Idaho Business Review honors top financial professionals

The Idaho Business Review celebrated some of the state’s top finance professionals on Oct. 10 at the annual Excellence in Finance awards event.

Fifteen honorees – top performers in the banking, corporate, investment and professional financial sectors – were recognized for their accomplishments during a luncheon at Boise Centre.

“We are honoring those who have achieved the highest level of excellence in their careers,” said Idaho Business Review Publisher Cindy Suffa at the awards presentation. “Events like Excellence in Finance bring people together to network and celebrate, and I think in the finance community, to reunite.”

Jeff Sayer, managing partner of Rectify Partners, gave the keynote address during the power lunch event. Sayer’s firm provides on-demand executive resources for mid-market companies in the Intermountain West. He is best known for his past service as Secretary of Commerce for the state of Idaho and his role as president and CFO of Mountain View hospital in Idaho Falls.

Sayer discussed the world of finance, how its dynamic has changed over the years and focused on capitalizing on core strengths as a financial professional.

“We often get labeled as the discipline of ‘no.’ Our job is often looked at as the person that’s supposed to say no,” Sayer said. “A lot of people came through the last Great Recession knowing how to keep their business lean. Now we’re in an interesting situation where there’s not a lot of things to cut.”

Sayer described the new business environment in finance: things such as customer experience, employee experience and how subjective factors are now strategic realities to which financial professionals have to pay attention in order to be successful in business.

“People are learning to go back to the age-old reality in that we love stories — what’s really interesting is to watch this ripple effect roll down into finance,” Sayer said. “There’s a lot of interesting opportunities for those of us in this discipline to figure out how to tell a story with numbers.”

2019 Excellence in Finance honorees

Lisa Atkinson, VP and Western Idaho market manager of business payments and technology at Zions Bank

Todd Christensen, VP of marketing and business development at CapEd Credit Union

John Cotner, chief lending officer at Icon Credit Union

Melanie DeLashmutt, senior VP of bank operations at Idaho Trust Bank

Katie Dow, lead advisor at Aspen Capital Management

Nancy Landon, CFO and CPA at Independent School District of Boise City

Scott Mason, VP, brokerage director and director of financial planning at MassMutual Idaho

Toni L. Nielsen, Western Idaho region president at Zions Bank

Jane Pavek, VP and community development manager at Wells Fargo

John Potter, agency supervisory officer at MassMutual of Idaho

Alistair Rock, CFO at Tovuti

Bachchi Samahon-Oumar, head of finance at ProService, LLC

Tonya (Toni) Smith, VP and branch manager at D.L. Evans Bank

Michael Treinen, first VP of wealth management at UBS Financial Services Inc.

Brandon Woolf, controller at the state of Idaho