Hanft Fride

Minnesota Law & Politics magazine named John Kelly of the Duluth law firm as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Minnesota. He is one of only two attorneys practicing outside of the Twin Cities metro area to earn the honor. Kelly has more than 30 years experience representing insurance companies and corporate clients in tort actions and commercial disputes.

Apostle Islands Area Community Fund

Organizations that received grant funding this year from the regional permanent community endowment include Town of La Pointe, Our Shared Planet, Inc., Friends of the Bayfield Recreation Center, Bayfield Heritage Assoc., Inc., Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, University of Wisconsin Superior and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.

Ayres Associates

The Eau Claire-based architectural and engineering consulting firm hired Michael C. Stoffel, PE as civil engineer for municipal engineering operations. Stoffel was municipal engineer for the cities of Durand, Hayward, Cornell and Black River Falls and the villages of Baldwin and Boyceville. He has a bachelor’s in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Bayfield Chamber of Commerce/ Convention & Visitors Assoc.

The northern Wisconsin chamber received the Destination Marketing Organization certification from the Wisconsin Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus. The state association has 32 members, representing over $25 million in tourism promotional budgets that drive tourism growth in Wisconsin.

Lake Superior Medical Society

The society seeks nominations for its 2006 Physician of the Year award, for a member physician practicing in southern St. Louis, Carlton, Lake, Cook counties or the city of Superior. Deadline is Oct. 20. Letters of nomination may be sent to 306 West Superior St. Suite 804, Duluth, MN 55802.

Johnson, Killen & Seiler

Trina Alvero Phelan, an attorney at the Duluth law firm, was elected treasurer of the Duluth Festival Opera. She also serves on the board of directors.

Phelan also was appointed to the Minnesota State Bar Association advisory committee that oversees policies, procedures and programming for the state high school mock trial competition. Phelan is the attorney-coach for Marshall School’s team.

Jessica L. Durbin, also an attorney with the firm, was elected vice chairwoman of the city of Duluth Commission on Disabilities.

Lake Superior Warehousing Co., Inc.

Jonathan Lamb was appointed general manager, responsible for retaining and generating commerce through the Port of Duluth-Superior via Duluth’s Clure Public Marine Terminal. Lamb worked six years for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway and was terminal manager at the company’s Allouez taconite facility.

Minnesota Power

Al Hodnik was promoted to senior vice president of operations for the Duluth-based power company. Hodnik was vice president of generation and also will assume responsibility for the power delivery area, distribution and customer service and Engineering Services.

Northland College

Tia Nelson was named to the board of trustees at the private college in Ashland. The daughter of former U.S. senator, Wisconsin governor, and pioneering conservationist Gaylord Nelson is executive secretary of the state Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.

Robert Kerr also joined the college’s board of trustees. One of Georgia’s leading conservationists, he was instrumental in ensuring Congressional designation of wilderness areas in north Georgia and western North Carolina.

Reuben Johnson & Son, Inc. (RJS)

Dan Markham was hired as director of business development for the Superior-based regional construction services firm. A senior financial analyst and later a senior economic development analyst with Minnesota Power for five years, Markham graduated from St. John’s University in 1991 and received his master of business administration in 2005 from Regis University in Denver. The Duluth native is vice chairman of The Northspan Group board of directors.

RSM McGladrey

Robert Mellema was promoted to chief financial officer of the Upper Midwest region at the tax planning and preparation and business management firm with offices in Duluth, Minneapolis and Rochester. He has been with the firm since 1999.

Superior Community Credit Union

The credit union acquired property at 2302 E. 2nd St. in Superior, formerly the Shoreline Motel, to open a branch in 2007. The new branch will offer a drive-up and a full line of member services.

Telephone Associates, Inc.

Randy Peterson joined the sales team of the Superior-based telecommunications firm. He will serve as a local provider of business and residential communications products and services.

Jim Simon approaches his 30th year with the company, heading up the Business Premier Service Program, which provides technical service and telecommunication recommendations to Minnesota and Wisconsin-based business clients.

Thibodeau, Johnson & Feriancek

Minnesota Law & Politics magazine selected Duluth personal injury lawyer Thomas Thibodeau as a Super Lawyer. He has been recognized by the magazine as a Super Lawyer every year since its inception in 1991.

The magazine selected Matthew Thibodeau as a Minnesota Rising Star for the third consecutive year.

Wells Fargo

The nationwide bank opened a new branch in downtown Hibbing in September. It features a 6,000-square-foot store, four in-store teller windows, five offices, eight workstations, a night drop for business customers, a drive-up ATM and three drive-up teller lanes.

WesternBank

John Goldfine was appointed to the WesternBank board of directors at the July board meeting. Goldfine is president of Duluth-based ZMC Hotels, which owns and operates more than 30 hotels in 15 states.

WesternBank is a locally owned, independent bank with four offices in Duluth and an affiliation with WesternBank Cass Lake.

Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College Superior

Ingrid Johnson-Evavold joined the faculty of the Wisconsin two-year college as a full time general studies instructor in mathematics. She received an MA in Education from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and taught math at Chippewa Falls High School and Maple Middle School.

Deb Emery joined the faculty as a full time general studies instructor in psychology. She comes to WITC with more than 20 years experience working in clinical mental health in Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York.

Working Solutions

The Texas-based provider of remote home agent services acquired Advanced Data-Comm, an inbound and outbound teleservices firm which operated four locations, including Oelwein and Dubuque, IA, and Superior. Founded in 1996, Working Solutions provides remote home agent sales and support to Fortune 1000 companies.

• Kim Parmeter -8/31/2010
• Craig Kuske, P.E., S.E. -8/31/2010
• Barb Johnson -8/31/2010
• Doug Aretz -8/31/2010
• Shawna Jokinen -8/31/2010