SPOKANE, Wash., Feb. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Avista Corp. board of directors today appointed Brian W. Dunham as a member of the board. Mr. Dunham is the president and chief executive officer of Northwest Pipe Company, which manufactures welded steel water transmission lines. He will fill the vacancy left by the December 2007 retirement of Avista Corp. chairman, and CEO Gary Ely. Mr. Dunham will stand for election to the board at the annual meeting of shareholders on May 8, 2008.
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Dunham has been with Northwest Pipe Company since 1990, and served as chief financial officer, vice president, treasurer and secretary from 1990 to 1995. He was named executive vice president in 1995, chief operating officer in 1997, and stepped into his current position as president and CEO in 2001. Prior to joining Northwest Pipe Co., Dunham held senior accounting positions with Coopers and Lybrand LLP.
In other business, the board was informed that Dr. Lura Powell will not stand for re-election when her term expires in May 2008 to focus on her professional commitments in technology and healthcare. A search is underway to fill this position.
"We appreciate Dr. Powell's dedicated service to Avista Corp. over the past five years. Her expertise and experience were valuable assets in the work she did with our board members and our company," said Scott L. Morris, chairman of the board, president and chief executive office of Avista Corp.
Powell joined Avista Corp.'s board of directors in 2003. She is Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Washington Life Sciences Discovery Fund Authority, appointed by Governor Christine Gregoire, and she is on the Board of Directors of the Washington Technology Alliance. Powell was president and chief executive officer of Advanced Imaging Technologies, a medical diagnostic company, from 2004 until June 2007.
Avista Corp. is an energy company involved in the production, transmission and distribution of energy as well as other energy-related businesses. Avista Utilities is our operating division that provides service to 352,000 electric and 311,000 natural gas customers in three Western states. Avista's primary, non-regulated subsidiary is Advantage IQ. Our stock is traded under the ticker symbol "AVA." For more information about Avista, please visit http://www.avistacorp.com/.
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