May 08, 2019

F5 Networks

Lin

Yamamoto

Seattle-based F5 Networks appointed Mika Yamamoto as executive vice president and chief marketing and customer experience officer, a newly created position, and Geng Lin as chief technology officer. Yamamoto was global president of Marketo, a marketing automation software company now owned by Adobe. Lin was managing director, chief development officer and head of engineering for consumer and community banking at J.P. Morgan Chase.

Simple Box Storage

Black

The U.S. Small Business Administration named Ross Black, owner and CEO of Simple Box Storage, as 2019 Washington Small Business Person of the Year. Black founded Simple Box when he was a high school senior in 1997. The company rents and sells shipping containers for storage, moving or modification. It employs 26 people at eight locations in Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

Adaptive Biotechnologies

In Seattle, Adaptive Biotechnologies hired Francis Lo as chief people officer. Lo was vice president of human resources at Whole Foods Market, where he helped integrate personnel after the grocer was bought by Amazon. Before that, he held leadership roles in sales, operations and human resources at Frito Lay, PepsiCo and Starbucks. Adaptive Biotechnologies focuses on immune-driven medicine.

Brooks Running

Seattle-based Brooks Running opened a 400,000-square-foot distribution center in Whitestown, Indiana, that serves as its North American distribution center. It is expected to employ more than 130 people by 2023. Brooks' previous North American distribution center was in Sumner. The company said the new center will cut carbon emissions in half because it's closer to more customers and the building is more energy efficient.

May 07, 2019

Orion Industries

Chase

On Friday, Jerry Chase will become CEO of Auburn-based Orion Industries. Chase was president and CEO of Bsquare, a provider of internet of things software products and solutions. Before that, he was CEO at Lantronix and Terayon. He replaces John Theisen, who is retiring after 18 years. Orion is an aerospace manufacturer and contact center that teaches job skills to people who face employment barriers.

DarkLight

DarkLight added Jason Upton as chief product officer, David Aucsmith as chief scientist and Lynda Gaughan as CFO; and moved Shawn Riley to chief visionary officer. Upton spent over 20 years as a senior executive at Microsoft. Aucsmith is a former Navy officer who has written on cybercrime, cyber espionage and cyber warfare. He also held senior security roles with Intel and Microsoft. Gaughan was a start-up executive in the Seattle area. Riley is a member of the Forbes Technology Council. Bellevue-based DarkLight develops cybersecurity solutions using artificial intelligence.

Department of Energy

The U.S. Department of Energy named Mark French as Federal Project Director of the Year for 2018. French is director of the projects and facilities division at Energy's Richland Operations Office. He was honored for his role in the cleanup of the Columbia River Corridor. This is the first time that the award has gone to a project director at Hanford.

May 03, 2019

Data I/O

In Redmond, Michael Tidwell joined Data I/O as vice president of marketing and business development. Tidwell was head of marketing and business development at Sansa Security, and head of product marketing at Arm Holdings' IoT Services Group. Data I/O makes programming and automated device handling systems for programmable integrated circuits.

Lamps Plus

Los Angeles-based Lamps Plus named Joanna Hawley as a brand ambassador. Hawley is a Seattle-based blogger, stylist, digital influencer and publisher of the Jojotastic blog, which focuses on eclectic lifestyle and small spaces. Lamps Plus has five brand ambassadors for 2019-2020. They highlight the company's spectrum of interior design styles in lighting and home furnishings through various marketing channels. Lamps Plus has two stores in the Seattle area.