Published Oct. 27, 2009
John Trumbo, Tri-City Herald Staff Writer

Columbia Basin College has recruited two dozen professionals from Tri-City public agencies and businesses to be the first students in a new yearlong leadership course.

Maj. Doug Crandall, a former leadership instructor at the West Point Academy, will teach the group, which will meet for nine months.  Guest lecturers will come from business schools at Harvard and Stanford universities, the University of Washington, the Air Force Academy and West Point.

Students also will go on a field trip to Seattle, have coaching sessions with Crandall and be mentored by a community leader or sit on a nonprofit agency’s board.

CBC President Rich Cummins said he and Crandall came up with the idea for the Leadership Fellows Program last summer and began looking for potential sponsors who would pay to send professionals to the training.

The group’s first session is at 7 p.m. today in the college board room on the Pasco campus.

Cummins said if all goes as planned the college will offer a leadership certificate next year.

The program is designed to be self-supporting under the college’s community education program.  Tuition pays all costs.  Business sponsors pay $6,000 per student, while nonprofit groups pay $3,000.

The first class has 24 students.  They are:  Terri Cole and Christie McAloon from Benton PUD; Kris Stauffer from City of Richland; Gary Deardorff, Evelyn Lusignan and Maxine Whattam, from City of Kennewick; Randy Hayden for Port of Pasco; rick White from City of Pasco; Nikki Gerds from Pasco Chamber of Commerce; Martin Valadez from Columbia Basin College; Tyler Gilmore from Pacific Northwest Laboratory; Theresa Richardson from Habitat for Humanity; Cory Hatcher from Cadwell Labs; Keith Zink from Pay Plus Benefits; Jex Biorn and Ian McGregor from The McGregor Co.; Kyle Barclay, Mark Knight, Brandon Price and Pamela Stowers from AgriNorthwest; Martin Bertsch, Sue Duffy and Mark Schuster from ConAgra Foods; and Kirt Shaffer from Tippett Co.

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