garden dealers in North America. For more information about the company, call (800) 332-5851 or visit www.opti2-4.com.

Action Physical Therapy Hires McGregor

Action Physical Therapy and Sports Rehab has hired physical therapist Mary McGregor.

McGregor earned a master’s degree in physical therapy in 2000 from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. She worked for a year at St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham.

McGregor focuses on sports medicine, manual therapy and aquatic therapy. She works in both Action Sports Therapy’s Bellingham office, located inside Gold’s Gym, and the Mount Vernon office at 1300 E. College Way. For more information, call 738-7550.

Treat Expands State Farm Office

Joe Treat has completed renovation of his State Farm Insurance office at 2600 Elm St., Bellingham.

Treat bought the building a year ago and began work on office space previously used by other businesses.

The Joe Treat State Farm Insurance Agency offers auto, home, health and life insurance, mutual funds and financial products. For more information, call 733-0870.

Velasco Joins StarTouch Sales Staff

Marlina Velasco became an account executive with StarTouch in Bellingham in early January.

StarTouch provides Internet services, DSL connections, wireless data transmission and Web design and hosting. For more information, call 527-8640.

Sherwood Elected to Head Network

Kim Sherwood of Sherwood Consulting was elected president of The Network for 2002.

The other officers are Orpahlee Smith of Orphalee Smith, CPA, vice president; Russ Weston, secretary; and Geri Payne of John L. Scott Real Estate, treasurer.

The Network meets at 7 a.m. each Thursday at the Bayside Restaurant in Bellingham. Its purpose it to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information, referrals, community outreach and social interaction. For more information, call Jolene King, 671-3596.

WWU’s Becker Takes Pennsylvania Position

Michael Becker, director of human resources at Western Washington University since 1996, has been appointed executive deputy chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.

An incorrect photo of Becker was published in Business Pulse’s February issue.

Becker will be the Pennsylvania system’s chief negotiator for faculty contracts. He will provide strategic leadership and administrative support in the development and implementation of special projects identified by the chancellor and board of governors. The Pennsylvania system has 14,000 faculty and 98,000 students in 14 universities.

 

Larson Gross Promotes Three

The Whatcom County accounting firm of Larson Gross has promoted Tom Van Berkum to manager and Craig Schouten and Mindy Vander Veen to senior accountants.

Van Berkum joined Larson Gross in 1995 and has provided public accounting and consulting services. He is a member of the firm’s agriculture and life transitions team.

Schouten joined the firm as a staff accountant in 1999 and is part of its health-care and business valuation teams. He has 3 1/2 years of experience of public accounting and auditing experience for business, nonprofit and individual clients. He generally practices in the Bellingham office of Larson Gross.

Vander Veen is a member of the firm’s agriculture and life transitions team. She has 4 1/2 years of experience in public accounting for business, nonprofit and individual clients and two years of private accounting experience. She primarily provides services in the firm’s Lynden office.

Larson Gross is a full-service, certified public accounting firm. Founded in 1950, it serves a wide range of clients from individuals and small start-up companies to large, well-established firms. It has offices in Bellingham, Lynden and Blaine. For more information, call 734-4280 or visit www.larsongross.com.