Business Beat

NEW FACES:

North American Mortgage Co. has hired Marge S. Page as retail manager of its Spokane office. Prior to joining the company, Page was branch manager of the Spokane office of Phoenix Mortgage. Also joining North American Mortgage are Dian Gray Donahoe, Kevin McDonald and Cherie Wall, all formerly of Phoenix Mortgage.

Jan Holmes has been appointed to the newly created position of personal banking manager for North Idaho by Wells Fargo Bank. Her territory includes Hayden Lake, Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry. Holmes previously worked for three years as financial services banker at the Coeur d’Alene branch of First Interstate Bank, which merged with Wells Fargo in April. Prior to that, she was a branch service manager for Beneficial Mortgage Co. of Idaho for four years.

R.W. Robideaux & Co. has added the following people to its staff:

Crystal White has been hired as an executive assistant in the residential department. She received an associate degree in accounting from Spokane Community College and previously worked for Bouten Construction.

Margaret Wittman joined the company as the assistant to the president and marketing/leasing assistant. Wittman previously was student/athlete recruiting assistant and media information program coordinator in Washington State University’s Department of Athletics. Earlier she worked as a program coordinator with WSU in international marketing.

Zak Designs Inc. has added three new employees:

Melaney Geiselman was named eastern regional sales coordinator for the gift, specialty and department store division. She provides support for gift division projects, the sales managers and outside sales representatives, as well as customer service to key gift accounts.

Paula Stowe joins Zak Designs as special markets assistant. She is the assistant to the vice president of sales-special markets and is responsible for custom project tracking, purchase order processing and customer service.

Peggy Schaffer was named eastern regional sales coordinator for Zak’s gift, specialty and department store division. Schaffer, who has more than 10 years of sales, marketing and management experience in the gift industry, will be based in Chicago.

Timothy Major has joined Pennaluna & Co. as a licensed stockbroker in the firm’s Coeur d’Alene office. Major recently returned to North Idaho after living for eight years in South Africa and working as a financial planner with Syfrets Investments, one of South Africa’s largest financial institutions. At Pennaluna, he will explore new opportunities for U.S. investors in South African securities, especially mining stocks.

Linda Ball has joined the Coeur d’Alene office of The Prudential Acuff Northwest Real Estate as an associate broker specializing in residential properties. Ball has 16 years of full-time real estate sales experience in Anchorage, Alaska, and had been an associate broker since 1983. She holds the certified residential specialist designation.

MOVING UP:

Washington Trust Bank has promoted the following employees to assistant vice president:

Janice Dalziel was named assistant vice president and trust officer for the bank’s trust department. She has several years of experience in both the private trust and employee benefits areas.

Susan L. Satterlee is assistant vice president and private banking officer in the bank’s private banking department. She was a trust officer for 17 years before becoming a private banking officer last year.

Janet McDaniels was named assistant vice president and office manager for the bank’s home loan center. McDaniels has 17 years combined mortgage banking and real estate sales experience.

Leann (Swan) Mulliken is assistant vice president and production manager for the bank’s home loan center. She has more than 13 years of mortgage banking experience.

Kathy Cohen has been promoted to western regional sales manager for the mass market division of Zak Designs Inc. Cohen, who previously was customer service manager, is based in Portland and is responsible for managing sales representatives and accounts in 13 Western states.

STARTING UP:

Sterling Savings Association has formed a Community Banking Division, led by David P. Bobbitt, senior vice president of community banking services. The change consolidates Sterling’s 40 branches into two regions from the previous six regions. Vice President Kathy Brown is the new western region manager, and Vice President Cheri Catt is the new eastern region manager. Credit administration is headed by Dan King, vice president.

Brown, who has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, joined Sterling in 1993 as manager of Sterling’s Northgate branch and regional manager of Sterling’s branch offices in Northgate, Ballard, Bellevue, Burien, Federal Way and Tacoma-Fircrest.

Catt joined Sterling in June 1992 to organize and develop Sterling’s private banking department. A graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School, she has more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry.

King previously was commercial lending manager for Sterling, overseeing the business lending and private banking departments. Prior to joining Sterling in 1988, King owned and managed a general contracting firm and was a business finance professional for the city of Spokane.

Northwestern Trust and Investors Advisory Co. has opened a Spokane office and named Richard E. Cashatt vice president of its Eastern Washington region. Cashatt has 15 years of experience in administration and management of employee benefit plans. Prior to joining Northwestern Trust, Cashatt was vice president of employee benefit trust services for BankAmerica State Trust Co. He also has served as assistant vice president of employee benefit departments at Security Pacific Bank, RainierBank and Old National Bank.

KUDOS:

The Washington Agriculture and Forestry Education Foundation has received grants of $2,500 from Key Bank and $1,000 from the Seafirst Foundation. The grants will be used to help fund positions in the foundation’s two-year Leadership Program.

The Washington Agriculture and Forestry Education Foundation also announced the graduation of Maurice Robinette and Jim Newton from its two-year agriculture and forestry leadership development program.

Robinette is the owner/operator of the Lazy R cattle ranch in Cheney.

Newton is the district manager of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources from Deer Park.

The Council of Rural Electric Communicators announced that Jeff Taylor of D.A. Davidson & Co.’s Spokane Valley office has been named a member of the Fidelity Advisory Council. Sponsored by Boston-based Fidelity Investment, the council is a national recognition program that honors investment professionals who have excelled in marketing and service of the Fidelity Advisor Funds. To qualify for the program representatives must have at least $1 million in gross sales of Fidelity Advisor Funds over the prior 12-month period.

EVENTS:

Tuesday - The Spokane Falls Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association will meet at 5:30 p.m. at Contempo Spokane, 1205 E. Lyons. For reservations and information, call Diana West at 534-1554.

Tuesday - The first in a series of four satellite teleconferences on new farm programs will be broadcast from 8-9 a.m. The program will cover risk management, multi-peril crop insurance and marketing assistance loans. The broadcast can be viewed by setting satellite dishes to Satcom, C-1, channel 22 vertical on the C-band. The downlink frequency is 4140 megahertz. Call 335-5290 before the broadcast if you have problems finding the program.

Tuesday-Thursday - The Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) offers free counseling to potential and existing small-business owners from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Business Information Center in the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce, 1020 W. Riverside. For appointments, call 353-2820.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 12 Photos

MEMO: Do you want to submit an item for “Business Beat?” Send a brief press release to: Bill Sallquist, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane WA, 99210-1615. Photos will be used, space permitting, with new staff additions, promotions and new businesses. Put names on backs of photos. If you want a photo back, write “WILL CALL” on the back and pick it up at the newspaper reference library. Allow three weeks for publication.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by Spokesman-Review staff