Your business community

JOB CHANGES

Attorney Craig G. Taylor has joined the Boise law firm Belnap Curtis & Williams, PLLC, after serving for several years as vice president, corporate secretary and associate general counsel for Washington Group International Inc. He has extensive experience in employee benefits law, estate planning and business organization. Before joining the Washington Group International legal department, he was a partner in the Boise law firm Hawley Troxell Ennis & Hawley LLP and an associate attorney in the Rockford, Ill., law firm Reno, Zahm, Folgate, Lindberg & Powell.

After graduating from Brigham Young University's J. Rueben Clark Law School, Taylor clerked for the Honorable Albert J. Engel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. He also holds a bachelor's degree in business management from BYU. He is admitted to the state bars of Idaho, Illinois and Ohio, and multiple federal courts.

Northwest Nazarene University President David Alexander, with the approval of the Board of Trustees, named David Peterson the new vice president for financial affairs. Peterson has served as a university trustee for nine years and will take his post in November.

Peterson brings an extensive professional background in financial management as well as private Christian education. He has worked with the Boeing Company for the past 11 years as business and financial planning analyst for the 737 program and most recently as a financial planning senior analyst for in-production airplane programs. Peterson began his career with Sears, Roebuck and Co. managing the Northwest credit enterprise, and later served in private Christian education as chief financial officer for Kings Schools, a ministry of CRISTA in Seattle (one of the top 10 largest private Christian schools in America at the time).

RECOGNITION

Sen. Mike Crapo has been awarded the Guardian of Small Business Award from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). The national small-business group presented the award to Crapo in Washington. Crapo has received the Guardian of Small Business Award several times since he was elected in 1993.

Crapo sits on the Senate Finance Committee, which has oversight of tax policy, and on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, which handles many regulatory issues.

Perkins Coie has announced that it has been named one of the 2008 Best Law Firms for Women by Working Mother Magazine and one of the 2008 Top Ten Family Friendly Firms by Yale Law Women.

Working Mother Magazine's Best Law Firms for Women List recognizes a select group of U.S. law firms that are proactively developing and implementing women-friendly policies, including flex-time, child care, and women-focused mentoring, leadership and networking programs. Yale Law Women, a student organization devoted to promoting the interests of women in law school and the legal profession, conducted a 35-question survey to law firms on the 2007 Vault Top 100 Law Firms list to assess family-friendly practices.

GOOD DEEDS

Wells Fargo Foundation on behalf of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Idaho, has donated $5,000 to support Mercy Housing Idaho's Single Family Self-Help Homeownership Program. This program helps families build their own homes in the Magic Valley. Mercy Housing Idaho is a nonprofit organization that develops and, through its subsidiary Mercy Services Corp., manages affordable housing.

News assistant Pat Carson compiled this report. E-mail bizcom@idahostatesman.com, fax Your Business Community at 377-6449, or write to Your Business Community, c/o Newsroom, Idaho Statesman, P.O. Box 40, Boise, ID 83707. Individual portraits are welcomed. Materials submitted to the Idaho Statesman and IdahoStatesman.com shall become the property of the Idaho Statesman and may be reproduced and distributed in print, electronic or other form for perpetuity. By submitting your materials, you agree to these terms.