Jun 25, 2020

Port of Seattle

Barb Wilson is the new chief of staff on the five-member Port of Seattle Commission. Wilson has 25 years of experience in the private, public and nonprofit sectors in Seattle. She previously was director of government affairs at Vulcan and prior to that was executive director of the Seattle Planning Commission, where she advised city officials on urban planning and development issues.

DSHS

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services selected Candace Goehring of the state Department of Social and Health Services to serve on a commission assessing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic by the nation's nursing homes. Goehring is director of the Residential Care Services division within the Aging and Long-Term Support Administration at DSHS. The commission has 25 members and is made up of state and local authorities, nursing home residents, advocates, family members, administrators, academics, and infection control and prevention professionals. It will submit a final report by Sept. 1.

Xenon arc

In Bellevue, Xenon arc added Scot R. Benson to its board. Benson has 35 years of experience in the chemical industry, most recently as president, COO and board member of Element Solutions, a global specialty chemicals company. Xenon arc is a data-driven marketing and sales company.

State of Washington

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said he will donate a scheduled salary increase of over $5,000 to the Thurston County Food Bank through the state's Combined Fund Drive, which promotes contributions to charities from active and retired public employees. Each year, over 15,000 workers pledge more than $5 million to 1,700 local, national and global charities.

Amazon

Amazon established a Counterfeit Crimes Unit in an effort to bring those who violate the law and Amazon's policies by listing counterfeit products in its store to justice. The new unit is a global, multidisciplinary team composed of former federal prosecutors, experienced investigators and data analysts. It will pursue civil litigation against bad actors, work with brands in joint or independent investigations, and aid law enforcement officials worldwide.

Adaptiva

Kirkland-based IT security solutions developer Adaptiva is partnering with UK-based IT consultant OKTiK Technology to expand in Europe and Southeast Asia. The two firms are helping enterprises digitally transform as their workforces go remote due to the pandemic.

Jun 24, 2020

City of Redmond

Redmond Fire Chief Tommy Smith has resigned. Smith was hired in 2013 by the city of Redmond after serving as deputy fire chief for the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The city of Redmond gave no reason for his departure. Deputy Fire Chief Don Horton has stepped in as acting fire chief.

Brightwork Consulting

Seattle-based Brightwork Consulting hired Jeff Powell as vice president of business development. Powell has over 30 years of experience leading business development and sales programs and teams. Brightwork is a risk management, change management and IT/business strategy consultant.

Uchimura Robotics

Atlanta-based Uchimura Robotics opened an operation in Seattle to better serve the West Coast with fully autonomous disinfecting robots, collaborative robots, industrial robots, low-cost laboratory/educational/hobbyist robots and telepresence robots. Uchimura supplies robots for industrial, commercial and educational applications. It is a subsidiary of Uchimura Co. Ltd. of Japan.

City of Tacoma

The city of Tacoma's Community and Economic Development Department says it approved 69 small businesses to participate in its $1 million COVID-19 stabilization loan program. Loans averaging about $15,000 were given to the businesses, which have 10 or fewer employees and brick-and-mortar operations. About 36% of the businesses are restaurants and bars and 20% are retailers. The city received 200 applications for the program.

Arcimoto

Eugene, Oregon-based Arcimoto is teaming with HyreCar to provide Arcimoto's Deliverator electric vehicles in Los Angeles. The three-wheeled vehicles will be ready to rent this summer using HyreCar's carsharing marketplace for ridesharing and delivery. HyreCar rents cars to Uber, Lyft and delivery drivers, and is targeting last-mile food and package delivery in heavily populated areas. Deliverators have a top speed of 75 mph and can go about 100 miles in the city before recharging.