Published January 2004

People Watching

Drewel to head
Puget Sound Regional Council
Snohomish County Executive Bob Drewel will take over as the new executive director of the Puget Sound Regional Council, a four-county planning agency that tackles transportation, growth and other issues.

The agency’s executive board unanimously voted to hire Drewel during the group’s Dec. 4 meeting in Seattle. He will be paid $160,000 a year.

Drewel will replace outgoing Executive Director Mary McCumber, who is retiring. McCumber has been director of the council since it was formed in 1991.

The regional council coordinates growth and transportation planning in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

The agency has a staff of about 50 and a biennial budget of roughly $17 million. The council controls the annual distribution of about $100 million in federal highway and transit funds, and also supports the region’s Economic Development District.

“It is a wonderful opportunity. It’s just a splendid, splendid thing,” Drewel said.

Drewel has been Snohomish County executive for 12 years. He could not seek re-election in November because of term limits in the county charter.

Drewel will start work at the regional council in January.

— SCBJ Staff

More People Watching

AUTO
Andy Bryant, owner of Smokey Point Pontiac, Buick, GMC, recently was presented with a University of Washington Minority Business of the Year award for owning one of the highest growing minority-owned businesses in the state.

CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE
Sven Mogelgaard, owner of Mill Creek-based Byte Slaves Computing, has been elected to the board of directors for the Northshore Chamber of Commerce as director of information technology. Mogelgaard previously has served as the ambassador chair on the South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce and has been active in the Mill Creek Business Association.

Martha Dankers will be the 2004 president of the Monroe Chamber of Commerce. Other officers will be president-elect Eldon Bartelheimer, secretary Sheila Dunn, treasurer Nancy Breuer, and directors Linda Cline, Margo Montel-Westover, Bill Prenevost and Ken Perrine. Debbie Smith will be the immediate past president.

COMMUNICATIONS
Melissa Barran is retiring as the Everett-based Northwest media relations manager for Verizon. She will be replaced by Kevin Laverty.

ENGINEERING & ENVIRONMENTAL
Leah Alcyon has been hired as GeoEngineers’ health and safety program manager. Alcyon has 10 years of experience in industrial hygiene, occupational health and safety, ergonomics, hazardous materials and asbestos. She has a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a certified industrial hygienist.

Ding Ye, a design engineer for Reid Middleton in Everett, recently received his Washington Civil Engineering Professional Engineer’s license. Ye has more than seven years of experience in civil, environmental and construction engineering.

Dan Ackerman has joined ESM as a survey supervisor and project manager. Also joining the firm are Laura Cociasu, whose experience covers site development and utilities design; Jeremy Febus, a project planner and coordinator; Michael Neer, a project manager and designer; and Robert Ludwig, Michael Nazelrod and Sara West, who are design engineers. ESM is a civil engineer and survey firm with offices in Bothell and Federal Way.

FINANCIAL
Claudia Chester has been promoted to commercial loan officer, and Michelle Wetzel to loan support officer II at the Marysville office of Frontier Bank. Chester has 26 years of experience in all aspects of branch operations. Wetzel has 27 years of experience in banking, having worked in accounting, human resources, customer service and loan support.

Rey Suarez and Lorelei Bender have been promoted to vice president, and Angela Edwards has been promoted to assistant vice president at Cascade Bank. Suarez is the new branch manager for the bank’s Harbour Pointe branch, after managing the bank’s Smokey Point branch for the past 1-1/2 years. He has 20 years of experience in the banking industry. Bender has been branch manager of Cascade’s Marysville office for two years and previously managed Cascade’s Lake Stevens branch. Edwards is a business systems analyst and has worked for Cascade Bank for 18 years.

HEALTH CARE
Physical therapist Todd Wallin and certified athletic trainer Shirah O’Connell have joined Murphy’s Corner Physical Therapy in Mill Creek, a part of Integrated Rehabilitation Group. Wallin, who graduated from the University of Colorado, has more than 22 years of experience in orthopedic physical therapy. O’Connell is a graduate of the CAAHEP Accredited Athletic Training Education Program at Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. Also, occupational therapist Lisa Walker has joined Integrated Rehabilitation Group’s Snohomish Physical Therapy. Walker earned her master’s in occupational therapy from the University of Washington.

INSURANCE
Greg Belvill of Allstate Life Insurance in Everett recently obtained the professional designation of chartered retirement planning counselor. The certification is offered by the College for Financial Planning and involves a course of study and qualifying exams. Melody Grondahl of Allstate in Everett was honored for her volunteerism in the community. The Allstate Foundation recognized her work with a $500 grant to Junior Achievement of Greater Puget Sound, where Grondahl has volunteered for the past 10 years.

MANUFACTURING
Pat Brown was selected as leader of the month for October at Meridian Yachts in Arlington.

NONPROFITS
Mary Fears has been named executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Snohomish County. She previously was marketing director for Leadership Technology Group of Everett.

REAL ESTATE
Marianne Barkman has been appointed senior vice president of leadership development and Ron Howard has been appointed senior vice president of Washington residential operations for John L. Scott Real Estate. Barkman, who has more than 20 years of business experience, has been with John L. Scott since 1997, serving as a designated broker until being appointed to senior vice president of Washington residential operations in 2000. Howard, formerly senior vice president of operations, joined John L. Scott two years ago. Prior to that, he was a member of the executive team at Prudential California/Nevada Realty, where he served in a variety of leadership roles, including general manager, designated broker, broker owner and office manager.

RETAIL/SALES
Michael Katanik of the Marysville Haggen Food & Pharmacy recently was named Meat Manager of the Year for the company, which annually acknowledges its best employees for each department within the chain’s 29 stores.

TECHNOLOGY
Howard Putnam, former chief executive officer of Southwest Airlines, has joined the board of advisers at Bothell-based Dexterra Inc. Putnam, who led Southwest from 1978 through 1981, will provide advice on growth and partnership strategies for Dexterra, which specializes in automation and mobile enterprise computer applications.

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