Up Close With Sharif Burdzik

Current job: VP at Riverview Community Bank.

Proudest professional moment: I don’t have one moment that stands out. I get my personal satisfaction from those many moments each day when I know I have helped with some small improvement to someone else’s life, whether at work or in my service in the community. I’m lucky that my position often lets me merge serving the interests of my employer with service to the community.

First job: Summer job relocating and cataloging collections at the Kansas State legislative library.

Fun fact: The library was in one wing of the Kansas State Capitol, but the collections were strewn across multiple locations within that building, including several in basements way under the dome. I was not the best employee, as I would make frequent detours to explore the stone arched caverns and tunnels in the sub-basement. Still had the big, old elevator with no buttons – took a live operator with a lever to expertly align perfectly with each floor.

Favorite spot on a Saturday night: When there’s snow on Mt. Hood, my perfect Saturday includes night skiing with my son at Skibowl or Timberline.

Favorite movie: My favorite seems to rotate among 10 or 20, and I love them all. Right now, I’d say it’s Barry Lyndon, a lesser-known but iconic Stanley Kubrick masterpiece.

Music of choice: Usually, I’m listening to rock or alt-rock from the 70s through now, but I really enjoy some 60s rock/folk as well as piano or orchestral classical and opera.

Favorite place to eat: The number of great places to eat in Clark County seems to be increasing all the time. My favorite really depends on my mood and the season, but right now, I’d say it’s a tie between WareHouse 23 and Mill Creek Pub. OK, also Heathen Brewing Feral Public House and the Eatery at the Grant House and Frontier Public House and … I really like food.

Motto/Inspirational quote: I’m not enamored with the gender specificity or with status words like “inferior” or “equal,” but the sentiment is the same as if it read “the least of these.” Here it is: “If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.” – J.K.Rowling

Joanna Yorke is the managing editor of the Vancouver Business Journal. She has worked in the journalism field since 2010 after graduating from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University in Pullman. Yorke worked at The Reflector Newspaper in Battle Ground for six years and then worked at and helped start ClarkCountyToday.com.

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