Associations
The current board of directors of the Idaho chapter of CREW, Commercial Real Estate Women, has been re-elected to serve another term.
The directors are: president, Anne C. Kunkel, Givens Pursley; president-elect, Karen Warner, Colliers International; secretary, Michelle Cappo, Mountain States Appraisal; treasurer, Nanci Boslau, Fidelity National Title Co.; and directors Jennifer McEntee, W.H. Moore Co.; Hilary Soltman, First American Title & Escrow; Kathy Buchanan, Supervalu Inc.; Kristi Bowins, Colliers International; LeAnn Hume, Cushman Wakefield Commerce; Terri Pickens, Pickens Law; and Ramona Hildebran, Capital Commercial Properties.
Founded in 1989, CREW is a networking organization.
Banking
Kelly Newton has joined Home Federal Bank as vice president and builder finance relationship manager. Based in Meridian, Newton will develop and manage residential builder relationships and commercial multifamily construction loans throughout southwest Idaho.
Newton has 26 years of banking and financial industry experience, including commercial and residential construction lending, special-asset management and credit analysis. He is a Boise State University graduate, with an associate's degree in design and drafting technology and a bachelor of science degree in construction management with a minor in real estate.
Education
Luis Caloca has been named director of admission for the College of Western Idaho. He has worked at CWI since July 2008 and served as a One Stop Student Services Manager since September 2009. As director of admission, Caloca will oversee One Stop Student Services as well as CWI outreach.
Caloca attended Boise State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in Spanish and a master's in public administration. He is involved in several education-focused community organizations, including Future Hispanic Leaders of America, Trailblazers for Education, and Building Latino Power. Caloca is also a member of the Pacific Northwest Association for College Admission Officers and former president of Idaho Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers.
Northwest Nazarene University has been included in U.S. News & World Report's annual America's Best Colleges edition. NNU is ranked in the first tier of Best Regional Universities: West at No. 41 out of 121.
The rankings are based on peer assessment, retention and graduation rates, average class size, student-to-faculty ratio, faculty resources, financial resources and the ACT/SAT and high school rankings of incoming freshmen.
NNU is a Christian university offering more than 60 areas of study, 19 master's degrees in seven disciplines and one doctoral degree. In addition to its 85-acre campus in Nampa, the university offers programs online; in Boise, Idaho Falls, McCall and Twin Falls; and in cooperation with programs in 10 countries.
Financial services
Ryan Merritt has joined Icon Credit Union as a branch manager of the Rose Street office. Travis Franklin has been hired as director of marketing.
Merritt will lead Icon's largest branch, focusing on building the banking relationships with existing and prospective members and managing the branch's staff. Merritt came to Icon after 19 years in sales and management roles in banking and retail management.
Franklin will lead the credit union's branding and strategic-marketing efforts as Icon seeks to expand its penetration and brand awareness in the Treasure Valley. Franklin previously worked in retail and financial services.
Mark Dunham has been appointed to the seven-member Idaho Housing and Finance Association board of commissioners.
Dunham was CEO of the Idaho Association Realtors for 18 years and was a board member of the Idaho Partners for Homebuyer Education. He also has served as vice president of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry and was the executive director for Idaho Associated General Contractors. He recently joined Risch-Pisca as a legislative consultant.
Dunham is a past director of government relations for Boise State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communication in 1984. He is a trustee for the College of Western Idaho and was a member of the Idaho State Board of Education Presidential Screening Committee in 2002-03.
IHFA commissioners are appointed by the governor to four-year terms and typically represent different regions of the state.
Karyn Scott, a CPA at The Nichols Accounting Group P.C., has earned a Certified Estate Planner accreditation through the National Institute of Estate Planners.
Scott attended the Heckerling Institute for Estate Planners at the University of Miami and studied courses through NICEP. She is a client manager within the firm and serves on its management team. Her focus has been in estates and trusts.
Government
Neil Siefring and Michael Tate have joined the Washington, D.C. office of U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador, and staffers Amanda Leamer and Kyle Smith have been promoted.
Siefring is the new legislative director, replacing Jason Bohrer, who became chief of staff earlier this year. He spent four years as a congressional liaison for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Tate most recently worked at the U.S. House Republican Study Committee, of which Labrador is a member, as the deputy communications director.
Leamer, who previously handled press duties and legislative correspondence for Labrador, has been promoted to the role of legislative assistant. She will handle health care, education and foreign affairs.
Smith has been elevated to legislative correspondent, having previously served as Labrador's staff assistant.
Roger Chase has been elected as chairman of the Idaho Water Resource Board. Peter Van Der Meulen was elected vice-chairman, and Bob Graham was re-elected as secretary.
Chase previously served as vice chairman for the board from April 2011 to January 2013. He has been a member of the IWRB since March 2009. Chase was mayor of Pocatello from January 2002 to January 2010. He served on the Pocatello City Council from 1990 to 1997, acting as council president in 1996-97. He served in the Idaho Legislature from 1997 to 2001, and has served on boards of civic and church groups.
Van Der Meulen has been a member of the IWRB since April 2011. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps, he graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in engineering. He was the founder, president, and CEO of Power Engineers Inc. until 1999. He is a cattleman and farmer in Central Idaho.
Graham has been a member of the IWRB since July 1995 and has been the secretary of the board since March 2007. Graham retired from the U.S. Forest Service and was county commissioner for Boundary County. He also served as chairman of that board, as well as an elected officer of the North Water and Sewer District Board. Graham serves as a representative of the Idaho Homeland Security Bureau and is the incident commander for emergencies for Boundary County.
Health care
Brandon Ousley has been hired as operations director for MedMan's corporate team in Boise, and Derrick Oxnam is the MedMan's new administrator at Sawtooth Epidemiology and Infectious Disease in Boise.
Ousley previously worked at Halley Consulting Group in Ohio, where he specialized in medical group operational improvements, billing office performance and EMR implementation. He earned his MBA in Health Services Administration from Alaska Pacific University. This summer, Ousley will transition to Medical Park Family Care in Anchorage, where he will serve as clinic administrator.
Oxnam has been a skilled nursing facility administrator for the past seven years at Advanced Health Care in northern Idaho.
Sawtooth is the only group of board-certified physicians in the Treasure Valley who practice solely in the treatment of infectious disease. Providers include Thomas J. Coffman, M.D.; Sky R. Blue, M.D.; Casi M. Wyatt, D.O.; Birgitt L. Dau, M.D.; and Michael Smith, R.N., M.S.N, F.N.P.-C.
Melissa Mezo has been named behavioral health director and Dr. Matthew Hyde pharmacy director for Terry Reilly Health Services.
Mezo has worked for Terry Reilly Health Services since 2002, when she obtained her master's degree in social work and began providing adult and juvenile sexual-offender treatment.
Hyde graduated from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences with a doctorate in pharmacy. He came to Terry Reilly from a community health center in Connecticut and has taught at the community college level. He has more than eight years of experience in retail and hospital environments.
Hospitality and tourism
Cedar Mountain Farm B&B, Athol, has been named as Guest Favorite for 2012 by BnBFinder by, one of the world's most comprehensive bed-and-breakfast directories.
"Guests at the Cedar Mountain Farm B&B gave it high marks for the generous hospitality they received and friendly atmosphere provided by Innkeepers Al and Daryl Kyle," says Mary White, founder and CEO of BnBFinder and author of Running a Bed & Breakfast For Dummies.
Manufacturing
Ron Nilson, CEO and president of Ground Force Manufacturing in Post Falls, is the Idaho Business Leader of the Year 2013.
The professional business fraternity at Idaho State University, the Delta Upsilon Chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi, will recognize Nilson at a dinner March 21 in Pocatello.
The award annually recognizes an Idaho business leader who has demonstrated business and professional ethics while contributing significant support to community, civic and education activities. Awarded by ISU College of Business students since 1959, previous honorees have included a congressman, former governors, entrepreneurs and leaders of some of Idaho's largest companies. The recognition program is the longest-standing such program in Idaho.
According to the fraternity:
At the end of 2000 Nilson bought Aresco, a small, struggling manufacturing company in Post Falls, and saved 20 jobs. His goal was to expand the mine-support equipment product line and to take the products to a global market. Ground Force was almost forced into bankruptcy in 2001.
Ground Force has since grown to four factories and 225-plus employees around the world. Ground Force does business in more than 45 countries, and sales have soared in the last three years.
Under Nilson, the company built an 85,000-square-foot factory that tripled its production capacities. Ground Force's total factory square footage has risen to 240,000 from 55,000. Its skilled labor workforce has risen more than 300 percent in the last three years.
Ground Force acquired a factory in England in 2011. A Peru location is planned for 2013, creating a sales, support and field-service base for Latin American customers.
Nilson helped create the Kootenai Technical Education Campus. He donated the use of a 4,000-square-foot warehouse to the community to be used as a warming center for the homeless.
He was named the Post Falls Citizen of the Year in 2008. The Post Falls Chamber of Commerce named Ground Force Manufacturing "Large Company of the Year" for 2009.
His elected or appointed offices have included the Kootenai Technical Education Campus Board of Directors, the Pacific Northwest Economic Region board, and North Idaho College Board of Trustees.
Community service positions he has held include: Kootenai Technical Education Campus, vice chair, Executive Board; Boys and Girls Club, board member; North Idaho Manufacturing Consortium, founder and board chairman; North Idaho College Booster Club, board member; Greene Idaho Foundation, board member; Post Falls Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the board; Ignite Hope Warming Shelter, founding board member; Kootenai Perspectives; Concerned Businesses of North Idaho; and Executive Manufacturers Roundtable.
