Clark County business briefs

People in business

• Melissa Ralston, personal service lines manager with Davidson Insurance, has received the Personal Lines Achievement Award from Safeco Insurance. The award is given in recognition of dedication, diligence, integrity, commitment to excellence and exemplary representation of Safeco Insurance. Ralston has worked for Davidson for eight years and in the insurance industry for 32 years.

• Greater Portland Inc. hired Maggie Finnerty as its vice president of investor stewardship. Finnerty has a law degree from the University of Oregon’s School of Law. Greater Portland is a regional economic development partnership serving the Portland-Vancouver area.

• Washington State University Vancouver has named the members of its 2011-2012 Advisory Council, a team of appointed community leaders and representatives of both public and private organizations. New members of the council include KC Hsu, president of Wafer-Tech; Heidi Piper-Schultz, human resources and government affairs manager at Corwin Beverage Co.; and Roger Qualman, chief operating officer for Norris Beggs and Simpson.

• Mackay & Sposito Inc. has added 10 people to its land-surveying department. The new staff will be based out of the Vancouver office. They include: Darren Weigart, Gary Houserm, Jim Tejcka, Brenda Franco, Ben Dublin, Scott Gillette, Will Russell, Luke Foss, Alex Swenson and Matt Paulsen. Mackay & Sposito has offices in Vancouver, Kennewick, Federal Way, Sherwood, Ore., and Bend, Ore.

• Vancouver-based law firm Landerholm, Memovich, Lansverk & Whitesides has a new name: Landerholm. The firm also has a new website, http://www.landerholm.com. Additionally, Irwin Landerholm, retired founding member of the firm, recently celebrated his 60th anniversary with the firm.

Other business briefs

• Papa Murphy’s pizza chain was selected as top of the overall category according to a recent publication of “Nation’s Restaurant News.” The company achieved the highest overall score in the first-ever Consumer Picks survey. Vancouver-based Papa Murphy’s is the fifth-largest pizza chain in the country.

• The Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest Program, which is comprised of Portland International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Spokane International Airport, has won the 2011 Environmental Achievement Award from the Airports Council International–North America. Working with partners Boeing, Alaska Airlines and Washington State University, the airports and consultant group Climate Solutions convened more than 40 stakeholders to examine the opportunities and challenges of developing a sustainable, renewable aviation fuels industry in the Northwest. The results of that work, published in May, are providing an outline for scaling in the industry in the Northwest and are being considered for adoption in other regions of North America, the organization says. Albuquerque International Sunport won the organization’s Environmental Management Award, while Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia, Canada, won this year’s Outreach, Education and Community Involvement Award.