Newsmakers
• GREG OLESEN, a former Kalispell resident, has received Bonneville Power Administration’s Meritorius Service Award as part of the agency’s 2020 Administrator’s Excellence Awards program.
The annual program honors employees and members of the public whose innovation, initiative, superior service or courageous acts have made exceptional contributions to BPA’s mission, the electric utility industry or the local community.
Olesen joined BPA in 1985 as a lineman journeyman and spent 13 years working on both sides of the Cascades before transitioning to BPA’s Safety Office. He was the first to conduct BPA’s aerial safety training, developed the Explosives Safety Program and made emergency eyewash stations more accessible to workers in field locations. He currently manages transmission operations and maintenance for BPA’s East Region.
Olesen and his wife Cindi, and their son Derrick lived in Kalispell during the late 1990s.
Award recipients were nominated by their peers and were evaluated on numerous criteria such as excellence in their chosen field, technical achievement, community outreach and service as an “unsung hero.”
• ALLISON LINVILLE has joined Flathead Valley Community College as the new executive director of marketing and communications.
She will oversee marketing, public relations, government affairs and internal and external communications for the college. Linville will work directly with FVCC President Jane Karas as a member of the executive leadership team.
Linville most recently served as the marketing and community relations manager for North Valley Hospital, and previously worked in government relations for Kalispell Regional Healthcare. While working for the hospital, Linville also earned her Accreditation in Public Relations from the Public Relations Society of America and in 2019 was selected as one of the Flathead Valley’s “20 Under 40 Young Professionals to Watch” by the Daily Inter Lake.
Linville has lived in the Flathead Valley for almost 11 years, after initially moving to the area to work for the U.S. Forest Service. She attended graduate school at the University of Montana in Missoula and undergraduate school at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho.
• Randy Price recently joined J2 Business Products as the director of solutions for the janitorial supplies and office products division. Price has a history of working with customers to reduce costs with better solutions, improve productivity and make acquiring products easier. He looks forward to working with the local business community on solutions for all business needs.
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