May 08, 2018

The Walsh Group

Taylor

Bob Taylor joined The Walsh Group as superintendent working on the estimating team in the Civil Division. Taylor spent 12 years with Kiewit. His last jobs were the Port Mann project in Vancouver, B.C., light rail in Oahu, Hawaii, high speed rail in Fresno, California, and Interstate 4 in Orland, Florida.

Forma Construction Co.

For its Seattle office, Forma Construction Co. hired Laura McCormick, Andrew Preston and Gavin Secker as project engineers; Chris Crnich as project manager; and David Ferrantino as superintendent. McCormick has seven years of industry experience and is working in the Special Projects Division. She holds a bachelor's degree in construction engineering management from Oregon State University. Preston graduated in 2016 from Washington State University Everett with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Secker is assisting in the closeout of the Sartori Elementary School replacement for the Renton School District. He has eight years of construction experience. Crnich is working on the Anacortes High School replacement. He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Arizona State University, and is an Air Force and National Guard veteran. Ferrantino is working in the Special Projects Division. He has more than 35 years of industry experience.

Dorsey & Whitney

Szpajda

Leffler

Cristofer I. Leffler joined Dorsey & Whitney as partner and Stefan Szpajda joined as of counsel. Both are in Dorsey's Trial Group in Seattle. Leffler's practice focuses on intellectual property and commercial litigation. He was a partner at Foster Pepper in Seattle. Szpajda's practice focuses on patent and trade secret litigation. He was of counsel at Foster Pepper's intellectual property litigation practice.

City of Bellevue

Hagen

Jerome “Jay” Hagen next week will become chief of the Bellevue Fire Department. Hagen is deputy chief at the Seattle Fire Department, and has 33 years of fire service experience. Todd Dickerboom has been interim fire chief in Bellevue since Mark Risen retired last September.

City of Seattle

Andres Mantilla next week will become interim director of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. He will replace Kathy Nyland, who will become a senior advisor at Seattle Parks and Recreation. Mantilla is director of external relations and outreach for the mayor's office, and before that worked on community and small business outreach at the Department of Neighborhoods and Office of Economic Development.

Oversea Casing

Seattle-based Oversea Casing Co. acquired DeWied International of San Antonio. Both companies make sausage casings. The new firm is called Oversea DeWied International and is headquartered in Seattle, with subsidiaries in San Antonio, Mexico City, British Columbia and China.

Rover.com

Seattle-based Rover.com is bringing its pet sitting and dog walking services to Europe, beginning with the United Kingdom in July.

May 04, 2018

Neighborhood House

Mark Okazaki is retiring in fall 2019 as executive director of Neighborhood House, a social service agency serving over 14,000 immigrant, refugee and low-income people through 27 locations in King County. Okazaki has been with the organization for 18 years, helping to quadruple its budget. The board will begin a replacement search in early 2019.

State Board of Education

Autymn Wilde, a sophomore at Central Valley High School in Spokane Valley, is the new Eastern Washington student representative to the Washington State Board of Education. Wilde begins her two-year term next week, replacing Lindsey Salinas, a senior at Wellpinit High School. The 16-member board provides advocacy and oversight for public education.

KNKX

Radio station 88.5 KNKX won a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award in the News Series category from the Radio Television Digital News Association. KNKX was honored for its 14-part series “Unpacking Government,” which covered how government works following the 2016 election. Simone Alicea was the lead reporter.

Staples

Office supply chain Staples has partnered with IdentoGO to offer TSA precheck enrollment centers in stores. IdentoGO will open 50 enrollment centers this summer, and plans to add more later. Seattle will be one of the first areas to get the service.