PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 517 REGION

Bakken Named Talent Development Manager at Chamber

The Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce has hired Sarah Bakken for the newly created position of talent development manager. In her position, Bakken is responsible for coordination and communication between the ATHENA WIN board; ATHENA Powerlink board; ATHENA Leadership Award; Leadership Lansing; diversity, equity and inclusion strategies; and the Lansing chamber events, membership and marketing teams.

“Our members have told us time and time again that talent is one of their main issues they want the chamber to work on,” said Steve Japinga, the chamber’s senior vice president of public affairs. “We have listened and made sure our budget priorities continued to match the need of our members, and we are bringing on a talent development manager to our team to specifically work on this issue for our members.”

Bakken has over 15 years of experience working in technology, hospitality and nonprofit organizations.

Tool Tech Acquires Cameron Tool

Ohio-based Tool Tech LLC announced the recent acquisition of Cameron Tool Corp. of Lansing.

Cameron Tool’s 100,000-squarefoot facility and 85 employees will complement Tool Tech’s current tool-anddie manufacturing and services, enhancing the capabilities offered to both companies’ existing and new customers.

“On behalf of the entire Cameron Tool team, we are excited about joining forces with Tool Tech going forward. The resources of our united platform will open new doors for the combined business, providing significant new opportunities for all of our employees,” said Tracy Selden, president of Cameron Tool.

Crissman Promoted in Health Care at Christman Co.

Brian Crissman has been named The Christman Co.’s vice president of health care services, dedicated to leading and expanding the market segment that accounts for approximately 30% of Christman’s revenue.

“It is a great honor to recognize Brian’s dedication and hard work,” said Steve

Roznowski, president and CEO for The Christman Co. “His understanding of current health care trends, ability to develop relationships and focus on delivering exceptional client services to this important market made Brian a perfect fit for this critical role at Christman.”

During Crissman’s 26-year career at Christman, he has led some of the company’s most iconic health care projects. Particularly, through his leadership at Spectrum Health (now Corewell Health), in west Michigan, Crissman has managed the successful completion of hundreds of millions of dollars in new construction and expansion projects.

Dykema Elects Local Member

Dykema, a national law firm, announced that its executive board elected 10 new members to the firm, including a local name — Lansing’s Kyle M. Asher. Asher helps clients — which include some of the country’s largest automakers, universities and insurers — with pressing appeals, class actions and regulatory matters. In his litigation practice, he has drafted dozens of appellate briefs and presented oral argument before the Michigan Court of Appeals on multiple occasions.

Before joining Dykema, he served as a law clerk to Judge Robert Holmes Bell at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

Gallagher, Flintoff & Klein Promote Members

Gallagher, Flintoff & Klein

PLC announced that Lisa M. Wentworth has been named a principal of the firm and Nicholas S. Kline has been promoted to director.

Wentworth has over 23 years of public accounting experience at both large international and local firms and has been with GFK for over 10 years. Her areas of expertise include tax compliance and consulting for large family-owned businesses and their owners, tax planning, financial accounting, and business advisory services.

Kline has nine years of public accounting experience, and he works in the firm’s accounting and tax practice providing consulting and tax services to closely held and family-owned businesses and their owners. He joined GFK in 2019, after working at a large regional CPA firm.

MABA Names New President

The Meridian Area Business Association welcomed Chaz Carrillo as incoming MABA president for 2023.

Carrillo, an MABA board member since 2016, remains committed to growing MABA presence through support of initiatives that help solidify this area’s economy and encourage partnership among local merchants.

“At MABA, we plan to continue our legacy of connection and communication between businesses and local township offices to make our area a prime spot to do business in the region,” said Carrillo.

ACEC/Michigan Hires Deputy Director

The American Council of Engineering Companies/Michigan announced that Mark McRobie has joined as deputy director. McRobie will assist ACEC/Michigan with achieving its strategic goals and will play a key role in major initiatives, including workforce development, water/wastewater, government affairs and the promotion of qualifications-based selection.

His 14-year career has been spent in the AEC industry working for consulting firms with a primary focus on transportation and water resources, working in roles including business development, marketing and human resources.

Liberty Title Expands Team

Liberty Title, a title insurance and closing company with 12 locations, has added Amanda Dakroub as an account executive.

As part of her role, Dakroub identifies qualified mortgage buyers and sells them on the attributes that make Liberty Title stand out.

“I am passionate about helping people, and I want to be a resource for our audience so they can experience streamlined, seamless transactions,” Dakroub said. “Homebuyers, in particular, can find real estate transactions difficult and sometimes overwhelming to navigate. My job is to provide them with a positive experience so that they feel comfortable working with and trusting our team.”

MSUFCU Donates $50,000 to WKAR Public Media

MSU Federal Credit Union awarded $50,000 to WKAR Public Media to support the station’s communitywide educational initiatives. The donation was presented at WKAR’s annual PBS KIDS Day event Jan. 28, where hundreds of families gathered to participate in educational activities hosted by partners from communities throughout mid-Michigan.

“We are proud to sponsor WKAR’s educational initiatives, including the WKAR Reading Kit project that provides over 10,000 books to children and families,” said April Clobes, MSUFCU president and CEO. “We’re pleased to partner with WKAR to ensure that all children in our community have access to high-quality educational programming.”

The donation will enable WKAR’s education department to host community pop-up events and procure more literacy tools and books to be distributed to children and families throughout mid-Michigan. In addition, the donation will assist WKAR in hosting more virtual education workshops and trainings for educators and families.

“This gift from MSUFCU will allow us to support the educational needs of the community in ways that will have a lasting and positive impact on children and their families,” said Shawn Turner, general manager of WKAR. “Thanks to the generosity of MSUFCU, we are able to put resources in place to benefit parents, educators and children across mid-Michigan. It’s the kind of work that really matters to everyone here at WKAR.”

Recharging For Greater Productivity

BY SUSAN COMBS

During a recent lunch with a former colleague who is also a longtime executive vice president of human resources, she mentioned that she was proactively starting to look at the bank of vacation time accumulated by the organization’s employees.

She was going to start reaching out to those with lots of accrued time to really encourage them to start taking time off. She knew that taking regular breaks to pause and refresh is one way to stave off burnout and, thus, help retain valuable talent.

By pausing and refreshing, we can actually be more productive. Regular breaks throughout the day, the month and the year offer us a chance to replenish our energy reserves. Here are some ideas to consider.

Daily

• Practice time-boxing. This means starting and ending your meetings on time. If more time is needed for discussion and decisions, set another meeting instead of letting the current one overflow.

• If possible, change one-hour meetings to 50 minutes. Give people the break to stretch, to move, to hydrate and to clear their mind before jumping into the next meeting.

• Now that the weather is improving, get outside for a walk every day.

Monthly

• Look to schedule something fun each month — a concert, a trip to see a friend, explore a new city, play that golf course you’ve always wanted to play. It will give you something to look forward to each month.

Annually

• Take your vacation time. This is a benefit for your well-being, so please, use it. When my parents lived on a lake, my dad used to take a “vertical” week of vacation. He took off all the Fridays in August so that they could spend more summer days on the water.

• With hybrid work options available to many, use it to your advantage. In the summer, one friend works in the office Tuesday through Thursday and uses her remote days Fridays and Mondays to be able to spend more time at her cottage. Start now to think about and build out an awesome summer, one where you can pause and refresh. You will feel much better if you take the time off to recharge.