Biz Buzz

Cooking with Gas. Williams and Williams Real Estate Auction company hopes to get a little smoother in operations with the hiring of its new vice president of process operations, Marty Grubin. "As a company, we are devoted to cultivating a culture of innovation, continuous improvement and superior execution," said Pam McKissick, President and COO of Williams & Williams, in a press release. "Marty will help us further these endeavors." The Oklahoma native and Oklahoma State graduate has been reengineering business processes for the past 20 years with several different Fortune 500 companies in Atlanta, Ga. Grubin is so excited to start his new position, in fact, he's already designed a new process improvements bootcamp where employees will learn all disciplines of work in six-week classes. For more information about the company, visit williamsauction.com.

Treated and Honored. Last month, 24 students from Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology were recognized for their artistic eye, vision and projects at the 24th Annual Brass Ring Awards. The awards recognize students in the field of art and design. Of the 60 universities participating in this year's category, OSUIT walked away with the most winners. Not to mention, Capstone Instructor Kurt Stenstrom won the Outstanding Educator Award at the ceremony. Sixteen of his students composed some of the winners of the night as well. "Kurt joined OSUIT with a wealth of experience and an outstanding background in graphic design, photography and multimedia, and has long served as lead faculty in our key identity, capstone and graphic design courses. He is very deserving of this honor," said Mary Dickson, chair of the Visual Communications Division. For more information on the awards or students, visit osuit.edu.

Expanding Horizons. Hilti just got a little bit bigger as it recently announced its purchase of Unirac, Inc., a leading provider of photovoltaic solar mounting solutions. With this acquisition, the company moves forward in extending its reach and portfolio to the solar market throughout the world. "Our companies are an ideal fit because together we can offer a full range of solutions for customers who serve the residential, commercial and utility markets," said Bo Risberg, Hilti Group CEO. Unirac will continue its operations out of New Mexico as well as maintain its name and management structure. For more information, visit hilti.com.

New Money. When one steps down, another must step up. This is part of the reason why Angie Lehman was recently named to the position of vice president of financial services for the Emergency Medical Services Authority. She's replacing Ann Singer who steps down in July after 22 years with the company.

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The Color of Green. Osage Million Dollar Elm casino is going green, but it's not with cash. Employees are stepping up their game by recycling and making their work place environmentally friendly.

"We have dramatically increased the amount of office paper, plastics, aluminum and glass bottles that are now being recycled rather than being dumped into landfills," said Greg Stice, the Green Team coordinator for the project at Million Dollar Elm casinos.

For the past five months, the casino has enlisted the services of The Recycling Revolution of Tulsa, which picks up recyclables and keeps them out of landfills. They take plastic, all types of glass and paper, aluminum, steel and alkaline batteries. The one-year-old company today fulfills all of the casino's recycling needs and is flexible enough in the future to bring all Osage Million Dollar Elm properties -- spread across 2,200 square miles of Osage County -- up to speed.

Million Dollar Elm works with more than 20 green-friendly vendors who provide environmentally friendly products such as cleaning supplies, toilet paper and paper towels. Even the light switches are posted with "Please turn off the light" stickers.

Other casinos and area businesses should look to what the Osage are doing, said Kristen McCormick, owner of The Recycling Revolution of Tulsa. "Many of the casinos are trying to go green, but Osage is the only casino that has an extensive comprehensive recycling program that includes not only the casinos, but the corporate office as well," she said. "Osage is the first casino doing a comprehensive recycling program in the Tulsa area. The Osage can set an example for everyone."

The casino also recycles light bulbs, cardboard and uses water coolers to cut down on bottled water consumption. Stice said the casino is always looking for ways to go greener, like cutting out stryrofoam cups. "We are being good stewards of Mother Earth and setting an example for future generations of the Osage Nation and our community."

Osage Million Dollar Elm casinos are an economic enterprise of the Osage Nation, which operates casinos in Tulsa, Bartlesville, Sand Springs, Skiatook, Hominy, Pawhuska and Ponca City.

For more information, contact Chris Barton, public relations coordinator, at 699-7875 or HYPERLINK "mailto:chris.barton@milliondollarelm.com" chris.barton@milliondollarelm.com

Swatted Down. The Tulsa Police Department Special Operations Team recently placed second overall in the Oklahoma State SWAT Games in Edmond, Okla. The competition brought together SWAT Teams from across the state from local and federal agencies to compete in four separate events. The events included the following:

Sniper Competition: Snipers competed in shooting sceneries ranging from 15 yards to 250 yards.

Two Gun Shoot: Swat Team members competed while shooting two separate guns at separate stations on the course.

Hostage Rescue: Ten members competed in a hostage rescue scenario. The team had to tactically move through a four-story building, while engaging hostile targets to rescue two victims.

Officer Adam Ashley placed first in the Sniper Competition.

Sgt. Mike Parsons placed third in the Two Gun Shoot.

TPD Team placed third in the Hostage Rescue event.

The Tulsa Police Special Operations Team will now begin to train for the upcoming U.S. National SWAT Championships to be held in Tulsa on June 21-26

Stepping Up

More than three dozen Tulsans have volunteered to serve on five committees charged with researching the goals outlined in the Tulsa Park Department's new master plan summary, and those committees will begin meeting this month, according to the department director.

Lucy Dolman said 40 people have responded to the call for volunteers to serve on the committees, which include facilities, finance, marketing, programs and trails. An initial meeting has been held with the committee chairs, and each chairman or chairwoman will begin meeting with volunteers this month, she said.

Dolman said the committee will try to complete its goals within the next six months.

"But since each committee's goals are very different and very specific, some of these committees may continue well past the six-month deadline," she said.

Anyone still interested in serving on a committee should call 596-PARKS for more information, Dolman said.

Meanwhile, a call for donations to help the department open several pools this summer still has a long way to go to meet its goal.

As of May 1, only $98,000 had been received toward the department's goal of raising the $300,000 needed to open five pools. The five pools the department hopes to open are Berry Park, 5002 N. Wheeling Ave.; Lacy Park, 2134 N. Madison Place; McClure Park, 7440 E. Seventh St.; Reed Park 4233 S. Yukon; and Whiteside Park, 4009 S. Pittsburg.

The department was able to raise $125,000 last summer, which, combined with city funds, was enough to open eight pools. This year, there was no money in the budget for pools, so the opening of the facilities has been left entirely to private fundraising.

Anyone interested in donating money to help open the pools is asked to call 596-PARKS.

A Final Settlement

The widow of a man who died in a March 2007 commercial laundry accident settled her federal lawsuit against the company last month, shortly before the case was scheduled to go to trial.

The death of Eleazar Torres-Gomez, an employee of a Cintas Corporation laundry facility in Tulsa, led his wife, Amalia Diaz Torres, to file suit against the company in 2007 in state court. The lawsuit was moved to federal court in 2008. The case was scheduled to go to trial in late April, but the two sides reached an agreement on April 15, court records state. Terms of the pact were not disclosed.

The body of the 46-year-old Torres-Gomez was found inside a large dryer in the plant on March 6, 2007, while he was filling in as a washroom operator on an automated system. A fellow employee reportedly discovered him there after hearing a commotion within the machine. Torres-Gomez apparently fell into the machine after climbing atop an elevated conveyer belt and attempting to dislodge a jam of recently washed uniforms.

His wife charged Cintas with negligence in her lawsuit and claimed the company's actions led to his death.