People in Business

Additionally, Ammon Mayor Sean Coletti and Roberts Mayor Robert “BJ” Berlin were elected as District 6 directors.

The Association of Idaho Cities was formed in 1947 and is a nonpartisan, nonprofit corporation organized to serve Idaho’s 199 incorporated cities, an association news release said. The association influences policies and provides education, training and technical assistance to strengthen the ability of city elected officials and staff to serve their communities, the release said.

INL researcher named Asian American Engineer of the Year

Piyush Sabharwall, a senior staff nuclear researcher at Idaho National Laboratory, has been named an Asian American Engineer of the Year for 2022.

The awards have been presented in the United States every year since 2002 as part of National Engineers Week to honor outstanding Asian American professionals in academia, public service and industry, an INL news release said. It is hosted by the Chinese Institute of Engineers/USA with sponsorship help from corporations and communities. Sabharwall is the sixth person from INL to earn this award, the release said.

Over more than 17 years, Sabharwall, a native of New Delhi, has achieved recognition for his expertise in the fields of heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, nuclear reactor design, and reactor safety analysis, the release said. He has led multiple research projects in these fields and contributed to many more, serving as a trusted leader for INL and its customers.

Sabharwall earned his doctorate in nuclear engineering at University of Idaho in 2009 and joined INL around the same time. He has played a key role in building and strengthening INL’s strategic partnerships with universities and collaborating with representatives of other national laboratories, the release said. His leadership has helped advance science and technology strategy for INL and the Department of Energy and he also has helped guide researchers in the public and private sectors through complex regulatory landscapes.

Sabharwall served as chairman for the Idaho Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers from 2016 to 2018, during which it received ASME’s Outstanding Section Award for the first time. Sabharwall will travel to Los Angeles to accept the award at a banquet scheduled for Aug. 6.

Idahoan Foods’ chef appointed to national foodservice professionals role

Idahoan Foods’ Corporate Executive Chef Richard Hoelzel was recently appointed director at large for the Association of Nutrition & Foodservice Professionals.

In this role, Hoelzel will promote the organization’s initiatives on nutritional care to industry stakeholders, an Idahoan Foods news release said.

The association is a national not-for-profit organization with more than 15,000 professionals dedicated to providing optimum nutritional care to hospitals, long-term care facilities, schools, and other noncommercial settings through foodservice management, the release said.

Hoelzel said in the release that one of his goals in this post is to recruit and engage a new generation of culinary professionals to maximize the association’s reach and impact within the industry.

Hoelzel earned his degree at the Culinary Institute of America and joined Idahoan Foods in 2020, following a 20-year position as corporate executive chef and regional director of operations for a leading global contract foodservice and hospitality company.

Fall River’s Schmier appointed to regional position

Fall River Electric Cooperative board member Doug Schmier has been appointed second vice president of the board of trustees of Northwest Public Power Association.

Schmier’s appointment came at the association’s recent annual business meeting in Coeur d’Alene, a Fall River news release said. The Northwest Public Power Association represents more than 155 customer-owned locally controlled utilities in the Western U.S. and Canada. It is governed by a 20-member board of trustees comprised of member utility representatives.

The association, which was founded in 1940, works to “enhance the success of its members through education, training, public information, governmental relations, and value-added services,” the release said

Schmier, a resident and business owner in West Yellowstone, Montana, was previously the association’s secretary-treasurer and past president of Fall River Electric Cooperative’s board. He was elected to Fall River’s board in 2010.

Fall River is a customer-owned, nonprofit electric utility providing nearly 19,000 connections to more than 14,000 customers (owner-members) in portions of three states including Idaho, southwest Montana and western Wyoming.