Meet the Advertiser: Paul & Carmen Hartill

Paul grew up in Chewelah & spent much of his youth working alongside his father, Bill Hartill, the founder of Hartill’s Saw Shop. Paul further developed his technical & business skills working for power equipment dealerships in Spokane & Olympia, Washington. After 20 years in Olympia, Paul & his wife, Carmen, decided it was time to move “home”, raise their family & carry on the family business. While working for other companies, Paul was involved in all facets of the business, from service to sales and management. Over the past 16 years at Hartill’s, Paul, along with his wife Carmen, have grown the business from a Stihl saw shop to a multi-line dealership for outdoor power equipment & small to mid-size tractors & UTVs. The business was renamed Hartill’s Mountain Saw & Tractor, & in 2014 relocated to a renovated showroom next to the historic grain elevator in Chewelah.

Carmen also grew up in Chewelah & graduated from Jenkins High Schoo, where she met Paul. Following high school she moved to Seattle to attend college & pursue a career in the fashion industry where she worked for 15 years in design, embroidery, & customer service. With two small children at home, Carmen worked as a recruiter and HR manager for a software company, & ran a home-based cottage business making & selling Waldorf dolls through her own website. Carmen joined Hartill’s Mountain Saw & Tractor when the business expanded in 2014, taking on the role of inventory management, marketing, & customer service. Paul & Carmen are thankful for such a wonderful & supportive community, & are glad to be back in their hometown. Carmen still enjoys sewing & the arts, & gets her “fashion fix” designing & sewing the costumes for the Chewelah float. On the rare occasion that Paul is not working, he can be found spending time with his family, watching sports, renovating the house, or enjoying the outdoors on his motorcycle.

Meet The Exceptional: Emily Ballensky

Emily has worked with the Exchange for over 3 years & has lived in Spokane for the past 28 years. She discovered her love for design in 7th grade, when the cover of her report was better than the actual report. Emily graduated from East Valley High School in 2009, completing one year of college through Running Start & Spokane Skills Center, both for graphic design courses. She graduated in 2011 from Spokane Falls Community College with an AAS in Visual Communications. Prior to the Exchange, Emily had experience in in-house design, free lance & print shop design. She worked in the print industry for 8 years, mainly as a Prepress Technician and Graphic Designer. Emily is our lead graphic designer at the Exchange. She creates the majority of the display ads & paginates two out of the four weekly papers. She excels at designing & creating special projects such as the Speed and Custom Magazine program.

At home, Emily adores her 3 cats (Lincoln, Lady and her personal favorite, Leroy) & her love, Tory. Together for 14 years, they dream of moving to the Idaho woods where they will build their dream home. She enjoys flowers, not necessarily gardening, but she likes to have a yard & patio of easily maintained plants that are colorful and happy. She loves rocks, gems & geology. Emily also has the best style in the office, we all love her GREAT collection of shoes and tie dye sweatshirts!