Site Logo

New faces at the Valley Record

Published 2:47 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

New faces at the Valley Record

SNOQUALMIE — When you walk in to the Valley Record to

pay your bill or submit a heartfelt letter to the editor, you will see two new

smiling faces.

Beth Harkcom and Michelle Sullivan have recently filled the

accounts receivable and graphic design positions, respectively.

Harkcom is a Washington state native and has lived in the Valley

for five years. She currently lives in Fall City. Harkcom said she loves

living in the Valley and especially enjoys the area’s small-town atmosphere and

the Snoqualmie River.

Harkcom worked at Monte Vista, a distributing company in

Snoqualmie, a few years ago and is happy to be

back in town. She enjoys her new job at the Record and is already part of the

“family.”

“I have never felt more comfortable taking on a position than I

have here,” she said.

Hiking, swimming and attending sporting events for her two sons,

Justin, 9, and Jeremy, 14, are Harkcom’s hobbies. Besides spending time

with her children, Harkcom shares an especially close bond with her

parents and takes pride in caring for them.

Valley Record Publisher Jim McKiernan is pleased to

have Harkcom on board.

“We feel very fortunate to have found someone who has worked

locally in the past and has done accounting for a small business,” he said.

Michelle Sullivan has also fit right in with the Valley Record bunch

and enjoys creating graphics for the paper.

“She had an impressive list of experiences and it’s obvious that

she’s going to add a lot to our layout and design with those

experiences,” McKiernan said.

Sullivan has worked at several newspapers in the past, and was

the marketing director for the Journal American (now called the

Eastside Journal) and held the art director position at the Denver Post.

Sullivan was born in New York, raised in Tacoma and has lived on

the Eastside since 1988. Almost two years ago, Sullivan moved to the Valley

with her family.

“Settling in North Bend has been a great experience for us,” she said.

Sullivan’s daughter Whitney, 19, goes to college at BIOLA

University in California, but will spend this summer at home. Husband Dennis

works for an interactive TV company called StellarOne.

Spending time with her family, including her parents and eight

brothers and sisters, tops Sullivan’s list of favorite activities. She also loves

arts, crafts and gardening, and makes beaded eyeglass leashes for her

side business called EyeBeads.

Sullivan and Harkcom have replaced Cynthia Larkin and

Steve Laurens, who have each moved on to pursue other interests.

“We hated to see Cynthia go,” said McKiernan. “And Steve

definitely brought our level of graphic design to a new level. We wish them both

good luck in the future.”