Parton new EDC board president

MOSES LAKE — Longtime Ephrata recreation director Ray Towry has accepted an offer to become the new city manager in Sweet Home, Ore. He has also officially submitted his resignation as the president of the board of directors of the Grant County Economic Council.

Current EDC vice president LeAnne Parton will assume the responsibilities for the outgoing Towry, who has been Ephrata’s recreation director for the last 13 years.

“LeAnne Parton, who is with Big Bend’s Foundation, is the new president and Joseph Akers, who is with Chemi-Con Materials Corp. will be the new vice president,” EDC executive director Linda Martin said. “We still have to fill a position on the executive committee that needs to be filled by the new president.”

Parton was raised in Moses Lake and graduated from Big Bend Community College and later Eastern Washington University with a degree in business administration. She is currently the executive director of the Big Bend Community College Foundation. She and her husband Norm own and manage commercial property.

Her experience also includes serving as the administrator at Moses Lake Christian Academy for eight years, recruited physicians for 20 years, and managed the Grant/Adams County Medical Society for 12 years. She served on the board at Moses Lake Community Health for 16 years. Currently she serves on the board at Moses Lake Christian Academy as well as their finance committee.

A Portland native, Akers moved to Moses Lake in 1989. He is a 1991 Moses Lake High School graduate. He began working for Chemi-Con Materials Corp., a local manufacturing facility in 1996, and is currently a vice president.

In other EDC business, Martin is putting together a job description portfolio to replace business recruitment manager Emily Braunwart, who has accepted another position.

“We’re examining what we need to help do the daily work,” said Martin, who assumed the executive director’s responsibilities in March. “I’m revising the position and going through one of our member companies to begin the process of filing the position.”