May 3--Banner Bank announced two promotions in the North Sound.

Former Lynden branch manager Cheryl Fischer was promoted to vice president and deposit relationship officer. In her new role, she will be responsible for developing deposit relationships as well as overseeing the north sound division's retail branch sales efforts.

Fischer joined Banner Bank in 2006 and has over 15 years of banking experience. Prior to joining Banner, she worked for Bank of America as both branch manager and mortgage sales manager.

In addition, Banner Bank has promoted former customer service supervisor Randy Donahoo to Lynden branch manager. In his new role, he will be responsible for working with Banner Bank customers to meet their personal and business goals.

Prior to joining Banner Bank, Donahoo served as operations manager for Harborstone Credit Union and as operations trainer for First Fidelity Bank.

Krista Van Mersbergen has been hired as a new staff accountant for Varner Sytsma Herndon, CPAs.

She majored in accounting at Western Washington University, and graduated in June 2008. Van Mersbergen has passed the CPA exam and will receive her CPA designation in July 2009.

Varner Sytsma Herndon provide services in U.S.-Canada cross-border and international tax and consulting. A broad range of services are available in tax, financial statements and business consulting. Headquarter offices are in Bellingham's Barkley District at 2200 Rimland Drive, Suite 205. For more information, call 734-8715 or visit www.vshcpa.com.

Colleen Mitchell from 2020 Engineering, William Morrison, an independent builder/consultant and Rose Lathrop, from Aiki Homes have all recently received their LEED AP Accreditation.

The LEED Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, provides standards for environmentally sustainable construction.

Thirteen RE/MAX Whatcom County agents recently received the Certified Distressed Property Expert designation, having completed extensive training in foreclosure avoidance and short sales.

Those agents are: Rachael Wilson, Keith Cook, Bill Apt, Blake Boatman, Lilia Orlova, Matt McBeath, Ryan Bergsma, Bob Stull, Linda Stull, Chris Weitzel, Eric Badgley, Michelle Clark, Patrick Starr and Jim Sands.

You can reach any of these CDPE designated agents by phoning the main RE/Max office in Bellingham at 647-1313.

Banner Bank has announced the 2008 Banner's Best award recipients.

This year, 26 employees from across the Pacific Northwest were recognized for their exceptional performance, exceeding personal and bank-wide goals, and delivering superior customer service.

Bellingham area recipients include senior vice president/commercial lending center manager Mike Yeend from the Bellingham Branch and real estate loan officer Kim Erchinger from the Bellingham Real Estate Loan Center. Yeend, a 12-year Banner veteran, led his team to have the best year for loan growth the Bellingham Commercial Lending Center has ever had. Erchinger has continually maintained excellent loan quality and has been deemed one of the top loan officers in her division by the bank.

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