Jan. 13, 2009 at 11:35am

People on the move

Promotions, awards and recognitions in the South Sound

A solitary billboard overlooks a Pacific Avenue parking lot in the shadow of Russell Investments' A Street headquarters. It speaks a message all of Tacoma had been thinking: "Russell - Don't love me and leave me!"

When people in Tacoma heard international finance giant Russell was considering moving its headquarters, and its 3,000 employees, 30 miles north to Seattle, there was pandemonium. LeRoy Jewelers, known for the unique jewelry created by owner Steph Farber and his unique billboard ads created by JayRay, a Tacoma communications consultancy, took the thought of Russell leaving town to heart. It put up its billboard. The Russell billboard snagged their attention. In addition to being the topic of media attention people stopped in to LeRoy just to say they'd seen the billboard.

Quinn Zander-Conn has been named senior vice president and chief financial
officer of Lakewood's Northwest Commercial Bank. Zander-Conn is a graduate of Western Washington University in Bellingham with a degree in business administration and an emphasis in finance. He also attended Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington and Saint Martin's University for related accounting courses. Before joining Northwest Commercial Bank in 2006 as an assistant, Zander-Conn spent three years at Columbia Bank. He is a native of Puyallup and graduated from Rogers High School before attending Western Washington University.

Matt Weber has also joined Northwest Commercial Bank. Weber will serve as assistant vice president for finance. He will assist newly named CFO Quinn Zander-Conn as the six-year-old bank continues its rapid growth. The new assistant vice president is a graduate of Central Washington University in Ellensburg with a degree in business administration and a concentration in finance. Weber was employed at the Frank Russell Co. as an associate accountant for nearly three years. Following his position with Russell, he spent eight years in the mortgage business with Homestreet Bank and Seattle Mortgage Co. A resident of Tacoma, Weber graduated from Rogers High School in Puyallup before attending Central Washington University. He is also completing work to qualify for the Certified Public Accountant exam.

University of Puget Sound has been rated among the top schools of its size nationally for producing Peace Corps volunteers. The Peace Corps announced that Puget Sound, with 21 alumni serving as volunteers, tied for third among small schools in its annual list of "Peace Corps Top Colleges and Universities" for 2009. UPS, which promotes a civic responsibility ethic on campus, has consistently ranked in the top five in its category in recent years. More than 260 alumni have joined the Peace Corps since it was founded in 1961. Volunteers have served in countries and regions including Madagascar, East Timor, Swaziland, Kenya, Turkmenistan, Nepal, Tonga and Haiti, working in fields including health care, sanitation, teaching, agriculture and assisting urban youth.

Leadership Thurston County will recognize a trio of community leaders at its eighth annual Distinguished Leader Awards Banquet Jan. 27 at Saint Martin's Worthington Center.
Jeff Kingsbury, founder and executive director of Capital Playhouse and an Olympia City Councilman, is being honored for his long time civic involvement in downtown Olympia, youth theatrical programs, and as a well-known MC at charity events.
Recently retired Superior Court Judge Rick Strophy is being recognized for his 37 years of service on the judicial bench –– the last decade presiding over Thurston County's Drug Court, a nationally esteemed addiction treatment program.
Capitol Land Trust, an Olympia-based nonprofit association, is being honored for their vision, focus and leadership in preserving thousands of acres and more than 10 miles of wild Puget Sound coastline through voluntary, non-regulatory means.

Marcia Johnson is the new vice president of Patient Care Services at MultiCare's Good Samaritan Hospital. She will oversee nursing, surgery, emergency and maternal services for the Puyallup hospital. Johnson comes from Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue, where she served in a similar capacity for 10 years.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has named Larry Williams as the interim director for the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development. Williams has served as assistant director responsible for the International Trade and Economic Development Division for the past three years and has been an executive manager at CTED for eight years. He fills the vacancy left by Juli Wilkerson while a national search is conducted for a permanent replacement. Wilkerson is retiring after a long public service career in state and local government. Williams came in 2001 to Washington State from the North Carolina Department of Commerce. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University.

Venture Bank recently hired Tanya Lucht as a customer service representative at the bank's Eatonville Financial Center. The bank has also hired Danielle Hawkins as a customer service representative at the bank's Fircrest Financial Center.

Two Clover Park High School students were recognized by the Rotary Club of
Lakewood as Students of the Month.
Jamie Bradford is a senior at the high school and also a Running Start student at Pierce College. Maintaining a 3.4 GPA, she aspires to be an elementary school teacher. She has already been accepted at Washington State University and Saint Martin's, but hopes to attend Western Washington University in Bellingham. After graduating from college, she plans to return to Tillicum to teach school.
Airol Salanga's counselor at CPHS reports that she is taking many advanced placement courses and maintains a 3.85 GPA. She ranks first in a class of 330, and aspires to attend college and become a registered nurse. Salanga has been accepted at the University of Miami. Her credits include National Honor Society and a Varsity Letter in Community Service. Currently she is Associated Student Body vice president and active in Junior ROTC.

The LOTT, Lacy, Olympia, Tumwater, Thurston County, Alliance was recently awarded a $1.7 million conservation grant from Puget Sound Energy to install a co-generation system at its Budd Inlet Treatment Plant to produce energy and heat from methane gas released during the wastewater treatment process, both organizations announced. The PSE grant represents 70 percent of an estimated total project cost of $2.4 million and was based on the projected energy savings. The project is expected to result in an energy savings of more than 2 million kilowatt hours per year, enough to power more than 165 Thurston County homes.

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