Catalyst magazine by David Crary

Positive

Transformation 10 Obstacles standing in your way Chris Majer

Beware

7 the

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U nl ea sh ed O nl i n e . . .

Wh e re c o ll a b o r at i v e t h i nk i ng mee t s c o n t e m p o r a ry d e si gn. “When we had the opportunity to create a new office space for our team, we were fortunate to be able to retain Sam to help. With precious little time and a humble budget to work with, we had huge visions of privacy, collaboration, sunshine, whiteboards, expansion, and technology everywhere. Sam sat quietly listening as he absorbed our ideas, hopes, constraints and fears. Within days he had laid out a tremendous plan that has given us a truly breathtaking space to work in. When existing furniture didn’t fit the bill, he built it, literally. When lead times didn’t work with our construction timetable, he found lighting that was better than planned, at a better price. When we needed a miracle, he gave us dozens. Sam has always been appreciative of the consulting work we have done with his firm, but I truly believe that he thanked us with the space that we now get to use as a canvas for our professional lives. I get to live inside of a love letter. Do yourself a favor: if you don’t already follow Sam on Facebook.com/ Rodell.Architect, do so. You’ll find yourself in the “secret garden” of a true forward thinker. And if ever you find yourself in need of space, just dare to see what some time with Sam across the table listening can yield.”

~Chris Reilly - Owner, Unleashed Online Media

Vi ew m o r e w o r k a n d te stimon ia l s at www.rode l l .co

Contents

Vol. 9 Issue 6 November - December 2013

On the cover

Chris Majer

Photo by Jodi Jones

departments Editor’s letter

Business Texter Inc IT TIPS Travel like a pro 7 Silent Business Killers Hot off the BLOG New City Technology

9 10 10 11 11 11

The BOMB:

Feature

22 A Flying Success

Dave Knutson’s day job revolves around birds. As owner of KlearView Resources his job is to mitigate avian and wildlife control issues for government—military private contracts across the western states, by employing birds of prey as part of his operation.

12 Business Newcomer

The YMCA of the Inland Northwest’s new president/CEO, Steve Tammaro has nearly 40 years working for the YMCA for cities such as: Boston, Rochester, NY, Nashville, TN and Denver, and now, he’s taking on Spokane.

38 Positive transformation tips

Chris Majer, founder and CEO of The Human Potential Project, has released the second edition of The Power to Transform: Passion, Power, and Purpose in Daily Life and shares 10 Obstacles That Prevent Positive Transformation.

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14 Arevo Health

Arevo Health, a cloud based software startup company headquartered in Spokane, recently launched with the mission of helping companies save money on their healthcare spending and maximizing other employee investments.

16 Collaboration

In 2005 Avista Utilities and Gonzaga University came together to create the Transmission and Distribution Power Engineering (T&D) Program at Gonzaga, designed with the next generation of utility engineers in mind.

Style Business

Drive Anderson & Emami Clothiers Robert Talbott Collection

Power

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through the trenches Patti Usselman, owner of Patti Usselman Hair Company, didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t realize it at the time, but her business, the passion side of it anyway, began in the family kitchen when she was just six years old.

November - December 2013

Letter Editor's

reached out to Subject B to offer him the golden opportunity, I was going to give him a start in magazines. “Thank you for the opportunity,” he wrote back. “But I am working in another job and don’t have the time to take on a writing project right now.”

Must Have Grit

ubject A sat at the conference table for hours, stuffing envelopes. Hundreds of them. Day after day, she continued to partake in the most menial office tasks. Although I wasn’t confident I could interrupt my workflow to extend to her what I would consider more exciting assignments, I did feel it was my responsibility to at least offer her the opportunity to get some real traction out of her internship. “How do you feel your internship is going,” I asked one day as she cut out small flyers. “It’s going really well,” she replied with a smile. “What types of experiences were you hoping to gain during your time here?” I continued, “Were you interested in taking on some editorial work in the magazines?” My eyes bulged, as she expressed no interest in the opportunity I presented and instead said, with a smile, “Oh, I don’t mind. I mainly wanted to see what a professional environment was like.” Subject B sent me a long, thought-out email, heralding the magazines and sharing his admiration for my position as editor along with his dreams and desires to write for the magazines and, perhaps, become an editor some day. A couple of months later, a writer fell through on a short assignment, so I

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The lack of ambition and professional hesitation Subjects A and B exuded will alter their professional tracks in ways beyond their comprehension. I certainly won’t extend opportunity a second time under the circumstances. As is the case for the act of writing, the great secret of success, even for the most talented, is that the road is hard, excruciating at times. And it takes an incredible amount of gumption, commitment and perseverance to take a story from a mere thought to a completed manuscript; a menial job to the job of your dreams and beyond. The great leaders’ accounts of their secrets to success have never included contentment with the menial or shrugging off an offer because they were too busy doing something else. Hopefully, you will always be too busy doing something else; the difference for those with ambition, those with grit, is they won’t let that stop them from pursuing their goals. Those in the field of psychology say ambition is among the strongest and most creative forces in the arsenal of human psychology and the reason most anything gets accomplished. “More of us achieve less because we fail to try than fail to achieve because we try too hard,” is the well-known quote. Inland Business Catalyst is the magazine for the professionals with grit, for those whose ambition reservoirs stay filled above the ‘making it happen’ marker. On these pages we explore the stories of those that are raising the bar in their industries, fueling innovations, making incredible things happen throughout the region. Inland Business Catalyst and our readers are cool like that. Read on, and then write in to share your story with me.

Vol. 9 Issue 6 November-December 2013

Editor Stephanie Regalado Creative Director Senior Designer David Crary graphic Designer Camille Mackie Photography Barb Chase Jodi Jones Ella Herhilan Darin Burt Contributors Matt Behringer Steve Blue Darin Burt Rachelle Chapman Jennifer Ferrero Julie Happy Chris Majer Cheryl-Anne Millsap Account Executives Jeff Richardson Cindy Guthrie Kristi Folk Debra Smith Diane Caldwell Operations and Finance Manager Kim Morin Traffic Manager Arika Whiteaker circulation manager and accounts receivable Theresa Berglund Publisher & CEO Vincent Bozzi Co-Publisher Emily Guevarra Bozzi

Find us on

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Here’s to Making it Happen, Inland Business Catalyst magazine is published bi-monthly by Bozzi Media.

Stephanie Regalado editor@ibcatalyst.com

104 S. Freya St., Suite #209, Spokane, WA 99202-4866 Phone: 509.533.5350 | Fax: 509.535.3542 All contents © 2013. No portion of this magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Neither Bozzi Media nor Inland Business Catalyst magazine assume responsibility for errors in content, photos or advertisements.

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business at its best

the

usiness Texter Inc was founded in Spokane by David Johnston and Aaron Rollins. The company is anchored in the fact that text messaging is now the most used communication tool in the world, more than email or phone calls, and is fast becoming not just how we communicate personally, but how businesses and organizations will communicate with clients/customers as well. Email made this same transition from strictly personal to business and consumer. The difference with texting will be systems like Business Texter with artificial intelligence and two-way communication. “For instance, a restaurant running our app has a customer text in ‘what are your specials’ or ‘how late are you open,’” explains Rollins. “The app writes them back instantly with the answer. It's hands off, real time texting that serves a purpose beyond advertising.” The ability to group text from a smart phone using your unlimited texting plan is getting people’s attention. Rollins says they are acquiring users ranging from schools, churches, restaurants, concert promoters, first responders and just about anyone you can think of who needs to reach groups of people. “While we created it to help small businesses, at the heart we have built a communication tool, and communication is at the heart of every industry.”

Founders :: Aaron Rollins and David Johnston Surf: www.businesstexter.com Write: aaron@businesstexter.com Call/Text: (509) 990-5088

November - December 2013

the

Travel Like a Pro By Cheryl-Anne Millsap

Packing Like a Pro

ith high airline baggage fees and tight connections that mean your luggage might not make it to your destination, many professional travelers opt to travel light and carry-on only. Unfortunately, space restrictions and weight limits, especially for international flights, limit the size of your luggage. So, if you’re going to be gone for longer than a weekend, how do you get everything you need in one small bag? The trick is in the packing. Here are five tips for packing what you need in one small bundle:

Less is more: Most of us tend to bring more than we will need for any trip. To simplify and eliminate clothing, stick to neutrals. One pair of black microfiber slacks and a black sweater or jacket will see you through most meetings and appointments. A scarf/tie or a signature piece of jewelry will add color and take you through the day and into the night.

Pack it right:

My friend Julie swears by the “bundle” method: stacking and overlapping items of clothing in the order in which they’ll be unpacked and worn. I go for the cubes. My luggage is organized in three to five small packing cubes (I prefer Eagle Creek lightweight and colorful organizers). For a week’s trip, I’ll wear one pair of microfiber slacks and pack a second pair; a skirt and a simple black jersey dress in one cube. The second holds a couple of blouses and a lightweight sweater. My PJs, undies, socks, etc., go in the rest. That way I can open my suitcase and immediately put my hands on what I need. A lightweight black raincoat and travel umbrella are folded on the top and my shoes, wrapped in shoe bags, are tucked into the corners.

Be realistic:

Think light:

By Rachelle Chapman

How Secure is Your Password?

hort passwords composed of familiar words and only alphabetical characters are easy pickings for "brute force" password-cracking software. Such software simply cycles through all possible combinations of letters until it hits the set that works. This is why many Websites insist that you create a password of eight characters or more, and include at least one non-alphabetical character. The best advice we have seen on this topic is to choose a password that's memorable, which contains a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, along with at least one number and at least one special character. But on the other hand, length trumps complexity.

Unless you’re going on a cruise and need something especially dressy (and more and more cruises are dropping the “formal” requirement) chances are you can get by with the basics. All those things you toss into your suitcase because you “might” need them usually come back home without being worn.

Mind your feet: Many of us have a fondness for shoes and it’s tempting to toss in a pair for every outfit. But, like the extra clothing, chances are those shoes won’t see the light of day while we’re traveling. If you can’t leave the extras at home, try to wear your heaviest pair of shoes while flying.

IT Tip

Extra ounces add up. Stop to consider the weight of each garment you pack. I had a For some excellent info on how to gauge the strength of favorite black shirtdress I used to your password, we recommend How Secure Is My Password?, pack until one day I realized it which is a password security calculator that tells you whether your password is good or bad and WHY. For example, it'll was considerably heavier than warn you if your password is too short, contains only common a similar dress in my closet. By dictionary words, or if it needs more character variety. switching the dresses, I Using the same password everywhere you need one is a bad idea, too. If shaved ounces off the that password is compromised, a bad guy has a master key to your email, weight of my luggage. And bank account, credit cards, Facebook page, and everything else a password these days, every ounce is supposed to keep him out of. Create a unique password for every online counts. account you create, or at least for the most sensitive personal accounts. Many sites let users choose a "security question" from a list and supply a supposedly secret answer that will serve to confirm your identity in case you lose or forget your password. But think about what you've posted online, and what's available through public records. Your mother's maiden name and the high school you attended are not secrets. Whenever possible, create your own security question with an answer that can't be Googled.

Cheryl-Anne Millsap is a travel writer whose audio essays can be heard on Spokane Public Radio and on public radio stations across the country. She is the author of ‘Home The leading web browsers ask, by default, "Do you want me to remember your Planet: A Life in password for this site?" Well, of course you don't! Letting a web browser automatically Four Seasons’ and fill in your password is like telling your car to turn the key for whoever touches the can be reached door handle. Disable this "feature" and don't store passwords in your browser. at: catmillsap@ Password management software such as KeePass and Roboform help you create strong gmail.com. passwords, and then store them in encrypted databases. A master password gives you access to the database as needed. Make it as complex as you can remember.

Managing Your Passwords

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@ Inland Northwest Business Watch By Matt Behringer

Here is a look at some new businesses coming to the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area from the local business blog, Inland Northwest Business Watch.

Urbanna Salon & Spa/Incognito

Urbanna Salon & Spa, at 168 S. Division in Spokane, now offers beer and wine. Since the state license requires customers to be 21+, Urbanna has opened a new salon geared towards those under 21. That new salon is called Incognito and is located nearby at 216 W. Pacific, Suite 106.

Celebrations

The popular Garland District cupcake bakery is expanding with a new location. Celebrations is planned to open in late October by the corner of 4th and Sullivan in Spokane Valley. The location in the Garland District will also remain open.

Silent Business Killers

Miller Paint

Watch for a new location of the Miller Paint chain in Spokane Valley. The new store will open in what was a Big & Tall clothing shop at 14115 E. Sprague Ave.

Rumor Mill

By Steve Blue

Recently, I was asked by a reader about a rumor of the Oakland, CA based Kaiser Permanente expanding to Spokane. Kaiser is a nonprofit health plan with a network of hospitals and clinics that have operations in the Northwest but not in Spokane. I researched this rumor, and while nothing is official the rumor seems to be not true. A representative from Kaiser Permanente had not been informed of this, and I can’t find any permits or mentions of it anywhere else.

igh blood pressure is a silent killer. Combined with other risk factors it can lead to death. There are seven silent business killers that, if combined, can lead to the death of a business. Here are the warning signs:

Inland Northwest Business Watch is a local business news blog highlighting new, closing, moving, or expanding businesses. The web site can be found at www.inlandnwbusiness.com and on Facebook. The blog is written by Matt Behringer and is always accepting news tips. You can contact Matt at inlandbusiness@yahoo.com.

#1 Life Is Great

When everything is humming along perfectly, that is the time to be on your guard. Dig hard into your operation to see what’s wrong.

#2 Everyone Makes Nice

You can’t move forward without conflict. If your people are more concerned with being nice than moving forward, it is time to shake things up.

#3 Innovation Is DOA

If new product development is slowing to a trickle; your company is dying a slow death. Re-energize your innovation efforts.

Hot OFF THE

BLOG

New City Technology Promises Smoother Commutes

By Julie Happy, City of Spokane

ne more reason to love the City of Spokane besides its recognition as a top place to live, work and play; the new traffic DMS signs that were recently installed. There is no doubt that Spokane is an outdoor lovers paradise with so many activity options such as biking, hiking, skiing, running, and climbing; and I haven’t even mentioned the water opportunities with the surrounding rivers and lakes. There is an attractive developing culture here that many people are discovering and enjoying and Spokane is making sure we take care of that community and embrace their ability to commute wherever they are going and whatever they are doing, with ease.

#4 Your Sales Team Works For Your Customer

If your sales people think “customer pays the bills,” they are really working for them—not you. Is that what you want?

One of the newest attractive offerings Spokane has invested in comes in the form of modern technology. Our citizens have the advantage of a community without too many traffic concerns and now the City has added another feature for those commuters. This technology is called a Dynamic Message Sign (DMS) and it has been installed on our major traffic areas from the River to the Northern City limits.

#5 Toxic employees

If you ever met a rude flight attendant, you know what a toxic employee is. The more toxic employees you have, the sooner you will go belly up.

#6 Factory Cost Is Under Control

Under control is not good enough. If you aren’t lowering cost every year, you can’t compete in a global economy.

This system is controlled by Spokane Regional Transportation Management Center (SRTMC). It looks similar to the signs on the freeway which alert citizens to accidents ahead or heavy fog or other driving concerns. This new City system, along our high volume driving routes, alerts citizens to any traffic disturbance along their commute, giving them opportunity to reroute themselves before they are stuck in a long line of cars waiting for the incident to clear.

#7 Hiding In the United States

If you hide behind Uncle Sam, you won’t last in the global economy. You must diversify into international markets. With more than three decades of management, executive, consulting and speaking experience in markets all over the world, Miller Ingenuity CEO Steve Blue is a globally regarded business growth authority and “turnaround specialist” who has transformed companies into industry giants and enthralled audiences with his dynamic keynotes. He may be reached at www.StevenLBlue.com.

Division Street alone handles roughly 50,000 vehicles per day. The installation of the DMS signs will provide an opportunity to better manage the region’s traffic along this and other heavily travelled streets throughout the city and provide opportunity for other route selection way ahead of the congestion. Commuting is an issue for all major city residents. If you lived in West Seattle for instance, and worked in East Lake Union in downtown Seattle, your commute would be approximately 7 – 10 miles. Your drive commute would be approximately 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Throw an accident in the mix and your commute time would be unknown. There is no warning before you get on that West Seattle Bridge if there is an accident or traffic issue ahead. Spokane recognizes the value in traffic control and management before it is a problem. We are not Seattle or Portland in size and we celebrate our ability to adapt easily to our growing community while remaining a City concerned about our citizen’s time, commute, and busy lifestyle.

November - December 2013

Newcomer Business

by Cheryl-Anne Millsap

Where did you live before and what brought you to Spokane? Before moving to Spokane we lived in Denver, CO for seven years. We came to Spokane when I accepted the job of president/CEO of the YMCA of the Inland Northwest. I have nearly 40 years working for the YMCA and it has afforded us the opportunity to live in a number of communities including Boston, Rochester, NY, Nashville, TN and Denver. What was your first impression of Spokane? My first impression of Spokane was of the people, very friendly and very engaging. What attracted me to the job opportunity was when I attended a community event for the candidates for the position. Each person I talked with spoke of the great willingness of people (here) to come together to collaborate on issues facing the community. That is not true of every community but I’ve found it to be the case here. It makes our work a bit easier and certainly more rewarding.

What do you feel you offer to the YMCA and the community of Spokane? I bring to the YMCA nearly 40 years of experience in different YMCA settings and communities. I’ve done many different jobs. I began as a camp counselor, but I’ve been a membership/marketing director, a branch executive director, a group vice president and a chief operating officer. I bring perspective and experience and especially the skill set of being able to identify organizational culture and change it where necessary. If I’m successful, the YMCA is stronger and ultimately our community is stronger. Our core purpose is to give everyone a safe place to learn, grow and thrive! The YMCA is very strong, great board, great staff and wonderful facilities. In what ways do you (and your family) look forward to putting down roots? My wife Margaret and I attend a number of community events; in addition we support various charitable endeavors. My children are also involved in the community as well: Sarah, our oldest (20) is the Head Swim Team Coach for Spokane Parks & Recreation and is volunteering at the MAC and will return to Wellesley College in Boston for her junior year. Our son Bartlett (17) is a varsity soccer player for G-Prep where he will be a senior

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Steve Tammaro

YMCA of the Inland Northwest's CEO Photo Credit: Ella Herhilan|Capture Perfect Photography

Hello consistent branding. Good-bye elevator music.

and has played on two select soccer teams since our arrival and recently became certified to referee soccer. Our youngest daughter Emma, (14) has taken tennis lessons at the Spokane Club and is learning to play golf and recently came back from her first experience at YMCA Camp Reed (and she had a friend from Denver attend with her!). She will be a freshman at G-Prep. Both Bartlett and Emma have volunteered for the YMCA as well. How do you hope to make a difference in the community? My wife and I support other charitable entities and events. Margaret was a commercial florist in Denver and has helped the YMCA with creative ideas and with events. We’re both willing and able to give of our time, treasure and talent. Teaching our children the importance of giving back is important as well. Additionally, I can make a difference by making sure the YMCA lives its mission and purpose. A strong YMCA in a community is a catalyst for improving the lives of all.

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Real Estate: What part of the city do you call home? When we first moved to Spokane we rented an apartment very close to downtown while we were house-hunting. It was a great experience. As a family we thoroughly enjoyed the downtown experience. We looked at a number of homes over several months and moved into one this past June on the South Hill near the Manito Country Club. In Denver we lived in an urban development but this house is in a great neighborhood with some great views—very quiet and relaxing. It’s a great place to come home to and my wife has done a wonderful job of making it a home. How would you like to introduce yourself to Spokane: My wife Margaret and I will have been married 25 years this November. She has been my greatest supporter, always willing to pick up and make a move if and when it was good for our family and my career. She gave up a successful business as a commercial florist in Denver but is very entrepreneurial and is working on a new business. There is an old saying, ‘behind every great man is a woman.’ In my case, behind the man is a great woman! In addition, we continue to raise three great kids. I was both fortunate and blessed to get the CEO job at a great YMCA in a great city like Spokane. We love it here!

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Founders: Ryan Fix and Jim Schlosser Surf: www.arevohealth.com Write: ryan@arevohealth.com Call: (509) 994-5829

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Arevo Health to Revolutionize Corporate Healthcare

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revo Health is a cloud based software startup company headquartered in Spokane. Arevo recently launched with the mission of helping companies save money on their healthcare spending and maximizing other employee investments. Today, companies spend billions of dollars annually on healthcare for their employees but lack the tools to track and manage these investments. Companies are not able to see the full picture regarding their healthcare benefits spending and other human capital investments. The lack of clarity results in companies’ inability to invest more strategically, understand if they are meeting the needs of their employees, and control desired outcomes. Arevo’s solution enables the company to analyze potential impacts and risks related to healthcare utilization and employee productivity. Ryan Fix and Jim Schlosser founded Arevo, both having a history with startups and leading organizations. “The timing of launch could not have been better, given the state of the market. We have been close friends for the past eight years having success in our separate careers. Over the last 18 months we have been brainstorming around this idea and six months ago we agreed to join together and create the company,” says Schlosser. Before co-founding Arevo, Fix was the CEO of Family Home Care. Prior to that Fix helped lead Wellcore, a San Jose startup to a successful acquisition by General Motors. Similarly, Schlosser was co-founder & CEO of Pacinian where he led the company to a successful multi-million dollar exit in 2012 to Synaptics. “Together we have lead four startups, three of them successfully exiting to publically traded companies,” Fix says. “With so much uncertainty around the Affordable Care Act coupled with continued rise in premiums, our software platform provides the necessary tools for top executives to review, analyze and adjust their healthcare spending,” adds Schlosser. “Arevo is going to revolutionize corporate efficiency related to healthcare costs,” Fix believes. Currently in beta testing, the Arevo platform is scheduled to publicly launch during the spring of 2014.

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Collaboration Bridging the Gap

hat do you do when you have a large segment of your workforce preparing to retire in a continually growing, technical industry? Educate and train the next generation of employees yourself, of course! It may sound idealistic, but that’s exactly what Avista Utilities and Gonzaga University are doing. In 2005, the organizations came together to create the Transmission and Distribution Power Engineering (T&D) Program at Gonzaga, designed with the next generation of utility engineers in mind. “The program at GU, in collaboration with Avista, allows engineers the opportunity to experience hands-on teaching from the best and brightest in the industry–the industry experts,” says Dr. Stephen Silliman, Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science at Gonzaga University. The offer of collaboration in 2005 was perfect timing as Avista leadership saw a looming shortage of skilled workers in the utility industry, particularly power engineers. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) reports about half of the 7,000 power engineers in the U.S. will retire in the next decade. This provides great employment opportunity for the next generation, but up until now, there

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haven’t been collegiate programs built to provide advanced engineering courses specifically aimed at the utility industry. The Gonzaga program has proven very popular and has seen more than 750 enrollments in the online graduate level courses. Dr. Peter McKenny, T&D Power Engineering Program Director, reports the word-of-mouth growth of the program is especially encouraging. “We will see one engineer take a Gonzaga course online and the next semester two of his or her colleagues will take a course,” says Dr. McKenny. “Pretty soon, we’ll have a team of people excited to work with industry mentors on real world problems.”

As the program came to life, Gonzaga and engineers at Avista worked together to develop courses by asking, “What would you want an engineer to know after taking this course?” Those answers, from creating a project plan for a new substation to designing high voltage transmission lines, have generally become the T&D course final projects. That real world relevance has been key to the program’s growth. Four senior engineers at Avista are currently teaching on teams in the online courses and eleven engineers from Avista have taken 24 classes as they work to gain power engineering knowledge and skills

before the more senior engineers at Avista retire. “Avista plans to hire engineers every year over the next decade as the industry faces a wave of retirements,” says Heather Rosentrater, Director of Engineering and System Operations at Avista and Adjunct Faculty at Gonzaga. “We have been thrilled to partner with a premier higher education institution like Gonzaga to train the next generation of engineers.” Rosentrater added the potential pool of talent expands well beyond traditional college-age students, “We see military veterans return to school as they transition into the civilian workforce. Mid-career engineers complete the program to apply their skills to the energy industry. And we continue to attract women into engineering careers.” The practicality that Avista has brought to the program is evidenced by the nearly unanimous response that students give in each T&D course evaluation. When asked if the 8-week T&D course has already helped them at their jobs, nearly 100% of the students say a resounding, “Yes.” As the need grows to develop a stronger workforce pipeline for the power industry, more utilities could benefit from following Avista’s lead and collaborating with local universities to share senior engineers’ experience before it is too late.

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Chateau Guitar Masters Pete Anderson & Sammy Eubanks Friday, November 15 8:00pm Chateau Rive At The Flour Mill $15 General Admission www.ticketswest.com

An Evening With Rick Estrin & The NightCats Thursday, December 5, 2013 Show @ 7:30pm/Doors @ 6:30pm Chateau Rive At The Flour Mill $20 /General Admission

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Claude Bourbon With Special Guests

Thursday, May 22, 2014 Show @ 7:30pm/Doors @ 6:30pm Chateau Rive At The Flour Mill $10/General Admission

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November - December 2013

A Flying Success By Darin Burt

KlearView Resources uses birds of prey to rid the skies of winged troublemakers

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n Sundays during football season, you can find David Knutson on the sidelines at CenturyLink Field where his trained hawk Taima is the team mascot of the Seattle Seahawks. Back at home in Spokane, Knutson’s day job still revolves around birds, but his game plan as owner of KlearView Resources, is to mitigate avian and wildlife control issues for government—military private contracts across the western states—by employing birds of prey as part of his operation.

There is no school or training manual for this business. Knutson has been involved with falconry, which as a sport dates back to medieval Europe, since he was a teenager and saw the movie “My Side of the Mountain,” about a boy surviving in the wild and teaching a wild falcon to help him hunt for food. “Because I’m an outdoorsman and having been handling birds of prey for a long time, I’ve learned what the other birds in the air do when I’m flying my hawks and falcons,” says Knutson, 56.

What happens is the birds either want to forage or live where there is shelter, food and water. Knutson’s tactic is to change the desirability of the environment. “It’s a natural response that when the birds of prey are around (the other birds) need to go someplace else,” he explains. Flying a team of three or four falcons on a course through the air, circling overhead and diving quickly (at over 200 miles an hour) simulates their hunting actions. Of course, to the other birds and animals it looks frighteningly real. “We don’t have to depredate or kill birds to be successful,” Knutson says. “It’s the same concept as when the military puts an aircraft carrier in the gulf of Iraq and go through their ops of flying fighter jets up and down the coast and bombing a practice target. It’s a show of force.” KlearView Resources got its start in 1984 when Knutson was contacted to deal with the pigeon population in the ATT parking garage in downtown San Francisco. Owners were curious if the idea would work, and after locking up the hawks in the garage, it didn’t take much for the pigeons to get the message. “It was complete depredation,” Knutson says, ”It became an issue to other pigeons that wanted to roost in there at night that it wasn’t safe because there were predators in there.” Knutson was next called into action by Fairchild Air Force Base (FAB) following news of an accident in Alaska where a flock of Canada geese may have been sucked into an engine of a huge AWACS radar plane that crashed in a fireball moments after takeoff, killing all 24 crewmembers on board. The geese had been living near the runway area at Elmendorf Air Force Base, near Anchorage, but nobody thought much about them being a threat. Fairchild had similar problems, but so far without loss of life. Seagulls had struck planes on the runways causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages. McChord Air Force Base, near Tacoma, had also reported issues with bird strikes at dramatic monetary costs. Knutson proudly put on a demonstration of his birds’ natural capabilities. Base officials were convinced, and over the following year, non-damaging bird strikes were reduced by more than eighty percent, and damaging strikes were eliminated completely during the first seven years of the program. The first year after Knutson “sterilized” the runways at Fairchild in 1997, FAB earned the safety award for all the Air Mobility Command facilities. “I never really had to advertise,” says Knutson. “Fairchild was kind of our fleet ship in doing the military air bases. A lot of the safety officers were calling to ask what we were doing.” The approach comes down to having an unnatural number of problem birds and wildlife in the area where the jets make contact with the ground, and Knutson counters that with an unnatural number of predators. He uses falcons, hawks and dogs, pyrotechnics, air canons, and bio-acoustics (a fancy term for loud animal sounds) to accomplish the job.

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November - December 2013

A Flying Success “We’ve learned to carry a big tool box with a lot of tools,” he says, “but all those tools are in support of what the falcons do.” The core of Klearview’s work is for military airports, but other common clients are landfills, office complexes, and nuclear plants where roosting pigeons and starlings create nuisances, not to mention “messes” to state it pleasantly. Farms with fruit orchards and vineyards have also hired Knutson and his birds to protect their crops. One cherry farmer was losing 30 percent of his tonnage; KlearView helped reduce that to just eight percent. “Some of these farmers lose millions of dollars every year from birds eating their crops,” Knutson says. Encroaching wildlife varies by the season, and along with birds can include deer, coyotes, and badgers, that if they wander onto a runway can cause planes to go off course or damage landing gears. In fall, migrating waterfowl are looking for food in the fields near the airbases, and Kleaview works to scare them from the perimeters. While large-bodied birds generally create significantly more damage, smaller birds such as horned larks, which fly in flocks of thousands, and prefer open areas like airfields, account for the majority of bird strikes.

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Even if a strike causes no damage, if an Air Force plane hits a bird while in flight, it must immediately return to be inspected. There may be no cost in terms of damaged equipment, but there is expenditure of fuel and man-hours, not to mention interruptions to training exercises and missions. Knutson defines what is to be a successful entrepreneur, turning his passion into a

Dave Knutson’s birds of prey chase away birds of nuisance at Fairchild Airforce Base.

needed service—even if it is using an ancient solution to deal with a modern problem. “My passion is working with hawks and falcons, but it’s hard not to also enjoy the fact that you make it safe for the jets and pilots, and you save the farmers dollars that they’ve been losing,” Knutson says, “that helps me sleep at night because we’re doing a good thing.”

Thursday, January 16th 5-8pm Bank of America Building | Lobby | 701 W Riverside | Spokane

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Landing It: Negotiations By Kathleen Brady

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cannot meet your salary expectations, you may be able to convince the employer to give you “credit” for additional degrees, past careers or skill sets. Perhaps you can convince the employer to create a new position that would better accommodate your skills, interests, and abilities as well as meeting the employer’s needs.

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with negotiating power. Remember, your goal is to get to your top figure in a way the employer thinks is fair. If you are unhappy with what has been offered, it is appropriate to come back with a counteroffer. The key is to emphasize the benefit to the employer of paying you more. Perhaps if the employer

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ost people hate the thought of negotiating during the interview process, but if you do not learn the art of negotiation, you may be underpaid by many thousands of dollars over the course of your career. Avoid the trap of viewing negotiating as an adversarial process with winners and losers. Think of it instead as individuals working together to arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement. By using sound business principles such as preparing and rehearsing, emphasizing accomplishments rather than personal needs, learning and addressing the needs of the employer, asking intelligent questions and listening carefully, you will be able to articulate the value you have to offer and enhance your negotiating stance. Before interviews begin, employers establish a predetermined budget for the position. While they may have some flexibility, contrary to popular belief, not everything is negotiable. Employers generally try to keep salaries equitable within the organization by not paying anyone much above the norm. They may consider altering the budget if impressed by the special skills or background of a particular candidate, but it is the candidate’s job to explain how the employer will benefit by paying more. The key is to work with the employer—not against—to arrive at mutually beneficial solutions. Discover what the other side wants. Skillfully asked questions can transform negotiations from an adversarial conflict into a partnership. Phrase inquiries in positive, neutral terms. Start with open-ended questions and move on to narrower, more direct questions. Once you have asked a question, be quiet and listen to the response. Remember, the value of what you have to offer depends on the perceptions of the people with whom you are negotiating. To strengthen your negotiating stance, determine what the employer “values” and respond accordingly. Throughout the negotiating process remember to constantly reinforce the perception that you are excited about the offer and that you want to take this position, even if you are disappointed with the figure. You can affect—positively or negatively—the way you are positioned in the employer’s mind by the attitude you project. Confidence is an extremely important asset. You do not want the negotiation to be an argument but rather a way that you can get to the place where you want to be in order to accept the offer. State your position firmly. Carry yourself with confidence, and position yourself as a person

“Remember, the value of what you have to offer depends on the perceptions of the people with whom you are negotiating.”

If moving to a different functional area or industry, keep in mind the employer may want proof of performance before feeling justified in giving you the income you want. Request a review and increase in six months based on your ability to meet a preset goal. Demonstrate your confidence in your abilities by saying something like:

“Let me prove I am worth this. I would be happy to come in at this salary if you could agree to review my performance in six months.”

Even after you are clear about the offer and are pleased with it, it is in your best interest not to accept the job just yet. Take time to reflect on what has been agreed upon: “This sounds terrific. I’d like to think it over to make sure we have covered everything. What is your timeframe? When would you like my response?” OR “I am very excited about the offer. Can you tell me what your timeframe for a reply is?” It is common professional courtesy for employers to provide candidates with at least 48 hours to consider an offer. If you are waiting to hear from other employers, contact them immediately and let them know you have an offer and would like to clarify your application status before you make any decisions. A second offer in hand could enhance your bargaining power. However, never lie about having another offer. While the lie might work, it could backfire and create ill will if the employer ever finds out. When you compromise your integrity, you demean your value to others and to yourself. Be sure to finalize agreements. Don’t leave details hanging. It is often amazing how two people sitting in the same room can have quite different perspectives concerning what was agreed upon. To ensure that everyone is clear, you may want to summarize by saying: “So, as I understand it, I will be expected to (restate your understanding of the position) in exchange for (restate the compensation package offered).”

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Finally, it is important to know when to stop negotiating and start the job. Reaching common ground and setting the stage for mutual respect and cooperation may be more important than the few extra dollars you might be able to obtain by playing games. Above all, always be mindful about how this negotiation might affect future relations. Kathleen Brady, CPC is a certified career coach with more than 25 years of experience helping people realize their professional career goals, both as a hiring manager and independent job expert. In GET A JOB! 10 Steps to Career Success (Inkwater Press, 2013) Brady offers detailed, step-by-step instructions for navigating each step of the job search process. GET A JOB! is available at amazon.com. November - December 2013

10 Obstacles That Prevent Positive Transformation By Chris Majer

ransformative learning is challenging and takes place only through practice, patience, and perseverance. Indeed, these three qualities are the hallmarks of a committed learner. The only way to embody a new competence is through recurrent practice, which takes time and requires patience. The committed learner must continue to practice, persevering through doubt, weariness, negative assessment and the occasional rotten mood.

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Consider these tips on how to effectively deal with forces that prevent learning and, thus, transformative forward momentum:

Being blind to your blindness. We all have blind spots. These are normal, natural, and common, but they limit us. By recalibrating the lens through which you view the world, and your understanding of it, and actively seeking new knowledge, opinions and insights is a key opening a wealth of possibility.

The desire to be comfortable. Comfort is a formidable enemy. When confronted with new ideas, most people react strongly…and not in a favorable, amenable way. Unfortunately, comfort and authentic learning are mutually exclusive. Simply put, you must get out of your comfort zone to transcend.

Thinking but not doing. We claim that while the mind understands, it is the body that actually learns. Developing new skills takes practice in real time with real people with real impacts and personal risk. The mind understands, but the body learns and acts on that learning.

The drive for novelty. The quest for novelty can be debilitating and undermine your future. Under a media bombardment touting the latest fads, theories, and systems, the allure of the “next big thing” can be overwhelming. You cannot learn to be an effective leader by chasing after every new interpretation that comes along. Know what works for you and stick with it.

The insistence on understanding everything all the time. Any new idea or practice seems difficult, complicated, and unclear simply by virtue of it being new. Along with our desire for comfort and safety, we also crave understanding, falling prey to the notion that clarity yields safety and certainty. Confusing opinions with learning, and awareness with competence. An opinion is not the same as a thought. Thinking is the process of generating an original idea or distinction. It requires energy and attention while having an opinion requires neither. The attainment of awareness and the development of competence are two entirely different processes.

Desire for instant gratification. We want it all, and we want it now. This “disorder” is especially prevalent in the business world. Don’t be deluded by the zeitgeist of instant gratification. If you want to really learn, then you need to get past the distractions of the latest and the greatest, and work to build enduring practices.

Living in constant assessment. When you’re exposed to something new, your mind’s first response is to assess or judge it. The most common and basic assessments are: I like/don’t like this, or I agree/ disagree with this. These simple, automatic assessments close down the possibilities for authentic learning. Characterization. We make up stories about ourselves and the world, but then we confuse these stories with reality. We also seize upon our incompetence in a single domain and cement that into the foundation of who we are. However, a lack of competence does not equate to a lack of character.

The belief that we can or should learn on our own. This is dangerous for a number of reasons. It is too easy to fall prey to ungrounded assessments about how we are doing and delude ourselves into thinking that we are making great progress, or that we are not, when neither is the case. Authentic, sustained learning is an inherently social process. We learn best and most easily in a community of committed learners.

All of these enemies of learning have likely attacked you at one time or another. And, you are probably more vulnerable to some than to others. While fierce and relentless, these enemies are as insubstantial as shadows. Rather than manifestations of reality, they are elements in a story of our own creation, and, as we now know, we can change our stories and our actions. In doing so, we can change ourselves. Chris Majer, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Human Potential Project, is the author of The Power to Transform: Passion, Power, and Purpose in Daily Life (Rodale), which teaches the strategies corporate, military, and sports leaders have used to positively transform themselves and their organizations in a way readers can adept to their own lives and professions. Previously, Majer was Founder and CEO of Sportsmind. He began the company in 1981 and began working with athletes to isolate the elements that led to consistent winning performance. Success with individuals and teams led to working with the military, and the company designed and delivered a series of programs to elite Army units, Navy SEALS, and the Marines. SportsMind then transitioned to the corporate world and delivered large-scale organizational transformation projects. Under Majer’s leadership, the firm grew to a company of over 80 professionals working globally. He was the principle architect of organizational transformation projects for such corporate clients as AT&T, Cargill, Microsoft, Intel, EDS, Allianz, Itron and Capital One. Throughout his professional tenure, Majer published no less than 20 white papers. Majer currently serves as a board member for Spokane’s new science center and, as a Spokane resident, also volunteers in numerous other areas in his local community. He is a former board member of the National Board for The Breakthrough Foundation, a national organization working with at-risk youth. Majer holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington, and has studied extensively with Chilean engineer, entrepreneur and politician Dr. Fernando Flores. Learn more online at www.humanpotentialproject.com.

November - December 2013

Text and Photo by Darin Burt

Trenches Through The

Patti Usselman of Patti Usselman Hair Company

No Short Cut to Success 30

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e all have to start somewhere. For Patti Usselman, owner of Patti Usselman Hair Company, that somewhere was the family kitchen when she was just six years old. “My brothers and sisters and I would be home unsupervised a lot of the time, as my mother was raising us by herself and used to work the graveyard shift. One night, we somehow got a hold of some scissors and cut hair,” Patti says. “All I remember was a brown paper bag full of hair.” She’d had lots of experience styling her Barbies. They had never complained, so certainly she could give her sister a memorable hairdo. “I thought it looked . . . great,” Patti recalls. “Okay . . . allegedly, I cut her bangs all the way to the scalp. It was jacked up.” “My mom used to put our hair up in those cute little pink rollers, but she couldn’t do that because our hair was so butchered and short. She took us to a barber and he tried to fix our hair, but my sister wound up having to wear a wig for her class pictures.” Patti’s hair cutting skills have come a long way since then. In fact, she’s so proficient that for two years running she’s been the winner of “Best Hair Color” in the KREM 2 Best of Spokane awards. “Doing hair was always a gift I had, and a lot of people had told me that I’d missed my calling,” says Patti. But it was a call that she didn’t answer right away. Although she cut her friends’ and family’s hair as a hobby, her professional career was in dental management and consulting. She also worked as a customer service agent and supervisor for a number of small regional airlines Patti’s attention to detail and dedication to goals worked to her success, but after 18 years in the dentistry field, she needed a change. She stayed home for six months with her kids. That’s when she got a job in customer service for the airline. After a year and a half, the company closed and she was, for lack of a better metaphor, stranded on the runway. That is until she decided it was time to follow her true passion, and put the

“bag full of hair” incident behind. Patti honed her skills at the prestigious Paul Mitchell School of Hair Design where she excelled in styling, and also received specialized training in advanced coloring and precision cutting techniques. “I felt really comfortable, and I was always willing to try if somebody had a special request,” Patti says. Her confidence got a giant boost when in January of 2013, she won the prestigious “Best Service Based Business” in the North America Business Excellence Awards. This was before her new business had even opened, and was based solely on her customer service reviews and success as an independent businessperson. People were starting to know the name Patti Usselman. The salon, where she was working, was benefitting from her recognition, so she figured it was time to go out on her own.

“Everybody was saying ‘Good luck with that,’ and warning me how risky it was with the economy, and at my age . . . I was only 44!” Patti says. “The thing is that when somebody challenges me, I’m going to prove that I can do it.” Patti’s goal wasn’t simply to cut hair, but to build a brand. That’s why she put her name on the sign rather than something generic. She’s also developing a line of hair care products and is already giving seminars to help aspiring students further their craft. The relaxed environment that Patti has created is more “boutiquey” than beauty salon with urban brick walls, comfortable leather chairs, custom jewelry for sale and even a gourmet coffee machine. She also carries Paul Mitchell salonquality shampoos, conditioners and hair treatments. “If there’s one thing I can say to somebody thinking about going into business for themselves, it’s that you have to set yourself apart and find your niche,” Patti says. “I love my business – it’s all about communication and relationships. A lot of people feel that money is success, but for me it’s about being able to fulfill people’s expectations and for them to be happy.”

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