Oct 17, 2014

KMS Financial Services

Miami-based Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services , a financial services company, aquired KMS Financial Services, a Seattle-based independent broker-dealer and investment advisor. KMS has 325 independent financial advisors with over $14 billion in client assets and revenues of $84 million. Chairman and CEO Mark Hamby and President and COO Eric Westberg will continue to run KMS as a stand-alone business in Seattle.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission named Nancy A. Sienko director of the Seattle office, with jurisdiction over Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Washington. She has been with the EEOC for 35 years, most recently as director of the Denver office. The EEOC enforces federal laws against employment discrimination

City of Tacoma

Tacoma City Manager T.C. Broadnax named Diane Powers director of the new Office of Equity and Human Rights. Nadia Chandler Hardy is now the director of Neighborhood and Community Services. Chandler Hardy will also continue to serve in her current role as assistant to the city manager. Pam Duncan was been named Human Services Division manager in NCS.

Oct 16, 2014

NAIOP cleans up North Bend school

Photo courtesy of NAIOP [enlarge]

More than 320 people volunteered with NAIOP Oct. 4.

More than 320 volunteers from real estate, design and construction firms came to Waskowitz Outdoor School in North Bend Oct. 4 for the NAIOP chapter's annual community enhancement project.

Work at the 372-acre camp included painting, relocating a large deck, replanting the entrance, repairing trails, replacing a split-rail fence, constructing a green house, removing invasive plants, and placing crushed rock on walks and parking lots.

HFC names 6 housing ‘friends'

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission announced the winners of the 2014 Friend of Housing awards: Stephen Buxbaum, mayor of Olympia; Chris Venne, senior housing developer at Community Frameworks in Bremerton; Jayne Auld, who recently retired from Spokane Housing Ventures; Adrienne Quinn, formerly of Seattle Office of Housing and now with King County Community and Human Services; Beacon Development Group, a Seattle-based affordable housing developer; and Harry Hoffman, former executive director of Housing Development Consortium. The commission gave Ishbel Dickens the Margaret M. Sevy Affordable Housing Lifetime Achievement Award for her work on manufactured housing.

RE/MAX partners with Chinese website

Bellevue-based RE/MAX Pacific Realty signed an agreement with a Chinese real estate website called Worldfang.com to display RE/MAX Pacific Realty listings. Worldfang helps Chinese customers with overseas real estate investment, and plans to set up an office at RE/MAX's Bellevue space. RE/MAX was founded by Shelly Hu.

Tour Capitol Hill building with ULI

Urban Land Institute Northwest's Young Leaders Group will tour the Central Agency Building on Capitol Hill at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 29. The auto-row-style building at 952 E. Seneca St. was once used for file storage and covered with metal siding that concealed its historic structure. In 2013 local investors Jerry Everard and Alex Rosenast began a renovation that has created three large retail spaces with exposed timber trusses and mezzanines. After the tour is happy hour and networking. Register at Northwest.uli.org or call 1-800-321-5011.

Everett port sells former HQ

The Port of Everett Commission recently approved the sale of a 14,000-square-foot office building at 2911 Bond St. in Everett. Brian Evans and Robert Bauer, the current tenants and owners of Bauer Evans Inc., are buying the building for $1.68 million. They had planned to buy the building, which was once the port headquarters, in 2008 but the purchase was delayed due to the recession. The sale is expected to close in early 2015.

Seattle Bank

Mefford

Karen Mefford is executive vice president and chief technology officer for Seattle Bank. She has over 20 years of banking experience, and worked for Washington Federal and Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, where she was vice president and director of operations.

Northwest Kidney Centers

Elkington

Northwest Kidney Centers hired Bruce Elkington as vice president of information services. He has been the dialysis provider's interim chief information officer. Elkington worked as chief information officer of Franciscan Health System and Overlake Hospital.

Cairncross & Hempelmann

Cairncross & Hempelmann said Executive Director Char Coulbert is a fellow in the College of Law Practice Management.