Larry Ham
C-Tran selects employee of year
Larry Ham is C-Tran’s 2007 employee of the year.
Ham is the Vancouver-based public transportation entity’s operations planning supervisor. He started at C-Tran in 1994 as a coach operator and later was a dispatch supervisor.
Ham was promoted to his current position in 2006 to assist in planning the 2007 closure of Vancouver’s Seventh Street Transit Center, the most significant service change in the organization’s history. He was involved in coordinating new bus stops, passenger transfers and bus operator layovers while working with C-Tran’s public affairs department on outreach to affected businesses and residents.
Ham also was C-Tran’s employee of the month in August 2007 for his work on the new shuttle service to the Amphitheater at Clark County. The shuttle now serves more than 6 percent of the venue’s visitors.
Jennifer Rhoads
First Independent picks wealth manager
Jennifer Rhoads has been promoted to a vice president at First Independent, and will lead the Vancouver-based bank’s wealth management group. Rhoads has worked in financial management for more than 12 years. She joined First Independent in 2004 as a senior financial adviser in private banking, and was promoted to manage its advisory and brokerage services group in 2005. Rhodes has three life and health insurance licenses, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from Washington State University and is treasurer of the Vancouver School District Foundation. She was one of the VBJ’s Accomplished and Under 40 in 2007.
Jodi Stewart
Nursing director wins regional award
Jodi Stewart, director of nursing at Vancouver-based Cascade Park Care Center, was named Northwest Division Director of Nursing of the Year by Tennessee-based Life Care Centers of America. She was chosen out of directors from 31 nursing and rehabilitation facilities in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Stewart was recognized for her customer service ratings, staff development efforts and successful state surveys.
Patty Balius
SBA names financial services champ
Patty Balius is the United States Small Business Administration’s 2008 financial services champion for the Northwest region. Balius is vice president and operations manager of West Coast Bank in Vancouver. She has worked for 14 years in the Portland-based bank’s SBA program, providing coaching to the majority of its customers.
Craig Pridemore
Senator joins nonprofit board of directors
Craig Pridemore was elected to the board of trustees of Vancouver-based Columbia River Mental Health Services. He was the nonprofit’s interim executive director from June to December 2007. Pridemore was a Clark County commissioner from 1998 to 2004, when he was elected to the Washington State Senate. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Washington following service with the U. S. Army.
Shelley D. Pierce
BOCC selects manager of its first branch
Shelley D. Pierce is vice president and branch manager of Bank of Clark County’s new East Clark County branch. She has worked in banking for more than 15 years, with more than 10 years as a manager. Pierce is active in the East Vancouver Business Association and Southwest Washington Independent Forward Thrust.
Dominic Matteri
Miyamoto picks project manager
Dominic Matteri is the new project manager at the Vancouver office of Miyamoto International Inc., a California-based structural and earthquake engineering firm.
Matteri has worked for more than eight years in the structural design of office, retail and seismic retrofit projects. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Santa Clara University.
Michael Anderson
Columbia River Bank names branch manager
Michael Anderson is now manager of the Vancouver branch of Columbia River Bank. Anderson previously was regional manager of the Oregon-based bank’s High Desert Region in central Oregon and was in that position for three years.
Amanda Washington
Insurance alliance names junior vice president
Amanda Washington has been promoted to junior vice president at Professional Insurance Agents Western Alliance in Vancouver. She has worked for the nonprofit since 2003, starting as a part-time receptionist and filling nearly every position in the organization. She is a licensed insurance agent.
Andrew Young
Engineer joins Red Cross board of directors
Andrew Young was appointed to the board of directors of the Southwest Washington chapter of the American Red Cross. Young is a public sector project manager at Vancouver-based MacKay and Sposito engineering firm, and was a military combat engineer for eight years.
Kelly McDonald
Realtors choose affiliate of the year
Kelly McDonald was named State Affiliate of the Year by Washington Realtors. McDonald is president of Vancouver-based Clark County Title Co., which supports and hosts several events and fundraisers for the Clark County Association of Realtors. This is the second consecutive year McDonald received the award. He is a board member of the Clark County Realtors Foundation and has served on the CCAR board of directors.
