Gary G. Ely, a 34-year-veteran of Spokane, WA-based Avista Corp., was elected chairman of the board, and will retain his titles of president and CEO. He succeeds Larry A. Stanley as chairman, who retired after serving on the board since 1991 and as non-executive chairman since last November. Ely, 53, was named president and CEO in November 2000 after briefly serving as acting president and CEO. He had held the position of executive vice president of Avista before that. In recent months, Ely has been credited with helping Avista Utilities regain its financial strength and with developing a long-term strategy on power issues.

Tulsa-based Unit Corp. announced on Monday that its co-founder, chairman and CEO, King Kirchner, will retire from his position as CEO at the end of June 2001. John Nikkel, Unit’s president, has been elected to the vacated position. The company said Kirchner will continue to serve in his capacity as chairman. Unit explores for oil and natural gas and contracts for the drilling of oil and natural gas wells. Its drilling rig fleet now consists of 52 rigs and it owns an interest in 2,950 oil and gas wells. Unit’s operations are located from South Texas through Montana and into Canada.

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