ABC's Kathleen Garrity Celebrates 20 Year Milestone

Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Western Washington (Bellevue, Wash.)

Kathleen Garrity,left, is honored for her 20 years of service to ABC of Western Washington by board chair, Joan Baldwin.

saluted President Kathleen Garrity for her 20 years of service to the organization at a recent membership dinner meeting. Joan Baldwin, chair of the ABC board, along with some 15 past board chairs, paid tribute Garrity's years of service bringing her 20 red roses and speaking about what each had learned from her during their tenure.

Garrity has worked to grow the organization from a handful of members to its current size of nearly 400 members.

"Our top priority is to advance ABC's merit philosophy - that construction projects should be awarded on the basis of qualifications, performance and price," said Joan Baldwin, chair of the ABC board. "Kathleen has been a tireless champion of free enterprise as well as a dedicated leader for all these years. Her contributions to ABC both locally and nationally are innumerable."

The Hermanson Company (Kent, Wash.) recently announced three additions to its design-build unit. B. Joel Smith was added as the company's manager of design-build services, David T. Nehren joined the firm as engineering manager and Paul D. Sanborn will serve as a mechanical engineer.

Smith has 30 years of experience in design-build mechanical construction. In his new position, he will be responsible for project development and for building the company's design-build processes and capabilities.

Nehren is responsible for day-to-day management of Hermanson's design-build engineering staff and design-build processes, while Sanborn is providing engineering design for several projects in downtown Seattle and for the Christian Faith Center in Federal Way, Wash.

The Painting and Decorating Contractors of America recently announced the election of Portland, Ore., painting contractor Dave Siegner to the office of vice-president of the organization's national, six-member executive committee. This is the first time in the history of PDCA Oregon Council and Portland Chapter that a local member has been elected to serve the national organization.

Siegner is part owner of Siegner and Company, a Portland-based painting contracting business.

Timothy Huntting has joined AMEC's Earth and Environmental office in Kirkland, Wash., as a senior project engineer. Huntting brings more than 20 years of experience in geotechnical engineering to his position.

Huntting has conducted foundation design and site development projects for city, county and state government agencies and private developers. Projects have included freeways; roads; stormwater and wastewater treatment plants; and commercial and government buildings.

The Economic Development Council of Seattle-King County recently announced a change in leadership.

Charles (Chuck) A. Foisie will serve as the organization's interim leader while a search is conducted for a permanent leader.

After six years of service, Art Scheunemann resigned as the president and CEO of the EDC to pursue other career opportunities.

Foisie was the chair of the EDC in 2002-2003. Formerly the executive vice-president of Pacific Northwest Bank, Foisie is a 30-year banking veteran.

Dave Whitley has been promoted to vice-president of client services at Nuprecon, Inc., a Snoqualmie, Wash., demolition contractor.

Whitley joined Nuprecon in June 2001 as division manager of ReNu Recycling, and was initially responsible for launching the newly formed business unit. Whitley has been an active participant in the green building movement, and incorporated L.E.E.D. (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) reporting to the ReNu comprehensive recycling package. In April 2003, the King County Executive appointed Whitley to the King County Solid Waste Advisory Committee.

At Nuprecon, Whitley is a member of the executive management committee and is responsible for all business units providing transactional services, including ReNu Recycling, Nutech Concrete Sawing and Drilling, and the Nuprecon warehouse operations.

Alex Mihaylov has been promoted to Grade IV engineer with BERGER/ABAM Engineers Inc. at the company's headquarters in Federal Way, Wash.
Mihalov was hired by BERGER/ABAM in January 2001 and has more than 10 years of

experience in structural engineering. His expertise includes design and evaluation of new and upgraded reinforced concrete structures, including sitecast, precast, prestressed, and shells. Mihaylov's recent projects with BERGER/ABAM include various core buildings seismic evaluations for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard; the Pierce County Terminal for Port of Tacoma; nuclear crane design seismic analysis for Ederer Crane in Seattle; and the WestFarm Foods Milk Processing Plant in Jerome, Idaho.

John Rowland, principal and co-owner of Seattle's Notkin Engineering, will lead the American Council of Engineering Companies of Washington (ACEC Washington) as president for the 2003-2004 fiscal year. Rowland, a mechanical engineer, has served as a director for the organization and participated on various committees since 1988.

The officers and directors who will serve with Rowland include: President-elect Jim Miller of GeoEngineers; Vice President Kathy Robertson of SvR Design Company; Vice President Ralph Boirum of HWA GeoSciences; Directors Kurt Gahnberg of the Transpo Group, Don Graf of Berryman & Henigar; Steve Bichich of Jacobs Civil; Dan Dixon of HNTB; Jeff Shupe of D. Hittle & Associates and returning National Director Jerry Williams.

ACEC Washington is a professional trade association representing consulting engineering, land surveying, environmental and affiliated scientific and planning firms statewide.

Robert W. Harris has re-joined JH Kelly (Longview, Wash.) as vice-president of business development after a four-year absence while he ran an HVAC mechanical contractor in Southern California.

With more than 16 years of experience in the construction industry, Harris brings a diverse background and true customer focus to JH Kelly's business development, sales and marketing efforts.

Seattle general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis (aka "Lewis") has hired two individuals and promoted two in recent months. The company also welcomes four college summer interns.

Kris Beason has been promoted to senior project manager in the Special Projects Division. Beacon has been with Lewis for seven years, and in construction since 1986. She focuses on tenant improvements, remodels, and small and medium-sized new construction, ranging from offices to biotech labs to top-end residences.

Larry Hutchinson has been promoted to project manager. He has 24 years of construction expertise and a deep background of biotech, high-tech, and other complex projects. He is currently building the new $52,000,000 Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

Don Lane recently joined the Special Projects Division as a project manager. He is currently building a phased series of remodels to the lobby and atrium at the Bank of America Tower.

Ryan Julian has been hired as project engineer in the Special Projects Division. Julian was previously a project engineer intern at Lewis, while obtaining his Bachelor's degree in Construction Management from the UW. His current projects include work for US Bank and Washington Mutual.

Lewis also welcomes four interns this summer: Mark Blanchard, Ashley Frederick, Kimberly Hunter, and Aileen Hoy.

First Horizon Construction Lending has recently expanded its Oregon construction lending team, which provides construction financing to residential and commercial developers throughout the region.

New team members include D. Michael Gault, assistant vice-president/senior portfolio manager, who brings a 10-year background in residential and commercial real estate underwriting in Portland; Sam Phomsoukha, portfolio manager, a Portland State University finance major and licensed realtor; and Debra J. Brown, construction loan administrator, with a 10-year background in Portland-area banking.

Recent promotions include Jan Miller, promoted to vice-president/Western region administration manager, Greg Manning, promoted to assistant vice-president/portfolio manager, and Darci Hall, promoted to assistant vice-president/administration manager.

First Horizon offers construction, acquisition/development and mini-perm financing to Oregon and Southwest Washington developers for subdivisions, condominiums, apartments, and other income property types.

Aubrey Davis of Mercer Island, Wash., has been elected to serve another one-year term as the Washington State Department of Transportation's Transportation Commission chair by members of the Washington State Transportation Commission. George Kargianis, Seattle, was elected to another term as vice-chair.

Former Governor Booth Gardner first appointed Davis to the Transportation Commission in 1992. He was reappointed by both Governors Lowry and Locke. Davis has many years of transportation experience, having served as Urban Mass Transportation Administration Regional Administrator and Regional Representative for the US Secretary of Transportation. Davis is former mayor and council member of Mercer Island. He has also served on METRO, the Puget Sound Council of Governments, chaired the Expert Review Panel for high capacity transit in the central Puget Sound, and chaired the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel to investigate the sinking of the I-90 Bridge. He currently chairs the SR 520 Bridge Replacement and HOV project in King County.

Kargianis is a law graduate of the University of Washington and a partner in the Seattle law firm of Kargianis, Watkins, and Werner. Governor Locke appointed Kargianis to the Commission in 1998. He is a fellow of the American college of Trial Lawyers, and in the International Society of Barristers. Kargianis is currently a member of several bar associations and trial lawyer associations. He is a former member of the board of Governors of the Washington State Bar Association and a former administrative law judge for the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

The seven-member Transportation Commission is the board of directors for the Washington State Department of Transportation. Commissioners are private citizens who are appointed by the Governor to serve six-year terms. They represent all areas of the state and varied political viewpoints.

Bonnieclare Erling recently launched F2F Consulting, a client relationship consulting firm that helps businesses track client satisfaction, build client loyalty and increase their understanding of their clients' needs.

Erling specializes in an individual and personal approach to evaluating and tracking client satisfaction. Clients receive an interview report along with consultation and resources to help them evaluate and respond to client feedback. other F2F services include a business roundtable discussion with clients, group process consulting for improving performance of a team or management group, and business recovery services for resolving issues between a firm and its client.

Seattle law firm Carney Badley Spellman has added attorney Brent L. Nourse to its construction department. Nourse represents and advises general contractors, owners, developers, subcontractors and suppliers.

Portland, Ore.'s URS Corp. has named D. Kennett Forssen vice-president, ports and marine services.

Forssen is a registered civil and structural engineer with more than 35 years of experience in the management of multi-discipline teams for a variety of projects including ports, airports, major buildings of all types and transportation studies. He has served for more than 30 years as an officer of professional design firms and headed his own development/construction firm. He has been the principal engineer for planning and design projects at many ports on the West Coast and overseas.