PULLMAN — The chief sales and customer service officer at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, David Costello, is retiring May 17 after 28 years with the company.

Another SEL employee, Gerardo Urrea, has been promoted to senior vice president of sales and customer service, and will assume Costello’s responsibilities when he retires.

Costello joined SEL in 1996 as a field application engineer providing customer, technical and sales support. He went on to hold a variety of jobs, including regional service manager, technical support director and senior vice president of sales and customer service.

“(Costello’s) contributions to our company, both as technical and expert and leader are immeasurable,” said CEO Dave Whitehead in a SEL news release.

“He is someone who is focused on service, whether helping customers solve challenging problems, mentoring new employees or fostering SEL culture,” Whitehead said.

Costello earned his bachelor’s degree at Texas A&M University and began his career as an engineer at Central Power and Light in Corpus Christi, Texas. He moved to Central and Southwest Services in Tulsa, Okla., where he first learned about SEL.

“When I was a customer of SEL, I admired this company, its people and aspired to be a part of it,” Costello said in the news release. “After joining the company, I never imagined the experiences, roles, opportunities and fun the next three decades would afford me.”

Costello’s replacement brings more than 20 years of technical experience and expertise at SEL to his new role. Urrea joined the company in 2003 as a protection design engineer and has served in a number of roles in multiple locations. In 2019, he was promoted to vice president of the sales and customer service division, leading its technical sales, customer service and technical support activities.

Costello and Urrea will work together in the coming weeks as part of the transition.

Headquartered in Pullman and entirely employee-owned, SEL is the largest private employer in the region.

The company invents, designs and builds digital products and systems that protect power grids around the world. Its products are in almost every electrical substation in North America and sold in 170 countries, according to the news release.

TriState Health plans open house for imaging center

TriState Health is holding an open house for its imaging center from 5:30-7 p.m. Monday at 1221 Highland Ave. in Clarkston.

A new MRI machine and two new CT scanners will be on the display at the event. The upgrade was paid for with $2.5 million in federal funding and money from the TriState Health Foundation, according to a news release from TriState Health.

The project will provide more access and faster diagnosis of ailments such as strokes and cancers for patients in north central Idaho, southeastern Washington and Wallowa County in Oregon.