The Board Room for May 29

Achievements

▪ AmeriPride Services Inc. announced its Fresno branch is one of the first uniform and linen facilities to earn the “Hygienically Clean Food Safety” certification. This voluntary designation provides third-party verification that products cleaned in the plant meet hygiene standards appropriate for food service companies.

Announcements

▪ Fresno County Federal Credit Union announced a new name for the organization, Noble Credit Union, a name that demonstrates the credit union’s commitment to be trustworthy, honorable, decent and reputable.

Awards

▪ Shirley Melikian Armbruster, associate vice president for university communications at Fresno State, received the 2017 Jim Tucker Media Service Award presented by the Department of Media, Communications and Journalism, for her journalistic and communications accomplishments. The award was established in 2004 as a tribute to Jim Tucker’s decades of service to the department as a professor and chair. The award honors a media professional in or from the San Joaquin Valley who has performed with distinction.

▪ Vya Sweet Vermouth was honored with the Vermouth Trophy at the 2017 International Wine Challenge in London, an award which highlights its recipient as the best of all vermouths at the competition. Vya brand vermouths are produced by Quady Winery in Madera and are considered by some to be the U.S.’s first American craft vermouth.

▪ The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve will present the “Above and Beyond Award” to Valley Children’s Healthcare. The award recognizes employers at the local level who demonstrate exemplary support of their Guard and Reserve employees that goes beyond government-mandated benefits. The award is given in limited numbers by State Committees to employers who have had at least one of their supervisors/managers recognized with a Patriot Award.

▪ For the seventh year in a row, Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare plans in California, which includes the Fresno location, have earned the Pharmacy Quality Alliance’s Excellence in Quality Award for high achievement in medication safety and appropriate use. The award recognizes the highest level of combined achievement in overall performance and medication-use quality. Recipients achieved an overall summary rating of at least 4.5 stars out of five and a 5-star rating on four or more of the PQA medication measures used within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Ratings Program and a 4-star rating on the fifth PQA measure.

▪ The California Trucking Association announced the winners of the 2017 California Truck Driving Championships. First place in the straight truck division was Gary Cordova of Fresno with FedEx Freight Inc. He will be competing for California at the American Trucking Association’s National Step Van & Truck Driving Championships, Aug. 8-12, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.

Donations

▪ Fig Garden Rotary provided a grant of $800 to Purpose II School of Dance for ballet equipment. Purpose II offers ballet classes to underserved youth who otherwise would not be able to afford the opportunity to experience the art of dance, especially ballet.

▪ The East Fresno Kiwanis Foundation announced $7,750 in scholarship awards to 11 area students. Award winners were: Sandra Torres, Fresno State; Nathalie Mena-Rodriguez, Bullard High School; Sasha Solano-McDaniel, Edison High School; Alyssa Cabrera, Fresno High School; Daniel Q. Sandoval, Hoover High School; Mai Doua Vue, McLane High School; Angie Alcantar, Ann Leavenworth Elementary School; Jessica A. Villalobos, Miguel Hidalgo Elementary School; Monica Becerra, Arc Fresno Aktion Club; Tim Whyte, Charis Community Aktion Club; and Alexander Wiens was the recipient of Bullard High School’s David A. Fausone Memorial Music Award.

New Faces

▪ Realty Concepts added Adam Wood, Jennifer Schantz, Mandy Silveira, Amy Souza, David Phillips and Christy Sasser in the Fresno office.

▪ Dr. William Chi Ta, who has been serving families on a temporary basis at Adventist Health/Community Care–Oakhurst for seven months, recently accepted an offer to join the clinic full time. He is a family medicine physician who cares for patients of all ages. He attended Loma Linda University School of Medicine. He completed an internship at University of California at Los Angeles-Kern and was a psychiatry resident physician at UCLA-Kern Medical Center. He is fluent in English and Vietnamese.

▪ Patricia Robles joined PACE TPA as senior plan administrator in the firm’s Clovis office. She specializes in the design and compliance requirements of 401(k), profit-sharing and other qualified retirement plans in addition to client and referral services. She is also coordinating administrative functions with the Bakersfield and Las Vegas offices. She has been in the industry since 2006 and is a graduate of Fresno State.

▪ California Health Sciences University added new administration and staff members. They are: Douglas Wood is chief academic officer and founding dean of the proposed CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine; Gregg S. Silberg is senior associate dean for clinical and graduate medical education of the proposed CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine; and Kaysha Rajani is a marketing and communications specialist.

New Locations

▪ Hampel Security Consulting is opening an office in Visalia at 500 N. Willis St. It is offering active shooter training, emergency medical training and physical security assessments to businesses, schools and medical facilities.

This story was originally published May 28, 2017 at 3:00 PM with the headline "The Board Room for May 29."