IN BRIEF.

Byline: The New Mexican 

Event designed to aid middle-school girls

Qforma Inc, a health care data analytics and predictive modeling company, will join other local organizations on Friday in sponsoring an educational event for fifth- to eighth-grade girls in Santa Fe and surrounding areas who are interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The program was created by "Expanding Your Horizons," or EYH, a nonprofit membership organization of educators, scientists, mathematicians, parents, community leaders, and government and corporate representatives.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, women are vastly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematic despite making up nearly half of the U.S. workforce and half of the college-educated workforce.

In 2011, the event drew a diverse group of middle-school girls, who came from Santa Fe and surrounding areas including Edgewood/Moriarty, West Las Vegas, Pojoaque and Los Alamos. A mixture of public, private and home-schooled girls attended the conference.

This year's daylong event will take place at Desert Academy beginning at 8 a.m. For more information, visit www.expandingyourhorizons.org/conferences/SantaFe/.

Health care magazine honors Valdez

Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center has announced that Alex Valdez, president and chief executive officer, has been selected as one of the top 25 minority health care executives in the United States by Modern Healthcare Magazine.

Valdez has had a distinguished career in law, government service and health care administration.

Valdez is a fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives and has been recently elected to the board of directors of the Catholic Health Association of the United States. He also serves on the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force of Christus Health.

Local firm nominated for national award

Don Gorman Electric, LLC of Santa Fe has been nominated for the Secretary of Defense Freedom Award for 2012 in the Small Business category.

The announcement of the nomination was made recently by Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense agency. The Freedom Award is the highest recognition given by the Department of Defense to employers for exceptional support of their Guard and Reserve employees. This year, 133 semifinalists nationwide stood out among an impressive pool of 3,236 nominees.

Freedom Award nominations come directly from Guard and Reserve members, or family members acting on their behalf.

Employers chosen as semifinalists support their Guard and Reserve employees through a variety of formal and informal initiatives.

Brightway Insurance plans N.M. stores

Brightway Insurance plans to open up to 18 New Mexico franchise stores, including three stores in the Santa Fe area with up to 30 insurance agents, according to a news release.

Brightway Insurance has 100 franchise stores across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas.

The company is recruiting entrepreneurs and licensed insurance agents to be among its first Santa Fe franchisees. Brightway does not require a franchisee to have any past insurance experience; however, a franchisee must earn an insurance agent license in their state before they can enter a franchise agreement with Brightway.