• Paul Gilchrist has joined First Independent Bank as a vice president and commercial relationship manager at the bank’s Portland office. His primary focus will be midsized commercial and industrial businesses.
• Dennis Kampe was named the Outstanding Career and Technical Education Administrator of the Year by the Washington Association of Vocational Administrators. Kampe is the director of the Clark County Skills Center and has been an administrator sine it opened in 1983.
• John Taffin and Becky Fields have joined North Pacific Management’s Hospitality Division. Taffin was named vice president of the division. He will oversee several hotels, work directly with owners and provide support and direction to the on-site managers. Fields is a regional sales associate. She served as vice president of human resources and public relations for a local government employee credit union for 11 years. North Pacific recently added The Ashley Inn & Suites, Lincoln City, Ore.; the Ashley Inn at Tillamook, Tillamook, Ore.; the Inn at Queen Anne, Seattle and the MarQueen Hotel, Seattle to its portfolio of hotels.
• Chris Outen finished second in the Twins class of the National Truck Driving Championship in Columbus, Ohio on Aug. 3-7. Outen lives in Vancouver and is a driver for FedEx Freight based in Portland.
• Stephen Aaron, a financial adviser with a Vancouver Ameriprise Financial location, qualified for the annual Circle of Success recognition program. To qualify he achieved recognition in financial planning, client service, professional commitment and corporate values.
• Trisha Hamilton was named an Excellent Beginnings Program Achiever by lia sophia. The Excellent Beginnings program celebrates the success of advisers who stay on track during the first four months of business.
• Ken Vance has been named editor of Battle Ground’s The Reflector newspaper, which was recently sold to Lafromboise Communications Inc., owner of daily newspapers in Centralia and Yelm. Vance is a longtime local sports writer and sports radio show host.
• First Independent hired Bobbi Heitschmidt as vice president of branch sales for its retail banking group. Heitschmidt is a 20-year veteran in the financial services industry and most recently served as regional sales manager for The Hartford.
• Eloisa Townsend joined the Vancouver USA Regional Tourism Office as the marketing and communications manager. Townsend will oversee marketing, public relations and advertising initiatives for the tourism office, which represents Vancouver and greater Clark County.
• Shannon Knapfel was hired as assistant vice president and branch manager of the Vancouver and east Vancouver Columbia Bank branches.
New business news
• New business owner and stylist Lisa Harmon has opened the hair salon and jewelry boutique AndiRyan at 1104 Main St., Suite 110. The store occupies the former site of A Rich Woman’s Closet consignment shop in the Arts Building.
Other business news
• The Hazel Dell Athletes Corner is moving to a new building at 8014 N.E. 13th Ave. It can be reached by turning onto N.E. 13th Avenue from Highway 99 just north of the First Independent Bank parking lot. The new location will increase the store’s size by 3,500 square feet. Athletes Corner was founded and has operated in the Hazel Dell location since 1979.
