May 30, 2019

City of Tacoma

The state Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation recognized Tacoma's Historic Preservation Office for outstanding achievements in historic preservation education. Historic preservation officer Reuben McKnight and assistant Lauren Hoogkamer organized innovative events to get new audiences interested in historic preservation. Events included scavenger hunts, bicycle rides, themed dance parties and pub crawls.

D.A. Davidson Companies

Scott Witeby is the new CFO at D.A. Davidson Companies. Witeby was CFO of Lincoln Financial Network, the retail wealth management business of Lincoln Financial Group. He also held senior finance roles during 10 years with LPL Financial, and began his career as a public accountant with Ernst & Young. Witeby replaces Tom Nelson, who plans to retire next year after 19 years as CFO. Davidson is based in Montana with corporate offices in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and Denver.

May 29, 2019

Port of Seattle

The Port of Seattle honored several businesses for environmental leadership at Sea-Tac Airport and maritime facilities. Aviation-related awards went to Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter and Whidbey SeaTac Shuttle (Small Business Award — Environmental Performance) and Lyft (Environmental Excellence Award — Performance and Innovation). Maritime-related awards went to ECOSS and Sound Experience (Environmental Excellence Award — Education and Outreach) and Pacific Fishermen Shipyard and Electric (Honorable Mention — Environmental Performance). Bremerton-Kitsap Airporter and Whidbey SeaTac Shuttle were cited for voluntary alternative fuel conversions to their fleets. Lyft was cited for reducing deadheading. ECOSS and Sound Experience provide environmental education programs to under-served communities. Pacific Fishermen reduced waste, increased use of nontoxic paints and solvents, and installed a solar array.

Intercity Transit

Intercity Transit driver Rob Wood was named best bus driver in North America at the American Public Transit Association's 44th Annual International Bus Roadeo. Wood — along with Intercity Transit's maintenance team of Joe Bell, James Bush and Grant Swidecki — also took second place in the Grand Champion team competition. Intercity Transit operates in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater and Yelm, with connections to Tacoma.

May 24, 2019

Skagit County

The Skagit County Board of Commissioners appointed Trisha Logue as interim county administrator. On June 1, Logue will take on this role in addition to her job as budget and finance director. She has worked for the county since 1994. Current county administrator Tim Holloran is retiring next week after 10 years in that role and 39 years at the county.

City of Tacoma

The Tacoma City Council wants to fill two positions (districts 2 and 5) on the City Events and Recognitions Committee. CERC is responsible for planning, reviewing and evaluating events, as well as helping with community fundraising and soliciting sponsorships for those events. Applications can be submitted until June 3 to http://www.cityoftacoma.org/cbcapplication.

U.S. Department of Education

The U.S. Department of Education honored one school and three school districts in the state: The Northwest School in Seattle was named a Green Ribbon School, and District Sustainability awards went to Lake Washington School District in Redmond, Lopez Island School District in Lopez Island and Oak Harbor Public Schools in Oak Harbor. Northwest School and the three districts were cited for reducing environmental impact and utility costs, improving health and wellness, and ensuring effective sustainability education.

May 23, 2019

Kymeta

In Redmond, mobile communications network company Kymeta hired Walter Z. Berger as president, CFO and COO; and appointed S. Douglas Hutcheson as executive chair of its board. Berger was COO and CFO of Nuvectra, a neuromodulation medical device company. Prior to that, he held senior executive positions at AppDynamics, which was acquired by Cisco. Hutcheson is senior advisor of technology, media and telecom for Searchlight Capital, and was CEO of Leap Wireless for a nearly a decade.

Zones

Auburn-based IT solutions provider Zones appointed Jai Venkat as senior vice president and chief services officer. Venkat has over 30 years of experience in sales, operations, delivery, business consulting and program management. He held senior leadership roles at DXC Technology, HP Enterprise, Cognizant, Capgemini and Infosys.

Mod Pizza

Seattle-based Mod Pizza received $160 million in equity financing from private investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice of New York City. Fidelity Management & Research Co. also participated. CD&R partners Ken Giuriceo and Paul Pressler will join Mod's board. Mod will use the capital to help it grow from 433 stores to 1,000 over the next five years.