AGC HONORS WHATCOM, SKAGIT COUNTY CONTRACTORS
General Manager James Hawley of Matia Contractors Inc. of Bellinhgam was named Affilliate Member of the Year by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Washington during the AGC’s annual meeting Jan. 25 in Seattle.
As Affiliate of the Year, Hawley was recognized for his efforts with the AGC’s Northern District.
Hawley serves on the chapter’s Government Affairs Council and has chaired the district’s Government Affairs Committee for three years. He also has been active in the creation of the Whatcom County Construction Academy, an innovative program designed for highly motivated students who are seriously interested in a career in construction or related fields.
Also during the event, Tom Zamzow of Wilder Construction in Everett was elected to second vice president and Steve Isenhart of Tiger Construction Ltd. in Everson and Jerome Fisher of Fisher & Sons in Burlington were elected to the AGC Board of Trustees.

DREAMMAKER OWNER NOW SERVES ON TWO BOARDS
Matt Peterson, owner of DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen in Bellingham, has been selected to serve on the boards of two local trade organizations.
Peterson was named to the Builder’s Board of the Building Industry Association of Whatcom County and also has accepted the position of vice president of the Master Remodelers Council and will lead its education efforts. He has more than seven years of experience in remodeling.

PEARCE EARNS NATIONAL DESIGNATION
Licensed mortgage adviser Dave Pearce of Neighborhood Mortgage became the fourth person in Washington state and the only person in Whatcom County to receive his Certified Residential Mortgage Specialist (CRMS) designation.
The certification is recognized through the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.

MCLAURIN JOINS MEDICAL CENTER
Andrew McLaurin is the new associate director of operations at Skagit Valley Medical Center in Mount Vernon.
McLaurin is responsible for the management of the center’s clinics in Stanwood and Arlington. Additionally, he will manage the operation of Pacific Northwest Cardiology, which joined SVMC Jan. 1. In the future, McLaurin will oversee all other business development in North Snohomish County.
McLaurin brings a wealth of experience to this newly created position, including previous service as CEO for North Cascade Cardiology in Bellingham. He has master’s degrees in business administration and speech pathology and a bachelor’s degree in communications.

HORIZON BANK PROMOTES STEWART
John Stewart has been promoted to a new chief deposit officer position by Horizon Bank.
Stewart’s primary responsibility is to drive the overall deposit growth of Horizon Bank. He also oversees retail and consumer banking and plays a critical role in building business development across multiple lines of business.
Stewart is actively involved in the community as a member of the Association of Financial Professionals, a Skagit Community Foundation board member and vice president of Campfire USA, Samish Council.

Business Bank Promotes six
In recognition of their hard work and great success, Business Bank recently promoted six employees.
David Andrews, chief credit officer, and Rob Woods, chief financial officer, have both been promoted to the position of executive vice president. Todd Anderson has been promoted to senior vice president of real estate lending. Caren Howard, real estate loan support; Karen Mitchell, real estate loan officer; and Kristi Hennessy, cashier, have been promoted assistant vice president position.

WCC’S FULTON ACCEPTS POSITION IN HAWAII
Richard Fulton, vice president for instruction and dean of faculty at Whatcom Community College, has accepted a position as vice chancellor for instruction at Windward Community College on the island of Oahu, part of the University of Hawaii system.
Fulton was hired as the dean for instruction in August 1998, and has served WCC for the past nine years. His accomplishments include working to increase the number of full-time, tenured faculty from 42 to 75, initiating the jazz band program and advocating for the campus library – almost doubling library holdings from 18,000 to 33,000, with a goal of 40,000 volumes by 2010. Additionally, he supported the building of the archives and special collections facility, personally donating many rare volumes in Victorian studies. He also provided support for key faculty-led initiatives and positions, including WCC’s sustainability initiative, writing program administration, international student testing administration, and online writing and math center directors.
Fulton will complete his service to WCC this month and formally assumes his role at Windward on March 24.

SULLIVAN PLUMBING PROMOTES PLUMBER
Don Dawson has been promoted to sales manager by Sullivan Plumbing Inc. of Ferndale.
Dawson oversees the staff of service and repair plumbers serving Whatcom County.

BAKER APPOINTED COO AT EVERGREEN TEAM CONCEPTS
Joel Baker has been appointed chief operating officer at Evergreen Team Concepts, which specializes in training, consulting and staff development for companies.
Baker has more than 30 years of experience in operations management, sales, marketing and financial management. He also has founded three high-tech companies. From 2005 to the end of 2007, he served as president and COO for Ferndale-based PRWeb.

WWU PROFESSOR RECEIVES GRANT FOR BUTTERFLY SURVEY
Western Washington University faculty member John McLaughlin received a $45,000 grant from the National Park Service to conduct a butterfly census of the North Cascades and Mount Rainier national parks over the next two years.
“Washington state has a relatively complete record of species, and where they are found,” said McLaughlin, an associate professor of Environmental Science at WWU’s Huxley College of the Environment. “But there are two large holes in their sampling map, in the alpine areas of the North Cascades and Rainier, and we’re going to fill those holes in.”
Once the sampling sites are determined, McLaughlin will work with four undergraduate researchers and a number of park service biologists.

WWU PROFESSOR STUDIES WORLD’S LONGEST-LIVING ORGANISM
Andrew Bunn, an assistant professor in Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment, is researching bristlecone pines in California’s White Mountains, near the Nevada-California border.
The pines – which can live to be up to 5,000 years old – are the world’s longest-lived organisms. Because of their longevity, core samples taken from these trees are useful in reconstructing the temperature and climate data for periods long before modern data began to be tabulated.
Bunn is working together with a team of paleoclimatologists from the University of Arizona, as well as undergraduate students from WWU.

MASSAGE THERAPIST JOINS PRACTICE
Leah Taylor has joined the staff at Back in Motion at its new location in the 1200 block of Mill Avenue in Bellingham.
Taylor has 11 years of experience and specializes in deep-tissue massage. She also is certified in Lomi Lomi massage.
Back in Motion includes massage therapy, chiropractics and acupuncture treatment.

LOCAL DOCTORS PUBLISHED IN NATIONAL MAGAZINE
Doctors William L. Lombardi and Noah J. Jones, both of Bellingham-based North Cascade Cardiology practice group, have authored a lead article in Cardiac Interventions Today, a national medical professional magazine.
Titled “Coronary CTO Intervention,” the article outlines the development and economic impacts of chronic total coronary occlusions (CTO) intervention programs as a component of successful cardiovascular practice groups.
Dr. Lombardi, an internationally recognized expert in CTO intervention, also includes general and interventional cardiology and heart failure management in his medical practice. He is a graduate of Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, and served an internal medicine residency and a cardiology fellowship at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. He also completed a heart failure/cardiac transplant fellowship at Utah Transplantation Affiliated Hospitals in Salt Lake City.
Dr. Jones is a graduate of Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine in Dayton, Ohio, and the George Washington University School of Public Health in Washington, D.C. He practices general and interventional cardiology, peripheral vascular disease and interventional treatment. He served an internal medicine residency at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and completed cardiovascular disease and interventional fellowships at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

WSO ADDS NEW BOARD MEMBER
Erin Schlichting is the newest member of the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors.
Schlichting is the tax senior manager at Moss Adams and heads Bellingham’s Personal Wealth Service Division. She has more than 22 years experience in public accounting and teaches classes at Western Washington University and Whatcom Community College.

KIRSCHMAN EARNS MORTGAGE ADVISER AWARD
Leena Kirschman of Neighborhood Mortgage was named the fourth quarter licensed mortgage adviser at the company’s annual holiday party in December 2007.
Kirschman was honored for her leadership qualities, sales consistency, teamwork, community involvement and her dedication to the industry and her clients. She is an active member of the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry where she acts as an ambassador, and Boys and Girls Club. She also has contributed to the food bank, Toys for Tots and many other organizations.




FOCUS NORTHWEST ELECTS NEW OFFICERS
John Sedgwick, Terry Lehmann, Gary Gallant, Annette Booth, Casey Curtis and Pete DeHaas have been elected to various positions by Focus Northwest, a local nonprofit business network.
Sedgwick, a Web developer with Vantage 21st, and Lehmann, owner of Lehmann Home Appliances, were voted in as co-presidents. Gallant, a real estate agent for the Gallant Group/Windermere, is the new vice president. Booth, an insurance agent for Booth Insurance/Allstate, is the new treasurer, and Curtis, who serves in marketing/sales with Aiki Homes, is the new secretary. DeHaas, an appraiser for DeHaas Appraisal Services, was elected sergeant at arms.
Mortgage planner Susan Templeton of Loannetter and architect Bob Ross of Ross Architecture serve as board directors.


THUNEY SERVES WITH ALZHEIMER ORGANIZATION
Matthew Thuney is the new public relations consultant and events coordinator for the Alzheimer Society of Washington.
In addition to organizing new events and promoting awareness of the Alzheimer Society, Thuney is helping with the annual “Miles for Memories” walk/run, which kicks off “Dirty Dan Harris Days” April 26 in Fairhaven.
Thuney has worked as a freelance journalist, researcher, columnist, consultant and business owner for more than 20 years in Whatcom County.

SCOTTRADE HIRES AUSTIN TO MANAGE LOCAL BRANCH
Ray Austin of Birch Bay has been hired by Scottrade of St. Louis to manage its Bellingham branch office at Bakerview Square.
As branch manager, Austin provides customer service and manages branch office operations and personnel. He has almost 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. Before joining Scottrade, a branch-supported online investment firm, he worked for E*Trade Financial Corp. as a customer relationship manager. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

EXPERIENCED AGENT JOINS RE/MAX WHATCOM COUNTY
Real estate agent Alicia Greenwood has joined the Bellingham office of RE/MAX Whatcom County.
The Western Washington University graduate has more than three years’ experience in serving buyers and sellers of houses and condominiums. She already has earned her Accredited Buyers Representative designation and was featured in a Microsoft video because of her use of technology as a real estate agent. Greenwood also is a member of Whatcom Young Professionals and the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry.


DEHAAS EARNS FHA APPRAISER STATUS
Pete DeHaas, president of DeHaas Appraisal Services Inc. of Ferndale, recently completed HUD requirements to become an FHA-approved appraiser.
DeHaas is a certified residential appraiser serving Whatcom and Skagit counties. His depth of experience includes previous careers in real estate sales in California and mortgage banking in Washington.

HILDAHL BECOMES DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION FOR WRA FOUNDATION
Lyle Hildahl has been named the new director of Education for the Washington Restaurant Association Education Foundation, based in Olympia.
Hildahl has served as director of the culinary arts program at Skagit Valley College for the past 24 years. While there, he developed programs with a holistic approach – bringing the community, the college and the students together in a manner that enlisted sustainable practices while improving the lives and businesses of all participants. He also brings a unique perspective to the position as he has also owned and operated several prominent restaurants in Washington state.
Hildahl’s commitment to the industry is demonstrated through his volunteer work as the chair of the American Culinary Federation Foundation Accrediting Commission; as a board member of the Washington State Chefs Association; and as past president of the North Puget Sound Chefs Association, the Council for Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Education and the Washington Association of Occupational Education. He earned his bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant administration from Washington State University. In addition to serving as a culinary educator in the former Soviet Union, South Korea, Czechoslovakia and China, Hildahl also has earned various accreditations, including the National Restaurant Association Food Service Management Professional, American Hotel and Lodging Association Certified Food and Beverage Executive, American Culinary Federation Certified Culinary Administrator and Washington State University Hotel and Restaurant Administration adjunct professor.

3D CORP. NETWORK ENGINEER ACHIEVES SPECIALIZATION
Network engineer Mike McGlothem of 3D Corp. in Bellingham has Achieved his Cisco Systems SMB Specialization.
The SMB Specialization gives McGlothem the skills to identify customers’ routing, switching, security and wireless network needs and implement proven solutions.

SKAGIT VALLEY MEDICAL ADDS PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINOLOGIST
Skagit Valley Medical Center (SVMC) in Mount Vernon has hired endocrinologist Dr. Gail E. Richards in an effort to add pediatric endocrine services, which are new to Skagit County.
Dr. Richards recently retired as a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington and Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center. She is a past head of the division of endocrinology at Children’s and is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and by the American Board of Pediatric Endocrinology. She will be working two Wednesdays per month in SVMC’s Mount Vernon clinic.
Pediatric endocrinology focuses on diagnosing and treating growth problems, early or delayed puberty, thyroid gland problems, adrenal gland problems, pituitary gland hypo/hyper function, Turner Syndrome, Prader-Willi Syndrome and problems with calcium metabolism.

KELLY JOINS COLDWELL BANKER MILLER-ARNASON
Real estate agent Steve Kelly has joine Coldwell Banker Miller-Arnason, specializing in residential real estate throughout Whatcom County.
Kelly is a graduate of the University of California at Irvine. His background includes extensive executive-level experience in the retail food business, including responsibility for negotiating a large number of multi-million dollar transactions. He has been a licensed real estate salesman in Washington state for more than three years and recently completed the requirements for his broker’s license. He also completed an extensive six-week training program at Coldwell Banker. His real estate experience includes building, buying and selling residential properties and experience with investment, vacation and commercial real estate.

SMITH REPLACES STROW IN 10TH DISTRICT HOUSE SEAT
House Republicans appointed seasoned political veteran Norma Smith to fill the 10th District House of Representatives seat left open after the departure of Rep. Chris Strow. The Snohomish County Council and Island and Skagit county commissioners voted unanimously for Smith, who will serve on the House transportation; capital budget; and insurance, financial services and consumer protection committees.
Smith brings a wide range of experience to her position in the Legislature. She spent six years as special assistant to U.S. Rep. Jack Metcalf, is a former member of the South Whidbey School Board, and has worked in the marketing and communications field for a local communications company.

STAUFFER JOINS OLTMAN INSURANCE
Marty Stauffer has joined Oltman Insurance Agency in Bellingham as an insurance agent.
The Whatcom County native joins Oltman after serving five years in the advertising department at The Bellingham Herald.

BROWN NAMED PRESIDENT OF REATLORS’ ASSOCIATION
Mark Brown of Windermere Real Estate was named the 2008 president of the Whatcom County Association of Realtors (WCAR) during the group’s annual awards banquet Jan. 18 at the Best Western Lakeway Inn in Bellingham.
Brown, a Realtor since 2000, has been active in local and state real estate organizations. He also has earned the Certified Residential Specialist and Accredited Buyers Representative designations.
Other WCAR officers for 2008 are: J.D. Merris of Keller Williams, vice president; Mallina Wilson of RE/MAX Whatcom County, secretary; Janet Armstrong of Peoples Bank, treasurer; and Jon Soine of Windermere Real Estate, past-president. Joe Laudenbach of Sterling Real Estate and Lisa Colburn of Keller Williams were elected as local directors, joining Matthew McBeath and Darin Stenvers of RE/MAX Whatcom County and Ray Pelletti of Abby’s Land & Homes. Don Elliott of John L. Scott Real Estate, David Hovde of Windermere Real Estate and Stephanie Johnson of Fairhaven Realty were elected as state directors. Other WCAR state directors are Brown, Merris, Soine and Cheryl Ferrier of John L. Scott Real Estate.

SUCCESSFUL TEAM JOINS RE/MAX WHATCOM COUNTY
The real estate team of Eric Badgley and Angela Gardner recently moved to the Bellingham office of RE/MAX Whatcom County.
Badgley, a listing specialist, earned multiple awards for sales production during the last three years at another local real estate agency. The Bellingham native offers extensive knowledge in the use of Internet technology for marketing properties.
Gardner has three years of experience in helping buyers find properties that meet their needs. She also is familiar with Skagit County, where she was born and raised.

PHYSICIAN EARNS CERTIFICATE IN SPORTS MEDICINE
Dr. Kenneth M. Oates has successfully completed the examination for the subspecialty certificate in orthopaedic sports medicine. This is the first time that the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons has awarded the orthopaedic sports medicine subspecialty certificate.
Dr. Oates is Fellowship trained in sports medicine and knee and shoulder reconstruction and has been board certified in orthopaedic surgery since 1999. He practices at Northwest Orthopaedic Surgeons P.S., with offices in Mount Vernon and Anacortes.

LESA BOXX ADDS SERVICES AFTER EARNING CERTIFICATION
COUNTRY Insurance & Financial Services agent Lesa Boxx has earned her Investment Solutions Representative Certification and is now qualified to offer clients expanded financial planning and investment management services.
Boxx, who serves clients from the Lynden office, can now provide clients with access to COUNTRY financial services, including retirement planning, investment management and trust services.

BIRCH EMPLOYEES serve on college ADVISORY BOARDS
At the request of the advisory board for the diesel mechanics program at both Bellingham Technical and Skagit Valley colleges, Birch Equipment employees Bruce Miner, shop manager, and Dean Parker, assistant shop manager, have joined the advisory board committees to discuss industry trends in the diesel mechanics field.
The advisory boards are comprised of a cross-section from the industry, including the diesel mechanics instructors from both colleges. They discuss the current trends in the industry and offer their advice and suggestions to better prepare students of the diesel mechanics program for job placement. The board’s input is taken into consideration when preparing the curriculum for the program.
“The goal is to ultimately give the school feedback on what they can change to help provide for the industry and what the industry is looking for,” said Parker, Skagit Valley College Board member.
Birch employees from mechanics to the sales force are regularly trained and educated with the newest technologies in the rental industry. Miner is in his second year on the BTC Advisory Board.
“Birch recruits from both colleges and has had great success with internships from the diesel mechanics program rolling into fulltime positions with Birch,” Miner said.

HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE EARNS CERTIFICATION
Kathleen Rathvon of United General Hospital is now a Certified Tumor Registrar through the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.
Rathvon works in the North Puget Cancer Center at United and is one of 244 candidates who successfully passed a written exam from the National Cancer Registrars Association. She also is one of only 25 percent who passed the exam on their first attempt. In preparation for the exam, Rathvon was required to complete two years of experience as a registrar.
As a Certified Tumor Registrar, Rathvon collects and reports cancer data that is used to support the clinical care of patients and help determine the causes and most effective treatments for many forms of the disease.
Data from North Puget Cancer Center is reported to the Centers for Disease Control, the state of Washington, as well as the National Cancer Database. By collecting and maintaining this information, experts around the nation can use the data to view trends in cancer and successes in treatment.
In addition to registry duties, Rathvon also is responsible for organizing the meetings for two interdisciplinary teams, the Cancer Committee at United General Hospital and the local Tumor Board, which she serves as a co-coordinator.

WWU HIRES NEW DEAN OF LIBRARIES
Christopher Cox will become the new Dean of Libraries at Western Washington University by the end of the academic year.
Cox will be responsible for the overall leadership, management and direction of the libraries and their programs. He will leads a staff of 65 full-time employees and 58 part-time student employees.
Current Dean of Libraries Béla Foltin Jr. is retiring and will be on administrative leave until March 31, at which time he will formally leave the university. While on administrative leave, he will finish work on some special projects and will assist the new dean in the transition of leadership of the libraries.
Jerry Boles, special assistant to the provost, has been asked to serve as acting Dean of Libraries until Cox’s arrival.
Cox currently serves as assistant director of libraries and was previously interim director of libraries of McIntyre Library at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.

BLUE SEA SYSTEMS PROMOTES GRAHAM
Eric Graham has been promoted to engineering manager at Blue Sea Systems in Bellingham.
“In addition to developing several highly successful product lines for Blue Sea Systems, Eric has demonstrated outstanding initiative and talent in organizing systems for improving the product development process at Blue Sea Systems,” said Scott Renne, president of Blue Sea Systems.
Graham joined the company in September 2004, during which time he has directed the design and development of several products: the m-Series line of battery switches including the award-winning Dual Circuit Plus, the HD-Series line of battery switches, several automatic charging relays including the award-winning 120 Amp SI-Series Automatic Charging Relay, and the soon-to-be-released ML-Series Automatic Charging Relay and its companion product the ML-Series Remote Battery Switch. He holds seven U.S. Patents and earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a bachelor’s degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

LAMOTHE EARNS ASSOCIATE BROKER’S LICENSE
Grant LaMothe of Keller Williams Western Realty has earned his associate broker’s license.
With the license, LaMothe is better qualified to assist his clients with buying and selling real estate.

SSK reports staff news
Lynden-based Snapper, Shuler, Kenner Insurance is pleased to announce several staff member accomplishments and new hires:
Michelle Smith, Megan Van Diest and Jennifer Anderson recently passed the tests to obtain their property and casualty licenses. Smith will operate as a commercial customer service representative (CSR), and Van Diest is a personal lines producer in the mew Barkley office in Bellingham. Anderson will work in SSK’s Lynden office.
Tena Alton has been promoted to producer in the medical department and her focus will be on one- to four-person groups.
Ann Weber recently passed the second level for her Associates in Insurance Services designation.
New hires include: Jennifer Whitford, commercial CSR; Beth Van Diest, new administrative assistant and receptionist in the Lynden office; Shannon Van Dalen, administrative assistant in the SSK medical and benefits department; Char Hornstra, controller; and Andrea Brooks, CSR for the commercial and personal lines in the Barkley office.

ST. FRANCIS APPOINTS NEW MARKETING DIRECTOR
St. Francis of Bellingham, an Avamere community, has appointed Christopher Key as marketing director. Key has been a Whatcom County resident for nine years and is a former editor of Whatcom County Business Pulse and executive director of the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra.
Key brings an unusual perspective to the job, having been a patient at St. Francis for four-and-a-half months in 2006. He contracted a severe staph infection in his spine, and when he came to St. Francis after two months at Providence Hospital in Seattle, the general medical opinion was that he would never regain use of his hands and arms due to extensive neurological damage.
“The therapists at St. Francis wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer,” Key said. “Because they believed I could regain full function, I believed I could. St. Francis gave me my life back and now I can use my diverse skills to tell people about this facility.”
Key has a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Antioch University in Seattle and a Master of Divinity from Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

PERSONNEL CHANGES ABOUND AT MOSS ADAMS
Moss Adams LLP announces the following personnel changes:
Former Managing Partner Russ Wilson is the firm’s new human resources partner, focusing on the firm’s people initiatives, and Dick Fohn is the new managing partner for the Bellingham office. Wilson will continue his local assurance work with the Bellingham office’s manufacturing and distribution industry clients. Fohn also serves as the firm’s wealth services group director.
Jennifer Gonzales was promoted to an assurance senior manager position. She focuses on construction industry clients and is an active member with CFMA and AGC.
Areti Maularas, Charlie Cabe, Ben Hancock and Jim Sharpe have been promoted to assurance managers. Maularas graduated from Western Washington University and focuses on financial institutions clients. Cabe also works with financial institutions clients. Hancock works in multiple industry groups but primarily in financial institutions and manufacturing industries. Sharpe works with the firm’s tribal government practice.
Mark Siadal and Jamey Hill have been promoted to assurance seniors. Both focus on the hospitality industry, specifically tribal gaming operations.
Tiffany Holmgren and Zach Nordwell have been promoted to tax seniors. Holmgren focuses on large corporate tax work. Nordwell works for a variety of clients in the tax group.

RONHAAR ELECTED TO NATIONAL POST
Bill Ronhaar, manager of Land Title Co., has been elected to serve a two-year term on the 10-member Abstractors and Title Insurance Agents Executive Section (agent’s section) of the American Land Title Association (ALTA). The agent’s section represents the approximately 3,500 title insurance agent members of the ALTA.
Ronhaar also was appointed chairman of the education committee and president of the Land Title Institute, the educational arm of the ALTA responsible for the creation and production of educational materials for its members.
Land Title Co. is a locally owned, full-service title insurance and escrow agency with offices in Burlington, Anacortes, Sedro-Woolley, Oak Harbor, Stanwood and Freeland.

SKAGIT VALLEY MEDICAL HIRES NEW ANCILLARY SERVICES DIRECTOR
Raymond Schemm, Jr. is the new director of ancillary services at Skagit Valley Medical Center in Mount Vernon.
Schemm is responsible for managing ancillary services at all SVMC campuses and implementing new modalities in the future. His background includes technical training in the U.S. Navy and experience managing diagnostic imaging departments at several hospitals and clinics. Most recently, Schemm was the diagnostic imaging manager at Madrona Medical Group in Bellingham.

WWU HIRES PUBLIC SAFETY DIRECTOR/UNIVERSITY POLICE CHIEF
Western Washington University has hired Randy Stegmeier as its new director of public safety/university police chief. He replaces interim chief of police Dave Doughty, who will again assume his previous role of assistant chief.
Stegmeier most recently served as the executive director of safety/security, facilities and capital projects at Shoreline Community College in Seattle. Prior to that term, he served as commander of the Washington State Law Enforcement Academy and as assistant chief of the University of Washington Police Department. At Western, he will oversee the public safety department, which includes the university police, lockshop and parking services.
Stegmeier has almost 35 years of law-enforcement experience, including 28 years in a variety of roles with the University of Washington Police Department. The Selah native received a bachelor’s degree in police science and administration from Washington State University in 1972, graduated from the Law Enforcement Executive Institute in Seattle in 1983 and the FBI Command College in 1996.
“Western is a great institution with an incredible reputation,” Stegmeier said. “It’s going to be a fabulous place to work, and Bellingham is a beautiful place to live.”
Doughty has been acting chief of police since August 2007, when Jim Shaw retired after serving at Western for nine years.

HORIZON BANK HIRES SWANSON, PROMOTES BORGHORST
Horizon Bank has hired Mark Swanson as the new assistant vice president and Retail Office manager of its Lynden office and promoted Brian Borghorst to assistant vice president and office manager of its Alabama Street office in Bellingham.
Swanson is a Washington State University graduate and has spent the last 16 years in the restaurant operations field, most recently as a general manager. The Whatcom County native and his family live in Lynden and remain actively involved in coaching youth sports in the community.
Borghorst has been with Horizon Bank for the past five years, most recently serving as the merchant services coordinator and senior personal banker for the Holly Street and Cornwall Avenue offices. He will specialize in the lending and development needs for area business owners throughout Horizon Bank’s community business banking program. He has a degree in economics from Western Washington University.

MCTIGUE NAMED PRIVATE BANKING OFFICER
Terry A. McTigue has been named to the specially created position of private banking officer for Coastal Community Bank’s Stanwood and Camano Island branches.
Coastal Community Bank has a new full-service branch under construction on Highway 532 in Stanwood, in addition to the existing office on Camano Island at Terry’s Corner. Introducing a private banker as another major resource adds one more important dimension to the many local financial options available through Coastal Community Bank.