Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • May 2018 uHONORS • Shae Frichette, co-owner of Frichette Winery in Benton City, is among eight female winemakers to be honored in the International Women in Wine Celebration Dinner and Cruise. Frichette’s rosé of merlot, Sashay, will be among the winemakers’ wines that will be featured in a multi-course dinner during the cruise. • Michelle Clary, a financial advisor with Piton Wealth in Kennewick, received the Voice in Philanthropy Award from InFaith Community Foundation for being among the company’s Michelle Clary financial representatives with the highest dollar amount given to charity via their clients. • Kennewick criminal attorney Keith Hilde has been named one of Two Years American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys 10 Best Criminal Law Attorneys for Client Satisfaction in Washington for two years. • Kennewick attorney John Raekes has been named as a 2018 American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys 10 Best Personal Injury Attorneys for Client Satisfaction in Washington. • Anneliese Johnson, financial advisor with Waddell & Reed in Kennewick, has been selected to attend the 2018 Waddell & Reed Circle of Champions conference for the top advisor affiliations with the company. Johnson joined Waddell & Reed in 2006. • New Traditions Homes, with an office in Pasco, received the 2018
Energy Star Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award. The U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency recognized the company in a ceremony in Washington, D.C. The award is given to those who show leadership and commitment to energy efficiency and the Energy Star program. • Matthew Riesenweber of Cornerstone Wealth Strategies in Kennewick has been named the 26th best Matthew financial adviRiesenweber sor in Washington and among the top 1,200 financial advisors in the U.S. by Barron’s. Riesenweber has been providing financial services in the Tri-Cities since 2003. • John and Priscilla Cadwell of Cadwell Laboratories were given the Boy Scouts of America North Star Award. The award recognizes the couple’s more than 40 years of making significant contributions to youth in the community. They moved their medical equipment company to Kennewick from Seattle in 1979. While their five chilJohn and Priscilla dren were Cadwell young, they were involved in Boy Scouts, the Richland ParentTeacher Organization, the MidColumbia Science Fair and Christ the King’s Sausage Fest, among many others.
45
Energy Northwest names new CEO BY TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STAFF
Energy Northwest’s executive board has named Brad Sawatzke as the agency’s chief executive officer. He has been acting as interim CEO since the departure of Mark Reddemann on March 30. “I am humbled and honored with this new opportunity,” Brad Sawatzke Sawatzke told the board on April 26. “We have a talented and capable team, and I’m very enthusiastic about the bright future facing us as a 100 percent clean generator of environmentally safe and affordable electricity.” As CEO, Sawatzke leads an organization of nearly 1,100 employees who help power the region through a variety of carbon-free resources, the most prominent of which is the Columbia Generating Station nuclear power plant. The plant near Richland provides about 10 percent of Washington’s electricity, or enough electricity to power a million homes. Energy Northwest’s executive board also appointed Grover Hettel as chief nuclear officer. Grover Hettel He previously served as vice president for operations. Replacing Hettel as operations vice president is Bob Schuetz, who also will continue in his role as Columbia Generating Station’s plant general manager pending selection of a new plant manager.
In an organizational change, the executive board moved the agency’s hydro, wind and solar operations, as well as new development and energy busiBob Schuetz ness services, under the leadership of Brent Ridge, who continues as vice president for corporate services. Before joining Energy Northwest in 2010, Sawatzke was the director of site operations at the Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant in Minnesota, Brent Ridge operated by Xcel Energy. He worked for Xcel Energy for nearly 29 years. Sawatzke holds a bachelor of science in applied physics from Winona State University and is a graduate of the Harvard Advanced Management Program. He has also held a reactor operator and senior reactor operator license at the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, Monticello, Minnesota. He currently serves on the United Way of Benton and Franklin Counties board of directors and its Community Solutions board; Northwest Public Power Association board of trustees; and is a member of the Columbia Basin College nuclear technology advisory board. “The executive board is extremely pleased with Brad’s acceptance to lead the agency,” said executive board chair Sid Morrison in a statement. “His passionate leadership and commitment to excellence is contagious, which is exactly what we were looking for.”