Clark County Business Briefing

People in business

Two state corrections employees in Clark County were recognized at the Department of Corrections Annual Agency Awards held on April 20 in Tumwater.

Richard Burk, who works at the Larch Corrections Center in Yacolt as a corrections and custody officer, was recognized with the Corrections Officer of the Year Award. He has been employed with the Department of Corrections for 25 years and has been in his current position for the past six years.

Tanis Smith, an employee of the Southwest Vancouver Field Office, 9105B N.E. Highway 99, received a Community Corrections Officer of the Year Award. The award is presented to an officer whose performance goes above and beyond normal requirements, who is committed to the agency’s goals and missions, and is a positive role model for others. Larch is a minimum custody-level prison with 480 male inmates, while the Southwest Vancouver Field Office supervises people who will transition back into the community. Seventy-four employees across the state received awards out of 1,073 nominations.

Ralph Clark, the owner of Cowlitz Container & Diecutting, was recently appointed to Workforce Southwest Washington’s board of directors. Cowlitz Container & Diecutting is a custom print finishing and packaging company in Kelso. Clark is a native of Kelso and studied architectural engineering at the University of Washington. He served a four-year apprenticeship at the United Association of Steamfitters. Board members include representatives from education, private business, organized labor, government, nonprofit organizations and economic development councils. WSW, founded in 2002, is a nonprofit that provides resources to help the workforce in Clark, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties flourish.

Identity Clark County, a local, privately-funded pro-business group, appointed two new members to its board of directors.

Esther Cho Liu, of Ridgefield, is the associate principal of LSW Architects, 610 Esther St. She has previous experience at Portland’s Ankrom Moisan and Fletcher Farr Ayotte architecture firms. She has a degree in architecture from Andrew’s University, Berrien Springs, Mich.

Chad Sessions, of Camas, is a co-owner of Real Living, The Real Estate Group, which serves the Portland-Vancouver metro area. He has 24 years of experience in land and real estate development and began his career as a traffic safety instructor for the Vancouver School District. He graduated from Columbia River High School and attended Rancho Santiago Community College, Santa Ana, Calif., and California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Identity Clark County supports transportation and education initiatives in the county.

Betty Martinsen, a registered nurse with Community Home Health & Hospice, was chosen as the 2018 Nurse of the Year by the Home Care Association of Washington. The award is in honor of Patty Mulhern and recognizes the registered nurse or licensed practical nurse “whose services are exemplary.” Martinsen works as an in-home hospice nurse in Vancouver and has been a nurse for 43 years, with 29 years spent in hospice. She was honored at an April 26 ceremony in Seattle. The nonprofit Community Home Health & Hospice, with an office at 3102 N.E. 134th St., cares for 600 patients a day throughout Clark, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum counties in Washington, and Columbia County in Oregon.

SigmaDesign, the product design and engineering firm with headquarters in Camas, continues to grow. The company has brought six more employees on board, adding to six people it hired last week. The company, which also has offices in Singapore, specializes in industrial design, mechanical, electrical, software and firmware engineering, rapid prototyping, product testing and a variety of other services.

New hires:

• Christopher Questad, a test technician. His previous experience includes service in the United States Marine Corps, in which he coordinated ordering, inspecting and distributing hazardous material and support assets for training operations that involved hundreds of personnel. At SigmaDesign, Questad will be responsible for collecting data and observations to analyze defects, as well as work with engineer and technical staff to setup and execute tests.

• Michael Mattson, mechanical engineer. Mattson, who studied industrial arts and mechanical design at L.A. Pierce College, brings 37 years of experience with product design, development and management.

• Andrew Doty, manual machine operator. Doty, who received an associate degree in machining technologies from Clark College, has 13 years of experience in scheduling, maintenance and repair, training and management.

• Valeriy Gershun, shop assistant. Gershun has experience with 3D printers and hard laser marking in the silicon wafer industry. He’ll support 3D printing operations, maintain shop equipment and assist with material preparation.

Two operators IV:

• Joyce Hall. Hall has previous experience inspecting products and maintaining machines. She was trained as a medical assistant at Concorde Career Institute, which has a campus in Portland. She will be responsible for test setup, data collection defect analysis, test requests and more.

• Isabel Corona. Corona has experience in inventory maintenance and machine troubleshooting. She will work with test technicians to set up tests and collect data.

The Columbian welcomes submissions about Clark County residents or businesses, as well as regional business events. Information must be received by noon of the Tuesday preceding the intended Sunday publication date. Send to lyndsey.hewtt@columbian.com or fax 360-735-4540. Sales awards are not published.