CampusMBA, the educational arm of the Mortgage Bankers Association, awarded the Certified Mortgage Banker designation to Glen Turner of the Alaska Housing Finance Corp. Oct. 23 during MBA's 92nd Annual Convention and Expo in Orlando, Fla. The CMB is the highest professional designation for the real estate finance industry. The CMB designation represents the mark of professionalism in real estate finance, including three different areas of expertise: the Master Certified Mortgage Banker, the Residential Certified Mortgage Banker, and the Commercial Certified Mortgage Banker. CMB designees exhibit the dedication that inspires other professionals to strive for excellence. This year's CMB class was the largest in the history of the program. Turner has been the servicing officer for AHFC for 15 years. A graduate of the University of Alaska Anchorage, she has more than 30 years experience in the mortgage-servicing business. Since the program's inception in 1973, more than 850 mortgage banking professionals have received the CMB designation.

Gail Tischer has joined Trinion Quality Care Services as the program coordinator for chore and respite services. Tischer comes with more than eight years experience coordinating services provided to clients enrolled in the Medicaid Waiver and Personal Care Programs. She will be supervising and scheduling chore, respite and personal care assistant providers to ensure client needs are being met.

The Alaska State Escrow Association recently named First National Bank Alaska escrow manager Tari Flannery its 2004-2005 member of the year. Flannery has worked in the bank's escrow department since 1982, starting as a data entry clerk. She serves as the Alaska director of the American Escrow Association and is chairwoman of the Alaska State Escrow Association Education Committee. It is the second time Flannery has been honored with the award. She also was named member of the year in 1999-2000. The award is given to the member who receives the most votes from association members. The Alaska State Escrow Association was founded in 1990 to "promote and improve escrow services to the public, in general, thereby elevating the status of, and increasing the economic, educational and social benefits of and to the industry as a whole," according to the group's membership application. Flannery has been a member of the association for 10 years. Established in 1922, First National is Alaska's largest locally owned and operated bank, with ATMs and 28 branches in 16 communities throughout Alaska.

The Alaska State Chamber of Commerce has announced the hiring of Alysha Gobble as its new meeting and events coordinator. Gobble will be working in the Anchorage office. In filling the position, Gobble will be responsible for successful execution, marketing, implementation, management and evaluation of all annual programs, professional development seminars and workshops of the Alaska State Chamber. Gobble is a recent graduate of the Journalism and Public Communications Department at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She fills a new position for the chamber created to respond to member's meeting and networking needs. The position comes as a part of a streamlining of its organizational structure. The Alaska State Chamber of Commerce's operates as the voice of Alaska businesses by providing leadership, support, advocacy and connectivity to its members. Some annual events include the Legislative Fly-In, Fall Conference and Trade Show, the Kenai Chrysler Golf Tournament, and many board meetings throughout the year.

Charles Evans joined AMC Engineers as an electrical engineer. His current duties at AMC include submittal review, power and lighting design, as-built, client relations and commissioning. Evans graduated from Oregon State University where he received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. His specialties include semiconductors, computers and power design. AMC Engineers is an employee-owned, award-winning design engineering firm specializing in mechanical, electrical, security, control and telecommunications and has more than 24 years experience specializing in facility design in Alaska.

Meritage Investment Group LLC has named Jim Wood as its development manager and as broker for Meritage Realty USA LLC. In his new position, Wood will be involved in real estate development and the sale and leasing of various properties in Wasilla and Anchorage. Wood has been a commercial real estate broker for the past 20 years, spending most of those years managing the Frontier Building in Anchorage. He also represents such national retail tenants as Starbucks, Payless Shoes, Regis Hair Design and others. He has also been involved in development and sale of various properties throughout the Anchorage area.

Jim Kelly, former director of communications for the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp., has joined the management team of Allvest Information Services. The firm manages Assessments.com, one of the nation's leading providers of validated risk assessment/cased management software, staff training and implementation consulting. Among its major clients are juvenile justice departments for the states of Washington, Florida, Montana and Wyoming, and Los Angeles and San Diego counties in California.

Robert Young, director of professional services for the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium's Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital in Sitka, has earned a board certification in health care management, and diplomat status from the American College of Health Care Executives. He will be honored March 26 during the organization's annual Congress on Health Care Management. ACHE is an international professional society representing about 30,000 health care executives. Young holds a doctor of pharmacy degree and has worked at SEARHC since 1991. He also serves as a captain in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

Rick Barrier has been named executive director of Commonwealth North in Anchorage. His responsibilities include day-to-day operations of Commonwealth North and implementation of plans and programs for the organization. Commonwealth North is a statewide, membership-based, nonprofit public policy organization whose mission is to educate its members and others on significant public policy issues affecting Alaska and its future. Barrier served most recently as the project support manager for the facilities department of the Anchorage School District. He brings more than 30 years of public and private sector management experience to his new post. Barrier holds a master's degree from Stanford and undergraduate degree from Yale. He has also been active in mediation, including establishment of the small claims mediation program for the Anchorage District Court.