Ocean Shores economic resilience report to be presented at GGHI event

The recently released “Building Economic Resilience and Social Capital in Ocean Shores, Washington” report will be presented by Kevin Decker of Washington State Sea Grant and Jacob Cravey of Tree Ring Consulting at the upcoming Ocean Shores branch of Greater Grays Harbor Inc. event on Thursday from 3 to 4p.m.

The City of Ocean Shores — in partnership with the Nature Conservancy, Tree Ring Consulting and Washington Sea Grant — completed this report during late 2019 and early 2020. The report, in part summarizes community engagement and resident feedback as well as providing recommendations to build greater year-round resiliency.

This event is free to the public and non-members of the organization. It will be hosted on the Zoom platform. To register please visit this website or the Greater Grays Harbor Inc. Event Calendar. Access information will be emailed to all registered attendees the morning of the event.

Please contact GGHI at info@graysharbor.org or call 360-532-7888 with any questions.

PUD: Scammers continue to threaten power shutoffs

Scammers are renewing their phone calls to Grays Harbor PUD customers, threatening to shutoff power if payment is not made on accounts they claim are overdue. In the last week, the PUD has been notified by multiple customers that they had been contacted by phone, and that in some cases, the incoming calls appear to be from the utility.

“The bad news is that the scam calls are still being made. The good news is customers are calling the PUD to check their accounts rather than handing money or information over to the scammers,” says Customer Service Supervisor Megan Warner. “If you get an email or phone call threatening to shut off your power or containing account information you think is suspicious, call the PUD Customer Service office to report the call and to check on your account status. These scams only work when you volunteer your personal information.”

Recipients of such fraudulent phone calls should under no circumstances agree to send money or give bank account, credit card or other personal information. Rather, customers are advised to immediately contact PUD Customer Service at 360-532-4220 to verify the claim.

Cascade Natural Gas names Gutschmidt regional director

KENNEWICK — Cascade Natural Gas announced that David Gutschmidt has been named director of the company’s Northwest Region. He will oversee all field operations for the region’s five districts – Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Bremerton, Aberdeen, and Longview.

Gutschmidt joined the company in 2015 and held roles of increasing responsibility and leadership in engineering, system integrity, operations, and compliance. His most recent position was manager of compliance and operations programs.

Gutschmidt holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from North Dakota State University. Additionally, he is currently participating in the Western Energy Institute’s Business Acumen for Emerging Leaders. Prior to joining the company, Gutschmidt worked in academia conducting bio medical research.