Movers & Shakers December 17, 2010
Wilcox eligible to be
certified wealth strategist
Cort Wilcox, vice president and financial consultant at D.A. Davidson and Co.'s Coeur d'Alene office, has completed the course work required to earn a certified wealth strategist designation.
The designation was created in response to a need in the industry for a practical, application-based certification program and is provided to financial professionals who have demonstrated understanding of wealth management. It is offered by the Cannon Financial Institute, a continuing education company in the securities industry.
Wilcox joined Davidson in January 1992, and has served in several management positions for 16 years.
D.A. Davidson and Co. is an investment firm based in the Inland Northwest. D.A. Davidson & Co. is part of Davidson Companies, an employee-owned financial services holding company based in Great Falls.
Chatters opens new CPA
firm in Coeur d'Alene
Former Magnuson, McHugh, and Co. shareholder, Robert Chatters, has opened a new CPA firm here in Coeur d'Alene, which will be called RR Chatters and Company PLLC.
The office will offer tax, financial statement preparation and audits, bookkeeping, and business consulting.
He has more than 31 years of experience, with specialties in small-business consulting and personal tax returns.
Chatters is a longtime Coeur d'Alene area resident. He currently is a member of Northwest Men in Business, Panhandle Area Council Inc., Loan Committee, Coeur d'Alene Estate Planning Council, the Idaho State Society of CPAs, the American Institute of CPAs, and various other organizations.
His new office is at 243 W. Sunset Ave., in Coeur d'Alene. Information: (208) 415-0311
Idaho Department of Labor recognized as nation's best
The Idaho Department of Labor is being recognized as the nation's best among small states in resolving disputed unemployment insurance claims.
The U.S. Department of Labor's administrator for unemployment insurance, Gay Gilbert, notified Idaho Labor Director Roger B. Madsen on Wednesday that Idaho "is the top performer in 2010 among small states for issuing timely and high-quality appeals decisions."
The state will be formally recognized later this week at the National Association of Workforce Agencies' Unemployment Insurance Committee meeting in Arlington, Va.
"The recent recession has placed an increased demand on the UI system," Gilbert wrote in her letter to Madsen. "While states are facing unprecedented claim workloads, it is gratifying to know that workers and businesses in your state are receiving the outstanding services offered by staff at Idaho Department of Labor."
Unemployment insurance claims have been at record and near-record levels for more than two years in Idaho, Since the recession began in December 2007, more than 165,000 workers - one in every four members of the state labor force - have received $1.5 billion in jobless benefits.
This demand for benefits also produced a record number of appeals that only for a short period created a backlog in Idaho. The backlog that developed in early 2009 was erased before the end of the year. The department's Appeals Bureau resolves unemployment claim disputes between employers and employees. It handled 7,500 cases in the past year, more than double the number in 2007.
The federal government's regular evaluation of appeals processing by the states routinely ranks Idaho in the top five among all states - not just the small ones.
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