2000 and 2011 — Edmund O. Schweitzer III. Founder, president and chairperson of the board of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, headquartered in Pullman. Was the owner of the company until 1994, when he transitioned the company to employee ownership. In 2009, the company became 100% employee owned.
2001 — Bruce Finch. Founder and majority owner of Happy Day Restaurants, which operates Mystic Cafe, Main Street Grill, Tomato Bros., Zany’s, Southway Pizzeria, Southway Pizzeria on Thain, Taco Time, A&W, Arby’s and Happy Day Catering in north central Idaho and southeastern Washington.
2002 — Dale Alldredge. Previous president of Technic Tool Corp. and MAP Travel in Lewiston and formerly served as a Port of Lewiston commissioner. He now is president of Snake River Tool Co. and Rousseau Co. in Clarkston, which manufactures power tool accessories for professional home builders and renovators as well as high-end woodworkers.
2003 — Clyde Conklin. Was president of FirstBank. It became a part of Sterling Savings Bank and is now a part of Umpqua Bank, which merged with Columbia Bank. Now he is retired and living in Clarkston.
2004 — K. Duane Brelsford. CEO and president of Corporate Pointe Developers in Pullman, a real estate development company that constructs new buildings and property manages commercial buildings as well as local movie theaters. An owner of Apartment Properties, which has about 2,200 apartments in Pullman and the Tri-Cities. Also a 45% owner of DABCO, a company that property manages multi-family apartments. DABCO is named after Brelsford’s father, Duane Arthur Brelsford, who founded it with his wife, and K. Duane Brelsford’s mother, Esther Brelsford.
2005 — Casey Meza. Was CEO of St. Mary’s and Clearwater Valley hospitals and clinics in Cottonwood and Orofino. Now is vice president of operations and an owner of Meza Post Acute and Long Term Care. It’s a Coeur d’Alene-based medical practice that provides on-site care to residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and retirement communities in Kootenai, Shoshone, Benewah, Bonner, Idaho and Nez Perce counties in Idaho, as well as Asotin and Spokane counties in Washington. That business, which has 19 medical providers, also has a primary care medical practice in Coeur d’Alene that exclusively serves seniors on Medicare. Its providers include Dr. Michael Meza, Dr. Rachael Ferraro, Dr. Barbara Kammer, Dr. John Rudolph, Dr. Mario Seyer, Dr. W. Scott Spence and Dr. Jason Schwintek.
2006 — Gerard Connelly. Was owner of Tri-State Distributors in Lewiston, Moscow, Coeur d’Alene and Moses Lake. He is retired.
2007 — Jody Servatius. Was CEO and president of Twin River Bank with locations in Lewiston, Clarkston and Asotin. Is now retired, serving on the Twin River Bank board of directors. She also serves on the Asotin County Fair Livestock Sale Board and follows her five grandchildren in football, volleyball, basketball, baseball and softball.
2008 — Jeff Martin. Was president and CEO of Gritman Medical Center in Moscow. Died in an automobile accident in 2010.
2009 and 2016 — Marty Zacha. Was director of operations at ATK in Lewiston and later vice president of ammunition products at Vista Outdoor, overseeing all of the company’s ammunition manufacturing in Lewiston and Anoka, Minn. Now he is retired.
2010 — Joe Hall. Continues to be president of Joe Hall Ford and McClure Honda in Lewiston.
2012 — Chris Loseth. Continues to be president and CEO of Potlatch No. 1 Financial Credit Union, which has locations in Idaho, Washington and Oregon.
2013 — Gale Wilson. Continues to be president and line pilot at Hillcrest Aircraft Co. in Lewiston.
2014 — Tobe Finch. Continues to be corporate president and an owner of Happy Day Restaurants.
2015 — Jay Backus. Commissioner at the Port of Clarkston. Was the vice president of operations for the pulp and paperboard division at Clearwater Paper in Lewiston. He retired after serving as the vice president of manufacturing for Clearwater Paper.
2017 — Jesse Short. Director of production for all Idaho mills of Idaho Forest Group, based in Coeur d’Alene. Was regional manager of Idaho Forest Group, overseeing the Lewiston and Grangeville operations.
2018 — Ryan Rogers. Continues to be the owner of Rogers Toyota, Rogers Motors, Rogers Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and Rogers Subaru, all in Lewiston, as well as three dealerships in Oregon. The Oregon dealerships are Rogers Toyota of Hermiston, Rogers Subaru of Hermiston and Rogers GMC of Hermiston.
2019 — Don Wee. Was CEO at Tri-State Memorial Hospital (now called TriState Health) in Clarkston. Is retired and residing in Asotin County.
2020 — Dave Whitehead. Continues to be CEO of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories.
2021 — Karl Umiker and Coco Umiker. The Umikers own Clearwater Canyon Cellars Winery and the Umiker Estate Vineyard in Lewiston. He is the vineyard manager and she is the winemaker. The Umikers have been married 20 years.
2022 — David Blue. Continues to be chief operating officer of Northwest River Supplies in Moscow.
2023 – Bob Coleman Jr. and Ian Coleman. Bob Coleman Jr. turned over the title of CEO of Coleman Oil in Lewiston to his son, Ian Coleman, on Jan. 1. Bob Coleman is still chairperson of the board of Coleman Oil.
This list was compiled by Tribune Business Editor Elaine Williams. She may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.
