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McHenry joins Bellingham’s John L. Scott
Phil Hickok, John L. Scott managing broker, would like to publicly welcome Michele McHenry to his team.
McHenry joins the real estate industry after working in the medical field for the last 14 years, seven years at the Community Cancer Center in Bellingham. McHenry hopes to continue assisting people in the real estate industry.

Jung named Executive Chef at Best Western Lakeway Inn
William Jung, who brings more than 20 years of experience as a chef at premier Northwest resorts, was named executive chef at Bellingham’s Best Western Lakeway Inn.
Jung will direct all culinary operations at Lakeway, including The Oboe Café, Poppe’s Bistro & Lounge and a banquet division that serves up to 500 people.

RE/MAX Whatcom County realtors earn awards
RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc. ranked among the top six multi-office branches in volume in RE/MAX’s Pacific Northwest region during the 2004.
Owned by brokers Dean and Lori Reece, RE/MAX has offices in Bellingham, Sudden Valley, Ferndale, Point Roberts and Lynden. The Sudden Valley office led the region in transactions per associate.
Chris Weitzel of the Sudden Valley office was honored for leading all associates in Washington in closed transactions, followed by Greg Paul of the Bellingham office.
Janice Poe was named the region’s Office Administrator of the Year.
In Whatcom County, Weitzel was selected Realtor of the Year in 2004. For each office, Weitzel was selected in Sudden Valley, Keith Cook in Bellingham, Sean Jeffrey in Ferndale and Deci Baily in Port Roberts. Shirley Shirley was named Rookie of the Year.

Brennan announces retirement
Jeannette Brennan, Sports and Event Director at the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry, will retire after the 2005 Ski to Sea Festival.
Brennan, who has been the events coordinator for 20 years, has helped create and expand Ski to Sea into Whatcom County’s largest community event. During that time Ski to Sea has received more international awards than any other small festival in the world.
Brennan wants to thank the hundreds of volunteers who truly make the festival a reality.

Peoples Bank announces two branch managers
Peoples Bank has added new managers at two locations. Angie Ritchey has been hired as Branch Manager at the Ferndale location and Nancy Thomas has been promoted to Branch Manager at the Blaine location.
Ritchey worked for Peoples Bank for six years, including time as Cordata’s branch manager, before taking time off to raise her family.
Thomas has more than 28 years of banking experience, including 15 with Peoples Bank. She was promoted from Assistant Branch Manager at the bank’s Ferndale location.

Multop receives Washington Businessman of the Year
Phil Multop, local accountant and financial planner at the Multop Financial Team, received the Washington Businessman of the year on March 15. The award, presented by the National Republican Congressional Business Advisory Council, took place in Washington, DC and featured guest-speaker George W. Bush.

3D expands sales department
Tim Hagglund was added to Bellingham-based 3D’s technical sales department after the promotion of Amber Winsor to office manager. Hagglund will be responsible for promoting 3D’s services, including network administration, strategic planning, reviews and audits of information systems, cost-benefit analyses and technology, security and risk assessments.

Nelson makes partner at Pacific Surveying & Engineering
Adam Nelson was recently promoted to partner at Pacific Surveying & Engineering, a leading Northwest provider of professional surveying and civil engineering services.
Nelson has a B.A. in digital imaging and geographic systems from Western Washington University. He received his LSIT endorsement in 2003 and will earn his PLS certification this year. Nelson has been with PSE for six years.

Skagit Valley College hires college controller
Kim Cook of Sedro-Woolley was named Skagit Valley College’s controller. Previously Cook worked as the Assistant State Auditor in the Washington State Auditor’s Bellingham office. In that position she audited state and local governments to ensure public funds were accounted for.
“We are pleased to have someone of Kim’s education and experience fill this important position,” SVC President Gary Tollefson said.

SPF announces new board members
Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland (SPF) has added four new members to its board of directors: Peggy Cortelyou of Quiet Cove Associates, Debra Inglis of Washington State University’s Northwest Washington Research Center, Darrin Morrison and Brian Waltner are replacing outgoing members Dyvon Havens, Lou Pepper and Richard Smith.
SPF is a nonprofit organization with 800 members that works to protect farmers and farmland through advocacy, farmland protection and marketing programs.
Mesman named SPF president
Alan Mesman is the new president of the Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland Boaard of Directors. Bob Hart was elected vice president, Jeanne Youngquist was named treasurer and John Roozen was named secretary.

Fairhaven Realty adds Bauman
Fairhaven Realty of Bellingham recently added Bill Bauman. He joins the company to pursue his new Real Estate career. Baumann has spent more than 10 years with a local oil refinery and is looking forward to serving the community in his new role.

Kathy Washatka named MVP
The Bellingham Chamber of Commerce named Kathy Washatka of the Washatka Group Most Valuable Player at its February meeting. Washatka was cited for her ongoing contributions to the community.
Washatka has provided training to help businesses improve their customer service, strengthen employee performance and sharpen communication skills.

Ramona Abbott named Big Sister of the Year
Bellingham resident Ramona Abbott was recently honored as Big Sister of the Year for King and Pierce counties. Abbott and her little sister, Ming, have been together for seven years and even Abbott’s move to Bellingham didn’t split the relationship.
Abbott is a Bellingham business consultant, columnist for the Northwest Business Monthly and mortgage loan officer at Century Mortgage.
“Nothing in my life gives me as much joy as my relationship with Ming,” Abbott said.

Taylor named to Association of Directory Publishers
Bob Taylor, vice president and CEO of McGregor Publishing Company, was appointed to serve on the board of directors of the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP).
McGregor publishes the Plaid Book telephone directories in five Northwest Washington Counties. ADP is an international trade organization of more than 150 telephone directory publishers committed to the highest standard of quality and service in directory publishing.

Schwartz keynote speaker at Market Association
Anne Schwartz, owner of the Blue Heron Farm in Rockport and Washington Tilth Producers pioneer, was a keynote speaker at the Washington State Farmers Market Association conference at Washington State University’s agricultural research station in Puyallup.

Mathison joins Verizon
Krishna Mathison of Mount Vernon joined Verizon Information Services as its regional account manager. Mathison’s responsibilities include management of Verizon’s yellow pages and SuperPages.com in Skagit and San Juan counties.

King joins WSU Research and Extension Center in Mount Vernon
The Washington State University Northwest Research and Extension Center in Mountain Vernon hired Pat King as its administration manager. King has worked for WSU since 1978 and replaces former administrative manager Jan Watts, who recently retired.

Ward named general counsel
Anacortes-based Shainin LLC has named Laraine Morse Ward general counsel. Ward joins Shainin, a global quality consulting and training firm, from Corbis Corp. in Seattle.

MoNA director resigns
Kris Molesworth resigned as the Museum of Northwest Art’s director and will return to the North Cascades Institute in Sedro-Woolley. She will serve as director of development for the institute, the same position she held before leaving for the MoNA position.

Keller Williams Realty adds agent
Kathy McGuire has joined Keller Williams as a real estate agent. McGuirre is the former owner of Bellingham Board Sports and is looking forward to working in the real estate industry.

Hampton Inn names Employee of the Year
The Hampton Inn Bellingham Airport recognized several outstanding employees during its Feb. 7 Employee Awards Banquet. Bre Bacon was named 2004 Employee of the Year for her exceptional performance as a guest service representative in the front desk department.
The Carlton “Bud” Wentz Spirit of Service award was presented to Robin Dunn by Wentz’s wife Colleen and son Kurt. The award was recently created in honor of Wentz, a long-time employee, who died of cancer.
Other awards were presented to Josie Cotoner, who won Rookie of the Year; Zulma De La Mora won the White Glove Award for exceptional room cleaning and the “On the House” breakfast team achieved the 2004 top Satisfaction and Loyalty Tracking scores.

Ralph Blount joins AudienceCentral
AudienceCentral, a Bellingham-based provider of innovative communications software, has added Ralph Blount as a regional sales manager based out of Dallas, Texas. Blount will initially focus on expanding the company’s customer base in the energy market.
“(Ralph’s) expertise in selling to the energy market, along with his proven leadership and strategic talents are great additions to our team,” AudienceCentral CEO Paul Grey said.

Engineer joins Northwest Computer
Brian Fannin is the newest addition to Northwest Computer’s professional networking/telecom division. Fannin’s prior experience includes work as an Implementation Consultant for Avaya Incorporated of Redmand, LAN technician for the Skagit Valley Casino and Technical Services Manager for Q-Zar of Dallas Texas.
“Brian’s advanced skill set perfectly compliments our team,” NWC President John D’Onofrio said. “His proven ability to solve high-end technical problems is what excites us – and our clients.”

Wilson Engineering promotes up staff
Engineers Bill Hunter and Melanie Mankamyer have been promoted to senior project managers at Bellingham’s Wilson Engineering. Hunter joined the firm in 1994 and Mankamyer in 1996. Collin Harris, a graduate of Sehome High School and Brown University recently joined the firm as a design engineer.
GaPac elects board members
Three new members were elected to the GaPac Board of Directors at the employee credit union’s 53rd annual meeting Sat. Feb. 26 at Northwood Hall in Bellingham. More than 150 members and guests attended the meeting.
Barry Lawson, Kon Lemperes and Ron Olson join Don Cook LeRoy Fuller, Rick Holmes and Phil Whitson on the 2005 Board of Directors.

Former resident to promote book on FOX
Michael C. Thomsett, a former Bellingham resident, appeared on two FOX TV programs to promote his book, “Stock Profits: Getting to the Core.”
Thomsett appeared on “Your World” with Neil Cavuto and “Forbes on Fox”.
Thomsett has more than 60 published books and writes full time.

Brunner joins Business Banking
Dave Brunner is Wells Fargo’s new vice president and senior Business Banking Relationship manager in the Northwest Washington area. Brunner will be based in Burlington and will serve customers in Island, Whatcom and Skagit counties.
Brunner, a 25-year financial services veteran, returns to Wells Fargo after taking a sabbatical traveling and volunteering in Mexico.

Galloway adds court-reporting services to Exhibit A Legal
Exhibit A Legal Documentary Professionals of Bellingham is pleased to announce the addition of Barbara Galloway. Galloway brings 20-years experience in the legal world, most recently managing a local court-reporting firm for more than three years. She has also worked for the Attorney General in Richmond, Virginia.
With the addition of Galloway, Exhibit A Legal is a one-stop-shop legal documentary/reporting service that offers the legal community court reporting, real-time reporting, video conferencing, video depositions with on-site delivery and day-in-the-life and settlement documentaries.

Schumacher awarded for spirit
Sigrid Schumacher, vice president and banking center manager of the La Conner Bank Of America, was recognized as a 2004 Bank of America Spirit Award of Excellence recipient. The Spirit Award of Excellence represents the top 10 percent of banking center managers nationwide.
“I could not have accomplished this without my wonderful customers and great La Conner teammates,” Schumacher said.
This is Schumacher’s third excellence award. She has been with Bank of America for more than 20 years.

Whole Energy names Industrial Sales and Marketing VP
Whole Energy Bio-Diesel Fuels, a Whatcom County refinery that processes biodiesel fuel, has named Fred Hall vice president of industrial sales and marketing. After a two-year start up to refit the existing refinery, Whole Energy is now ready to market biodiesel to Whatcom and Skagit counties.
Hall brings 30 years of national and regional sales experience. He will conduct sales and marketing out of the old Federal Building on West Magnolia Street in Bellingham. The company will service fleets, as well as individual customers with this environmentally sound fuel additive, which is processed from vegetable oils.

Avenue Catering adds new executive chef
Avenue Catering, a Burlington-based full-service catering company, has hired Robert Atterberry as its new executive chef.
Atterberry is a native of Anacortes and has been a professional chef for more than 30 years. He has spent the last 20 years as Chief Steward on the Alaska Ocean, the largest factory trawler in the U.S. fishing fleet owned by Alaska Ocean Seafood of Anacortes, Wash.

Local attorney discusses Washington Privacy
Bellingham attorney Philip Buri of Buri Funston, PLLC appeared on the Today Show and MSNBC last month to give his opinion on a landmark case, The State of Washington vs. Christensen.
In that trial the Washington State Supreme Court upheld the privacy of a minor who was prosecuted for theft and convicted, in part, on the testimony of a woman who listened in on a phone call to her daughter when the minor admitted the crime. This decision has caused the state to review and possibly amend the Privacy Act when it pertains to an emancipated minor.
While Buri said that the issue is a fuzzy one, he said that parents must be able to monitor their children where they see fit.

Realtors honored
Prudential Kelstrup Realtors honored the 2004 top producers at their awards banquet at the Skagit Valley Casino & Resort Hotel.
Hugh Brawford won Top Salesperson for 2004, the eighth time he has earned the honor. Dan Cohn and Tony Kelstrup were the top sales team and Joe Bailey, Michele Peterson and J.P. Rosch shared rookie of the year honors.

Anacortes John L. Scott Realtors reel in sales
Thirteen Realtors from the Anacortes office of John L. Scott Real Estate were recently recognized for outstanding sales production in 2004.
Those receiving awards were Drina McCorkle, Shirley Barry, Nancy Vogel, Curt Oppel, Karen Petersen, Rick Bennett, Ruth Dorsey, Greg Crosby, Jari Obrock and Mel Foley. Vickie Cooley received the “Emerald Award,” Linda Harvey the “President’s Elite Award” and Buzz Ely the “President’s Award.”
McCorkle was also ranked as the highest producing Realtor in the Anacortes, La Conner and Mount Vernon region.

Countrywide Home Loans adds consultant
The Anacortes office of Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. has appointed Mark Johnson as its new home loan consultant.
Johnson will represent Countrywide in the community, working with builders, real estate professionals and prospective home buyers to provide information on home financing options.

First American Title names Hoffman new manager
Vicki Hoffman was recently promoted to manager of the Anacortes off of First American Title Company.
Hoffman joined First American in 2001, and successfully passed the Limited Practice Officer exam in November.

Tim Fitzgerald named V.P of Skagit State Bank
Tim S. Fitzgerald was recently named Senior Vice President of Skagit State Bank. Fitzgerald has 13 years of local business and agricultural banking experience and will head up the Skagit team at the bank’s new Business Banking Center in Burlington.

McHenry joins Bellingham’s John L. Scott Phil Hickok, John L. Scott managing broker, would like to publicly welcome Michele McHenry to his team. McHenry joins the real estate industry after working in the medical field for the last 14 years, seven years at the Community Cancer Center in Bellingham. McHenry hopes to continue assisting people in the real estate industry. Jung named Executive Chef at Best Western Lakeway Inn William Jung, who brings more than 20 years of experience as a chef at premier Northwest resorts, was named executive chef at Bellingham’s Best Western Lakeway Inn. Jung will direct all culinary operations at Lakeway, including The Oboe Café, Poppe’s Bistro & Lounge and a banquet division that serves up to 500 people. RE/MAX Whatcom County realtors earn awards RE/MAX Whatcom County, Inc. ranked among the top six multi-office branches in volume in RE/MAX’s Pacific Northwest region during the 2004. Owned by brokers Dean and Lori Reece, RE/MAX has offices in Bellingham, Sudden Valley, Ferndale, Point Roberts and Lynden. The Sudden Valley office led the region in transactions per associate. Chris Weitzel of the Sudden Valley office was honored for leading all associates in Washington in closed transactions, followed by Greg Paul of the Bellingham office. Janice Poe was named the region’s Office Administrator of the Year. In Whatcom County, Weitzel was selected Realtor of the Year in 2004. For each office, Weitzel was selected in Sudden Valley, Keith Cook in Bellingham, Sean Jeffrey in Ferndale and Deci Baily in Port Roberts. Shirley Shirley was named Rookie of the Year. Brennan announces retirement Jeannette Brennan, Sports and Event Director at the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry, will retire after the 2005 Ski to Sea Festival. Brennan, who has been the events coordinator for 20 years, has helped create and expand Ski to Sea into Whatcom County’s largest community event. During that time Ski to Sea has received more international awards than any other small festival in the world. Brennan wants to thank the hundreds of volunteers who truly make the festival a reality. Peoples Bank announces two branch managers Peoples Bank has added new managers at two locations. Angie Ritchey has been hired as Branch Manager at the Ferndale location and Nancy Thomas has been promoted to Branch Manager at the Blaine location. Ritchey worked for Peoples Bank for six years, including time as Cordata’s branch manager, before taking time off to raise her family. Thomas has more than 28 years of banking experience, including 15 with Peoples Bank. She was promoted from Assistant Branch Manager at the bank’s Ferndale location. Multop receives Washington Businessman of the Year Phil Multop, local accountant and financial planner at the Multop Financial Team, received the Washington Businessman of the year on March 15. The award, presented by the National Republican Congressional Business Advisory Council, took place in Washington, DC and featured guest-speaker George W. Bush. 3D expands sales department Tim Hagglund was added to Bellingham-based 3D’s technical sales department after the promotion of Amber Winsor to office manager. Hagglund will be responsible for promoting 3D’s services, including network administration, strategic planning, reviews and audits of information systems, cost-benefit analyses and technology, security and risk assessments. Nelson makes partner at Pacific Surveying & Engineering Adam Nelson was recently promoted to partner at Pacific Surveying & Engineering, a leading Northwest provider of professional surveying and civil engineering services. Nelson has a B.A. in digital imaging and geographic systems from Western Washington University. He received his LSIT endorsement in 2003 and will earn his PLS certification this year. Nelson has been with PSE for six years. Skagit Valley College hires college controller Kim Cook of Sedro-Woolley was named Skagit Valley College’s controller. Previously Cook worked as the Assistant State Auditor in the Washington State Auditor’s Bellingham office. In that position she audited state and local governments to ensure public funds were accounted for. “We are pleased to have someone of Kim’s education and experience fill this important position,” SVC President Gary Tollefson said. SPF announces new board members Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland (SPF) has added four new members to its board of directors: Peggy Cortelyou of Quiet Cove Associates, Debra Inglis of Washington State University’s Northwest Washington Research Center, Darrin Morrison and Brian Waltner are replacing outgoing members Dyvon Havens, Lou Pepper and Richard Smith. SPF is a nonprofit organization with 800 members that works to protect farmers and farmland through advocacy, farmland protection and marketing programs. Mesman named SPF president Alan Mesman is the new president of the Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland Boaard of Directors. Bob Hart was elected vice president, Jeanne Youngquist was named treasurer and John Roozen was named secretary. Fairhaven Realty adds Bauman Fairhaven Realty of Bellingham recently added Bill Bauman. He joins the company to pursue his new Real Estate career. Baumann has spent more than 10 years with a local oil refinery and is looking forward to serving the community in his new role. Kathy Washatka named MVP The Bellingham Chamber of Commerce named Kathy Washatka of the Washatka Group Most Valuable Player at its February meeting. Washatka was cited for her ongoing contributions to the community. Washatka has provided training to help businesses improve their customer service, strengthen employee performance and sharpen communication skills. Ramona Abbott named Big Sister of the Year Bellingham resident Ramona Abbott was recently honored as Big Sister of the Year for King and Pierce counties. Abbott and her little sister, Ming, have been together for seven years and even Abbott’s move to Bellingham didn’t split the relationship. Abbott is a Bellingham business consultant, columnist for the Northwest Business Monthly and mortgage loan officer at Century Mortgage. “Nothing in my life gives me as much joy as my relationship with Ming,” Abbott said. Taylor named to Association of Directory Publishers Bob Taylor, vice president and CEO of McGregor Publishing Company, was appointed to serve on the board of directors of the Association of Directory Publishers (ADP). McGregor publishes the Plaid Book telephone directories in five Northwest Washington Counties. ADP is an international trade organization of more than 150 telephone directory publishers committed to the highest standard of quality and service in directory publishing. Schwartz keynote speaker at Market Association Anne Schwartz, owner of the Blue Heron Farm in Rockport and Washington Tilth Producers pioneer, was a keynote speaker at the Washington State Farmers Market Association conference at Washington State University’s agricultural research station in Puyallup. Mathison joins Verizon Krishna Mathison of Mount Vernon joined Verizon Information Services as its regional account manager. Mathison’s responsibilities include management of Verizon’s yellow pages and SuperPages.com in Skagit and San Juan counties. King joins WSU Research and Extension Center in Mount Vernon The Washington State University Northwest Research and Extension Center in Mountain Vernon hired Pat King as its administration manager. King has worked for WSU since 1978 and replaces former administrative manager Jan Watts, who recently retired. Ward named general counsel Anacortes-based Shainin LLC has named Laraine Morse Ward general counsel. Ward joins Shainin, a global quality consulting and training firm, from Corbis Corp. in Seattle. MoNA director resigns Kris Molesworth resigned as the Museum of Northwest Art’s director and will return to the North Cascades Institute in Sedro-Woolley. She will serve as director of development for the institute, the same position she held before leaving for the MoNA position. Keller Williams Realty adds agent Kathy McGuire has joined Keller Williams as a real estate agent. McGuirre is the former owner of Bellingham Board Sports and is looking forward to working in the real estate industry. Hampton Inn names Employee of the Year The Hampton Inn Bellingham Airport recognized several outstanding employees during its Feb. 7 Employee Awards Banquet. Bre Bacon was named 2004 Employee of the Year for her exceptional performance as a guest service representative in the front desk department. The Carlton “Bud” Wentz Spirit of Service award was presented to Robin Dunn by Wentz’s wife Colleen and son Kurt. The award was recently created in honor of Wentz, a long-time employee, who died of cancer. Other awards were presented to Josie Cotoner, who won Rookie of the Year; Zulma De La Mora won the White Glove Award for exceptional room cleaning and the “On the House” breakfast team achieved the 2004 top Satisfaction and Loyalty Tracking scores. Ralph Blount joins AudienceCentral AudienceCentral, a Bellingham-based provider of innovative communications software, has added Ralph Blount as a regional sales manager based out of Dallas, Texas. Blount will initially focus on expanding the company’s customer base in the energy market. “(Ralph’s) expertise in selling to the energy market, along with his proven leadership and strategic talents are great additions to our team,” AudienceCentral CEO Paul Grey said. Engineer joins Northwest Computer Brian Fannin is the newest addition to Northwest Computer’s professional networking/telecom division. Fannin’s prior experience includes work as an Implementation Consultant for Avaya Incorporated of Redmand, LAN technician for the Skagit Valley Casino and Technical Services Manager for Q-Zar of Dallas Texas. “Brian’s advanced skill set perfectly compliments our team,” NWC President John D’Onofrio said. “His proven ability to solve high-end technical problems is what excites us – and our clients.” Wilson Engineering promotes up staff Engineers Bill Hunter and Melanie Mankamyer have been promoted to senior project managers at Bellingham’s Wilson Engineering. Hunter joined the firm in 1994 and Mankamyer in 1996. Collin Harris, a graduate of Sehome High School and Brown University recently joined the firm as a design engineer. GaPac elects board members Three new members were elected to the GaPac Board of Directors at the employee credit union’s 53rd annual meeting Sat. Feb. 26 at Northwood Hall in Bellingham. More than 150 members and guests attended the meeting. Barry Lawson, Kon Lemperes and Ron Olson join Don Cook LeRoy Fuller, Rick Holmes and Phil Whitson on the 2005 Board of Directors. Former resident to promote book on FOX Michael C. Thomsett, a former Bellingham resident, appeared on two FOX TV programs to promote his book, “Stock Profits: Getting to the Core.” Thomsett appeared on “Your World” with Neil Cavuto and “Forbes on Fox”. Thomsett has more than 60 published books and writes full time. Brunner joins Business Banking Dave Brunner is Wells Fargo’s new vice president and senior Business Banking Relationship manager in the Northwest Washington area. Brunner will be based in Burlington and will serve customers in Island, Whatcom and Skagit counties. Brunner, a 25-year financial services veteran, returns to Wells Fargo after taking a sabbatical traveling and volunteering in Mexico. Galloway adds court-reporting services to Exhibit A Legal Exhibit A Legal Documentary Professionals of Bellingham is pleased to announce the addition of Barbara Galloway. Galloway brings 20-years experience in the legal world, most recently managing a local court-reporting firm for more than three years. She has also worked for the Attorney General in Richmond, Virginia. With the addition of Galloway, Exhibit A Legal is a one-stop-shop legal documentary/reporting service that offers the legal community court reporting, real-time reporting, video conferencing, video depositions with on-site delivery and day-in-the-life and settlement documentaries. Schumacher awarded for spirit Sigrid Schumacher, vice president and banking center manager of the La Conner Bank Of America, was recognized as a 2004 Bank of America Spirit Award of Excellence recipient. The Spirit Award of Excellence represents the top 10 percent of banking center managers nationwide. “I could not have accomplished this without my wonderful customers and great La Conner teammates,” Schumacher said. This is Schumacher’s third excellence award. She has been with Bank of America for more than 20 years. Whole Energy names Industrial Sales and Marketing VP Whole Energy Bio-Diesel Fuels, a Whatcom County refinery that processes biodiesel fuel, has named Fred Hall vice president of industrial sales and marketing. After a two-year start up to refit the existing refinery, Whole Energy is now ready to market biodiesel to Whatcom and Skagit counties. Hall brings 30 years of national and regional sales experience. He will conduct sales and marketing out of the old Federal Building on West Magnolia Street in Bellingham. The company will service fleets, as well as individual customers with this environmentally sound fuel additive, which is processed from vegetable oils. Avenue Catering adds new executive chef Avenue Catering, a Burlington-based full-service catering company, has hired Robert Atterberry as its new executive chef. Atterberry is a native of Anacortes and has been a professional chef for more than 30 years. He has spent the last 20 years as Chief Steward on the Alaska Ocean, the largest factory trawler in the U.S. fishing fleet owned by Alaska Ocean Seafood of Anacortes, Wash. Local attorney discusses Washington Privacy Bellingham attorney Philip Buri of Buri Funston, PLLC appeared on the Today Show and MSNBC last month to give his opinion on a landmark case, The State of Washington vs. Christensen. In that trial the Washington State Supreme Court upheld the privacy of a minor who was prosecuted for theft and convicted, in part, on the testimony of a woman who listened in on a phone call to her daughter when the minor admitted the crime. This decision has caused the state to review and possibly amend the Privacy Act when it pertains to an emancipated minor. While Buri said that the issue is a fuzzy one, he said that parents must be able to monitor their children where they see fit. Realtors honored Prudential Kelstrup Realtors honored the 2004 top producers at their awards banquet at the Skagit Valley Casino & Resort Hotel. Hugh Brawford won Top Salesperson for 2004, the eighth time he has earned the honor. Dan Cohn and Tony Kelstrup were the top sales team and Joe Bailey, Michele Peterson and J.P. Rosch shared rookie of the year honors. Anacortes John L. Scott Realtors reel in sales Thirteen Realtors from the Anacortes office of John L. Scott Real Estate were recently recognized for outstanding sales production in 2004. Those receiving awards were Drina McCorkle, Shirley Barry, Nancy Vogel, Curt Oppel, Karen Petersen, Rick Bennett, Ruth Dorsey, Greg Crosby, Jari Obrock and Mel Foley. Vickie Cooley received the “Emerald Award,” Linda Harvey the “President’s Elite Award” and Buzz Ely the “President’s Award.” McCorkle was also ranked as the highest producing Realtor in the Anacortes, La Conner and Mount Vernon region. Countrywide Home Loans adds consultant The Anacortes office of Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. has appointed Mark Johnson as its new home loan consultant. Johnson will represent Countrywide in the community, working with builders, real estate professionals and prospective home buyers to provide information on home financing options. First American Title names Hoffman new manager Vicki Hoffman was recently promoted to manager of the Anacortes off of First American Title Company. Hoffman joined First American in 2001, and successfully passed the Limited Practice Officer exam in November. Tim Fitzgerald named V.P of Skagit State Bank Tim S. Fitzgerald was recently named Senior Vice President of Skagit State Bank. Fitzgerald has 13 years of local business and agricultural banking experience and will head up the Skagit team at the bank’s new Business Banking Center in Burlington.
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