Governor Chris Gregoire Friday announced Melanie Dressel, president and chief executive officer of Tacoma-based Columbia Bank, has been appointed chairperson of the Washington Economic Development Commission.

The commission will provide planning, coordination, evaluation, monitoring and policy analysis and development for the state economic development system as a whole; and will advise the Governor and the Legislature on the state economic development system.

Dressel is co-chairperson of the Executive Council for a Greater Tacoma and is on the boards of the Washington Bankers Association, the Washington Roundtable, the ArtsFund and the Washington State Historical Society, where she serves as treasurer.

Additionally, Bruce Kendall of Tacoma has been appointed to a term effective October 1, 2007, ending September 30, 2010. Kendall is president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County and a member of the board of the University of Washington-Tacoma Institute of Technology. He is on the board of the Central Puget Sound Economic Development District, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce, the Tacoma-Pierce County Workforce Development Council and the World Trade Center Tacoma.